The Gunslinger45's top 50 favorite movies

I have only seen Class of Nukem High 2, and that was years ago. The Toxic Avenger 2 & 3 are not very good, but The Toxic Avenger IV Citizen Toxie was pretty damn good. Sgt Kabukiman: NYPD is pretty silly but fun. And Tromeo and Juliet is a very loose adaptation of The Bard's original play for the purpose of gore and ****. There are quite a few title on Netflix if ya got it.

43.
Tremors: 1990 (PG-13)
USA / Universal
88%
And we continue my strange fascination with horror comedy and survival situations, and I like horror comedy. The movie is set in Perfection Nevada, where the town is under siege by “Graboids” subterranean slugs of gigantic proportions and very carnivorous. They travel through the ground, are attracted by noise, and are a throw back to 50’s monster movies. The main cast includes two day laborers named Val and Earl (played by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward), the owner of the local general store Chang (Victor Wong), my favorite prepper couple Burt Gummer and his wife Heather (by Micheal Gross and Reba McEntire), and newly arrived grad student Rhonda (Finn Carter). The movie plays out as a gigantic struggle for survival where the town must fight to avoid the creatures picking off the inhabitants one by one. And quite frankly it is a lot of B movie fun. I especially love the running gag dealing with swearing and saying “Pardon my French” and the scene where a graboid enters the recreation room of Burt and Heather. A recreation room with a wall of various firearms, lots of ammo, reloading equipment and the elephant gun! Showing me a rec room I hope to one day have. It is an awesome bit of horror comedy, and my favorite Kevin Bacon movie ever. It if fun, suspenseful, and knows when to make a joke. And Burt Gummer is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. There is just something awesome about a man whose favorite phrase is “Just a handful of household chemicals in the proper proportions.” If you have not seen it, I say it is worth a shot. And it is number 43 on my list of favorite movies.

42.
Planet of the Apes: 1968 (G)
USA / 20th Century Fox
89% (CF)

In the realm of sci-fi, Charlton Heston actually has a few movies to his credit as I have covered with The Omega Man, but by far his best venture into sci-fi was the classic Planet of the Apes. He plays Taylor, a human astronaut who travels space until he lands on an unknown planet in an unknown time. On this world apes are the highly evolved species and it is humans that are the animalistic creatures, a bit of social satire from the original book. In addition to being the more evolved species on this world they also have a caste system. The gorillas are the military warrior types. The orangutans are the politicians and bureaucrats while the chimpanzees are the scientists. Taylor is captured by the apes and is about to be experimented on given the fact that he shows intelligence not seen in the humans the apes typically encounter. This leads to one of my favorite lines in movies with “Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” and it also will eventually lead to one of the best twist endings in all cinema. Charlton Heston is fantastic as usual, Roddy McDowell is great as Cornelius, and the character of Dr Zaius is a slimy villain and the main protagonist of the film who hides a dark secret. The movie was also noted by John Chambers ground breaking prosthetic make up, and it spawned several sequels. I enjoyed each to a certain degree (though the third one was rather silly with the whole time travel and celebrity premise). And it is my love for this movie that makes me despise that God awful 2001 remake by Tim Burton. And I do not care to watch the reboots, since I liked the originals more than enough. And there is no replacing the original, and that is why Planet of the Apes is my number 42 favorite movie.

Good call on Planet of the Apes. Before I saw it for the first time, I was thinking it was supposed to be a cheesy sci-fi movie. Boy was I wrong. It's not my favorite sci-fi movie from '68, but my favorite sci-fi movie from '68 has already showed up on your list.

1968 was a good year for sci fi. But my favorite sci fi flick comes later.

Yeah, Apes and 2001 are in my Top "100" (over 160 now), so you know I greatly approve of them and can certainly understand why you love the others.

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Thanks mark f. Oh hell yeah. They are true classics of sci fi.

