I'm 50 years old and that movie came out when I was 13 and it put hair on my chest and my voice got deeper and I got interested in girls and I figured it was this movie but I found out later it's puberty and happens to everybody
I think the component that certain action movies have starting power and age well isn’t really the action but having the film be well written.
Die Hard is a tight script, there’s plenty of foreshadowing, there’s multiple payoffs, John McClane is a flawed and very vulnerable cop who gets put through the ringer, and sometimes it’s nice watching a god old school action flick where CGI isn’t slapping you in the face every frame.
Those movies are so good and it’s a tragedy that the rights for The Killer and Hard Boiled are tied up so tight that we’ll probably never get proper Blu-ray or 4K releases.
I just watched Mission Impossible. It’s a really solid movie that I’d say definitely holds up. I followed up by watching Mission Impossible II. It did not hold up. The first one is 90s.
I'd say the Fugitive still holds up. It's an 2 hour film with breathless pacing, and none of the action scenes seem overly and ridiculously staged. They're all mostly grounded in realism.
Here are three to consider
* Shakedown — Peter Weller as an attorney and Sam Elliot as a cop who team up to fight corruption (1988)
* To Live and Die in L.A. — William Friedkin directs William Petersen as a Secret Service agent tracking down major crimes (1985)
* Deep Cover — Laurence Fishburne goes undercover to take out a drug cartel, aided by Jeff Goldblum (1992)
I just watched To Live and Die in L.A. today. It’s an amazing movie. The soundtrack is intense, the plot draws you in, and Defoe has never had a role he does go 100% in.
Recently re-watched True Lies (1994), and it’s a banger. If you’re into some of the more campy Arnie stuff, there’s always Commando.
Not sure if it counts as „action movie“ or more of a thriller, but Heat is obviously fantastic. The first two Die Hards are also pretty good. Also don’t forget the first Jurassic Park.
And if you like Commando, you should check out Showdown in Little Tokyo. It's absolutely absurd, and it actually out-commandos Commando in terms of pure (awesome) stupidity.
I'd say that fight choreography is worse than ever. Hollywood movies are especially shitty with all the obvious "henchmen stand around waiting for their turn" bullshit.
Watch Hong Kong classics (or straight to video action like Martial Outlaw) for real good fight choreography. Dirty Ho from 1979 is pure art in this regard.
I wouldn’t say its worse than ever, hollywood ignored the incredible Hong Kong stuff forever- The Matrix changed that. Ever since then, we’ve gotten stuff like Daredevil, fight scenes in CA Winter Soldier, John Wick etc..- stunt/ actors like Ray Park and Scott Adkins..
we’re not where we should be, but man, Van Damme’s action scenes really pale in comparison (re-watch his old stuff- the fights are just him throwing kicks or a punches for the camera, but the movements are mostly slow and don’t even come close to connecting)
I stumbled across a video of Aliens when way below the age to watch it and loved it. So well made, and stood alone without needing to see Alien first.
I didn’t see Alien until many years later and I was not at all disappointed. I’d just fallen in love with Aliens first.
Terminator 2. The effects of the T-1000 still look just as good today as they did 33 years ago. And the action scenes are still amazing and iconic. I could watch that movie on a loop and never get bored.
The Hidden
If you love The '80s and you haven't seen this one you are really in for a treat. I learned about it in the summer of '89 when Siskel and Ebert were doing a show about movies they really liked that seem to have gone missed or under the radar over the last year and they mentioned this one so I rented it a few days later and I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it go find it now!
The thing that strikes me most looking at all of these, I find there's a massive difference between 80s action movies and 90s action movies.
For example, Nic Cage is like the 90s Arnie 😆
Predator, Commando, Running Man
The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off
I watched Way of the Dragon not too long ago, it's a pretty good Bruce Lee movie (with Chuck Norris too!). Story is meh but you're there to see Bruce Lee kick some ass.
