101 Action Movies brings Robert Rodriguez into the fold with this sequel/remake/self-homage follow-up to his shoestring budget independent action film, El Mariachi. Desperado has a two ridiculously good-looking leads amongst an all-star cast. Antonio Banderas takes over the role of the Mariachi, and Salma Hayek is Carolina. The first time I saw this movie was the first time I had…
Tag: 101 action movies
Bad Boys (1995) – Michael Bay
Michael Bay brings his quick-cutting MTV style of filmmaking to the 101 Action Movies list as Will Smith and Martin Lawrence take to the streets of Miami as narcotics officers trying to stop an international drug ring. The story is basic, with a little mistaken identity thrown in for fun, and a cast that…
True Lies (1994) – James Cameron
The 101 Action Movies list gave me a chance to revisit a James Cameron movie that I seem to constantly forget about, but love to watch every time it is on… True Lies. Cameron directs this actioner which has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, and amps up the action sequences that come…
Speed (1994) Jan De Bont
Jan De Bont’s directorial debut lands him squarely on the 101 Action Movies list as well as garnering Oscars for Best Sound and Sound Effects Editing. Keanu Reeves is back, this time he’s Jack Traven, a LAPD cop playing a dangerous game with a bomber, Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) who’s making things personal after Jack foils…
Leon – The Professional (1994) – Luc Besson
Luc Besson returns to the 101 Action Movies list, bringing the exemplary Jean Reno with him in a role that was inspired by his turn in Besson’s Nikita. Mathilda (Natalie Portman) is an 11 year-old girl living with her family in a New York apartment building, she smokes, swears, and flirts with her blossoming sexuality, and…
Fist of Legend (1994) – Gordon Chan
The 101 Action Movies brings us another classic, as Jet Li takes center stage in this martial arts stunner. A remake of the Bruce Lee classic, The Chinese Connection, Li is absolutely stunning in the title role of Chen Zhen, a Chinese student studying in Japan during the Japanese occupation of China. Receiving word…
The Crow (1994) – Alex Proyas
The 101 Action Movies brings this dark, goth, ultraviolent actioner based on the comic by James O’Barr. A film now infamous for and overshadowed by the death of its lead actor, Brandon Lee, on-set, it is still, in fact, a wonderfully made film, taut in its script and characterizations, and brutal in its action sequences. Eric Draven (Lee) and…
Clear And Present Danger (1994) – Phillip Noyce
Jack Ryan in the person of Harrison Ford returns to the 101 Action Movies list along with Patriot Games director Phillip Noyce in this adaptation of the Tom Clancy techno-thriller. This time out Jack is serving as the acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA while his boss, Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones)…
Iron Monkey (1993) – Woo-Ping Yuen
A Robin Hood style adventure launches the kung fu in this highly enjoyable addition to the 101 Action Movies list. Yu Rong-Guang stars as Dr. Yang, who along with his assistant Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) tends to the poor and the refugees in a small village. The village’s governor (James Wong) however is only…
In The Line Of Fire (1993) – Wolfgang Petersen
The 101 Action Movies brings a welcome Clint Eastwood thriller to the list with this tautly paced, and well-executed actioner. Eastwood plays Frank Horrigan, a living legend, the only remaining serving Secret Service agent who was in Dealey plaza on that fateful November day. He begins a cat and mouse game with Mitch Leary…
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