Most men and a lot of women would agree that they like action movies. While it isn't my favorite genre (I love comedy) I do find myself going back to action movies more often than not. Its embedded into my brain and into my soul that I will always love car chases, explosions, slo-mo gun fights and the mexican standoff. But in a slew of Steven Seagal films and bad Stallone/Schwarzenegger/Van Damme movies which follow the generic plot of EVERY action movie, its hard to tell what a REALLY good action movie is. There is the plot driven ones like Wanted, the action oriented ones like Shoot em Up and the hectic/crack head action films like Crank. All of these are good in their own right but they all have some minor or pretty big shortcomings. Even Die Hard had its bad moments!
So what is the greatest action movie ever made? Look no further than the master of action himself: John Woo and especially his greatest feat Hard Boiled. Hard Boiled follows Detective Tequila (Chow Yun Fat) whose partner had been killed in an ambush. He vows revenge and with the help of an undercover agent (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) he decides to take down the Triad led by an evil boss (Anthony Wong Chau Sang)
Needless to say there is plenty of action between point A and point B. Here is a taste of the brilliance:
Its a debated scene that many people have called the greatest action scene ever filmed. Although I think this one is better.
But needless to say there is A LOT of action. And all of it is stylized, amazing and almost like watching an art piece. Like a gun ballet of sorts.
If you haven't seen this and even if you aren't a fan of Chinese films, you owe it to yourself to see it. Its the greatest action movie ever.
MY VERDICT: TOP FILM
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