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How lazy. Recycling a list from December of last year.
This year was a reunion and introduction to many action movies. I WAS planning to watch Fearless Hyena, but decided not to - save it for next year (watching it + the review).
Anyways, the year ends in three days. Here are the best five action movies I have watched this year because ten would be too hard to decide.
Everyone's heard of Die Hard or Bruce Willis or Alan Rickman at least once. This was me for a long time, but then in February of this year after my family finally got a Disney+ subscription, I finally got to watch the movie, and it was amazing.
The main character is actually a believable realistic person who'd you want to be around. Alan Rickman does a great job as being the charming killer (even though he still bad) and Reginald VelJohnson was the funniest part of the movie, and the only reason I mark it as an action-comedy.
Not to mention the epic Yippie Ki Yay catchphrase by McClane. The film might not have any over-the-top stunts (if jumping off a 80 something story building isn't an over the top stunt), but it's a great flick and is a great option to watch, bored or not.
The film has a lot of swearing, a nude magazine, extreme violence and deaths. But what were you expecting from a film named "Die Hard"?
This is the first Michelle Yeoh film I've watched fully without Jackie Chan with it, and it did not dissapoint. The fight choreography is truly amazing and eye-catching like no other 'Girls With Guns' movie. The stunt co-ordination performed by Yeoh and Rothrock is truly epic.
Secondly, Dick Wei's performance as the scary villian is amazing. No matter what role I see this guy in, he is super intimidating. (Sorry, Urquidez)
This film is a bit of an alternative to Police Story. The opening chase is shot in the same place as it is in Police Story, there are tons of sequences with glass breaking, (the big stunts in both films involve glass) and of course, the over-confident jerk of a villian.
Now, I must talk about the ending. The ending has a bit of an annoying turning out. In NO version of the movie we get to see what happens after the ending (One of the protagonists shoots the main antagonist in a response to the main antagonist killing one of their best friends). Do Ng and Carrie go to prison? Does the antagonist dies? Who knows? Nobody!
Rothrock and Yeoh have amazing chemistry, and they're both different. One is a good madam, the other is a bad madam. One is an inspector, the other is a sergeant. One likes crumpet and teas, one likes ramen.
Who said girls never knew how to handle guns?
Some legend on YouTube put the Australian English dub of this film from 1983 onto their channel. Being the mega Jackie fan I am [and because of the fact I literally own a blog dedicated to action films), I took time to watch the movie and ultimately enjoyed it.
There are a lot of reasons I love this movie.
It's very different. This film has Jackie playing.. not as a cop, but the lacking son of a rich businessman. Wow. Not only is Jackie's character different, but one of the major things in the films is different.
Jackie and his village boys do sports! This is an action sports film. SPORTS. While you might not be used to sports in Jackie's films (considering this is 1 out of 2 of them), you should be because this is amazing. Speaking of the sports, the movie starts off with all the people in Dragon's village CLIMBING UP THE TOP of a ******* pyramid to get a rugby ball. 3 minutes in the film and we already get an amazing sequence. A seven minute sequence. Then 5 minutes after the end of the sequence, we get a fight scene between Dragon and Cowboy.. over a girl. For 2 minutes. Until everyone starts freaking out because Dragon's father comes in the scene right after Dragon says he's not scared of his dad. Then 15 minutes later we get ANOTHER sports scene. FOR TEN MINUTES. Ever see that in Jackie Chan films? NO. And DON'T bring up Dragons Forever. That's not a sports movie. Still, I kinda feel bad for anyone who got the version of the movie where the rugby match is at the end.
The film was a combo of Mars and Chan. You rarely see Mars fight in films, but when he does, he does an amazing job. Mars is the best stuntman of Jackie and I wish we saw him in more films. Mars plays Cowboy and Chan plays Dragon. They are best friends in this movie and are probably the best duo ever seen in a Jackie Chan film. In the final fight, Dragon falls from the top floor and Cowboy literally breaks his fall by making sure Dragon landed on him. Didn't go too well the first time in shooting.
