Totally understand the 'not having anything useful to say' thing. Not least because it's how I mostly operate myself. Just occasionally I like to check I'm not wibbling into the ether, y'know? :)
(They do include Die Hard, to be fair. That's why that was the only one I didn't go into any detail about, because they'd already done it for me.)
I glanced over the Guardian list yesterday, saw it only had one film from east Asia and backed away, but my definition of action film includes martial arts as much as blowing things up. Ong Bak? Fong Sai Yuk ? Once Upon a Time in China? Police Story, yeah. Drunken Master 2? And I'm not even familiar with earlier and later works. Samurai films?
I'll check out Blade 2 then. Mildly enjoyed the first one.
It is very much a definition thing. And as I say, the definition I use is very specific - much like the argument against 'speculative fiction' is that all fiction is speculative, it's possible to argue that all films have action in them. Martial arts films certainly have action, but, by my definition of 'action film', it's the wrong kind of action. To be honest, though, I do have a gigantic soft spot for such films, and were they not excluded they would've taken up much more of my list; haven't seen Ong Bak or Drunken Master 2 (the latter because the last time I checked there was still no decent release of it available), but the other two you mention are great films, and Fong Sai Yuk would certainly be in a top ten
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Ong Bak is full of rough-gut no-wire elbow-death action. Much of it looks and sounds very painful. It's the opposite end from your wirework wuxia fantasy flick.
I was fortunate in that I got to see Drunken Master 2 in a cinema re-release. I think of it as Chan's comic-action masterpiece.
I've seen a couple of early Hong Hong martial arts films but they made very little impression on me apart from a vague memory of bright colours and hard-to-parse conventions. So I guess I start with Enter the Dragon, then Chan's earlier films like Shaolin Wooden Men, basic revenge plots prior to him developing the comedic touches to his everyman persona.
I need to see more Johnnie To. All I've caught otherwise in recent years has been a couple of Tsiu Harks, a couple of Zhang Yimou's and Woo's Reign of Assassins.
Have you seen Kung Fu Hustle? It's part action film but also part everything-else-in-a-blender.
The only samurai films I've seen are all by Kurosawa. Might be time to rewatch them. I'd suggest starting with the Mifune vehicles Sanjuro
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Ong Bak I'll be sure to watch one day. It does sound very much like my sort of thing. Drunken Master 2 I hope to watch one day; last time I tried to track it down, there were only two DVD releases and both were sub-optimal - one was cut and had horrible PQ, and the other was dubbed and cut, IIRC - but that was ten years ago or more, may have to investigate again
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Can entirely understand that, and Predator was under consideration for me, but ultimately got pushed out. Have been meaning to see it again, but have been put off by the terrible blu-ray releases.
I don't like action movies. Of those listed, I've only seen T2, I think.
Action sequences bore me. Yeah, they are kinda impressive in terms of what they achieve, but I just want to know what happens next, what the consequences are. I'm not interested in watching the actual action.
When I was dragged along to watch a Bond film at the cinema I fell asleep.
When I was dragged along to watch a Bond film at the cinema I fell asleep.
It wasn't during the poker sequence in the new "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig was it? Because I nearly fell asleep in that part. Poker... don't understand it, didn't get the significance of anything that was happening. Yawn.
Can understand how action films can be found boring; my mother I think has similar views. I expect such lists are more useful in a 'what not to watch' way, then :)
Said witness is played by Tea Leoni, once best know for being married to David Duchovny.And "Deep Impact" in which she fails to act despite being in the lead role. God that was a terrible film, even for a disaster movie
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Tonight I've watched The Limey. Then I thought I'd look at Point Break but mistyped on iTunes and found Point Blank starring Lee Marvin, so I'm watching that instead.
Would be interested to know how you get on with Point Blank. I loved it when I watched it some years ago, as it has a certain nihilistic quality of the sort that always resonates with me. But I also recall it having parts which the me of now may find problematic if I were to re-watch it.
I really enjoyed it. I think the problematic parts would include most of the scenes with women in them, but I'm resigned to that in 1960s/70s gangster films. Very odd seeing it immediately after The Limey.
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And, I like your list (and rationale for it) much better than theirs. How can they not include Die Hard?!?
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(They do include Die Hard, to be fair. That's why that was the only one I didn't go into any detail about, because they'd already done it for me.)
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I'll check out Blade 2 then. Mildly enjoyed the first one.
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I was fortunate in that I got to see Drunken Master 2 in a cinema re-release. I think of it as Chan's comic-action masterpiece.
I've seen a couple of early Hong Hong martial arts films but they made very little impression on me apart from a vague memory of bright colours and hard-to-parse conventions. So I guess I start with Enter the Dragon, then Chan's earlier films like Shaolin Wooden Men, basic revenge plots prior to him developing the comedic touches to his everyman persona.
I need to see more Johnnie To. All I've caught otherwise in recent years has been a couple of Tsiu Harks, a couple of Zhang Yimou's and Woo's Reign of Assassins.
Have you seen Kung Fu Hustle? It's part action film but also part everything-else-in-a-blender.
The only samurai films I've seen are all by Kurosawa. Might be time to rewatch them. I'd suggest starting with the Mifune vehicles Sanjuro ( ... )
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I don't like action movies. Of those listed, I've only seen T2, I think.
Action sequences bore me. Yeah, they are kinda impressive in terms of what they achieve, but I just want to know what happens next, what the consequences are. I'm not interested in watching the actual action.
When I was dragged along to watch a Bond film at the cinema I fell asleep.
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It wasn't during the poker sequence in the new "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig was it? Because I nearly fell asleep in that part. Poker... don't understand it, didn't get the significance of anything that was happening. Yawn.
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Can understand how action films can be found boring; my mother I think has similar views. I expect such lists are more useful in a 'what not to watch' way, then :)
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Tonight I've watched The Limey. Then I thought I'd look at Point Break but mistyped on iTunes and found Point Blank starring Lee Marvin, so I'm watching that instead.
(Will reply to ajr in the morning.)
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