5 Of The Greatest Action Films You've Never Seen
You are not a real genre freak unless you've seen this five films. This could mean the difference between greatness and obscurity, so rent them now!
1. Ronin
Robert DeNiro stars in this kick-ass, take-no-prisoners thriller about a group of freelance agents chasing down a mysterious briefcase. Nobody is who they appear to be, nobody knows what’s in the briefcase, but everyone is willing to die for it. What takes this film to the highest level, however, are the extraordinary car chases. There are 3 in total, all of which are grand. However, one 8-minute sequence is just in-SANE, as the cars go in the wrong direction on a Paris expressway.
This was back in the day before CGI, so all of the car stunts are 100% real, choreographed with the finest drivers in the world, and directed by the late master John Frankenheimer.
2. 16 Blocks
The terrific potboiler has a very simple premise: Bruce Willis is an honest cop told to deliver convict Mos Def from a jail to a courthouse, a mere 16 blocks away in Manhattan. The problem is that the convict is supposed to testify against corrupt NYC cops, and they pretty much want him dead…and will kill their comrade Willis if they have to.
The film throws all kinds of suspense at the audience, but also generates exciting and clever ways to keep an action film moving along in such closed geography.
3. Cape Fear
Purists may claim this is not an action movie, but in my book, it qualifies. Legendary director Martin Scorsese directs Robert DeNiro as an ex-con, released from prison and determined to exact revenge on his former defense attorney, Nick Nolte, who threw the case because DeNiro was so evil. DeNiro cleverly stalks Nolte’s family, throwing them one curveball after another, making their lives into one long paranoid panic attack.
The suspense begins early on and does not let up, eventually leading to the second hour of the film, which feels like a family constantly on the run from an almost-supernatural foe, and ending with a bravura action sequence on a houseboat.
4. Executive Decision
What can you do when a 747 with 400 people aboard is hijacked by terrorists with an unknown plot? Send in a team in a daring airborne commando mission, led by action heroes Steven Seagal and Kurt Russell. Don’t get too comfortable, though. There’s a huge twist 20 minutes in that throws the entire mission for a loop, and suddenly our heroes are up the creek.
How exciting can a movie be when it is confined to a jumbo jet? Plenty. There’s one twist after another, and ingenious action sequences that keep the film propelling forward.
5. Face/Off
John Travolta and Nicholas Cage star in one of the most clever conceits for an action movie ever. An FBI agent gets a face transplant so he can impersonate a master criminal and unravel a plan for a massive bombing. But the criminal manages to switch his face with that of the FBI agent. It takes mistaken identity to a whole new level, and pits two solid action actors in a battle of wits, wills, and high-octane action set-pieces. Leave it to master director John Woo to create the most thrilling action scenes in the days before CGI.
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