Is it me or do Action Movies seriously suck these days

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SystemBug

Member
I don't know what it is but man do action movies suck today.

I watched Die Hard months ago and Point Break a few days ago and nothing has come close to them in any action movie I have seen recently. This isn't me acting on nostalgia or anything since it was the first time I saw those movies. It's not just those movies either. I also saw Lock Out for the first time around the same time frame and that movie was also pretty good.

Sure you might get movies which have a lot of action in them but they miss out on the suspense, which to me, makes the big action moments and the characters that much better. Also, both mentioned films look like they were shot better than a lot of movies I see today. I watched them in HD (BluRay) and they hold up!

Also, Johnny Utah.

Has there ever been a more bad-ass name in film history?
 
The last one that blew me away was The Raid which is a Indonesian movie

The action movie scene is truly fucked - I still have high hopes for EXP3
 
Die Hard works so well, even today, not just because it is a great action movie, but because it is a great movie full stop. The story flows with every scene making sense and leading progressively to the next, the characters are memorable, with even minor baddies getting stand-out moments (Al Leong's candy craving, for example) and, of course, those set pieces.
 
I don't know if it's necessarily the case that action films had better stories or characters in the past, it's more a case of the style of Hollywood action cinema has changed in recent years. These days films are content to tell us about action rather than show us action, we'll get an impression of something awesome happening but never a proper view of what has actually happened, only the aftermath of an explosion or a gunfight/fistfight will be shown to an audience in any detail.

It's still the case that good action films come along here and there, Dredd was excellent, but more often than not the current landscape of action movies is one that favours an allusion to something cool over showing is something cool. All these things are cyclical though, and eventually we'll get back to more straight-up set-ups and pay-offs, and hopefully better action in Hollywood, in general.
 
Nibel said:
The last one that blew me away was The Raid which is a Indonesian movie

The action movie scene is truly fucked - I still have high hopes for EXP3
Click to expand...

beat me to it. Was also about to recommend The Raid. Saw both English and Indonesian versions. Indonesian one was awesome.
 
Gloam said:
I don't know if it's necessarily the case that action films had better stories or characters in the past, it's more a case of the style of Hollywood action cinema has changed in recent years. These days films are content to tell us about action rather than show us action, we'll get an impression of something awesome happening but never a proper view of what has actually happened, only the aftermath of an explosion or a gunfight/fistfight will be shown to an audience in any detail.

It's still the case that good action films come along here and there, Dredd was excellent, but more often than not the current landscape of action movies is one that favours an allusion to something cool over showing is something cool. All these things are cyclical though, and eventually we'll get back to more straight-up set-ups and pay-offs, and hopefully better action in Hollywood, in general.
Click to expand...
that's a great and fancy way of saying modern action photography just sucks.

(shakes the camera)
(shakes it more)
(clear shot of protagonist standing up over mysteriously defeated opponent)
 
My biggest problem with Hollywood for the last 10 years or so, is the terrible use of stereotypes. And the same old boy meets girl, which overshadow the action part. Die Hard is a perfect action movie. Great setting, terrific action, humor (not forced) and great dialog. Still the movie have stereotypes, but they are not thrown in our face all the time.

Old movies are still much better than many of today's movies.
 
HyperZone<3 said:
that's a great and fancy way of saying modern action photography just sucks.

(shakes the camera)
(shakes it more)
(clear shot of protagonist standing up over mysteriously defeated opponent)
Click to expand...

Heh, maybe I was a bit verbose; seems that people don't really care what way something is shot as long as it's big and loud.
 
Die Hard is one of the greatest films of all time (and the best Christmas movie ever) so the fact that you don't see movies quite as good is more of a testament of how awesome it was than evidence to the decline of the action genre.

Point Break is quite a terrible film that's mostly enjoyable ironically, we get better action films that it pretty much every year.
 
Dredd was pretty awesome. It was probably one of the best action movies I've seen in years.

The Raid Redemption was great too. Does that count as action, martial arts, or both?

But yeah, in general, it's just not the same as they were in their heyday.
 
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.
 
Trent Strong said:
Quick cuts and shaky cam. I never knew what was happening in those action scenes.
Click to expand...
It's not that bad in the first one (if I remember correctly, been a while since I seen it) I think it's a very solid action film (much better than something like Point Break).
It gets unbearable in the sequels, plus the plot just get stupider and stupider.
 
SeriousApes said:
Yeah, Bourne movies hurt my eyes.
Click to expand...

