Over the past few weeks, I've watched a bunch of movies recommended in the underrated or lesser known action movies thread on OB.
I haven't watched them all, but here are reviews of some of the better ones in my opinion.
Elite Squad 1 & 2 - Brazilian movies in Portuguese. Based on real events highlighting the corruption of the police and drug trade in Brazil. Pretty brutal but very good, especially the first one.
Den of Thieves 1 & 2 - great cast, clever story, great action gun fights. Similar to stuff like Heat, but better in my opinion. Haven't seen the new 2nd one yet. It just came out and has good reviews.
The Man From Nowhere - Korean movie I think. Subtitles. Pretty typical story about retired spec ops guy working as a pawn shop clerk, ends up getting involved to protect a child who lives next door. Very well done action, with characters you care about.
Upgrade - kind of a short action comedy about a guy who gets upgraded like a bionic man. Similar themes to ex machina, but funnier.
Elevation - a bit if a rip off of A Quiet Place, but still ok if you're willing to overlook some serious holes common to many action movies...
Arcadian - Nick Cage is actually not the main guy, but still brings a lot to the movie. His 2 sons have to fight some of the freakiest monsters I've seen in a while. Worth it just to see the monsters do their thing! You'll remember the monsters long after the credits roll.
Layer Cake - Daniel Craig right before he became Bond. Excellent movie with lots of twists. Drug dealer on verge of being able to cash out, gets caught up in things over his head. Wild ride.
Commando - Arnold Schwartzenager doing his thing. Movie was great in its day but maybe hasn't aged that well. Still fun if you have seen it.
Under Siege - Steven Segal at his peak, before he became a weird fat Putin lover. Pretty good movie though, as he is a special ops guy, working as a cook. Sound familiar? He has to save the day against great cast of bad guys, while protecting a Playboy Playmate. Worth watching just to see her topless. Daaaamn.
Kraven the Hunter - not a classic, but it came up. Not as bad as I was expecting. Actually pretty good, again so long as you are willing to suspend disbelief in a big way. I wouldn't pay $15 to see it though.
Interview with a Hitman - small budget movie with fairly unknown cast. Great tension and twists. Hard to find it to watch though.
The Replacement Killers - one of my favorite all time action movies with Chow Yun Fat. He's a hitman on the run from his old crime boss, who sends a stream of replacement killers after him. Mira Sorvino gets involved and provides serious eye candy along the way. Great action choreography and soundtrack from the opening scene onward. If you haven't seen it yet, put it on your must see list.
Never Say Never Again - often overlooked Bond movie with Sean Connery and Kim Bassinger. He came back to make one last Bond movie, released same year as one of Roger Moore's. Connery's was better in my opinion, even though he was pretty old looking. Somehow the studio had rights to this one bond story, so they remade Thunderball, ending up with one of the better middle period Bond movies.
28 Days Later 1, 2, 3 - zombies and Cylian Murphy. Nuf said. Part 3 is coming soon and looks great.
Tom Hardy movies - I watched a few that I had missed...
Rocknrolla - hell yeah. Great cast. Tons of fun. Hardy had a small roll but you could already tell he was going to be a star.
The Drop - another strong cast, Tom is a bartender at a bar that belongs to foreign mafia. Not all is as it seems. Awesome performance.
Locke - Hardy gives a solo performance for 90 minutes or so. All others are voice only as he talks to various people on the phone while driving. No gun battles, but still with watching Hardy perform. Amazing dude.
Fury Road - if you haven't seen this, go watch it now! Some of the weirdest special effects and stunts you'll ever see. Then watch Furiosa right after it.
We could do a thread just on Tom Hardy.
Some others of his movies I recommend...
Legend - he plays twin gangsters!
Warrior - fantastic, 2 brothers
Lawless - great cast of 3 brothers
Black Hawk Down - so many good movies
Tom Hardy is amazing...
What underrated action movies did I miss?
I haven't watched them all, but here are reviews of some of the better ones in my opinion.
Elite Squad 1 & 2 - Brazilian movies in Portuguese. Based on real events highlighting the corruption of the police and drug trade in Brazil. Pretty brutal but very good, especially the first one.
Den of Thieves 1 & 2 - great cast, clever story, great action gun fights. Similar to stuff like Heat, but better in my opinion. Haven't seen the new 2nd one yet. It just came out and has good reviews.
The Man From Nowhere - Korean movie I think. Subtitles. Pretty typical story about retired spec ops guy working as a pawn shop clerk, ends up getting involved to protect a child who lives next door. Very well done action, with characters you care about.
Upgrade - kind of a short action comedy about a guy who gets upgraded like a bionic man. Similar themes to ex machina, but funnier.
Elevation - a bit if a rip off of A Quiet Place, but still ok if you're willing to overlook some serious holes common to many action movies...
Arcadian - Nick Cage is actually not the main guy, but still brings a lot to the movie. His 2 sons have to fight some of the freakiest monsters I've seen in a while. Worth it just to see the monsters do their thing! You'll remember the monsters long after the credits roll.
Layer Cake - Daniel Craig right before he became Bond. Excellent movie with lots of twists. Drug dealer on verge of being able to cash out, gets caught up in things over his head. Wild ride.
Commando - Arnold Schwartzenager doing his thing. Movie was great in its day but maybe hasn't aged that well. Still fun if you have seen it.
Under Siege - Steven Segal at his peak, before he became a weird fat Putin lover. Pretty good movie though, as he is a special ops guy, working as a cook. Sound familiar? He has to save the day against great cast of bad guys, while protecting a Playboy Playmate. Worth watching just to see her topless. Daaaamn.
Kraven the Hunter - not a classic, but it came up. Not as bad as I was expecting. Actually pretty good, again so long as you are willing to suspend disbelief in a big way. I wouldn't pay $15 to see it though.
Interview with a Hitman - small budget movie with fairly unknown cast. Great tension and twists. Hard to find it to watch though.
The Replacement Killers - one of my favorite all time action movies with Chow Yun Fat. He's a hitman on the run from his old crime boss, who sends a stream of replacement killers after him. Mira Sorvino gets involved and provides serious eye candy along the way. Great action choreography and soundtrack from the opening scene onward. If you haven't seen it yet, put it on your must see list.
Never Say Never Again - often overlooked Bond movie with Sean Connery and Kim Bassinger. He came back to make one last Bond movie, released same year as one of Roger Moore's. Connery's was better in my opinion, even though he was pretty old looking. Somehow the studio had rights to this one bond story, so they remade Thunderball, ending up with one of the better middle period Bond movies.
28 Days Later 1, 2, 3 - zombies and Cylian Murphy. Nuf said. Part 3 is coming soon and looks great.
Tom Hardy movies - I watched a few that I had missed...
Rocknrolla - hell yeah. Great cast. Tons of fun. Hardy had a small roll but you could already tell he was going to be a star.
The Drop - another strong cast, Tom is a bartender at a bar that belongs to foreign mafia. Not all is as it seems. Awesome performance.
Locke - Hardy gives a solo performance for 90 minutes or so. All others are voice only as he talks to various people on the phone while driving. No gun battles, but still with watching Hardy perform. Amazing dude.
Fury Road - if you haven't seen this, go watch it now! Some of the weirdest special effects and stunts you'll ever see. Then watch Furiosa right after it.
We could do a thread just on Tom Hardy.
Some others of his movies I recommend...
Legend - he plays twin gangsters!
Warrior - fantastic, 2 brothers
Lawless - great cast of 3 brothers
Black Hawk Down - so many good movies
Tom Hardy is amazing...
What underrated action movies did I miss?
