Right, as a couple we don’t argue very often, but when we do it’s only ever about important things…like who Kate should be with in Lost, why she can’t put the lid back on anything, why I can’t put my socks in the wash basket properly and what’s better Die Hard or Die Hard with a Vengeance…so we’re giving you the opportunity to settle our arguments.
This week, we’re looking at our top five action movies. At times we agree, but not always…
I prefer to think of them as the necessary yin & yang of a relationship rather than “arguments”. Agreeing on everything would just be boring. And, for the record, Kate should be with Sawyer, lids are over-rated and I’m just going to stop going to washing your socks until you learn your lesson.
Darren’s Top Five
5. Aliens - There are so many films that could fit into my top five: Leon, Sin City, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Kill Bill Vol. 1, but I think another classic sequel has to be on the list. After Ridley Scott’s creepy, atmospheric sci-fi thriller Alien, it was impossible to see how it could be recreated. So James Cameron didn’t try. Instead he decided to make one of the loudest, most explosive action movies ever to grace the silver screen. Fantastic.
4. The Dark Knight - Christopher Nolan did the impossible with Batman Begins - he took a dead franchise and gave it new life and a new beginning. With The Dark Knight he went even further. Epic in scale, it was not just another comic book adaptation. It has a great story, great action and most of all one of the greatest bad guys ever seen on screen.
3. Terminator 2: Judgement Day - It was tough to pick, but T2 wins out over the first because it took the premise of the original and rather than copy it, T2 built on it and added more to it - more storyline, more action, more explosions…more, more, more… I have watched this film so many times over the years and it never gets old.
2. The Matrix - There has been a lot of talk about the sequels - some people like them, even more think they killed the idea completely, but often people just forget how amazing and groundbreaking the first film was. Innovative in so many ways, not least in its use of CG.
1. Die Hard - The first movie is the only true classic in the genre. John McClane is a hero. He’s a waster, a bad father, a bad husband, resents his job and his life, but throw him in the middle of a crisis and he become the greatest action hero. No one else comes close. I will watch this film anywhere at anytime. I love it so much.
Lottie’s Top Five
5. Léon
“ Can we try with real bullets now?”
A twelve-year old Natalie Portman and an amazing performance from Gary Oldman result in one of the best Bonnie & Clyde semi-love totally heartbreaking stories ever.
4. The Dark Knight
“So I had a wife, beautiful, like you, who tells me I worry too much.”
We debated over whether or not we could include comic adaptations in the “Action Movies list” or if they should be confined to a list of their own. Either way, The Dark Knight is magnificent in both categories and is a testament to the fact that action movies really can be contenders in the world of film making.
3. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
“We have an unusual problem here, Jane. You obviously want me dead, and I’m less and less concerned for your well-being.”
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie, sans babies, in one of the hottest action movies ever made. How could this not make the list?
2. True Lies
“Yeah, I remember the first time I got shot out of a cannon.”
There had to be an Arnie movie in the “Top 5 Action Movies” list. I considered Terminator 2, as it has possibly the best chase scene , Total Recall and of course Batman & Robin (only joking) but it’s True Lies that always has me coming back for more.
1. Die Hard With A Vengeance
“Don’t fuck with me or I’ll shove a lightning bolt up your ass”
There’s no question or discussion to be had on this one. DHWaV is the ultimate action movie. It has Bruce. It has Jeremy. It has Samuel L Motherfucking Jackson. It even has brain teasers.
And now a question for the audience:
You are by a fountain of water with two jugs. One fills up to exactly 3 Litres, while the other fills up to exactly 5 Litres.
A bomb next to the jugs has been activated and is primed to explode. The bomb can only be defused by placing a jug, with EXACTLY 4 litres of water in it, on a scale the bomb is connected to.
Note that these jugs are oddly shaped with no tick marks, so you can’t simply fill the 5 litre jug “four fifths” full to get 4 litres.
How can you fill the appropriate jug with EXACTLY 4 litres of water so that you can deactivate the bomb?
Yippie-kai-yay motherfuckers!
Die Hard is amazing but Vengeance is better. Simon Gruber is easily one of the best villains ever.
@Emordino But Simon could never have happened without the awesome Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman. I’m not saying Vengeance was bad, but Die Hard was the original and best.
That’s one to me then! Wayhey!
DandL. I like it. A Brangelina / TomKat kinda thing goin on there in a Culchish kinda way!
Oh and no place for Speed? A classic action movie.
And another Oh, there’s a fine line between sci-fi thriller and action movie no?!?
@NaRocRoc I did consider Speed - it’s a great movie, but just not in my top 5. Constantine, True Lies, Independence Day - there’s loads more that I love, but those 5 have to be at the top.
Also, there’s a very fine line. We could do a top 5 just for comic book adaptations too.
@NaRocRoc - both Speed & Independence day were so close. Admittedly I’ve watched Independence daDay far more often than Leon but I thought I needed one clever film in the list. I’m very fickle too so it changes all the time.
