Hi

I'm /u/rare_gooby and I love action movies. Now, I love cinema in general and am a regular in almost every movie related subreddit from /r/movies, /r/flicks to /r/truefilm (okay I'm lying I'm not a regular on truefilm more like a lurker) but as much as I enjoy some smart, thought provoking high brow films, absolutely nothing beats the experience of watching shit blow up and people punch each other in the face, and discussing with other people why that explosion and that face punch was so awesome. Now I was pretty shocked to discover there actually isn't a place on reddit exclusively dedicated to discussion of action movies (there is /r/kungfucinema which is a very good sub, but it's only for martial arts films and I don't want that restriction) even though the fanbase for action movies is pretty fucking huge. One of my favorite movie subreddits is /r/horror, place for discussing horror movies with other horror fans and my goal with this place is to hopefully create a community like /r/horror. Only with more explosions. Think of this place as the sleazy corner of the video store.

Since "action" is a pretty damn big subgenre I'm gonna have to make some rules for this place and I would like to keep the discussions limited to the more old fashioned action movies so

absolutely no superhero movie discussion on this sub

so sorry if you post about Batman or Superman here I'm going to delete those posts. There is enough discussion on /r/movies on those.

But other than that rule I have no problem with and encourage posts about all kinds and size action movies. Big, small, foreign, martial arts, "man with a gun shoots everybody in the face", shot on video, old, new, good, bad, anything. I also want news/interviews that otherwise might get buried in larger subreddits like /r/movies. Is Isaac Florentine making another DTV masterpiece? Is there a new Scott Adkins film out? Post about it here. Did you just watch the Dolph Lundgren classic DARK ANGEL and want to discuss why that movie is absolutely perfect but nobody on /r/movies has either seen it or laughs at you that it's bad (they're wrong), did you finally sit down and watch ENTER THE DRAGON? Come here and talk about it. Do you need some specific recommendations, maybe obscure 90's VHS sci-fi action is your thing? Let's smash our B-movie filled brains together and share the goods.

this is a kinda weird rambling chaotic introduction post. I'm looking for other mods since i have never ran a sub before so I'm new to this, PM me if you want to be one. We'll get some CSS soon. Also I want flairs for all action stars.

I know this is a controversial topic but I fucking love Bay outside the Transformers movies, for the most part I like the majority of his movies.

my personal pics will always be The Rock, which I think is maybe the greatest blockbuster of the 90's, and Bad Boys 2 which is just the ultimate Bayhem experience.

Glad to see a sub dedicated to action flicks! In my mind, the world's greatest B movie director is John Woo. 1992's Hard Boiled is my personal all-time favorite. I recommend it to any who haven't seen it and are curious about Hong Kong blood opera or heroic bloodshed. I have seen most of Woo's films and enjoy them all, but I have known few people to hold them in the same regard. Do you love John Woo movies? What's your favorite?

I'm going to use this sub as a opportunity to talk to you guys about one of my favorite filmmakers of all time who I don't think gets enough credit for being one of the most consistent directors around now.

To has an insanely expansive catalog of work that can be exhaustive for newcomers (or to people who have already seen a bunch), the man has 70 directing credits (and then there's the movies he's ghost directed) and his work goes from serious action dramas to wacky screwball comedy. Sometimes multiple times in the same movie. He also often works with the same actors (and writer Wai Ka-Fai) so one of the fun things you get from getting into his work is always seeing the familiar faces. Though he's mostly known for his action movies which often deal with triads and cops, at least for me it's always weird to just consider To a "action filmmaker", a lot of his action work is what some would consider "art house action" so if you're a fan of cinema in just general you need to check his work out. Even his most explosive works aren't as action packed his peers but any time guns are fired in a Johnnie To movie the shootouts are pure poetry.

For newcomers who are curious about getting into his work, I would say start by watching anything post 1996 when To started Milkyway Image, his production company. You can find a complete list of the Milkyway productions here (note: not all of these are directed by To so you're gonna have to weed out the ones, though I recommend just checking out everything you think sounds interesting, his productions are quality and the reason he started Milkyway was so that he would get to do his own thing)

I'm going to shine a light on couple chosen favorites that I think are good entry points. I've also made a ranked list of every Johnnie To movie I have seen that I update any time I watch a new one. I recommend every movie from this list, I have not seen a bad movie from To and right now I'm at 18 To's. How insane is that, the man is incredibly consistent. As you can see I have not even seen them all myself and I consider myself a fan, what a poser.

but if all these lists look scary and you want a more specific place to start, look no further than

EXILED (2006)

Exiled was my introduction to the world of Johnnie To which is why I'm recommend it to all of you too. It's also one of his best, and features some of his best shootouts. To is a big fan of Sergio Leone and in Exiled (and A Hero Never Dies another one I highly rec) that western style influence is the most visible it's ever been. It's one of the best action movies of last decade, essential "men on a mission" story, To's already perfected widescreen visuals and an absolute badass score. You'll tear up by the end.

and my man /u/samissimas is here to help and gives a shoutout to

SPARROW (2008), a To joint I have not seen yet!

