Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion
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Nice idea for a thread. I'd like to focus on sleeper or forgotten gems if I may.'Night of the Juggler' - James Brolin. One of the greatest footchases in film history (extending nearly the length of the entire film) as injured NYPD cop Brolin hobbles at top speed through the ghettos of Spanish Harlem in search of his kidnapped daughter.
'Dark of the Sun' - from a Wilbur Smith novel. A raw, machine-pistol-toting romp of the kind no longer made today. Rod Taylor and Jim Brown assemble mercenaries to sneak into the Congo--via a forgotten rail line--to save settlers trapped by a black uprising.
'Rituals' with Hal Holbrook. Mix of thriller/survival/horror; much praised by Stephen King. Obscure and out of print. Neglected precursor to all later slasher movies. Four doctors must survive a trek through Alberta territory, pursued by a mysterious assailant.
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/
I also enjoyed the Underworld series with Kate Beckinsale. I've seen the first 2 out of 4. The first is 'Underworld'
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0320691/
The others are 'Underworld:Evolution', 'Underworld: Rise of the Lycans', and 'Underworld: Awakening'
I'm sure I can think of more in time.
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I don't know if you've seen Jack Reacher? It's actually very good. Watched it twice. I was one of those nay-sayers about diminutive Tom Cruise as Reacher, but he definitely had the personality for it.
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I guess you're not too impressed with my suggestion...but I really liked it. Sometimes it's good to get out of your comfort zone lol :)
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I think we have a "favorite movie" thread, not sure. But it's okay i get you like the movie.
couple more..The Last of Sheila is one of the few suspense mysteries of its type which is actually done well. It maintains its renown among mystery fans to this day. Ever heard of it? It's about as Christie as you can get without actually being Agatha Christie. All star cast, exotic ocean voyage, isolated yacht..
Split Second escaped cons on the run hole up in an old mineshaft with a random gaggle of innocent citizens, evading the dragnet laid for them--except for their choice of hiding place--the Nevada desert h-bomb testing grounds.
Charley Varrick directed by the legendary Don Siegel (Eastwood's mentor) and stars--of all actors--Walter Matthau. But Matthau nails the role and this simple, downbeat tale set in the western US will stick with you. Story of a small-time heist man on the run from the mob.
The original ' D.O.A '--starring Edmond O'Brian--do I need to describe this classic? Legendary, gripping premise that you can't shake once you've seen it. A man discovers he's been poisoned and with his last 24 hours of life, determines to discover who has killed him. You wanna talk about rage.
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more two-fisted action wanted, eh? I must've forgot who I was talking to.Okay well though I know very few modern titles I am aware of a fairly nifty French action tale called 'The Nest' . I've seen it and found it competently handled. I like the unified location--a giant industrial warehouse. A criminal gang robbing the warehouse finds themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with a government commando team taking refuge there with a political prisoner after an ambush attempt. Somewhat similar to 'Assault on Precinct 13'. It helped that it was European and free from the usual USA popculture silliness.
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Flipping through stations this morning. Looking for something, I eventually didn't find. I camecross these 2 movies, "Full Metal Jacket" and "47 Ronin". Not sure if you've seen them or if they're any good. Just wanted to throw them out there.
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Death Wish was friggin' badass. Bronson! He's totally the man. Who better for that role? Sure other good actors could have stepped in, (like he always said, action films don't call for much real acting) but he had the necessary presence, gravitas, and magnetism. Ever heard the story of the actual mugging he was involved in, in Marseilles?
I like how --in 'DW III' -- he uses a rocket launcher on some punk! I can recommend another late-era Bronson movie which maybe you've not investigated. I myself was dubious when I saw the production values and slight tinge of cheesiness but it turned out to be an unexpected treat! Murphy's Law, ever seen it?
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Cool. I like how they used that famous hotel lobby in San Francisco for the finale. And the dialog was hilarious. Bronson's a good 'reactor' like John Wayne was. (p.s. and come on, we're not talking about a Depression-era musical. Not that long).Not an action movie but ever see the early role of his where he's a novelist shacked up with an underage girl?
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Did you ever see Léon: The Professional with a 12 year old Natalie Portman wanting to learn to be a mechanic/Hitter from the "Hit man" next door to get the ones who killed her family?
Yes, I know of 'Leon' of course, it has a following and a reputation one could hardly miss. But, for me personally it never attracted me. There's no one in the cast or crew I recognized. I passed it by. I believe the Bronson flick was titled....
'Lola'. He's in his 30s and a porn author, she's..16! They get married, but still. Susan George plays 'Lola' (she was always in racy roles)
He was also fun in an adventure-tale set in Turkey with Tony Curtis. "You Can't Win Em All". They played off each other well.
And to see him really having fun: "Breakout" with Robert Duvall and Randy Quaid
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Léon: The Professional isn't really an outstanding movie, i just always find movies where people who later became stars appeared as kids. In this case especially as it's a hit man flick.
