Enemy of the State (1998)

[StraferJack]

not sure it counts as an action movie but Leon has some cracking action set-pieces

[Otta]

I quite liked the 2 Ironman films, quite funny.

Oh, and The Green Hornet is pretty funny.

[Jeremy]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> not sure it counts as an action movie but Leon has some cracking action set-pieces

It does and it does.

[mockney piers]

Ahhh, Juno, not an action film but mighty mighty fine. In a similar vein, Ghost World.

We digress though.

[StraferJack]

Ghost World and Trees Lounge = sick-day in bed comfort movies

[a bloke]

Westworld with Yul Brynner was another classic, very much ahead of it's time.

[Fabricio the Guido]

I think Heat by Micheal Mann is rather great action film.

[Fabricio the Guido]

I think Heat by Micheal Mann is a rather great action film.

[a bloke]

And also The Parralax View with Warren Beatty. A very sinister, dark and paranoid film.

Though more a thriller then an action film.

[david_carnell]

Seconded for Heat.

The street gun-battle is what surround sound systems were made for.

[StraferJack]

neighbours on the other hand.. less appreciative

[*Bob*]

Can someone explain the seemingly inexplicable appeal of Steven Seagal?

His face is like a cross between Dirty Den and a baking potato, only with less charisma.

[a bloke]

He's a slightly better actor then Chuck Norris, but not as good as Jean Claude Van Damme.

He's not as good a martial artist as either.

[*Bob*]

Norris, Seagal, Van Damme

.. The Greats.

[a bloke]

You've forgotten Dolph Lundgren.

[Jeremy]

Seagal... hmmm... you could argue that he brought something new at the time. A style of martial arts different to anything joe public had seen before, which transferred fairly well to the screen (if you like that sort of thing). And he's also a chef.

But as with Van-Damme, the lack of acting ability and highly limited repertoire were exposed pretty quickly, and they became parodies of themselves after a couple of films.

It's strange how both Seagal and Van Damme keep going... churning out low-budget straight-to-DVD movies long after their star has fallen. Seagal in particular looks like he couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag before running out of breath.

[Fabricio the Guido]

Is there a sub genre of martial arts/action films heavy in terms of references from Bruce Lee and the Low Budget Hong Kong Cinema from the 1970s. I think one strand has come back strongly in the Korean flicks. The heist movies are also a sub set but action properly speaking is like Die Hard, Con Air. Its a 1980s thing the blow em up with big guns. With changing notions of masculinity the genre has also changed and you have Fast and the Furious, Miami Vice etc, man and machine as opposed to Arnold and Bruce Willis, brute stength and guns and explosions that's why enemy of the state is so interesting because it crosses thriller/action genre rather than the raw actions.

Anyway.. must dash

[maxxi]

[quote name= Posted by: Fabricio the Guido Today' date=' 08:17PM

I think one strand has come back strongly in the Korean flicks]

Very true - The Ong-Bak films and Warrior King (Tom-Yum-Goong) are huuugely entertaining for anyone reared on Big Boss, Fist of Fury etc.

[nashoi]

What bugs me is how everyone these days, particularly post Bourne, is supposed to be a bloody martial arts expert. Can you imagine Michael Caine, as Harry Palmer, attempting a roundhouse kick? Angelina Jolie, who can't be much more than 8st dripping wet, kicking huge blokes across the room in Salt, just looked daft.

[a bloke]

Wesley Snipes is a genuine martial arts practitioner. He has done shotokan karate for many years.

[Otta]

Demolition man, I liked that back in the day.

Can someone explain the seemingly inexplicable appeal of Steven Seagal?

He was in a film where the original Baywatch Babe burst out of a cake with her tits out.

[Jeremy]

maxxi Wrote:

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> Very true - The Ong-Bak films and Warrior King

> (Tom-Yum-Goong) are huuugely entertaining for

> anyone reared on Big Boss, Fist of Fury etc.

* smacks forehead * ... those films are Thai, not Korean.

[mockney piers]

Talking of Korean films, I'm wondering whether war films are a subset of action flicks, ort whether it entirely depends on the film.

It's Brotherhood that brings it to mind. Huge action set pieces, although the pitch of the film quickly rises to lunatic and never relents.

I'm reminded of Sam Pekinaph too, action? Not sure. Again, generally lunatic though.

But then I guess you have much more contemplative approaches to war films such as The Thin Red Line.

[a bloke]

I'm wondering when the definitive World War 1 film is going to be made which truly depicts the horror and brutality of the trenches? Something along the lines of a 'Saving Private Ryan' for the Somme. I heard somewhere that Birdsong is being turned into a movie.

On the subject of Korean films, one very strange but very good martial arts film I once saw was called 'Old Boy'. Some very tough fight scenes and a rather gross live octopus eating scene that turns the stomach.

[*Bob*]

I think you're confusing 'definitive' with 'the most graphically violent'.