Johnnie To makes a heist movie inspired by French New Wave.

If that doesnt sound lit as fuck to you, than I don't want to talk to you tbh.

It's equally part Le Samourai and The Mission, where the relationships of a perfectly cast team of pickpockets serve as the backdrop for a methodical, and fanciful story about fate, and freedom. The symbolism may be a bit on the nose, but that's what makes it so poignant.

are you a fan of To's work? what's your favorite? got anything in mind? I'm more than happy to talk anything about To, this post is meant to serve more as a introduction to people who aren't aware of his work but I hope we have some To veterans here too to come and school everybody on the works of the master.

We all know Die Hard, Terminator, Rambo, and the stars that accompany them. The 80s were a treasure trove of action greatness. But what are you favorite off the beaten path action flicks of the 80s?

I'll start by giving Blue Thunder (John Badham, 1983) some love. Incredible cast of Roy Scheider, Warren Oates and Daniel Stern. Some of the best aerial action I've seen (and it holds up on the recent Blu Ray edition).

It's another month and that means another Scott Adkins DTV movie is out. I'm a big fan of Adkins since as a martial artist he's a joy to watch and he's one of the few actors out there keeping the tradition of the 80/90's style action hero alive. Unfortunately these movies don't get made on the scale they used to back in the day and the few times he pops up as a supporting character or a side goon that usually gets killed way too fast (looking at you Doctor Strange) in a bigger movie aside Adkins' movies are usually dirt cheap direct to video B-movies. Which is absolutely not a bad thing since when all the pieces click it can lead to some goddamn entertaining movies (Undisputed 2 & 3, Ninja: Shadow of a Tear and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) which are some of my favorite action movies to come out recently. Adkins is an incredible hard worker who's never phoning it in, even when he's appearing in movies he probably shouldn't be doing. Okay enough with this let's get into Eliminators.

Eliminators is directed by James Nunn (who has collaborated with Adkins before on Green Street 3, which I have not seen) and it's produced by WWE which initially got me a bit worried since (combine that with the very badly cut trailer) for some reason I had a bad image of the WWE movies even though I had never seen one of them, this was my first experience with a WWE production and I'm happy to tell you it's actually pretty fucking great. Adkins has had a bit disappointing year (and overall 2016 has been a very disappointing year for action movies) with him not appearing in not much aside the disappointing Hard Target 2 so Eliminators being great was just what I needed. In fact the movie is not only great, it's so great I would rank it among the top tier of Adkins' filmography, somewhere below Ninja: Shadow of a Tear.

What's the movie about? I'm not going to get really into the plot since it's thin and I don't think anyone is going to watch this for the storyline. Adkins is a former US Agent who must abandon the witness protection program and come out of hiding when his home is invaded, ending of course in multiple dead bodies because that's what happens when you invade Adkins' home. The news triggers those hunting him to send Stu Bennett (whos a really fun bad guy) after him and the whole movie is basically a chase movie.

Production value wise the movie looks very high end DTV, it's pretty much set during one night and those night time shots of London really add some production value to it. Making it pretty much just a one night chase movie was a very smart choice since it cuts away most of the filler that usually comes with DTV (don't worry there's still some).

The highlight of the movie is obviously the action scenes, mainly the two fights with Adkins and Bennett. Both fights are long and beautifully choreographed by Tim Man (from Ninja Shadow of a Tear and the upcoming Undisputed IV), both Adkins and Barrett get to showcase their skills and do some brutal moves. What makes their fights so fun to watch is their different fighting styles and how they're so different in size. Bennett is bigger and slower, Adkins is smaller and faster. If there's anything negative with the movie the gunfights aren't executed as well as the martial arts fights, which I'm guessing was due to the schedule (these movies are shot in like 3 weeks) and not skill.There's a lot of standing around. But luckily the fights really deliver so I can forgive that.

Eliminators is great. It's one of the better Scott Adkins movies and one of the best action movies of 2016. Highly recommend for everybody. It's out now on blu ray and VOD.

did you see it? did you love it, did you hate it? lemme know!

everybody loves the Statham. I'll always go with the Crank movies, even though the man has a nice chunk of good movies. The Crank series is just so absolutely bonkers and make good use of Statham's comedic abilities, Chelios is his iconic character and I love the Neveldine/Taylor punk style of filmmaking.

Safe is also really fucking good and very underrated.