TF Archives

Top 10 Action Flicks

Author: The CS Vault
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
We've pulled our guns together and formed a posse to find out the good, the bad and the ugly action films of the past century. Here's our top 10.

10. Rambo IV
Okay...so everyone's read the chat that disseminates each 'episode' of the franchise, so it should come as no surprise that, for gore alone, the latest Rambo is nothing short of kick-ass fun. Skip the dialogue and you get almost 70 minutes of carnage, complete with exploding bodies and a scene that looks like Rambo punches someone's head off. Awesome.

9. The Bourne Ultimatum
Okay, so it's a new fish in the ever-increasing pond that is Action, but come on, Matt Damon has made this franchise his own and the latest installment in the series was one to remember. Lots and lots of punch-ups, plenty of intrigue and killer espionage (haha...yeah...we love that pun). Worth the money.

8. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
If the whistle in the theme song doesn't hook into you straight away, then something is wrong and you're probably listening to the wrong soundtrack, which means, by default, you're watching the wrong film or you've found an alternative version. In its own right, this made Clint Eastwood the baddest mother fucker in the Western genre - there was no more room for Lee Van Cleef or Jack Palance. Get it.

7. Fight Club
Yes, it was more about the socio-economic status of the way the world functions through corporations, but come on, punch-on after punch-on, Ed Norton shooting himself in the head and Brad Pitt in possibly his last cool role as a fucker of a villain ensured this film would go beyond the convention of straight-up shoot 'em down flicks. One for the replay value.

6. Terminator 2 - Judgement Day
While the original was more about intensity and story development, the sequel was about high concept: the wicked Gunners song, a scary robot in Arnie and an even badder mofo in Robert Patrick as the T-1000. Add to the mix some of the best chase sequences and a developed storyline that needed a director's cut and you should be terminated if you didn't get it.

5. Aliens
James Cameron directed the number-six spot in this list, so it should come as no surprise that the sequel to Alien he put together makes Michael Bay look bad (okay, Bay did that himself). So intense, especially the eery blip, blip, blip, blip, blip (you know the one)...Now famous for that one Weaver line: "Get away from her, you bitch!" with honourable mention to, "That's just fuckin great man! We're in some real pretty shit now, man! Game over, man!"

4. Sin City
Everything you want a slick-looking comic adaptation to be - over-dramatic storylines, rich and graphic violence. The kicker- Mickey Fucking Rourke - he stole the show and looked so menacing as the anti-hero. This is how you adapt something - rip the pages from a comic book and paste them on to the screen. Dark, brooding, ultra-violent - perfect.

3. The Matrix
This is probably the first film in the history of the world to bring nerds and action heads together into one cinema, thanks to its nerd-like hacking stuff and its breathtakingly wicked fight sequences, most notable in the Neo/Trinity vs big building security guards. Also the 'whoa', which we all felt when we saw the CGI associated with the adventure of this film.

2. Star Wars V - The Empire Strikes Back
This is what happens when George Lucas lets go of the reins and someone with an idea as to how to tell a story is given the opportunity to expand a franchise into the right direction. As probably the only sequel ever worth making in the Star Wars series, it has everything an action movie should - the bad guys aren't decimated, Skywalker gets his arse served to him and nobody really wins. Leia still looks hot, too.

1. Ace High
The epitome of a good Western - bad guys, big body counts and Eli Wallach. Okay, Terence Hill and Bud Spencer also add their own narrative to the story (wh
Tags