The B Action Movie Thread - Page 326

I think most of us will take LEVIATHAN over DEEP STAR SIX. It's got Amanda Pays, Richard Crenna and a bottle of Monster mutating Vodka after all.

But for underwater monstar movies, its DEEP RISING for me without a doubt. They even did a nice dig at King Kong at the end.

P.S- Russell, what did you think of the Abyss's "Water Tide" scene?

Here is some footage of Glover on "Brothers and Sisters:"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gZwsMVCRKYA

Certainly isn't as strokey as he was in SHOOTER, but his voice has seen better years. Still, I can totally see why Sally Field would succumb to his charm.

Loved it. The director's cut is the only cut I'm familiar with, was the entire tidal wave stuff cut out of the theatrical version?

Ed Harris isn't short of great performances and this one is surely up there. Gotta say though GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS will always be his finest work for me.

"Fuck the Machine? Fuck the Machine? FUCK THE MACHINE! FUCK 'IM!!"

EDIT: ABYSS end credits are still rolling, great score for this flick.

Especially loved the scene where Ed pounds the shit out of Lindsey back to life. Very moving.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

The tidal wave scene gave a lot more meaning to the Alien prescense at the end of the movie. The Thearatical cut makes their intentions more ambuguous.

You should try the Novelization by Orson Scott Card. It was approved by Cameron and expounds upon the characters. In fact, Harris, Mary Elizabeth and Biehn used the Novelization as notes for their characters.

I'm gonna say my favorite Ed Harris performance is HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. What a great scumbag. I liked William Hurt too, but Harris deserved the nomination over Hurt.

Best Ed Harris performance in a not-so-great movie: JUST CAUSE. His scenes with Connery are about all that flick was good for:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mz4yA5GLqCE&feature=related

I can't really imagine watching the film and having the alien scene without the tidal waves. The ambiguity would have driven me mad, plus I love seeing what the aliens were prepared to do to us.

I'm gonna have to start visiting some charity shops and try and find some film novelizations. This one particularly sounds impressive, what with the actors taking notes from it and such.

Not action per say, just an all around great film--but i'll throw out some love for THE RIGHT STUFF.

Whole cast is awesome: Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Lance Henrickson, Sam Shepherd, & my fave Fred Ward.

Such a cool flick-and really funny too.

BlockBuster sent me the old version of BLACK RAIN. Scratched to shit. Oh well, watching THE YAKUZA instead.

Edit: Never seen JUST CAUSE. Worth a look?

Goddamn this thread moves fast.

I want to go back to Money Train and establish something here: does this or does it not have the most lame plot to an action movie ever?

I mean, basically the bad guy doesn't do anything illegal except being guilty of being an utter asshole. But he has a train full of money and that can help Woody Harrelson get ouf his gambling debt and progress from a fuck up that lost Jennifer Lopez to Wesley Snipes and has an alcohol problem, to a fuck up that breaks the law but learns valuable life lessons in the process, even though in the final shot he took money that wasn't his anyway.

Yay or nay?

Nay. Try watching The Cowboy Way instead.

I only saw Money Train once a long long long time ago on Showtime. I don't remember it at all. But the title is awesome. Its one of those things if someone asks you "What are we doing tonight?" And you bring out the beat-up VHS tape and say "Riding on the MONEY TRAIN"

Plot wasn't particuarly spectacular but the score was good and the scene of Wesley fucking J-Lo while Harrelson is getting beaten up to Melissa Ethridge music was something. I think the Snipes/Harrelson chemistry carried this. Money Train falls into that category of borderline "shit burger" films that just manage to display enough entertaining stuff for me to enjoy more than I probably should. It's fun, stupid, and highly quotable.

In regards to Robert Blake not doing nothing illegal, he did try to kill a whole bunch of innocent passengers to try and get Snipes and Harrelson to stop the train. In retrospect, his character was just another one of those villians who was a prick for no real reason.

Money Train will be most remembered for inspiring someone to firebomb some guy.

I just hope one day, the opportunity for such a set-up presents itself. I have the beat-up VHS. Now, I just need a friend who cares enough to ask what I'm doing tonight.