The subtle comedy was perfectly placed at times and was not too pushy. Some of the comedy is put in during life-defying fight scenes as well. Just goes to show that Dragon really doesn't care. Speaking of the fights, Hwang in-Shik and Jackie fight again, two years after The Young Master (which Dragon Lord was supposed to serve as a sequel to, except Jackie doesn't win by drinking any tobacco water. He wins.. by piling him up in a sack of potatos. Wow. Jackie Chan really got a beating back in the 80s. (Dragon Lord, Police Story 2, Wheels on Meals..) Anyways, back to the comedy, the English adaption writers did a great job. That's sometimes why I prefer the dub over the sub.
The stunt-work on the film was actually amazing and impressed so much for Jackie's third directed film only. Jackie's stunt team did a wild amazing job on this. This is the first film where Jackie started expirementing with stunt sequences. This is the start of the Jacky Chan that we ALL KNOW and love. Just imagine if he didn't like stunt sequences. Just imagine if he never even did them! This blog would only have like 10 reviews.
The soundtrack is a bit repetitive, but it is a great soundtrack song and I hate that I can't find it anywhere.
The old 80s dubbing makes the film more enjoyable. It might be horrible, but it sure has that charm. It is way better then the new 21st century dubs of foreign films, which unfortunately was used in the 88 Films trailer for the new Blu-Ray release of Dragon Lord.
Dragon Lord is definetly a great pick, and shows resemblance to the Young Master which I reviewed December of 2023. Just a spolier: no real dragons (or lords) appear in the film.
Drunken Master II / The Legend of Drunken Master was Jackie Chan's first traditional martial arts film for 12 years since the release of Dragon Lord (1982). While he hadn't done any martial arts films for twelve years, wow. He definetly improved with DRUNKEN MASTER 2!
Drunken Master 2 is the pinnacle of Hong Kong 90s action films right beside the US cut of Supercop (1995). Watching as Chan gets his butt beat, you know he's gonna win but it's super interesting to see. The movie also has an inpeccable soundtrack in both versions, scored by William Hu in the original version and Micheal Wandmacher in the Dimension Films / Miramix re-release.
I'm not saying that Micheal W's is bad, but it's like store-bought pizza. The real thing is better, and in this case the real thing is William Hu's score. Micheal W's score is just "durr insert Asian noises" and so is the original, but because it's about an Asian fighting style. Not to mention it actually uses Asian instruments beautifully. William takes the win.
The movie also teaches a lesson to drinking and all the bad things that happen to Fei-hung (getting beat up, disowned AGAIN just like in Drunken Master 1, and brain damage at the end of Hong Kong's OG version of the film) unlike 1978's Drunken Master, which glorified drinking.
The film shows a lesson, has impeccable music and fight choreography, and a mix of Lau Kar-leung's serious action which is more respectful and accurate to actual Drunken Boxing / Drunken Fist / Drunken Fairy / Drunken Monkey (Jui kuen/Zui quan) Jackie Chan's comedy kung fu.
The movie also has multiple scenes with comedy during fights, like when Kei-ying fought his own son and Fei-Hung started touching his nose and saying "Oh, papa ha ha what a cute nose!" and when Anita Mui's character (Wong Ling) fakes pregnancy to not get her stepson in trouble, and when Fei-hung spits out kerosene on a burning rod and he looks at the flame then to Ken Lo with a "Huh, cool." face then goes back to beating him up. Same with when Fei Hung throws a Drunkfit (Temper tantrum) right in the middle of the fight and breaks a box then goes back to fighting him, then at the end of the fight Fei hung blows a bubble out his mouth, has a fazed/shocked expression then falls unconscious to the ground.
Anyways, Let us have a non-alchaholic drink to how amazing this movie is.
HONORABLE MENTION #3
Hard take but Die Harder is better then Die Hard. Why? Well, this movie is funnier, has better writing, and better fight scenes. Also, the villian's death in this movie is incredible.
Die Hard 2 is a Christmas flick that can be watched at any time of the year. It's great, the villains are better, and the writing in this movie is more genius.
When we cut to Holly on the plane with the old lady and Thornburg, we get countless funny scenes, but also some other serious ones like when they're praying after finding out about the other plane crash.
Constanza does a great job at being the bad protagonist, and Willis' acting is actually better in this one then last time.
Die Hard 2 is a great flick with a great cast and writing, and you should watch it NOW.
