Showdown In Little MoFo: A List Of My Favorite Action Movies!

I think you know how I feel about Demolition Man. So good. So very, very good.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Hi Tyler,

Just stumbled on your list which I'm enjoying immensely. So refreshing to see a MoFo unashamedly talking up what they like - instead of what they think they should like. Hold your head up high and wear your action movie lover's badge with pride sir.

Also + rep for giving some love to Licence To Kill which I maintain is one of the five best Bond films. Tough and gritty with a really nasty villain in Robert Davi, and a great Bond (perhaps the closest to the books) in the underrated Timothy Dalton. Hear so much contempt for Dalton, but he really was an authentic Bond who no doubt suffered being such a stark contrast to Moore's raised eyebrows.

48 Hours is another bang-on choice from one of the true action masters of the last 35 years; Walter Hill. The scene in which Murphy raises hell in a redneck bar by posing as a cop is dynamite, and the film one of the best of the 80's. Thumbs up. Have you seen Streets Of Fire? If not do - it's a real over looked 80's gem.

I also noticed you mentioning Mark L. Lester and if you haven't seen it: Then I implore you to check out Class Of 1999 which I think you'll really dig. Heck if you like that you can also check out Lester's social satire/exploitation classic Class Of 1984.

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100 Favourites From The Future: REWIRED

Go straight to Class Of 1984.

Behave yourself HK. Yes Class Of 1984 is definitely the better film, but it's 'action lite'. Class Of 1999 is a bonafide action film hence my recommendation.

Thanks for the feedback, UF.

License To Kill is by far my favourite Bond film, for the reasons you mentioned and for the great '80's feel to it and the cartoonish parts (like Anthony Zerbe's demise).

Haven't seen Streets Of Fire or Class Of 1999, but I do agree with Walter Hill being a master of cinema. While it won't be appearing on this list, The Warriors is one of my top ten favourite films of all time, and still remains one of the most entertaining and fascinating cinematic time capsules of all time.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

12. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)



My favourite of the buddy cop series, this has much memorable action set-pieces and dialogue, and while being the funniest of the series, it's also the darkest of the series, with nasty villians and themes of revenge present in the shipping port finale.

11. The Last Boy Scout (1991)



While there is a lot of contempt for the Wayans brothers, two of them starred in two of my favourite 'buddy' action movies (the other being The Glimmer Man). Tony Scott remains one of my favourite directors, and this is the best example of his cinematic awesomeness. The banter between Willis and Wayans is perfect and it's immensely quotable.

Plus, friday night is a great night for football.

Whoo Another Glimmer Man lover, me too.

Last Boy Scout was the best 90s detective movie & as usual I never deny the pleasure of watching a Lethal Weapon movie, I'd be game even today if they decide to make a sequel.

Yeah, I love The Glimmer Man. Won't be making an appearance on this list, but I love it. Steven Seagal may not be the byword for "great acting", but I've always considered him to have considerable screen presence, especially in The Glimmer Man.

Last Boy Scout was absolutely killed when it was released, but I've always liked it. Not as much as many, but more than most did at the time.

Really enjoyed Last Boy Scout but not seen it in years. And I love the whole Lethal Weapon series. The finale at the shipping port is great. "Diplomatic immunity!"

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The Top Ten Greatest Action Films In The History Of Ever (in my opinion).

It comes down to this people. Playtime is over. The last 40 films are all good to great action films, but these ten are truly something special. Ten action masterpieces that have stayed with me for personal reasons or for the fact they embody the action genre. There will be guns blazing. There will be kickass martial arts battles, there will be action stars at the top of their game, and most importantly, there will be balls-to-the-wall action that'll make you grow a full beard and male genitalia, if you haven't done so already.

And you can take that to the bank.

Ooooh top 10 time!!! I know a few that will definitely be there, and if I thought about it I could probably come up with just about all of them. But where's the fun in that?! So I'll try and keep my mind blank and just enjoy the countdown

10. Commando (1985)



While it's not my favourite of the man's films, this is pretty much Schwarzenegger's ultimate film. A cinematic masterpiece, it ain't, but what it is a full high octane action onslaught of big guns and testosterone. It also remains noteworthy for being the first R18+ (Australian rating) movie I owned on DVD. Badass fun.