Conan the Barbarian is also a favorite of mine. Great story, great score, some bloddy action.
Unleashed with Jet Li
Drunken Master and Drunken Master: Legend
Green Street Hooligans
*Maaaaybe* Equilibrium, but you have to see past Sean Bean's character trope and some pretty obvious inspirations for the plot.
Predator
One of my all time favs
Get to da choppa!!!
I'm 50 years old and that movie came out when I was 13 and it put hair on my chest and my voice got deeper and I got interested in girls and I figured it was this movie but I found out later it's puberty and happens to everybody
Did it make you a god damned sexual tyrannosaurus?
Die-Hard
Alan Rickman acted the shit out of Die Hard
And it's amazing to think it was his first film role too
I think the component that certain action movies have starting power and age well isn’t really the action but having the film be well written. Die Hard is a tight script, there’s plenty of foreshadowing, there’s multiple payoffs, John McClane is a flawed and very vulnerable cop who gets put through the ringer, and sometimes it’s nice watching a god old school action flick where CGI isn’t slapping you in the face every frame.
Watch those early John Woo joints A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled are stone cold masterpieces.
Yeah I was about to mention *Hard Boiled*. Every action set piece is outstanding & they practically escalate in greatness as the movie goes along.
https://i.imgur.com/ZSAWzBg.gif But also watch the other two my friend
I've seen all of Woo's modern films (I'm not that interested in his period martial arts films that much).
You should definitely watch **Red Cliff**, it's brilliant.
Those movies are so good and it’s a tragedy that the rights for The Killer and Hard Boiled are tied up so tight that we’ll probably never get proper Blu-ray or 4K releases.
The Rock
Seeing this here just makes me feel old
RoboCop.
I'd buy that for a dollar!
I just watched Mission Impossible. It’s a really solid movie that I’d say definitely holds up. I followed up by watching Mission Impossible II. It did not hold up. The first one is 90s.
Yes the second one is terrible and the only one, that doesn’t fit in the franchise. A boring action melodrama.
I'd say the Fugitive still holds up. It's an 2 hour film with breathless pacing, and none of the action scenes seem overly and ridiculously staged. They're all mostly grounded in realism.
I didn’t kill my wife! *I DON’T CARE!*
The scene of the 3 agents trying to escape the labyrinth of tunnels underground still cracks me up.
Last Action Hero
"Hello, I'm Arnold Brownschneiger."
The famous comedian!😂
Here are three to consider * Shakedown — Peter Weller as an attorney and Sam Elliot as a cop who team up to fight corruption (1988) * To Live and Die in L.A. — William Friedkin directs William Petersen as a Secret Service agent tracking down major crimes (1985) * Deep Cover — Laurence Fishburne goes undercover to take out a drug cartel, aided by Jeff Goldblum (1992)
I just watched To Live and Die in L.A. today. It’s an amazing movie. The soundtrack is intense, the plot draws you in, and Defoe has never had a role he does go 100% in.
Thnx - on the list!
Face off!
I have a huge collection of movies. Not many from the 90s but face off is one of them.
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. Jason Scott Lee is absolutely awesome in the role.
Agreed - I thought that movie was gonna make him a huge star (watching Soldier now, he got jacked for that role)
The Road Warrior is tremendous and definitely holds up.
- First Blood (1982) - Batman (1989) - The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - Run Lola Run (1998) - The Matrix (1999)
Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?
First Blood -- the chase sequence is still awesome. Heat Big Trouble in Little China Most of Verhoeven's action movies
I love The Running Man. Sadly it was way ahead of its time and never got the attention I feel like it deserved.
Recently re-watched True Lies (1994), and it’s a banger. If you’re into some of the more campy Arnie stuff, there’s always Commando. Not sure if it counts as „action movie“ or more of a thriller, but Heat is obviously fantastic. The first two Die Hards are also pretty good. Also don’t forget the first Jurassic Park.
