Is it me or do Action Movies seriously suck these days

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My biggest problem about action movies nowadays, aside from shacky cam and fast cut's, is mostly the absurdity of the action it self, we often see the hero come out unscathed from a situation in which the regular human being would die instantly and doing things impossible for a human being (
fast and furious 6 that car jump to save the girl on the bridge is the perfect example
)...

The Fast series is campy fun, and it works. No one expects realism. It's the best action series in recent years in part because of its silliness.
 
I think that has to do with money. People in their thirties or forties have more than young people and are willing to buy movie tickets. Same with the car industry. No wonder the Mustang and Camaro are selling. People buy into nostalgia.

Of course it has to do with money - they are still big draws. Statham alone doesn't cut it.
 
The Fast series is campy fun, and it works. No one expects realism. It's the best action series in recent years in part because of its silliness.

Yes it's fun i admit it, but because of his sucess is almost impossible to make a movie more like Die Hard, the executives won't do them, because they think the audience want more silly action...
 
If you ever ask the question that has "these days" in it, you're suffering from a tainted viewpoint from nostalgia and memory. Everything is better when you experienced it the first time when you were younger. Everything.

If you're saying that now (probably at age 20-30), you'll be saying it even more when you're older and complaining about how everything (music, games, movies, kids) seriously sucks these days.
Thing is, I didn't see these movies before. Watched them for the first time this year!
 
I loved Omympus Has Fallen. Could have been the new Die Hard if you just put Bruce in there. As it is, it's an awesome braindead R-rated action movie with a good pace. I recommend it.
Let's play a game of "fuck off", you go first.

Quality dialogue! It feels like one of those so bad it's actually good movies. And it really is Die Hard in the White House. And knife attacks to the head. Suprisingly fun movie.
 
DTV will save you. Blood and Bone, Universal Soldier: Regeneration, Undisputed 2-3, Ninja.

Also, Safe is pretty good (for a Jason Statham movie).
 
there's the occasional gem like CR but yeah, they're not exciting, bold or all-around well made like it used to be. When i watch a McTiernan movie it blows my mind the amount of technical skills and effort that man put in his best works. They're movies, not just a serie of action pieces whipped together
 
Need for bigger set pieces = more CGI = no sense of peril = not believing or caring about characters' predicaments.

Writers can't write characters for shit these days either.
 
It's you.

You're not complaining about the actual ACTION in your action movies. You're complaining about characterization and narrative progression.

The actual blocking,staging, stuntwork and editing of action sequences are fucking MILLENNIA beyond what was possible in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

But because studios can't be bothered to get their motherfucking stories straight, the action doesn't stick like it should. But that's not the 2nd Unit/AD/Stunt Co-ordinator's fault.

Really? I actually think action filmmaking is, by and large, pretty shit nowadays. I don't think many directors *do* know how to how choreograph, shoot, or edit action which is why we so have much shakey cam, slow-mo, and quick cuts.

I think what you're describing is more like The Raid, which has fantastic looking and put-together fight scenes, but who gives a fuck because the story is non-existent. And even that's an exception.
 
I don't think they suck, I think different types of action movies are being made. I have no real preference because I enjoy what happens today but I can still go back and watch a movie like die hard. But I do think that good action movies back in the day weren't as common as we pretend. There was some really cheesy crap back then.

My biggest gripe with action movies today is that everyone is invincible. I'm so tired of people just getting thrown through glass and surviving crazy falls. Die hard 1 vs. 4 is a great example of this. He became superman.
 
Need for bigger set pieces = more CGI = no sense of peril = not believing or caring about characters' predicaments.

Writers can't write characters for shit these days either.

hollywood still employs writers? lol
i thought they got rid of em all during the last strike and replaced them with producers
 
Thing is, I didn't see these movies before. Watched them for the first time this year!

And that's perfectly valid; the style of the 80s clearly appeals to you. But that's a subjective opinion; there will be those in 20 years who think the movies of 2010 were the pinnacle of action movies and that everything made in 2030 sucks.

Basically, there's always going to be complaints about "these days". Your grandparents had them and your grandchildren will have them,
 
And that's perfectly valid; the style of the 80s clearly appeals to you. But that's a subjective opinion; there will be those in 20 years who think the movies of 2010 were the pinnacle of action movies and that everything made in 2030 sucks.

Basically, there's always going to be complaints about "these days". Your grandparents had them and your grandchildren will have them,

an action movie in 2030 will be some guy walking across a park
too expenisve to make any else
 
Pretty much. People hailing crap like the Fast and Furious films as great action flicks.... ugh. I guess when you compare it to the other crappy action flicks coming out of recent....

CG has killed a lot of possibly great action set pieces, what would have been done with practical effects and still could, is now all done on a computer and often just looks poor. I mean seriously, we are having to CG car crashes now? Even simpler stunts are using CG. WWZ was a huge offender in this department, just to have the "zombies" tackling people to the ground was done with tons of CG for no reason.
 
Or Hanna, or Shoot Em Up or even like Drive.


Don't watch heavily group market shit like Avengers.
Drive is an action movie now? It's boring as fuck man! And the "action sequences" that were in there looked like slowed down dry runs that they just decided to keep, the cars always look like they're going like 30mph.

So lame.
 