Yea but Blake's hand isn't forced UNTIL Woody hijacks his money train- without Woody the fuck up, there's no Blake the butcher (I'm brushing up on my alliteration). It's like they wrote him as an asshole but wasn't a villain until the writers used some ad hoc plot device to turn him into a villain. Which sucks because Chris Cooper as the fire obsessed, ticket booth stalking hobo was more interesting.

It is pretty decent though in that similar to the The Corrupter, an otherwise by the numbers action film is elevated by the dynamic of the two main characters.

It still has the worst plot I can think of though. At least it's "character driven" I guess.

I seem to remember ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS as having a pretty crappy plot. I don't know what it was but I remember not liking it.

My problem with MONEY TRAIN is that it seemed to only exists because WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP was a big hit. It felt like some shitty script where the producers figured they'd just plug Snipes and Woody in there and everything would be great and it would make bajillion dollars no matter what.

But hey, I only caught it once over ten years ago so I can't really penetrate much further into its flaws.

Too bad about BLACK RAIN. I was really happy with the extras on the new DVD. It's a movie that doesn't get the kind of love that a lot of Scott's other flicks do (probably because there are no robots or aliens in it) so I was happy to see a good hour-long doc with current interviews with a lot of the film's major participants.

Skip JUST CAUSE. It's really only good for the scenes between Connery and Harris, and there aren't enough of those to justify watching the whole thing.

Black Rain is a pretty tight cop film. Always enjoy. Seem to catch it a lot late at night on HBO. Also, a lot of threads are left open. I really like that. Too many movies want to wrap everything up nice and neat, but Black Rain leaves it hanging out there.

I love Black Rain. My favorite scene is when they take Charlie's coat and he chases them for like 5 blocks while yelling "Ohhhhh you little SHIT!" And then they cut his head off. Also when Michael Douglas aka NEEK revs up his motorcycle in the beginning in the bullfight routine with Garcia. What a douche.

What follows is one of the longest
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"s in film history!

Ohhh and the music is so good especially when he fights Sato at the end, and the electric guitar wails as the fight shifts in Neek's favor! East vs. West!

I like the Intense music during Nick's 'search for clues and evidence'.

"YEAH YOU HAD YOURSELF AREALNICEPARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*destroys everything*

WELL AHM HERE!!! AHM HERE!!!
*knocks over shelves*

*wailing synth and guitar*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bTqUhUpuj8

He was teaching naive "MAS" how to be a real cop!

There's Always sumthin, Mas. Always sumthin.

*hurls a shovel into a wall*

I tried to watch MNEMONIC recently...wow was it bad. I had some fond memories of Dolph's performance from my original viewing back in the day. This time I couldn't even make it that far into the film. It's really, really bad.

Do you still have that head-butt gif from BLACK RAIN?

I wouldn't dare delete it!



And here's another one of Neek-san's epic fake outs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CBiL...eature=related

Both classics!

And when Charlie and Mas are going back and forth in the karaoke scene! Its magical!

Charlie: AAHHH!!!

Mas: AAAHH!!!

Charlie: AAHHH!!!

Mas: AAAHH!!!

Charlie: AAHHH!!!

Mas: AAAHH!!!

You guys have inspired me to blind buy this, thanks!

Love Hans Zimmer's score for this!

You won't regret it.

Watched an old cop flick named MADIGAN(!). I was interested in it because it was made by Don Siegel only a few years before he made DIRTY HARRY. It stars Richard Widmark as Madigan(!), a tough NY cop who with the help of his partner (Harry Guardino, Lt. Bressler from both DIRTY HARRY and THE ENFORCER) tries to track down a killer who stole his gun. Henry Fonda also stars as the stern police commissioner who must deal with corruption in the department.

I can't really say it was a good movie, it juggles too many storylines and not many are very interesting. But it was enlightening to see how different the film was from DIRTY HARRY in terms violence, language, and villain. The two films were made only 3 years apart but it might as well have been 30 years.

So while I don't recommend watching MADIGAN(!), I would say it's worth checking out the trailer. I'm really fond of the crawl at the end:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OcM35XL-L3g

The theme song "I'll be holding on" by Gregg Allman is unforgettable.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qnldOEDLqck&feature=related

I love this scene. He just goes batshit insane while Masa just stands around.

