40. Best of the Best
(Robert Radler, 1989)
I don't hold many martial arts films of this kind in very high regard, but
Best of the Best captivated me from the word "go." It has one of the most emotionally impactful endings of any movie I've ever seen (yep, I cried), and, well... the movie's title pretty much says it all.
39. Christine
(John Carpenter, 1983)
I don't know what it is about
Christine, but whatever it is, it's got plenty of it. This is a fantastic, thrilling horror with a premise that I find insanely awesome: a young guy falls in love with the car, and said car happens to be...alive. In the near future, I'll soon get my very own first-ever car, so boy oh boy, wouldn't I like
my car to be alive!
Only, without the killing people.
38. From Dusk Till Dawn
(Robert Rodriguez, 1996)
My favorite vampire movie ever. I love the action, I love the comedy, and I love the insanely awesome-looking vampires. And I love Salma Hayek, and George Clooney in a non-gay way.
37. The Terminator
(James Cameron, 1984)
More a surreal horror than a science fiction to me,
The Terminator is one of the biggest surprises for me in my personal history of watching films. I don't have an explanation for it, but for the longest time, for some odd reason I was very hesitant to watch it; something about it seemed--I don't know--"off" to me looking at it on the shelf in the store (and I had already been a big Arnold fan at that time). Then, about two years ago when I finally
did see it, I was blown away. What an incredible movie-watching experience. Everything here is mind-blowingly fantastic, from Arnold's incredible performance as the relentless killing machine known as the Terminator, to the complex story and timeline of the film, to the gut-wrenching action.
36. The Relic
(Peter Hyams, 1997)
The Relic holds a very special place for me because, from about age 12 to around age 15, it was my number one favorite movie. When I viewed it again when I was 16 or 17 after not having seen it for some time, sure it went down a few notches, but still today this fact remains: the creature in
The Relic is hands-down my favorite creature in any movie I've ever seen. A creature--part man, part reptile, part insect, part arachnid--that has huge tusk-like fangs, incredible strength and agility, and can walk on walls which continually (but slightly) changes in appearance throughout the course of the film--you don't get better than that, my friends. The person who designed this creature is (or was) a genius.
[Will Be Continued...]