Well you both dont have the correct list. Its very american-block bustery really. Although they are interesting and the yanks do Action very well. Plus - its all to recent! The actual list of the Top 5 Action movies of all time is:
DRUNKEN MASTER II: Toss martial arts, slapstick, stunts, and Jackie’s willingness to risk ridiculous bodily harm just to entertain you (look at the outtakes to see just how close he comes to a full-body cast) in a blender, sprinkle with a dash of Chinese legend about a guy who fights better when he’s drunk, and you’ve got a kung fu classic.
PREDATOR: Arnie has never been better in this alien hunthing testosterone laden flick. And the supporting cast just riased to levels even higher: Jesse ”the Body” Ventura actually says ”I ain’t got time to bleed” after getting shot. And plus the guy shaving - int he jungle - with no shaving foam. Macho stuff
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD: Errol Flynn was a lifetime in his own legend - and this is the film that proves it. Lots of buckling being swashed, duelling dandies and generally saving the day! THE best Robin Hood film. Period.
ENTER THE DRAGON: Radical at the time. This Bruce Lee film simply changed the way action films were made. Forever. Lithe as a tiger, swinging those crazy nunchakus and screaming like a man with his nads caught in the door. Not a complex film but the action sequences are still to die for.
I am stuck on number 5. My gut tells me Robocop. Intellignet action - one of the best of the 80′s. Well ahead of its time. The Modern Prometheus. A Frankenstein for the 80′s. Who can forget the standoff with Ed209.
My heart is telling me though it should be Seven Samurai. Made in 1954 its probably just too intellignet for the followers of mainstream action movies today. Sucha cliche now: A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves (from IMDB) At 3 hours and 28minutes long modern audiences just wouldnt ‘get’ it. But Seven Samurai is cinematic perfection in nearly every aspect.
Lottie has it wrong on this one apart from Die Hard with a Vengence. Darren for shame for putting the inferior first one in your list over the great one.
I can’t watch True Lies without thinking I’m watching the out takes to a bad action movie parody.
And anything with Angelina in it is not worth paying attention to.
Jurassic Park is a great action on the edge of your seat movie. Maybe Mission Impossible 2, but all I can muster up is the great motorbike chase.
So many.
Ok so you fill the 3 litre tank and pour it into the 5 litre tank, you then refill the 3 litre tank and from that fill up the 5 litre tank. This leaves 1 litre in the 3 litre tank! Empty the 5 litre tank and pour in the 1 litre. then fill the 3 litre tank and pour this in on top of the 1 litre! Done!
Ooh ooh Desperado and Kill Bill should be there somewhere too. God damnit why did you choose top 5 Darren rather than Tio 10, or top 20? Why????
@Peter - Im not a martial arts fan although many people have recomended Enter the Dragon - I will give it a go…eventually.
@Colonel Popcorn - Taste is in the eye of the beholder. And True Lies is just just so much fun!
@Efa - Was there Googelling? Tell the truth now…
Liz - trust me - you will enjoy it.
Mr & Mrs Smith ??? :-\
Honestly no googling! (Sp??)
I’m an engineer that shud explain it all!
DandL!!!
Mega. And also a little bit sickening
As for the lists, both have Dark Knight. Agree.
I’d personally pick both Alien and Terminator over their respective 2s but Darren does have The Matrix…
Lottie scores high with the beautiful Leon (I still cry every time Shape Of My Heart plays over the closing scene) but I haven’t seen Mr & Mrs Smith and True Lies was never really my thing.
However, as official arbiter of everything that’s right in the world, I have to agree that DHWAV is streets ahead of any of the other 3. Jeremy Irons, the creepy “animals went in two by two” score and a genuinely brilliant screenplay AND Sam Jackson! AND a reference to Pulp Fiction.
Overall a score draw, I think…
@Rick - stop with the diplomacy - I win as most people chose DHWaV.
**victory dance**
Still think I actually win.
No x 4
Die Hard is the quintessential action movie.
While DHWaV does contain some spectacular set pieces, it’s let down overall by the lacking script and cluttered plot. And I know, I know, we’re talking action here, not narrative, but script and plot are two essential components in any film regardless of the genre, so as the finished product isn’t too, well, generic. In fairness, it was McClane’s sharp wit in the original which contributed to making the piece so entertaining.
Also, the obvious lack of Raiders of the Lost Ark makes Robocons cry.
However, we’re all detracting from the real issue here - Kate SHOULD be with Sawyer.
Again,
Mr & Mrs Smith?????
http://rlv.zcache.com/you_make_baby_jesus_cry_tshirt-p235629728207299348tr96_400.jpg
@Robocons *spoiler alert*
*whispers* - and now she can!
@Ben - Shut up! Brad Pitt-White t-shirt. Enough said.
@ Rick Did u just say you cry??……
Shameful
Personally, my favourite movie has got to be the new Dragonball Z movie. EPIC!!!!