Black Rain is a friggin' awesome flick. First saw it back in the theater in '89, although all I remember is the scene with Nick (Neek) in the rain and then Kate Capshaw comes over to him. The following year saw it at my brother's house around Christmas, and remembered more from it, the finger chopping scene mostly. I actually have both of the dvds that have been released. Still need to get around to listening to the commentary on the new one.

I'm almost done with Seagalogy, and it hasn't failed to be a real page turner. It's amazing that Vern doesn't really rip into some of Seagal's DTV flicks, especially Attack Force. I was expecting him to rip that flick a new one.

The head yakuza guy really hammered home the point.

"Then came da RAIN...

BLACK RAIN!

...you made da rain BLACK!"

Black Rain seems to be the only other Hollywood movie Kate Capshaw has done.

By the way, has anyone seen that TV Reality Series The Next Action Star? The 2 winners starred in their own made for TV Action movie called Race For Your Life. It starred Billy Zane I believe.

I just looked up Just Cause, and who plays Connery's wife? Kate Capsaw. I'm curious about seeing it again, as I remember liking what little bit I saw of it.

Right now I'm watching the original recorded vhs copy that I have of Hard To Kill. Also on there, Marked For Death, and a Jacques Cousteau documentary. It's one of the tapes that my brother made for us when he got HBO way back when. In between the end of Marked For Death and the beginning of Hard To Kill was a commercial for a boxing match, and then a really bright background announcing the HBO Fan Club: Steven Seagal and the upcoming film is Hard To Kill. Followed by the cool HBO opening that I always liked.

Haven't seen this flick in ages, but Seagalogy got me curious about this golden age Seagal classic.

(DIRTY HARRY is MADIGAN straight up with no chaser)

Almost mentioned this one a while back; another one of those discovered thru one of QT's film festivals. Kind of a dry run for DIRTY HARRY. That's the facinating thing. Also like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, funny how each older generation of law enforcement thinks shit's falling apart, going to hell in a hand basket, that the damn kids aren't all right.

The thing is MADIGAN is a singles hitter stroking one into right field and DIRTY HARRY is a slugger ripping a blast into the bleachers. As cool as Richard Widmark is , and it is cool he set the template in place, its Eastwood's show now. He owns it.

Another old one to check out --a kind of M*A*S*H meets DIRTY HARRY --is FUZZ. I'm not a big fan, but it has a bit of a following. Stars Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch, Tom Skerritt, & Yul Bryner.

<Re: MADIGAN--Correct me if I'm wrong--been a while--but is Fonda the asshole chief?>

I wouldn't say he's the typical asshole chief. He's more of a boy scout who does everything by the book when it comes to his job, but at the same time is nailing a married woman half his age. My kind of conflicted.

Actually, I'm more fond of the topless girl that you get to see about 35 seconds in. Talk about a pleasant surprise.

That account also has the trailer to Machine-Gun Kelly, a late 50's gangster movie from Roger Corman which featured the first starring role of one of our favorites, Charles Bronson. Seeing him slap around bitches, mowing down people with a tommy gun, and throwing someone into a cage to be mauled by a mountain lion (!)... here's another film I suddenly want to see now.

EDIT: It'd help if I included the link to the trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fCBxIOTZ4IE

I always felt that her character in this film is what Willie Scott turned out like once Indy finally dumped her ass.

Nuts! Wish that one was on DVD. Have to keep an eye out to see if it ever runs on TCM.

That reminds me of MACHINE GUN McCAIN. It aired on TCM last month, but I missed it. It's so rare I can't find a clip on youtube. TCM has a page for it with someclips.

SAVAGE....
SADISTIC...
LEADER OF KILLERS!

What a trailer.

Oh Bronson!

"You were scared, weren't you?"
*SLAP*!!

EDIT: BREAKDOWN arrived this morning. Give it a spin tonight.

Finished Empire so now I can return to Seagalogy.

You're going to have a blast with Breakdown Russell. It's a spectacular flick.

I've gotten up to the conclusion of Seagalogy and I really liked what Vern said about Pistol Whipped. Glad to see the last film in the book gets good words, since it actually is a decent flick. Seagal actually shows a range of emotions, and is a loser alcoholic gambler.