Supremacy was awful for the quick-cutting of the fight scenes. Ultimatum was much better though. That jump through the window with the camera following is one of my favourite action shots in recent times and the subsequent fight is much clearer shot and edited, even though it is still fast.
 
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.
 
It's not just you, but you are all wrong.

And point break is idiotic. Johnny Utah is a terrible hero who spends the entire movie fucking up royally and making stupid decisions. Loved that movie when it first came out, couldn't believe the levels of awful it has fallen to over time.

Die Hard is still awesome though.
 
Olympus has fallen is a good example, he never kills anyone with his hands, every kill is with a knife or gun, like 100 lame deaths
 
I just saw Speed and Point Break these past few days with my gf. Let's just say the cake was a lie, these movies suck. We were just young enough to love them before.

Bourne trilogy and Casino Royale, Fast Five etc are examples of awesome and more recent action movies. Overall the problem is that action movies these days are all PG13, so no awesome banter and violence anymore.
 
It seems like action movies are less ambitious story-wise nowadays, but the actual action scenes are worlds better now.
 
Can Crusher said:
I just saw Speed and Point Break these past few days with my gf. Let's just say the cake was a lie, these movies suck. We were just young enough to love them before.

Bourne trilogy and Casino Royale, Fast Five etc are examples of awesome and more recent action movies. Overall the problem is that action movies these days are all PG13, so no awesome banter and violence anymore.
Click to expand...


Weird, I fucking love both Speed and Point Break. They're obviously not as good a Die Hard, though the ending to Point Break is oddly poignant, in a very tacky sort of way.

PG13 is a problem. Definitely. Everything is just so utterly tame nowadays.
 
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.
 
SystemBug said:
I don't know what it is but man do action movies suck today.

I watched Die Hard months ago and Point Break a few days ago and nothing has come close to them in any action movie I have seen recently. This isn't me acting on nostalgia or anything since it was the first time I saw those movies. It's not just those movies either. I also saw Lock Out for the first time around the same time frame and that movie was also pretty good.

Sure you might get movies which have a lot of action in them but they miss out on the suspense, which to me, makes the big action moments and the characters that much better. Also, both mentioned films look like they were shot better than a lot of movies I see today. I watched them in HD (BluRay) and they hold up!

Also, Johnny Utah.

Has there ever been a more bad-ass name in film history?
Click to expand...

I thinks you need to turn to the East especially South Korea or Hong Kong (Johnnie To) if you wants good actions movies these days.
 
Roland Deschain said:
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.
Click to expand...
I thought it was great And just like an old school action film

Really surprised me!
 
Yep, there's too much over-analyzing over action scenes these days. It doesn't flow like it used to.

Look at speed....movie has bad acting and semi bad script, but it flows so incredibly well and is very entertaining.
Face Off, con air, the rock......etc
 
cchum said:
Yep, there's too much over-analyzing over action scenes these days. It doesn't flow like it used to.

Look at speed....movie has bad acting and semi bad script, but it flows so incredibly well and is very entertaining.
Face Off, con air, the rock......etc
Click to expand...

Tony Scott (RIP) was really good at this. I mean, it's not Oscar winning emotional plea kinda stuff, but really well paced and tight tension work.
 
The fact that Bruce Willis, Stallone, Harrison Ford, Arnold, etc. are still being called up to reprise action heroes at 60+ years old shows you the state of the genre.
 
Die Hard isn't exactly your typical action movie of the 80s in terms of quality either. I don't think there's been an action film in recent years that measures up to Die Hard, but I wouldn't say the same for the general quality of action films now vs those of that time period.
 
teruterubozu said:
The fact that Bruce Willis, Stallone, Harrison Ford, Arnold, etc. are still being called up to reprise action heroes at 60+ years old shows you the state of the genre.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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
)...
 
Shaky cam has really been ruining Hollywood action cinema for the past decade or so. What's worse is that almost everyone I know hates it and it gets a *lot* of complaints but Hollywood keeps on trucking and doing it in every film.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

The "new" KIA logo. Does it suck, or is it just me?
48
3K
Lambogenie replied
Do you day drink on your days off?
2 3
102
3K
Nocty replied
Can anyone suggest movies where the failure character is trying to do one good thing?
22
791
Men_in_Boxes replied
What 5 shows (anime, live action, cartoons) do you wish had more episodes or seasons?
2
68
3K
HAYA8U5A replied
Sydney Sweeney in final talks to star in Gundam live-action movie at Legendary
20
952
jshackles replied
Top Bottom