Film Thread

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

I love that Chris is the first person to oppose the argument since he is the one poster on here that is guaranteed to have less than 5 brain cells.

You prove my point well, Chris. Thanks.

[Raw Power]

How can anyone possibly enjoy Arnold and Van Damme movies? They got no style at all.

At least watch Bruce Willis or some real men!

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

Yessir.

Die Hard/Lethal Weapon are good action movies. They may not be heavy on the intelligence either but compared to the films those dudes tend to make they're Oscar worthy.

[FunkyMonk]

Even I will admit that Bruce Willis is far far cooler than Arnie, and a hell of a lot sexier too.

[Chris Axl]

Bruce ain't got shit on any of them...

Stallone, Van Damme and Arnold should rule the world

[krissirge]

bwahaha

I'd take any Van Damme or Arnold movie over for example LOTR or Matrix.They don't make good action movies anymore though,those died out in the mid-90's.

Since when does an action movie have to be intelligent , i find it a rather fun way to switch off your brain and enjoy a fine movie for 2 hours.

And Predator is a classic,as far as Alien imitator's go,this one ties with The Thing(1982) for the best.

[appetite4illusions]

Awful acting and shit action sequences are the main problems. And those are pretty fucking big ones.

Shit action sequences? This is John "Die Hard" McTierren were talking about.

Also I think it's probably hard to shoot an epic action sequence when your in a dense jungle, it's tricky.

[Raw Power]

Bruce ain't got shit on any of them...

Stallone, Van Damme and Arnold should rule the world

You're my Bizarro character!

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

bwahaha

I'd take any Van Damme or Arnold movie over for example LOTR or Matrix.They don't make good action movies anymore though,those died out in the mid-90's.

Since when does an action movie have to be intelligent , i find it a rather fun way to switch off your brain and enjoy a fine movie for 2 hours.

And Predator is a classic,as far as Alien imitator's go,this one ties with The Thing(1982) for the best.

Yeah three of the most amazing, passionate and intense films of this decade... and you think Van-Damme and Arnie who are just fucking steroid monsters make better films? Madness.

Action films are meant to be fun and something you don't have to concentrate fully on, I agree. However there's a limit and watching a Van-Damme film hurts my head since it's so utterly simplistic, predictable and poorly executed it's clearly beneath me.

Awful acting and shit action sequences are the main problems. And those are pretty fucking big ones.

Shit action sequences? This is John "Die Hard" McTierren were talking about.

Also I think it's probably hard to shoot an epic action sequence when your in a dense jungle, it's tricky.

Don't base it in the jungle or get a better director then.

Edited February 4, 2008 by Ridin' the Nightrain

[krissirge]

bwahaha

I'd take any Van Damme or Arnold movie over for example LOTR or Matrix.They don't make good action movies anymore though,those died out in the mid-90's.

Since when does an action movie have to be intelligent , i find it a rather fun way to switch off your brain and enjoy a fine movie for 2 hours.

And Predator is a classic,as far as Alien imitator's go,this one ties with The Thing(1982) for the best.

Yeah three of the most amazing, passionate and intense films of this decade... and you think Van-Damme and Arnie who are just fucking steroid monsters make better films? Madness.

Action films are meant to be fun and something you don't have to concentrate fully on, I agree. However there's a limit and watching a Van-Damme film hurts my head since it's so utterly simplistic, predictable and poor excecuted it's clearly beneath me.

heck,I can name three Peter Jackson movies that were better than LOTR trilogy.

Bad Taste

Meet The Feebles

Dead Alive

Watch those to understand the true genius of PJ.

When I came sit down to watch a Van Damme movie,I know what I'm getting.2 hours of people kicking and shooting each other.Specials effects were actually secondary back then(remember this,Michael Bay).The simplicity works in their favor,these movies are nothing more than the furfillment of our primal desires to "fuck these diplomatic hippies,lets kick some ass"

For recent example,look at 300,nothing more than an ode to testosterone.Would definitely get my vote fore Best Picture of 2007.

And at least those movies knew what an action star should be like.Johnny Depp,Keanu Reeves,Nicolas Cage,Will Smith or Viggo Mortensen as action stars.Hah give me break.Acting isn't important,screen presence is.

http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/80actionguide.cfm

now go read this page,explains it better than I ever could

Edited February 4, 2008 by krissirge

[kevdo242]

300 was absolute shite. 'Ode to testosterone'? What the fuck? Fair enough, I like the odd action film every now and then but 300 bored the fuck out of me.