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Good one but here's another. In the scene where Willis, Freeman and Malkovich go in to "question" Dreyfuss Helen Mirren is covering them with a scoped rifle. If you look the raised front sight for the rifle's peep sight would completely block the scope. The rifle would need a different scope mount or to have the front sight removed.
You guys have given me a few titles that I've not seen, but I'll chase them down. Here's a few that I liked (all fairly recent):Enemy at the Gates
GI Joe (only saw the first movie, but it was better than expected)
Man on Fire
Hanna
Haywire (surprisingly good little movie starring a MMA champ)
Salt (better than I expected)
Munich
The Hurt Locker
The Debt
The Jackel (w/Bruce Willis)
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Dreyfus, as in Richard Dreyfus?He's one of a whole bunch of actors I admire or once admired (DeNiro, Nicholson, Hoffman, Voight, Pacino, Caan, Hackman, etc--all the greats) but whom I simply stopped watching after some point. Nicholson, for instance--demonstrates this best. I just can't conceive of seeking out more Nicholson films once he passed a certain 'career peak'. Thereafter, he either plays himself, plays off himself, or parodies himself. DeNiro also--one of the worst, as far as 'mailing in' performances after he climbed to the top of the industry. For money, or just to keep busy, he appears in a whole string of embarrassing, 'easy' roles that don't challenge him, roles he can coast through with his eyes closed. I guess I can state it like this: I don't want to watch any actor I respect, appearing in today's lightweight, insulting, super-hero flicks. The industry just isn't there anymore to do these guys justice, to give them the relevance they once had.
I love Nicholson and all these other guys, so I'll keep watching them at 'their best'. Instead of watching him in 'Bucket List', I'll rather go back and watch him in something where he was still finding his style, still taking chances, still worrying about his place, still caring about his audience and his critics.
Glitches in films: I kinda like them actually. As long as they don't **break one's immersion in the film,** they're fun to note, log, and look-out-for. I think glitches are and always were part-and-parcel of filmmaking; and they are part of the fascination of the craft. When you see that a film has a difficult location shoot and you know they carried it off successfully (Coppola in the Phillipines, for example) it adds to the lore of the movie. It bespeaks to the achievement. Compare that to a Pixar film --and other entirely computerized films--which have no errors. Or, they have entirely animation-based errors, like a CGI ball bouncing improperly. I find that chilling and impersonal.
That's an increasingly lost aspect of films, yep. Glitches. I love when I see 'the hand of the director' at work in movies; when you look at a scene in a flick and you can faintly glimpse a hint of all the technical work going on invisibly in the 'off-frame space' surrounding the shot. It reminds you of the human element in the entertainment being brought to you.
Like that flick 'Night for Day' where the plot of the movie takes place on a set where they're filming a movie. Complex and intricate. Ever seen the superb neo-noir Gene Hackman thriller, 'Night Moves' by Arthur Penn?
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Really! Well sure, we all gotta live. You're in for a treat though now, if you check it out. Iconic. I'd recommend it to anyone here. Its thought-provocking; but also has action. It's a detective flick, but has well-drawn characters and relationships, and a mystery you can't figure out til the very last scene. One of Hackman's most memorable roles. Young Melanie Griffith is in it (brief nudity), and so is James Woods. Belongs up there with any top-ten detective flick list. You'll thank me.
Paladin!How about this cast all in one movie. Patrick McGoohan, Sean Connery, Herbert Lom, Jill Ireland, William Hartnell, Gordon Jackson, David McCallum, and (in the lead)...Britain's #1 tough-guy, Stanley Baker? Know whut ah'm tawkin bout? 1957..
A doozey. No gunplay, but its in my top five action flick shortlist and...its also a noir
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Oops, 1957, okay.
Oh--if it didn't pop up immediately from your memory banks, I didn't mean to make you wait for the answer.It's called, 'Hell Drivers' and is just grand.
I was lucky enough to see it in a revival --big screen--one of the few movies which ever made me white-knuckle my armrests and lurch from side-to-side as the images met my eyes.
'Two fisted' describes this flick well. Biff! Sock! Pow! Ooof!
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Yeah! I'm a believer in the theory that some of the best stories come from the most ordinary settings. Obscure articles in the newspapers, etc
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Actually I don't know. I don't think just any actor can do action, Bronson was one of the best. He was in the generation with Steve McQueen (Bullitt) and contemporary with Clint Eastwood staring ou..."Speaking of Steve McQueen, I just saw Sand Pebbles for the first time. Great flick. The ending was unexpected.
Huzzah!!!! Two of my favorites mentionedBim Bam Boom
I know those flicks practically by heart.