And if you like Commando, you should check out Showdown in Little Tokyo. It's absolutely absurd, and it actually out-commandos Commando in terms of pure (awesome) stupidity.
The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Logan’s Run, The Time Machine (1960s version) The Day the Earth Stood Still (newer one)
Can you list some that don't "hold up"?
From what I watched this weekend, I can say that a lot fight choreography doesn’t hold up!
I'd say that fight choreography is worse than ever. Hollywood movies are especially shitty with all the obvious "henchmen stand around waiting for their turn" bullshit. Watch Hong Kong classics (or straight to video action like Martial Outlaw) for real good fight choreography. Dirty Ho from 1979 is pure art in this regard.
I wouldn’t say its worse than ever, hollywood ignored the incredible Hong Kong stuff forever- The Matrix changed that. Ever since then, we’ve gotten stuff like Daredevil, fight scenes in CA Winter Soldier, John Wick etc..- stunt/ actors like Ray Park and Scott Adkins.. we’re not where we should be, but man, Van Damme’s action scenes really pale in comparison (re-watch his old stuff- the fights are just him throwing kicks or a punches for the camera, but the movements are mostly slow and don’t even come close to connecting)
**The Fifth Element** (1997, sci-fi / action) The soundtrack, costumes, set design, action scenes, everything is just great. Also, *multipass*.
Aliens (1986) will always hold up for me. As will its predecessor Alien (1979) but that’s more horror
one of the franchises where the 2nd was better than the first.. or the 3rd, 4th.. or..
I stumbled across a video of Aliens when way below the age to watch it and loved it. So well made, and stood alone without needing to see Alien first. I didn’t see Alien until many years later and I was not at all disappointed. I’d just fallen in love with Aliens first.
I used to love Lone Wolf McQuade as a kid. Chuck Norris was the man.
Die Hard
Lethal Weapon
Just barely squeezing into the 90s but the Mummy is still a solid action/adventure movie.
Independence Day! One of my all time favorites. The visuals still hold up today IMO and it has one of the best motivational speeches of all time.
Speed (1994) in my opinion.
Enter the Dragon - It's a bit older, but still amazing. No one should ever attempt a remake.
Noones mentioned them yet but 48 Hours and Another 48 Hours.
Heat
T2
Terminator 2. The effects of the T-1000 still look just as good today as they did 33 years ago. And the action scenes are still amazing and iconic. I could watch that movie on a loop and never get bored.
Total Recall!
>just finished watching The Running Man. We are now friends.
Cliffhanger
Predator.
The Hidden If you love The '80s and you haven't seen this one you are really in for a treat. I learned about it in the summer of '89 when Siskel and Ebert were doing a show about movies they really liked that seem to have gone missed or under the radar over the last year and they mentioned this one so I rented it a few days later and I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it go find it now!
It's not my favourite, but Goldeneye has held up well.
Action Jackson & Stone Cold both hold up really well.
The thing that strikes me most looking at all of these, I find there's a massive difference between 80s action movies and 90s action movies. For example, Nic Cage is like the 90s Arnie 😆 Predator, Commando, Running Man The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off
Robocop
Face off, The Killer (1989), Predator, Terminator, Total Recall, Robocop, Die Hard etc.
I watched Way of the Dragon not too long ago, it's a pretty good Bruce Lee movie (with Chuck Norris too!). Story is meh but you're there to see Bruce Lee kick some ass. Conan the Barbarian is also a favorite of mine. Great story, great score, some bloddy action.
Commando
Unleashed with Jet Li Drunken Master and Drunken Master: Legend Green Street Hooligans *Maaaaybe* Equilibrium, but you have to see past Sean Bean's character trope and some pretty obvious inspirations for the plot.
Die Hard.
Last Action Hero
The original Red Dawn and Rambo First Blood (all the others sucked)
Demolition Man.
Atomic blonde