[appetite4illusions]

300 was absolute shite. 'Ode to testosterone'? What the fuck? Fair enough, I like the odd action film every now and then but 300 bored the fuck out of me.

I'm glad I wasnt the only one who thought it was junk.

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

300 had amazing style and I loved that.

But it was no Sin City.

[Raw Power]

300 had amazing style and I loved that.

But it was no Sin City.

I was just about the write that.

[Martoine]

Sideways...

Saw it on Sunday and i thought it was brilliant...

Anyone else seen it???

[nameless_girl]

And at least those movies knew what an action star should be like.Johnny Depp,Keanu Reeves,Nicolas Cage,Will Smith or Viggo Mortensen as action stars.Hah give me break.Acting isn't important,screen presence is.

People like Johnny Depp have less presence than Jean Claude Van Damme? What the hell are you watching? VD is one of the most boring men I've ever seen on screen; no charisma, no wit, no distinctiveness... all he does is use his muscles. Sheer bulk does not equal presence.

[illusions]

is get carter worth watching? it's on tonight so I might check it out.

[krissirge]

And at least those movies knew what an action star should be like.Johnny Depp,Keanu Reeves,Nicolas Cage,Will Smith or Viggo Mortensen as action stars.Hah give me break.Acting isn't important,screen presence is.

People like Johnny Depp have less presence than Jean Claude Van Damme? What the hell are you watching? VD is one of the most boring men I've ever seen on screen; no charisma, no wit, no distinctiveness... all he does is use his muscles. Sheer bulk does not equal presence.

If that bulk can bulldoze through the narrative,then it does.All of Van Damme's best movies are when the director understands what he is good act and not try to stretch his acting skills too much(maybe with the exception of Timecop).

What an action is supposed to do is look imposing on screen and occasionally say a one-liner.The absolute perfection of this was Arnold in Commando.

These days the only newcomers are Jason Statham , The Rock and Vin Diesel.

And seeing 300 in theater was one of the coolest movie experiences I've had.People we're totally getting a kick out of that movie in the cinema.

[ffrankwhite]

And at least those movies knew what an action star should be like.Johnny Depp,Keanu Reeves,Nicolas Cage,Will Smith or Viggo Mortensen as action stars.Hah give me break.Acting isn't important,screen presence is.

People like Johnny Depp have less presence than Jean Claude Van Damme? What the hell are you watching? VD is one of the most boring men I've ever seen on screen; no charisma, no wit, no distinctiveness... all he does is use his muscles. Sheer bulk does not equal presence.

If that bulk can bulldoze through the narrative,then it does.All of Van Damme's best movies are when the director understands what he is good act and not try to stretch his acting skills too much(maybe with the exception of Timecop).

What an action is supposed to do is look imposing on screen and occasionally say a one-liner.The absolute perfection of this was Arnold in Commando.

These days the only newcomers are Jason Statham , The Rock and Vin Diesel.

And seeing 300 in theater was one of the coolest movie experiences I've had.People we're totally getting a kick out of that movie in the cinema.

theres actually a lot to be said for Krissirges point in a demented way. Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, these guys had oodles of presence. not terrific actors though, i mean in the classical "i'm-a-chameleon" sense. Yul Brynner you could lump in that list. only problem is the example of Van Damme he cited makes the whole fucking issue obselete because he cant act...whatsoever. at all. he actually literally seems incapable of entering into any sort of character and he has absolutely no screen presence WHATSOEVER.

Edited February 5, 2008 by ffrankwhite

[ohmygod]

serpico is fucking great, watch it if you havent

Edited February 5, 2008 by ohmygod

[Spoon87]

Smoking Aces, what a crazy movie. People getting shot and killed all the time and suddenly there's a story behind all that, that you wouldn't have guessed. Not too bad.

[krissirge]

And at least those movies knew what an action star should be like.Johnny Depp,Keanu Reeves,Nicolas Cage,Will Smith or Viggo Mortensen as action stars.Hah give me break.Acting isn't important,screen presence is.

People like Johnny Depp have less presence than Jean Claude Van Damme? What the hell are you watching? VD is one of the most boring men I've ever seen on screen; no charisma, no wit, no distinctiveness... all he does is use his muscles. Sheer bulk does not equal presence.

If that bulk can bulldoze through the narrative,then it does.All of Van Damme's best movies are when the director understands what he is good act and not try to stretch his acting skills too much(maybe with the exception of Timecop).

What an action is supposed to do is look imposing on screen and occasionally say a one-liner.The absolute perfection of this was Arnold in Commando.

