Pat's Top Ten Action Movies
10. Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Bruce Willis returns as the kick-ass detective John McClane in this sequel to the 1988 hit. The story is a bunch of disgruntled Army officers hijack a Washington airport so they can transfer a war criminal for a bazillion dollars. While not packing the same punch as the first one, this film provides sheer thrills and shoot-em-up scenes mixed in with a little pre-9/11 midair terror.9. Air Force One
The former Han Solo and Indiana Jones becomes President and has to save the plane from a bunch of Russian terrorists who hijacked the thing for political purposes. Harrison Ford remains a film icon as one of the coolest Presidents in film history with some awesome fight scenes and one of the best action movie lines: "Get off my plane!"8. The Bourne Supremacy
Paul Greengrass directs this sequel to the 2002 spy thriller about a deadly agent who loses his memory and people try to kill him. In this one, Matt Damon's character Jason Bourne seeks to avenge his girlfriend (played by Franka Potente, pictured above) and stumbles upon a whole bunch of CIA corruption. This surpasses the first one mainly because of Greengrass and his masterful editors...that and the scene when Bourne watches the CIA from a roof.7. War Of The Worlds
Despite the shockingly terrible ending and Dakota Fanning, this Spielberg film succeeds where other disaster/sci-fi films fail miserably, this actually makes the viewer scared. A lot of filmgoers completely discard the movie because of the ending, but if you reexamine it, you will find it is a helluva good movie. Just think of the first tripod scene. Fucking terrifying!!!6. Mission: Impossible-II
This action thriller doesn't get the credit it deserves. The film is about Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) trying to stop a former colleague from releasing a deadly virus in Australia. Even though it is drastically different in tone from the other M:Is, this sequel is pure action in its best form. It had twists, great fights, and plenty of explosions. And Thandie Newton.5. Casino Royale
Arguably the best Bond film, this 21st effort revamps the dying series with Daniel Craig as the new 007 on a mission to stop Le Chiffre from getting richer. The scene with the frog man takes vertigo to a new level and who could forget Bond's responses as he is brutally tortured. Pure genius!4. Die Hard
John McClane's first outing is about a bunch of German terrorists trying to steal some money from a rich guy. He gets caught up, fights with Alan Rickman in his film debut as the creepily evil Hans Gruber, and utters his very first "kippie-ki-yay, motherfucker!" This film probably tops most peoples lists for action movies, but I threw a few sci-fi/thrillers in here too. I love this movie.3. Armageddon
Michael Bay is admittedly one of the worst directors in Hollywood but damned if anyone thinks this film is terrible. It serves its function as a disaster/action epic with a little cheesy romance in the middle...wow, when put like that it reminds me of a little movie about a big boat, hmmm. Anyway this movie features Bruce Willis (his 3rd appearance on my list) trying to destroy an asteroid from killing Earth. I will admit and I think a bunch of you out there too should as well, but I cried at the end. Granted I was 10, but c'mon, that was one of the most heartbreaking scenes in recent memory.2. Jurassic Park
Spielberg's other 1993 film ("Schindler's List is the other) was quite unbelievable at its time and still is. Who can't say they weren't amazed when the T-rex first showed its face or was scared shitless during the velociraptor kitchen scene. This one has everything: dinosaurs, corruption, Newman. "When you gotta go, you gotta go."1. Independence Day
Do I really need to explain this one?
5 comments:
Kick ass list. Took balls to put Die Hard at number 4 since it's always been touted as the best action film ever. And it's nice to see you didn't shy away from films like Independence Day, Armeggedon and War of the Worlds. Cos those are very good action movies. You definately get what you pay for with them.
I actually liked Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds. Pretty good list cept I would choose Bourne 1 over Bourne 2
I would have chosen Mission Impossible III over II. Part 2 had too many scientology undertones! (JK)
great list. I'm not an action film fan but my favorite action movie would have to be The Matrix
Well I hated most of Armagedon (the ending was the only good part), but this is a pretty good list. I actually liked MI:III, so that would have gotten my vote over MI:II. And yes, the Matrix should be on there.
But it's a good list. I definately like Independence Day too. Heck, there's been a lot of great movies. I would even say that Live Free or Die Hard would have been on my list (it rocked!).
Post a Comment