Here's hoping that Kill Switch turns out to be another decent flick, and that the days of constant obvious stunt doubling and atrocious dubbing is behind us.

I finally have the time to type this up. Last night I watched Hard Target for the first time in a long long while. I watched the original version to prepare myself for the Director's Cut, which I burned onto a blank DVD… er, I mean I "acquired", nevermind how. It's not difficult to find.

Overall, I did enjoy it, even though it's not the cut that Woo wanted released and he had all those problems with having to deal with the Hollywood machine for the first time. You had flourishes of Woo's trademarks (the doves, the slow-mo, the motorcycles, etc.), some humor, memorable dialogue, a badass Van Damme (tremendous mullet, accent and all), and awesome rogues in Van Cleaf and Fouchon. How could you ever forget Jean-Claude punching a giant snake in the head, or his "surfing" on a motorbike?

It was great watching good old Lance grow more and more insane and obsessed in his conquest of Chance. The action scenes are unforgettable; the final half hour or so helped make the movie as enjoyable as it was. It certainly stands out among American action movies, especially at the time it was made. I still remember, 15 years later, that at the time it was released, some critics didn't understand all the slow-mo and the flourishes. Really, they bitched about the slow-mo! Even then (without having any idea who Woo was) I thought it was a goofy thing to bash, and after seeing The Killer & Hard Boiled (the only two of his Asian flicks I've seen, regrettably) years later, it made me realize how those critics were ignorant douchepilots.

Yancy Butler looked pretty good here; seeing that current picture of her posted a few weeks ago in this thread… quite sad. Besides the anorexia, it looks like she had man hands in that pic!

Once I get around to seeing the DC, I'll mention what I thought of it compared to the theatrical cut. I do know that the DC has a brief scene where Van Damme dances with Wilford Brimley. I know that not everyone buys the "Diabeetus guy" as an action guy, but I thought his scenes ruled. C'mon, Wilford Brimley making moonshine and taking down people with a crossbow… how can you go wrong there? I also know that not everyone who's seen the DC cared for the dancing scene.

Are you kidding me here? This, this, this, and this proves that there's never a fucking time when you do NOT want to see Van Damme dance. Sigh, if only all of his movies would have had at least 3 to 5 minutes of EPIC DANCING!

Anyhow, I'm glad this movie has been more appreciated now than it was when it was released.

Glad you liked Hard Target, Perfect Weapon. It's one of my favourites myself.

After reading your review, I get the impression that you're now a fan of the Woo "Trademarks" of Action filming (e.g The Doves, The Slow Mo). If that's the case I fully like to recommend Joshua Tree or Army Of One (Its US Title). There's an entire Action sequence set in a warehouse that is full of Woo touches. Really great.

Have you seen A Better Tomorrow, Once A Thief or Blackjack, Perfect? They are worthy Woo entries themselves.

I love how in Black Rain, the two IA cops in the beginning are Bill Smydowski and Milton from Office Space.

Here's the latest ytmnd tribute to Van Damme. He's throwing a fit while on vacation.

I wouldn't put Blackjack up there with the other two. It's an enjoyable made for TV movie that pairs Lundgren up with Woo but it could have been so much more in my opinion. Better Tomorrow is great stuff. I love the sequel as well. Once A Thief is a bit lighter in the violence but from a dramatic storytelling perspective, it has a lot of the classic Woo melodrama that I've come to love. Also, many people shit on Bullet In The Head but I'd reccomend it.

Army Of One is definetly a must-see. The warehouse scene was phenominal. Having been a huge Woo/Rodriguez fan when I rented this, the warehouse sequence made me fall in love with this movie. Many friends followed suit when I introduced them to it.

Army of One is pretty awesome. Too bad the R1 DVD is fullscreen. It's OOP, but available on Amazon marketplace for like five bucks.

What I want to do is use Amazon.co.uk to get all the shit that's fullscreen/cut over here in the states. It's a cryin' shame that Hard Target is uncut in the UK but cut in the US.

Damn it, we're Americans. We should be more violent than those blokes across the pond. It ain't right.

BULLET IN THE HEAD is awesome, maybe my favorite Woo. Recall, the DVD transfer I watched being really shitty. A shame. Needs a special edition.