The Best of the Genre: Action

This was a movie that I knew for a fact that I had seen but couldn't remember much about it. I'm glad I decided to watch it again as it is brilliant. James Cameron took the first Terminator movie and did what was done with that but blow it wide open in this one. It has an amazing peformance by Edward Furlong considering it was his first role. Arnold Swarzenegger plays the terminator amazingly which no one else could possibly have done. It has a great storyline, confusing but in a good way. It has amazing special effects for it's time and it amazes you even now. Not to be missed.

Why can't more action films be like this? Is it over-top? Yes. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is the good-cop/bad-cop reutine exaggerated? Yes. But the film still manages to be really good.

The film star Chow-Yun Fat, who effortlessly fits into any kind of action role perfectly, his performance here (action-wise) is flawless. The film opens with one of, if not THE best shoot-out scene I have ever seen. And it ends with a pretty big bang too. There is more people killed in this film than after a night spent with Freddy Krueger so if tons of random people getting shot is your thing then look no further than Hard Boiled.

But the problem the film has is the bits in between the action. The talking, and this may be because of the dubbing, is really slow and uninteresting. But the action made up for that in a big, big way.

John Woo is a master of action films, you just have to look at his best film in my eyes, Face/Off to know how good of a director he is. And I guess from watching this I can see a lot of influence in the shooting scenes in the aforementioned greatest film of his.

So all in all the action is amazing but the acting...well..not that good. Some uneven pacing and the film is too long but I am going to give this film the benefit of the doubt. Top notch film for action buffs.

What a film, absolutely fantastic. The idea, the script, the acting, the action, the stunts, everything about this film is just fantastic.

The storyline had me hooked from minute one, you really do feel what Neo does; what is the Matrix? And the answer to that question (although completely absurd) is mind-blowing.

The fighting and action in this film is expertly done, making it semi-believable yet very cool. The scene where Neo fight Morpheus is just breath taking. You can tell everyone involved worked very hard on the film, and it certainly paid off.

This film is a milestone not just in action cinema, but cinema in general. A lot of films after this one used some of the same idea, including the style used to create the 'bullet-time' effect.

So overall this film is phenominal in every way possible. Had me hooked from start to finish, and the great thing is; it's a blockbuster with brains! Which is rarely seen in cinema. Definetly see it if you haven't already. Please avoid the horrible sequels.

*Number 12 in my Top 100 list*

The first Alien was a pinical movie of Sci-Fi/Horror and I thought that no sequel could be as good as this. But I was wrong. How the hell James Cameron managed to make this every bit as good as the first (possibly even better) is beyond me. He deserves to be known as a master of filmmaking simply for that fact.

In the first film we had a lot more tension and build-up and it did pay off at the end. But this one has a lot more action, gore and chase scenes, three things that are a must have for this type of film. I don't know if this film is better DIRECTED as such by James Cameron but it definetly has more of a rewatch factor.

We get to see more of the Aliens in this film and oh god they are cool. And it doesn't waste it seeing a lot more of them, it just makes you wonder even more; "What the hell is that?!"

The one thing I do think the first has over this one is that it has a better supporting cast in my eyes. You cared more about who got killed in the first one, this one you just wanted to see people die.

So overall another amazing film of it's kind and on par with the first one as far as quality goes. A movie fan must!

Full Review

I think I can safely say this is one of, if not THE coolest film I have ever seen. Not in the sense of a clever script or any cool characters but just the mind-blowing stunts and fight scenes that occupy most of the movie.

I had heard a few things, mainly around the net, about this film saying that it was cool as hell. So I decided to give it a shot and I am so glad I did. For the first half an hour at least there is just mind blowing stunts from the world of 'free-running' something that I find very cool and very fun to watch.

And if that wasn't enough then the man who is responsible for the film being made is none other that Luc Besson who I admire greatly simply for the film Leon. With the exception of The Fifth Element, Leon is the only other film I had seen before I saw this. So I had mixed expectations.

Admittedly the film does have some problems. Mainly the way it looks. Not what actually happens but the overall look of the sets; they do look rather fake and very 'plasitcy' (if that's a real word that is). But I guess that didn't matter too much in this case, it would just have added to a great film to make it amazing if it looked better in general.

You should have A LOT of fun with this if you're just looking to kick back and just have a good time. If you require a story that makes a lot of sense and any well written dialogue then steer clear but ultimately this is a fun, mind-blowing piece of modern film-making.