My only advice is that if you're on a plane and they have this movie in the film selection, don't watch it. It's probably cut by... 1hr, 55m. (p.s. the film is 1hr, 57m)
HONORABLE MENTION #2
Oh HELL YES.
I've been a MEGA Chan Fan ever since I was 6. But due to my new interests with lots of other franchises I kinda forgot about him. Infact, Rush Hour was the only reason I thought about him. But one day I decided to watch one of his movies. Nothing interesting was on Netflix, but the plot of Police Story sounded interesting to me. So I watched the Hong Kong version, subtitled by SBS On Demand and then I started to get hooked back onto Jackie Chan films.
Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say the Police Story franchise is one of Chan's best works. All films in the franchise (Police Story, Police Story: Part 2, Police Story 3: Super Cop, Police Story 4: First Strike, New Police Story & Police Story: Lockdown) all got 12 wins at award shows combined, and all the film's box office performances (including Supercop 2 / Project S / Once a Cop / Police Story 3: Part 2) made 489866205 Hong Kong dollars. I can see why, trust me. Judging from only the first film (I've watched the first 5, not counting Supercop 2. That's a spinoff.), you can say it took a lot to make this.
The film's comedy sequences are subtle and actually very funny, but they don't take your focus away from the serious parts, then the action sequences.
The cast did a great performance. Maggie Cheung did a great job as an annoying girlfriend, and Lam Hwok Kung did an amazing job as the strict guy who only cares about himself.
My only complaint with the film is one of the comedy sequences which has Kevin ignoring crimes such as abuse so he can eat his lunch. Of course, when he ignores the call about a lost cow and when May calls him and he responds rudely, then pretends that it was another one of his employees, that was funny, because you're not supposed to take that seriously. I would spoil the rest of the sequence for you, but I don't want to.
After all, it's just a movie, and that joke was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't, but that doesn't make the movie any worse.
I can't say anything else bad about Police Story, because the fight scenes and two stunts by Jackie. (YES, TWO STUNTS), and climbing over walls and parkour that Chan does in the film is impeccable and just some of his best work.
I'm just waiting for the novelization of the film so I can tell my kids the Police Story of Jackie Chan's Police Force. "One sunny day in Hong Kong..."
AND TEH OFFICIAL BEST ACTION MOVIE OF 2023 THAT I HAVE WATCHED IS:
SUPERCOP!
Supercop is easily the best work in the Police Story series. Jackie Chan and his stunt team went all out on this one. Unlike First Strike which was overloaded with comedy (like putting too much salt on a food), the comedy in this was funny and subtle.
Anyway, Michelle Khan is a great actress, and this is the movie that introduced me to her. Her movies are insane, and soon enough you'll be seeing more of her on this site (infact, reviews of Supercop 2 and Yes Madam are coming soon)
Super Cop is one of the best Chan films ever. It must have taken months to come up with choreography. Jackie Chan is a legend. This movie is one you wish never ever ended, unlike it's spinoff, Supercop 2, which I gave up on watching after 2 minutes. I'll be watching it again for the sake of the blog.
Not to mention, Disney's edit (this canonically means Kevin Chan is a Disney Princess) and voice casting choice of films is actually amazing, including this one, and it's actually great they got Chan and Khan to voice for the film. Many would complain about the American editing of this franchise, but especially this movie, I actually enjoyed it! In fact, it was even better then the Hong Kong version. I'm not exageratting when I say this movie is the best movie of the whole 1990s. Watch it for yourself!
Superheroes? Forget them. We have the one and only Supercop.
This year was a reunion and introduction to many action movies. I WAS planning to watch Fearless Hyena, but decided not to - save it for next year (watching it + the review).
Anyways, the year ends in three days. Here are the best five action movies I have watched this year because ten would be too hard to decide.
Everyone's heard of Die Hard or Bruce Willis or Alan Rickman at least once. This was me for a long time, but then in February of this year after my family finally got a Disney+ subscription, I finally got to watch the movie, and it was amazing.
The main character is actually a believable realistic person who'd you want to be around. Alan Rickman does a great job as being the charming killer (even though he still bad) and Reginald VelJohnson was the funniest part of the movie, and the only reason I mark it as an action-comedy.