These days the only newcomers are Jason Statham , The Rock and Vin Diesel.

And seeing 300 in theater was one of the coolest movie experiences I've had.People we're totally getting a kick out of that movie in the cinema.

he actually literally seems incapable of entering into any sort of character

I think most action stars inhabit personas than try to absorb them in roles.

And the greatness of action movies are often measures by how good the bad guys are.Arnold in Terminator for example.Bruce Willis was great in Die Hard ,but the movie without Alan Rickman wouldn't even been close to the greatness which is with him.And I found the best part of Lethal Weapon was that Gibson played a complete psycho so well(plus it had Gary Busey's teeth,those things were made to bite the heads off chickens) .Once he got sane in the sequels,the movies weren't as interesting.

Van Damme's best movie was Universal Soldier.Dolph Lundgren's performance there was the best performance Ronald Emmerich has gotten out of anybody in his career.

And ffrankwhite ,I suggest you watch some of the newer Van Damme movies.,Wake of Death and Until Death,his dramatic acting has gone a lot better from the era of Bloodsport or Kickboxer.

[ffrankwhite]

And at least those movies knew what an action star should be like.Johnny Depp,Keanu Reeves,Nicolas Cage,Will Smith or Viggo Mortensen as action stars.Hah give me break.Acting isn't important,screen presence is.

People like Johnny Depp have less presence than Jean Claude Van Damme? What the hell are you watching? VD is one of the most boring men I've ever seen on screen; no charisma, no wit, no distinctiveness... all he does is use his muscles. Sheer bulk does not equal presence.

If that bulk can bulldoze through the narrative,then it does.All of Van Damme's best movies are when the director understands what he is good act and not try to stretch his acting skills too much(maybe with the exception of Timecop).

What an action is supposed to do is look imposing on screen and occasionally say a one-liner.The absolute perfection of this was Arnold in Commando.

These days the only newcomers are Jason Statham , The Rock and Vin Diesel.

And seeing 300 in theater was one of the coolest movie experiences I've had.People we're totally getting a kick out of that movie in the cinema.

he actually literally seems incapable of entering into any sort of character

I think most action stars inhabit personas than try to absorb them in roles.

And the greatness of action movies are often measures by how good the bad guys are.Arnold in Terminator for example.Bruce Willis was great in Die Hard ,but the movie without Alan Rickman wouldn't even been close to the greatness which is with him.And I found the best part of Lethal Weapon was that Gibson played a complete psycho so well(plus it had Gary Busey's teeth,those things were made to bite the heads off chickens) .Once he got sane in the sequels,the movies weren't as interesting. Van Damme's best movie was Universal Soldier.Dolph Lundgren's performance there was the best performance Ronald Emmerich has gotten out of anybody in his career.

And ffrankwhite ,I suggest you watch some of the newer Van Damme movies.,Wake of Death and Until Death,his dramatic acting has gone a lot better from the era of Bloodsport or Kickboxer.

agree with the highlighted bit he didnt totally lose the loon in the later leathal weapons but i TOTALLY see what you mean and you're damn right and i loved Dolph Lundgren in Universal Soldier and well...everything. but what im saying is Van Damme doesnt even really inhabit a persona well. whaddya reckon on Brandon Lee Kris'?

[krissirge]

The Crow was good and that movie with Dolph Lundgren aswell,but he wasn't in a lot of movies before he died right?

But just think , how many Van Damme movies do you remember where he had no memories or he had a long lost sibling

[ffrankwhite]

The Crow was good and that movie with Dolph Lundgren aswell,but he wasn't in a lot of movies before he died right?

But just think , how many Van Damme movies do you remember where he had no memories or he had a long lost sibling

watch Rapid Fire, i garantee you'll like it :) i was a crazy Van Damme fan as a kid...seen ALL his movies, all up until Universal Soldier. i dunno whether you'd say i grew out of em or whatever, which i think is bullshit cuz i can still watch em and like em, appreciate them for that part of me that it once appealed to. in fact, Hard Target was where i stopped at. used to be psycho about that shit. theres not a sly stallone, arnie, bruce lee, jet li, jackie chan movie that i aint seen. missed a couple of later jackie chan ones...and some of the REALLY recent Jet Li ones but other than that i seen em all. i gorged on like, Kung Fu movies since i was quite little actually even those crappy Bruce Li immitation ones the bruce lee immitators Bruce Le and Bruce Li and Dragon Lee. hows that for fanboyism?

Edited February 5, 2008 by ffrankwhite