I talked to a couple of friends about this recently and we came to the conclusoin that there really isn't any any new action stars to pass to torch to, Where's the new stallone/arnold? I can only think of Dwayne Johnson, Statham and Vin Diesel. The last two just doesn't do it for me, at all, and I think The Rock did an awesome job in the rundown and walking tall.

Also, they haven't blown anything up for real since the mid-late 90's. I watched True Lies not so long ago and was surprised to see real explosions?

Might be right about the cinematography, that it has changed. I hate the fast paced shots with shaking.
 
Pretty much. People hailing crap like the Fast and Furious films as great action flicks.... ugh. I guess when you compare it to the other crappy action flicks coming out of recent....

CG has killed a lot of possibly great action set pieces, what would have been done with practical effects and still could, is now all done on a computer and often just looks poor. I mean seriously, we are having to CG car crashes now? Even simpler stunts are using CG. WWZ was a huge offender in this department, just to have the "zombies" tackling people to the ground was done with tons of CG for no reason.
We need to stop giving cg such a bad rap. Some of it's bad yes but it often looks great and it's also giving us experiences we never would've had back then. And let's not pretend practical effects always looked great. It was a tool just like cg is today. Sometimes it was really done poorly and looked like wretched shit.
 
We need to stop giving cg such a bad rap. Some of it's bad yes but it often looks great and it's also giving us experiences we never would've had back then. And let's not pretend practical effects always looked great. It was a tool just like cg is today. Sometimes it was really done poorly and looked like wretched shit.

ive been a bit sick of it
but i watched indiana jones 4 last night (dont laugh)
and the cgi was superb, really added to alot of the shots
 
We need to stop giving cg such a bad rap. Some of it's bad yes but it often looks great and it's also giving us experiences we never would've had back then. And let's not pretend practical effects always looked great. It was a tool just like cg is today. Sometimes it was really done poorly and looked like wretched shit.
My mate is dead against CGI, blindly so. Example:

After watching Casino Royale, he said that the CGI on the Aston Martin crash looked totally lame. Apart from the fact that the ruined a load of Astons flipping them for real.

He just assumed it was CGI, and therefore it just had to be lame right?
 
We need to stop giving cg such a bad rap. Some of it's bad yes but it often looks great and it's also giving us experiences we never would've had back then. And let's not pretend practical effects always looked great. It was a tool just like cg is today. Sometimes it was really done poorly and looked like wretched shit.

CGI can be done expertly and it does not need to cost a billion dollars. Just look at Elysium.

But it can also ruin a movie, like X-Men Origins Wolverine.
 
It's you.

You're not complaining about the actual ACTION in your action movies. You're complaining about characterization and narrative progression.

The actual blocking,staging, stuntwork and editing of action sequences are fucking MILLENNIA beyond what was possible in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

But because studios can't be bothered to get their motherfucking stories straight, the action doesn't stick like it should. But that's not the 2nd Unit/AD/Stunt Co-ordinator's fault.

Not true.

Outside of maybe Jason Statham, the average action star isn't doing nearly the amount of work of the average action star during the 80s golden era of action movies.

Having great fight choreography just isn't highly prioritized anymore. It's all about showing the action through slow motion and the things that go boom.
 
lol dont foregt mr van damme as well
and countless other straight to vhs bullsh*t
die hard was pretty much unique in its awesomeness

I want mention van damme too, but I recall he have quite of few fans here lol
You're only lying to yourself if thinking most of action film back then up par to Die Hard or Lethal Weapon quality.

Must admit those (Die Hard/Lethal Weapon) + Terminator are better than what offered in modern action film though.
 
We need to stop giving cg such a bad rap. Some of it's bad yes but it often looks great and it's also giving us experiences we never would've had back then. And let's not pretend practical effects always looked great. It was a tool just like cg is today. Sometimes it was really done poorly and looked like wretched shit.

My problem with CGI movies is when it's obvious the characters are behind green screens, looking like they just got out of make-up and not out of the world they're inhabiting. They often lack that tactile, lived in feel, which ruins immersion. It's too clean.

80s action movies never had that problem, actors were put through the ringer in mostly real world settings and situations.

edit: Even Peter Jackson slipped up a bit in this regard with the Hobbit. A lot of the characters looked like pristine action figures, and not real world characters inhabiting a fantasy world. It was actually a step down from the original trilogy.
 
i was tricked into watching one of the Fast and Furious movies cause i was told they were "old school action". bullshit.

if done in 1987, Fast and Furious would feature Vin Diesel, working solo, getting his girl kidnapped in the opening scene leading to 90 minutes of people getting shot/punched/slammed.
 
The Last Stand was cheesy but surprisingly fun recent action flick. Reminded me of older big budget action flicks.
 
Watch Cinemax's Strike Back.

It's like an old school action movie every week.

As others have mentioned, The Raid and Dredd are legitimately good recent action movies. Avatar, despite complaints, has great action in the final act.
 
Kinda OT but i watched ET with my seven years old son yesterday, he was glued to the couch the wholep time. It's been a while since i watched it too and damn, such a masterpiece, i got tears in my eyes during the first bycicle flying scene, such a wonderful moment and the music, my god the music is so memorable. And this was a kids movie, kids movies today are shit compared to movies like ET and The Goonies. Too much reliance on special effects to impress, just like most movies today.
 
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