Not to mention the epic Yippie Ki Yay catchphrase by McClane. The film might not have any over-the-top stunts (if jumping off a 80 something story building isn't an over the top stunt), but it's a great flick and is a great option to watch, bored or not.
The film has a lot of swearing, a nude magazine, extreme violence and deaths. But what were you expecting from a film named "Die Hard"?
This is the first Michelle Yeoh film I've watched fully without Jackie Chan with it, and it did not dissapoint. The fight choreography is truly amazing and eye-catching like no other 'Girls With Guns' movie. The stunt co-ordination performed by Yeoh and Rothrock is truly epic.
Secondly, Dick Wei's performance as the scary villian is amazing. No matter what role I see this guy in, he is super intimidating. (Sorry, Urquidez)
This film is a bit of an alternative to Police Story. The opening chase is shot in the same place as it is in Police Story, there are tons of sequences with glass breaking, (the big stunts in both films involve glass) and of course, the over-confident jerk of a villian.
Now, I must talk about the ending. The ending has a bit of an annoying turning out. In NO version of the movie we get to see what happens after the ending (One of the protagonists shoots the main antagonist in a response to the main antagonist killing one of their best friends). Do Ng and Carrie go to prison? Does the antagonist dies? Who knows? Nobody!
Rothrock and Yeoh have amazing chemistry, and they're both different. One is a good madam, the other is a bad madam. One is an inspector, the other is a sergeant. One likes crumpet and teas, one likes ramen.
Who said girls never knew how to handle guns?
Some legend on YouTube put the Australian English dub of this film from 1983 onto their channel. Being the mega Jackie fan I am [and because of the fact I literally own a blog dedicated to action films), I took time to watch the movie and ultimately enjoyed it.
There are a lot of reasons I love this movie.
It's very different. This film has Jackie playing.. not as a cop, but the lacking son of a rich businessman. Wow. Not only is Jackie's character different, but one of the major things in the films is different.
Jackie and his village boys do sports! This is an action sports film. SPORTS. While you might not be used to sports in Jackie's films (considering this is 1 out of 2 of them), you should be because this is amazing. Speaking of the sports, the movie starts off with all the people in Dragon's village CLIMBING UP THE TOP of a ******* pyramid to get a rugby ball. 3 minutes in the film and we already get an amazing sequence. A seven minute sequence. Then 5 minutes after the end of the sequence, we get a fight scene between Dragon and Cowboy.. over a girl. For 2 minutes. Until everyone starts freaking out because Dragon's father comes in the scene right after Dragon says he's not scared of his dad. Then 15 minutes later we get ANOTHER sports scene. FOR TEN MINUTES. Ever see that in Jackie Chan films? NO. And DON'T bring up Dragons Forever. That's not a sports movie. Still, I kinda feel bad for anyone who got the version of the movie where the rugby match is at the end.
The film was a combo of Mars and Chan. You rarely see Mars fight in films, but when he does, he does an amazing job. Mars is the best stuntman of Jackie and I wish we saw him in more films. Mars plays Cowboy and Chan plays Dragon. They are best friends in this movie and are probably the best duo ever seen in a Jackie Chan film. In the final fight, Dragon falls from the top floor and Cowboy literally breaks his fall by making sure Dragon landed on him. Didn't go too well the first time in shooting.
The subtle comedy was perfectly placed at times and was not too pushy. Some of the comedy is put in during life-defying fight scenes as well. Just goes to show that Dragon really doesn't care. Speaking of the fights, Hwang in-Shik and Jackie fight again, two years after The Young Master (which Dragon Lord was supposed to serve as a sequel to, except Jackie doesn't win by drinking any tobacco water. He wins.. by piling him up in a sack of potatos. Wow. Jackie Chan really got a beating back in the 80s. (Dragon Lord, Police Story 2, Wheels on Meals..) Anyways, back to the comedy, the English adaption writers did a great job. That's sometimes why I prefer the dub over the sub.
The stunt-work on the film was actually amazing and impressed so much for Jackie's third directed film only. Jackie's stunt team did a wild amazing job on this. This is the first film where Jackie started expirementing with stunt sequences. This is the start of the Jacky Chan that we ALL KNOW and love. Just imagine if he didn't like stunt sequences. Just imagine if he never even did them! This blog would only have like 10 reviews.