'Sand Pebbles'--can you imagine an action movie of today opting for a downbeat finale like that? Never. That's because they didnt kowtow back then. Do you think a director like Robert Wise would cave in to studio execs to make a happy-ending? He would've have bailed.
'Hell is for Heroes'. Hurrah! But OUCH at that movie's ending. Boy that burned me up...
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The director was very disappointed with the movie as he wanted it to be much more a sweeping story of men at war.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "[spoilers removed] Ever see Hell is for Heroes?"Haven't seen Hell is for Heroes. Looks like one I will have to check out as well. Maybe this weekend.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I saw a discussion on the making of Hell is for heroes. I've forgotten the director's name (easy to check) but he envisioned a huge sweeping movie and went WAY over budget and took a lot longer tha..."I read that it was based on a true story. Do you know if the ending was changed, or is it accurate?
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Paladin's trivia-item about 'Heroes' sounds so strange to my ears. I've been mulling on it. Siegel was at the beginning of his career with that movie, why would he have thought he was going to get license to make a sprawling, sweeping epic? He wouldn't have had the clout, seems to me. The cast too, was a collection of mostly unknowns and TV players.
Next: the siege which is the focus of the story, mostly takes place at night. Just 1-2 nights, really. It has to do with the very basis of the story (that the Germans can't see the American squad). Again: I wonder where could a 'grander' story be inserted, bearing that in mind.
I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for this discussion if its still around on the net somewhere. I'm keen on any trivia related to early McQueen movies.
Regarding 'Heroes' I think its a gem of a film precisely because it is not a 'large' or 'sweeping' style movie. Its the tight, intimate story of just one squad of men. You get a feel for each character.
What's also great about it is that it isn't a "rah rah" picture like some others. The theme of this movie isn't patriotism, its just survival. It rings true.
By the way how about that great scene between Harry Guardino and McQueen. McQueen: "Get that finger outta my face before I rip it off" and then Guardino: "you wanna go toe-to-toe with me after this is over, I'll take you any time! And you know what? That's the best thing I've got to look forward to right now.."
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I just thought, it may have been in the Bob Newhart bio when he was going over the movies he was in. Not sure, it's one of those edge of my brain memories.
According to Wikipedia, Mike is right. I saw somewhere that it was based on a true story, but not sure where. I hope I can find a copy to watch this weekend.
Okay, but it still sounds zany to my ears (not the Wikipedia anecdote, but that the participants involved behaved the way they did given the circumstances). The movie which got made is a fine, tight, gem of an action flick. 'Less is more'. Its condensed and distilled, potent, and fast-moving. I wouldn't have it any other way. The studio made the right decision in this case. Directors sometimes have to be reined in; working under a hard constraint like brevity/economy often yields the better picture. Succinct storytelling is usually great storytelling.
Tryin to think of some more titles the satisfy Paladin's need.Must have lots of gunplay, huhm.
How 'bout the original 'Assault on Precinct 13'?
How 'bout a little flick called 'Portrait of a Hitman' with Jack Palance?
How about ..the flick which basically started the theme of ex-Vietnam vets getting into trouble? 'Search and Destroy' starring Perry King and Don Stroud...
Another in the same vein: 'Welcome Home, Soldier Boys' with the great Joe Don Baker (and at least ONE Vint brother).
Or the notorious and much-renowned 'Rolling Thunder' starring William DeVane and Tommy Lee Jones?
Clint Eastwood's 'The Gauntlet' comes to mind for things getting shot-at and blown-up.
Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode, Jack Palance, and Robert Ryan in 'The Professionals'.
Robert Ryan and Jean-Louis Trintinaget in '...and Hope to Die'
Chris Walken in 'The Dogs of War'.
Burton, Harris, and Moore in 'The Wild Geese'.
The original 'Mechanic' with Bronson.
'Soldier' with Ken Wahl.
(a kung fu fest) 'Kill or Be Killed'
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Action/Adventure Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
The Day of the Jackal (other topics)Fahrenheit 451 (other topics)
Fahrenheit 451 (other topics)
I've been sort of burned out lately, most of the books I've started seem not to draw me in. I think I'm just in need of some "mental rest". When I get like this is when I tend to watch TV/movies.
SO, I've been watching my favorite action flicks, the RED movies, the Expendables movies, John Wick, The November Man, the Transporter movies (not the sad TV series), Shooter, The Mechanic...I've even watched one of my daughters favorite movies that ends with a good shoot out, Grosse Pointe Blank.
Eo, here's my suggestion. Lets see if we can come up with some action movies to recommend to each other, ones you've seen I haven't and I'll try to do the same.
For example, I saw a movie one time several years ago titled First Target. It was pretty good but I haven't seen it since (I'm about to check Amazon.
So...any suggestions for a movie full of weapons fire, explosions and possibly some "gunfu" (see Equilibrium, John Wick and several John Woo flicks) that may I've missed and can mindlessly enjoy?