41.
Evil Dead II: 1987 (R)
USA / Rosebud Releasing
98% (CF)
As you can see horror comedies are a trend on my list, and how can I talk about horror comedy without touching on Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, the sequel (or reimagining) to the very popular first film The Evil Dead. And while I did enjoy the original, I like this version the best. Why? The original was a movie that was a blend of horror and comedy, but to me it had more emphasis on the horror and gore. And while this movie had plenty of those, there was more emphasis on the comedy; particularly the slap stick. It also had a greater focus on the character Ash played by the greatest B movie actor of all time, Bruce Campbell. Ash takes his girl Linda up to a cabin in the woods for a romantic getaway. They encounter the book known as Necronomican Ex Mortis, the Book of the Dead. Inadvertently reading the book, they release the evils from the book and Ash and Linda become possessed. Linda is killed and Ash must fight his own possession and try to send the evil demons back to Hell where they belong. To describe it in a word…groovy! This is one of the other campy and fun comedic horror fests that I like. It has lots of the same bloody fun as the first with a few better practical effects and much improved make up then the first. It is from the franchise that helped start Sam Raimi’s career and it is the best Bruce Campbell movie of all time in my opinion. It is a cult classic and my fan boy card would be revoked if I did not mention a film from this franchise. And if you are curious to know, I thought the remake was pretty mediocre. Stick to the original trilogy, and Evil Dead II takes the number 41 spot on my list.

40.
The Ten Commandments: 1956 (G)
USA / Paramount
91%
Okay we have had a lot of sci-fi and camp, how about a classic! With Charlton Heston of course. I love Epic movies, I love the scale they had, the huge budgets, big name stars, grandiose drama, and they did it all before computer generated effects. And within that genre I have a particular affinity for the biblical epic. This is the film adaptation of the story of the Book of Exodus (with a few other influences here and there) which tells the story of Moses (Charlton Heston) and the Jews liberation from Egypt. The sets are large and painstakingly created, the wardrobes are fantastic; and the cast includes Heston, Anne Baxter, and Yul Brynner. So we are talking some big name star power. And the back and forth between Heston’s Moses and Yul Brynner’s Ramses fit the movie perfectly. Moses pleads to his brother to let his people go, while the pharaoh heart is hardened. It is one of the great battles of wills between Ramses ego and pride against the man who brings forth the will of God. The movie is also very well known for one scene in particular, the scene where Moses parts the Red Sea in one of the best early special effects of its day. So much so the scene is iconic of early Hollywood cinema. I adore this movie as it is so iconic of the earliest days of Hollywood and for its depiction of the Bible on screen. And it was also the last film directed by the great Cecil B DeMille. And it is my 40th favorite movie.

39.
Zombieland: 2009 (R)
USA / Columbia Pictures
90% (CF)
I love me a good zombie picture. But for the longest time the zombie comedy movies, left me un-amused. From Return of the Living Dead to Shaun of the Dead, I was simply not laughing; until I saw this movie, which had me rolling in the aisles. And one of the quickest ways a film can endear itself to me is to make me laugh. The more the better, and in recent years this was one of those movies that did just that, taking one of my favorite kinds of movies, and making it humorous. And it was one of the best times I had in the movie theaters! The movie follows the travels of Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), who is trying to get home after the zombie apocalypse when he encounters Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). The two team up in their travels and eventually encounter sister team Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone). The sister duo are on their way to California, and eventually the men escort them to where they are going, and many laughs are had on the way, including quite possibly the greatest cameo in any movie ever. If you have not seen it (for what reason I do not know), I dare not spoil it. Aside from the many creative ways to kill zombies and the hilarious rule systems that Columbus follows. They are so funny they are practically a character in the movie. It is also a celebration of the freedom one has when the world comes to an end. That being said, it does have a pretty heavy focus on the relationships between the four characters. Tallahassee and Little Rock make their connection as well as advancing the romantic interests of Wichita and Columbus. And while there are many flaws with how this film’s post apocalypse scenario is (from plentiful gas, electricity, and surprisingly plenty of food after TEOTWAWKI) this movie is a comedy first and foremost, and succeeds greatly in that department. Quite a few laughs, lots of zombies, and very funny scenarios; it is very easy for me to count this among my favorite movies. And it is my 39th favorite movie.