The soundtrack is a bit repetitive, but it is a great soundtrack song and I hate that I can't find it anywhere.
The old 80s dubbing makes the film more enjoyable. It might be horrible, but it sure has that charm. It is way better then the new 21st century dubs of foreign films, which unfortunately was used in the 88 Films trailer for the new Blu-Ray release of Dragon Lord.
Dragon Lord is definetly a great pick, and shows resemblance to the Young Master which I reviewed December of 2023. Just a spolier: no real dragons (or lords) appear in the film.
Drunken Master 2 is the pinnacle of Hong Kong 90s action films right beside the US cut of Supercop (1995). Watching as Chan gets his butt beat, you know he's gonna win but it's super interesting to see. The movie also has an inpeccable soundtrack in both versions, scored by William Hu in the original version and Micheal Wandmacher in the Dimension Films / Miramix re-release.
I'm not saying that Micheal W's is bad, but it's like store-bought pizza. The real thing is better, and in this case the real thing is William Hu's score. Micheal W's score is just "durr insert Asian noises" and so is the original, but because it's about an Asian fighting style. Not to mention it actually uses Asian instruments beautifully. William takes the win.
The movie also teaches a lesson to drinking and all the bad things that happen to Fei-hung (getting beat up, disowned AGAIN just like in Drunken Master 1, and brain damage at the end of Hong Kong's OG version of the film) unlike 1978's Drunken Master, which glorified drinking.
The film shows a lesson, has impeccable music and fight choreography, and a mix of Lau Kar-leung's serious action which is more respectful and accurate to actual Drunken Boxing / Drunken Fist / Drunken Fairy / Drunken Monkey (Jui kuen/Zui quan) Jackie Chan's comedy kung fu.
The movie also has multiple scenes with comedy during fights, like when Kei-ying fought his own son and Fei-Hung started touching his nose and saying "Oh, papa ha ha what a cute nose!" and when Anita Mui's character (Wong Ling) fakes pregnancy to not get her stepson in trouble, and when Fei-hung spits out kerosene on a burning rod and he looks at the flame then to Ken Lo with a "Huh, cool." face then goes back to beating him up. Same with when Fei Hung throws a Drunkfit (Temper tantrum) right in the middle of the fight and breaks a box then goes back to fighting him, then at the end of the fight Fei hung blows a bubble out his mouth, has a fazed/shocked expression then falls unconscious to the ground.
Anyways, Let us have a non-alchaholic drink to how amazing this movie is.
HONORABLE MENTION #3
Hard take but Die Harder is better then Die Hard. Why? Well, this movie is funnier, has better writing, and better fight scenes. Also, the villian's death in this movie is incredible.
Die Hard 2 is a Christmas flick that can be watched at any time of the year. It's great, the villains are better, and the writing in this movie is more genius.
When we cut to Holly on the plane with the old lady and Thornburg, we get countless funny scenes, but also some other serious ones like when they're praying after finding out about the other plane crash.
Constanza does a great job at being the bad protagonist, and Willis' acting is actually better in this one then last time.
Die Hard 2 is a great flick with a great cast and writing, and you should watch it NOW.
My only advice is that if you're on a plane and they have this movie in the film selection, don't watch it. It's probably cut by... 1hr, 55m. (p.s. the film is 1hr, 57m)
HONORABLE MENTION #2
The Young Master is one of the greatest 80s Chan films, despite it being his second directing role. I don't even know how to review this one.
The ten minute climatic fight is amazing, and it's just kinda cool to see Chan's character [Dragon] just act like a robot.
The fight choreography is amazing and definetly took many days to come up with.
Also, there is not too much comedy, but when there is, it is subtle and actually funny.
When I first watched the film I thought it was gonna be a boring film, but then I continued it and it was actually amazing.
I bet that when Chan started directing, it was unusual to let a young man ( 26 year old) direct a film that he stars in and writes. But when you let him take charge, he might make a movie you don't want to end.
However, Golden Harvest must have not felt like that, because the film was originally 2 hours longer.
Anyways, The Young Master is a great film to watch when you're bored with great choreography, great writing, and great Jackie Chan stunts.
