Pajiba

Thinking about it, this might just be the genre that I have the least ‘requirements’ for.

By definition an action movie relies on adrenaline, so if you give me enough thrills, chills and spills I’m a happy chappy.

Thinking about it some more, this might just be the genre that I have the most ‘requirements’ for. Mainly because it takes a lot for that adrenaline to start flowing.

I’m nearly done with work, so all my brain can think of is going for a drink, but two big No-No’s that do explicitly come to mind are:

1) Please, none of that Stormtrooper-aim shit, and - related to that - none of that super-infallible marksmanship on the part of our hero.

2) No patriotism.

No/limited CGI. I might sound like a cranky old man, but CGI has really erased much of the "wow" in action films. This became very apparent to me when I saw the floating turd called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The chase through the jungles had none of the excitement that I saw in the truck fight/chase in Raiders, or the tank sequence+motorcycle sequence+motorboat sequence in Last Crusade, because CGI just completely removed any feeling of danger. "Old school" stunt work and camera tricks limit the possibilities, but that's what makes what's accomplished even more impressive. That's why the Bourne fight and chase scenes are so involving.

Personally, I need a charismatic lead (no buddy movies, ever), lots of humor (the gruff kind), lots of stupid shit blowing up and no romantic subplot. That only takes away from watching shit getting blown up.

And no car chases. I'm sick to death of car chases.

I do like for them to go hilariously crazy and unhinged, but there's a limit.

The limit was Wanted.

Boobies.

If the boys insist on boobs, I insist on some naked Male Booty.

Sorry, I forgot To Live and Die in L.A.

I'm with the anti-CGI folks. I grew up hating most action films (I was too smart for that stuff of course... or pretentious), and so I missed many of the blockbusters released during my teenage years.

Just a couple of days ago, my girlfriend and I somehow settled on watching True Lies on television, and I have to say, I was blown away. It was the most fun I've had watching a movie in quite a while (as in real fun, not 'I get to tell my film-snob friends about a movie they're bound to adore').

The main thing that kept getting me while watching the huge helicopter-chase scenes was "How in Arnold's name did they film this?". Maybe somebody can answer this for me, I'm too lazy to research it, but I know that these scenes today would no doubt use CGI, and be much less impressive because of it.

So, to answer Mr. Prisco's question, I need a terrorist hanging from a fighter jet's missile (or was it a helicopter?), and Arnold saying "You're fired" just before launching him and saving the day. a.k.a. fun.

The main thing that kept getting me while watching the huge helicopter-chase scenes was "How in Arnold's name did they film this?". Maybe somebody can answer this for me, I'm too lazy to research it, but I know that these scenes today would no doubt use CGI, and be much less impressive because of it.

The answer is simple: True Lies used CGI for the tricky stuff. The difference between True Lies and, say, your average crappy CGI-enhanced action flick is that James Cameron knows what he's doing and only ever uses the minimum amount of CGI necessary.

(Granted, in Avatar, this was a fuckload.)

Thanks mightygodking, I was thinking that it would be impossible to make without CGI, but I couldn't for the life of me recognize it. I can usually spot CGI a mile away, and as another poster said, my brain just knows it's not real, so I never get the same feeling. With that movie, pretty much everything looked perfect.

Its action. Keep it simple stupid.

1)A believable Star. A total badass.
2)His/her wife/husband or family must be killed infront of them. The bad guy has to be the killer or at least present when it goes gown.
3)Hero must go through some form of training.
3a)Must struggle with something only to master it at the end of the movie when he/she kills the bad guy.
4)A hot love interest.
5)Showdown with Bad Guy. Kills him. And not that lame Kill where the Hero is going to let him live so he can go to prison. Then at the last second the Bad Guy pulls a gun that he had hidden,then the Hero is FORCED to kill him. I hate that. ending. Just kill the basterd.

That should do it.

Oh yeah, mix in a shot of the Hero shooting a gun and screaming in slow motion. That never gets old. And Im cool with CGI. Just no CGI blood please!!! They can bring dinosaurs back to life and creat entire planets like PANDORA, but CGI blood stil looks f*cken fake as hell!!!!!!!!!!!

I like fistfights. I like knife fights if the people know what they're doing (or really, really don't). I think guns are a lot more difficult to shoot well than is usually portrayed in film. Moving targets are really fucking hard to hit - almost impossible if you aren't actually aiming (I'm looking at you, side-shooting wankers). I like chase scenes on foot, especially if they involve any kind of free running, because that shit rocks. I am okay with car chases if the plot involves cars or the driving is going to be stellar. Most of all, I want to SEE the action. I do not want to be in the middle of the fight. I've been in the middle of real violence, and it is not in any way enjoyable. I want stylized violence. Otherwise, I want scenes like the ones in Eastern Promises that make violence look like the truly disgusting, messy, graceless, unfun thing it is.

Other than that, I want well-built men who are occasionally shirtless and often dirty, and women who are rarely shirtless but just as mean/smart/cunning/capable and dirty as the men.

Also fewer cuts, maybe pull the camera back a little. I like to actually see what is happening in the fight scenes.

It's been years since the US got (temporarily) hooked on Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies, which demonstrated with fantastic results the benefits of pulling back the camera. Unfortunately, fight scenes are shot close up and not full frame because not many actors can move like Jet Li or Jackie Chan. They're shot close for a reason.

And spell check. Spell check is important.

Things going boom.

I'm not inherently against CGI, but it has to be used as a tool, and not a clutch. It should be used to improve upon the action, stunts, and fights, not to replace them. Compare the finale settings of Terminator 2 and Terminator 3. Terminator 2's finale takes place in a big ass refinery that looks like an honest-to-God refinery. Terminator 3 looks like it takes place in a really cool video game. They're both movie sets, but T2 makes the action feel more real and palpable, even with CGI liquid doppleganger assassin robots running around.

The main thing for me(and something I think the Expendables definitely failed at) is that you gotta film the damn thing right. None of this Michael Bay, quick-cut, Jason Bourne shaky-cam, commercial on MTV editing bullshit. You don't even have to be a visionary like Spielberg to get these scenes right(although it would help!); just invest in a tripod, Jesus. I need to clearly see and feel the action, and I can't do that if the camera is constantly moving and changing what I see every 3 seconds.

Interesting leads are always good for any movie, but I gotta stress that for action films. Make them somebody the audience can relate to in some way, or in a way they wish they could be. When the action scenes happen, they can't just look visually cool. I have to give a damn about the characters in them, I need to have some kind of emotional investment, otherwise its just empty spectacle.

And I'm not saying it has to have an Academy Award winning script either, just something I can get behind and want to root for the protagonist. Maybe the bad guy is a total douchebag that you want to punch in the face, and the hero is a guy who cracks funny one-liners and is trying to rescue his daughter. Something simple that's presented in a way the audience can say "Ok, action hero man. Let's see you do this crazy shit, because I'm on board with you".

For the record, my favorite action movies are Die Hard, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Last Boy Scout, and Terminator 2. These are all films that I think definitely meet all the above criteria with interesting protagonists that the audience can behind, well-shot action scenes that you actually care about, and very restrained in the special effects department.

The best action movies have all that hero crap AND a really good villain. Noting the love for "Die Hard," Hans Gruber is one of the best. Second (third, whatever) the love for "Predator" and "Terminator." These are opponents who aren't just trying to blast each other to atoms, they're trying to out-think and outsmart each other too, and appreciate and respect what they're up against.

Wow! Thank you! I continually wanted to write on my website something like that. Can I include a portion of your post to my website?