The first one is nuts, the 2nd one is just pure insanity
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned speed, top notch action film
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The crank movies were fkn awesome
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Good thread. But I don’t know how to define “action film” , especially against war, spy and science fiction genres. I’ll have to work that out before I post my list.
But for the record, i have Terminator as the best of that series.
Bite your tongue, or your bum. Simply brilliant piece of film making.
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Dude, Mr Robot!
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Some skirt the lines of straight up action film. Die Hard is my instant number one without even having to think.
Die Hard
The Wild Bunch
Seven Samurai
Terminator
Battle Royale
Mad Max 2
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Terminator 2
Aliens
Goldfinger
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The latest mission impossible is a top notch action film
I haven’t seen battle royale, but after it being mentioned so many times I will have to check it out
Does Goldfinger qualify as an action film?
Do you know what else I said?
Ok, I’ve been very strict on myself to try to cull anything where “action” isnt the main driving plot device, but even so its a very grey area. Eg - Raiders i’ve eliminated on the basis that its an adventure movie, rather than an action movie. Lots of war films excluded, but one i decided fitted the requirements. All the Bond films excluded. All Westerns excluded. Science Fiction extremely hard to sort out, i opted to leave out Underworld, Blade etc and all Star Wars. Cop films excluded. Fine lines, here, lol.
Die Hard - how could i not? Iconic film that probably spawned its own genre. It had a massive build up at the time, and lived up to it. I’ll happily watch it any time its on TV. Definitely the best of the Die Hard bunch too, fwiw.
Terminator - gets my nod over T2 because i simply love the original premise, even though T2 may be more ‘actionised’ and high tech. A wonderful film that has a vibe of its own and stands up well to repeated viewing. For me at least.
Black Hawk Down - so many war films in my mind here, but i think this one is consistently unrelenting for action, where a few others are exploring broader questions. Its a great, great film that can be watched purely for the action sequences, which are more less the entire film.
Mad Max 2 - brilliant action scenes and a gritty vibe reminiscent of the first but much better production. I love this film.
The Bourne Identity - one of my favourite films overall. Its a spy flick, but Bourne is essentially surviving with his bare hands and training the whole way. Greengrass is associated with the franchise but I think Liman nailed this one without overplaying the hand.
Predator - another icon. This film is just addictive in every way, somewhat corny, a good premise and plenty to see.
First Blood - i was unsure if it had enough action because its asking a few other questions too. But its a much better film than pretty much anything else Stallone has done, with decent writing.
Red - for me, this is just fun. Everyone gets to be fun. Malcovich is his usual bizarre self, Mirren as a ruthless assassin, Willis smirks through the film.
Edge of Tomorrow - Emily Blunt (be still my beating…) kills Tom Cruise (absolute flog) a thousand times. Thats enough right there. But i actually like this film for its dont-think-too-hard, just have fun with battle scenes outlook.
Alien - horror, sci fi, or action? Its all. Its also simply a great film. Line ball for this list, perhaps, but it gets a guernsey.
I was close to listing more Bourne and Mad Max 1 but decided one from each franchise, maximum. And I really really need to find a couple of hours to watch Fury Road. So many films that i am arguing with myself over, lol.
It’ll be easier if we do other, more specific lists such as crime, war, space, even arthouse, whatever
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Forgot about Edge of Tomorrow.
Very good film.
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JCVD needs more love
Borderline. IMDB had it tagged as one, and it was one some lists I read through to help me remember films, so I went with it.
T2
Predator
Training day
Dark knight
Batman
Universal soldier
Lethal weapon
Die hard
Lethal weapon 2
Die hard 3
Anybody that lists die hard 1 or 2 is a bum.
They are classic Christmas films
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I think I left one out of my list, but I’m not sure if it is categorised as an action movie or a drama.
Top Gun should be somewhere there if considered an action movie.
It shouldn’t be top 5, but should be somewhere towards the bottom of the list.
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Never too much love for Cruise but his catalogue of movies that has spanned 4 decades would stand up to anyone’s that has ever been in film.
Minority Report
The first Mission Impossible
The Last Samurai
Edge of Tomorrow
Collateral
Are some pretty cool movies but for the millenials out there who want to see a real action flick checkout Risky Business.
Yeah great movie.the rocks best performance too
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