39th you mean buddy Great pick!

Typo fixed! lol thank you fuze

No problem good sir I am keeping up with this and putting stuff I haven't seen on my watchlist.

Sweet! Which ones made the list so far?

Toxic Avengers will be first.

It is on netflix, so that helps. Hope you like it. It is weird I warn you. lol

I like wierd!

You will dig it then

38.
The Expendables: 2010 (R)
USA / Lionsgate
41%
This movie could be a bit dividing, but dammit all to hell I love it! I love action movies. I have been raised on the genre since I was a kid and by far the action movies of the 80’s and early 90’s were the best of the bunch and contained some of my favorite movies. So when a movie was announced that was going to feature action heroes from the 80’s and 90’s along with action heroes of the present, I was sold instantly. And while Sylvester Stallone is not my favorite action movie star, he was pretty good in this movie. The casting for this movie was great though. Modern day action heroes like Jason Statham teamed up with Stallone, Dolph Lundgren (who for some reason every movie he is in I seem to enjoy just because), and Jet Li. And it also made legit for action movies the likes of UFC great Randy Couture and Terry Crews (who filled in the role intended for Wesley Snipes). And it also had cameo appearances by my two favorite action heroes Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. And the bad guy was played by none other than Eric Roberts. And then for sh*ts and giggles we had Stone Cold Steve Austin, but we also had Mickey Rourke who is no stranger to action films with his role as Marv from Sin City. The plot is simple. We have our team of good guys hired by Bruce Willis to take out bad guy, bad guy gets his ass handed to him, end credits. Standard 80’s action movie format. Plot? Not so great. Action? IN SPADES! AND IT KICKED ASS! It was very reminiscent of the kind of movies I grew up on. It celebrated the movies that I loved as a kid and had some pretty big action movie greats. It also had one of the best and bloodiest end fight scenes I have seen in a long time. Think the end to Commando only longer and on steroids! And while the Expendables 2 had more action heroes in it (including bigger roles for Schwarzenegger and Willis), the action was in my opinion better in the first movie. Not to mention a better villain. Van Damme was okay as a villain, but if both he and Lundgren are going to be in a movie, Lundgren is the better villain. Hell Lundgren WAS a villain for most of this movie! The movie was also one of the best times I had in the cinema. Since I was a kid and watched a lot of 80’s and 90’s action movies via Blockbuster video, it was great to see this on the big screen. It is also my favorite Stallone franchise, and I cannot wait for the third installment. The Expendables, at the number 38 slot.

37.
Ikiru: 1952 (NR)
Japan / Toho
100%
Akira Kurosawa is best known for his samurai films, particularly those with Toshiro Mifune. So when another movie of his that does not fit into that category gets praised as much as it does, it really does say something about the film and the filmmaker. The focus of the film is on Mr. Kenji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), a long time government bureaucrat who is diagnosed with stomach cancer. He is shaken by this news and spends the movie seeking various attempts to find meaning to his existence. This proves hard as his wife is dead and he is estranged from his son. He tries several means of spending the rest of his days, but in the end he settles on a selfless act of cutting through miles of red tape in order to get a park made. Ikiru is a movie that is one part a commentary on government bureaucracy, one part a look at the human condition, and one final part a plea to live life while you can. It is a beautifully shot movie and has an excellent cast, and really has the ability to strike an emotional cord. I particularly like when they are at Watanabe’s funeral (he had stomach cancer you should have seen the spoiler coming)! When all the bureaucrats begin to flash back to the now very different Watanabe trying to get the park made. He was still a rather meek character but his resolve was firm. His moments in the movie where he is shown singing his favorite song swinging on the swing in the new park in the snow was a very emotional scene; and I simply adored it! It was a fantastic movie by one of my favorite directors of all time. And it is number 37 on my list.