Commando rocks... brainless and shamelessly cheesie... shamelessly OTT as well. Good choice for a Top 10

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It wouldn't be a best action film countdown without Commando!

You know I love Commando. Should be higher.

9. Universal Soldier (1992)



Despite my doubts lately about it really being that great of a film, I still wouldn't feel right about leaving out Universal Soldier. It's got Dolph Lundgren delivering some of his best work on film (I've always said he was one of the better 'actors' out of the action hero stereotypes) and Van Damme in a role that utilises him perfectly. It's also got great opening and closing acts, solid direction from Roland Emmerich and Ally Walker delivering fine support as the female love interest.

It's one of the Plank's best (Damn it, Rodent) and one of the better sci-fi actioners of the nineties.

Lol! I was wondering if anyone would pick on my Plank quotes.

Looking forward to the rest.

May as well stay with Van Damme's best for a few reviews... the last review, Hard Target, is the first JCVD movie I've reviewed, so here's another for now.

Review #136: Universal Soldier



Luc Deveraux is a Vietnam Soldier, with a big problem... his Sergeant, Andrew Scott, has become twisted by the war and has basically gone psycho.
When the pair come to loggerheads, they kill each other, only to be reborn as mindless drones called Universal Soldiers (or 'UniSols' for short) in a secret Government programme.
When a particular event in their field training goes awry, Luc has flashbacks of his former life and goes Rogue from his 'programming' and ends up in the company of a Journalist, who is more than happy to work alongside him to get her 'big story'.

Unknown to them though is that Sergeant Andrew Scott, who was also turned into a drone soldier, is also malfunctioning and has returned to his psychotic ways... and he has made it his mission to track down the apparent deserter Luc, and dish out his own particular form of Court Martial.


What a movie. Certainly Van Damme's best and pretty close to making a Personal Top 50 movie for me.
The movie is also by far the best of director Roland Emmerich's too.

It's relatively small scale with the set pieces and the overall scope in the look, but the viewer is treated to a pretty well written screenplay and the action scenes don't disappoint either.

What sets the movie apart from other action flicks is that it's really quite original in the plot devices and the overall story too. It's also pretty believeable.
It's actually quite a surprise for a Van Damme flick and quite surprising for an action flick too, to have a relatively complex yet easy to follow screenplay/story/plot.


The action is tip top when it gets going... but I can't help but wonder if they couldn't have put more into it. There are times that it's a bit lacking in actual scale.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Vs Dolph Lundgren, both on 'supersteroids' is really exciting, especially after the successful character build up and the connections they have to the audience.


The acting is really the biggest surprise and in a good way too.
Van Damme is perfect as the mindless drone who's piecing together his memories. It's almost on the scale of Schwarzenegger's Terminator. The natural wooden acting is perfect for the character and JCVD actually has areas where he even shows genuine emotion.
Dolph Lungren as the main Antagonist is also lots of fun. He's menacing, and actually seems to be having fun as the baddie... his athletic powerhouse stature onscreen against Van Damme's athletic highkicking stunts is also wonderful to see. It's probably Lundgrens best role to date to be honest.

Back up comes in the form of Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Michael Jai White, Rance Howard and the lovely Ally Walker as Journalist Veronica Roberts.

All in all, though it's nothing that will win awards, it's definitely one of the best from The Plank.
It's exciting, has a story and a plot, has the occasional hit of humour (especially watching Luc re-learning how to eat) and is really well shot by the filmmakers.
My rating 88%

Like Universal Soldier.

Great pick with Universal Soldier. That was another of the rewatches for my Van Damme season, not sure if I'll get round to a review of it or not. Keep an eye out though just in case I do

Oh well that's nice!!! I gave The Plank and you a mention in one of my Van Damme reviews (Hard Target I think). Clearly you didn't read it!!!