Okay, kids, what have we learned from The Young Master?
A kung fu fighting man is one of the best men you can find.
The ten minute climatic fight is amazing, and it's just kinda cool to see Chan's character [Dragon] just act like a robot.
The fight choreography is amazing and definetly took many days to come up with.
Also, there is not too much comedy, but when there is, it is subtle and actually funny.
When I first watched the film I thought it was gonna be a boring film, but then I continued it and it was actually amazing.
I bet that when Chan started directing, it was unusual to let a young man ( 26 year old) direct a film that he stars in and writes. But when you let him take charge, he might make a movie you don't want to end.
However, Golden Harvest must have not felt like that, because the film was originally 2 hours longer.
Anyways, The Young Master is a great film to watch when you're bored with great choreography, great writing, and great Jackie Chan stunts.
Okay, kids, what have we learned from The Young Master?
A kung fu fighting man is one of the best men you can find.
Oh HELL YES.
I've been a MEGA Chan Fan ever since I was 6. But due to my new interests with lots of other franchises I kinda forgot about him. Infact, Rush Hour was the only reason I thought about him. But one day I decided to watch one of his movies. Nothing interesting was on Netflix, but the plot of Police Story sounded interesting to me. So I watched the Hong Kong version, subtitled by SBS On Demand and then I started to get hooked back onto Jackie Chan films.
Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say the Police Story franchise is one of Chan's best works. All films in the franchise (Police Story, Police Story: Part 2, Police Story 3: Super Cop, Police Story 4: First Strike, New Police Story & Police Story: Lockdown) all got 12 wins at award shows combined, and all the film's box office performances (including Supercop 2 / Project S / Once a Cop / Police Story 3: Part 2) made 489866205 Hong Kong dollars. I can see why, trust me. Judging from only the first film (I've watched the first 5, not counting Supercop 2. That's a spinoff.), you can say it took a lot to make this.
The film's comedy sequences are subtle and actually very funny, but they don't take your focus away from the serious parts, then the action sequences.
The cast did a great performance. Maggie Cheung did a great job as an annoying girlfriend, and Lam Hwok Kung did an amazing job as the strict guy who only cares about himself.
My only complaint with the film is one of the comedy sequences which has Kevin ignoring crimes such as abuse so he can eat his lunch. Of course, when he ignores the call about a lost cow and when May calls him and he responds rudely, then pretends that it was another one of his employees, that was funny, because you're not supposed to take that seriously. I would spoil the rest of the sequence for you, but I don't want to.
After all, it's just a movie, and that joke was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't, but that doesn't make the movie any worse.
I can't say anything else bad about Police Story, because the fight scenes and two stunts by Jackie. (YES, TWO STUNTS), and climbing over walls and parkour that Chan does in the film is impeccable and just some of his best work.
I'm just waiting for the novelization of the film so I can tell my kids the Police Story of Jackie Chan's Police Force. "One sunny day in Hong Kong..."
AND TEH OFFICIAL BEST ACTION MOVIE OF 2023 THAT I HAVE WATCHED IS:
Supercop is easily the best work in the Police Story series. Jackie Chan and his stunt team went all out on this one. Unlike First Strike which was overloaded with comedy (like putting too much salt on a food), the comedy in this was funny and subtle.
Anyway, Michelle Khan is a great actress, and this is the movie that introduced me to her. Her movies are insane, and soon enough you'll be seeing more of her on this site (infact, reviews of Supercop 2 and Yes Madam are coming soon)
Super Cop is one of the best Chan films ever. It must have taken months to come up with choreography. Jackie Chan is a legend. This movie is one you wish never ever ended, unlike it's spinoff, Supercop 2, which I gave up on watching after 2 minutes. I'll be watching it again for the sake of the blog.
Not to mention, Disney's edit (this canonically means Kevin Chan is a Disney Princess) and voice casting choice of films is actually amazing, including this one, and it's actually great they got Chan and Khan to voice for the film. Many would complain about the American editing of this franchise, but especially this movie, I actually enjoyed it! In fact, it was even better then the Hong Kong version. I'm not exageratting when I say this movie is the best movie of the whole 1990s. Watch it for yourself!
Superheroes? Forget them. We have the one and only Supercop.
