The first movies I watched, when I thought of myself as a young, teenage movie buff, were action movies.

Die Hard, Hard Boiled, Speed, Predator are all great movies with strong heroes, a sense of humor to some degree, and amazing set pieces.

But action movies have been supplanted by superhero movies. While the best of these movies rank among the best blockbusters of all time - Nolan's Batman movies, Iron Man, Captain America: Winter Warrior and Civil War, The Avengers, Wonder Woman - for the most part the structure of these movies fall flat to me because the superheros are indestructible and so the stakes are lowered for every battle.

Some of the reason might be the change of the moviegoing population - younger - and also the change in the culture away from traditional definitions of masculinity or even a lack of American born actors who can carry a movie, perform the stunts and have charisma. Studios also are reluctant to push movies that aren't existing properties, which certainly plays a factor.

I would think that some director can breathe life back into the genre, like McTiernan with Die Hard or Woo with The Killer.

Is the problem an audience problem or a studio problem?

John Wick did 3x its budget at the box office despite everyone I know having not seen the movie until it was on Amazon Prime or HBO, and Chapter 2 did over 4x its budget. Audiences still want to see good action movies.


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The audience will come out for an action movie, if the movie is good.

Studios also might be tentative about releasing action movies because they generally have to be rated R and rated R movies are a harder sell. At least to get the movies to the level of box office returns that a similar movie might make if that movie's rating is PG-13.

We only remember the good ones, but all of those problems existed in the 80s and 90s too.

We literally just got Mad Max: Fury Road and both John Wicks. We've had the Mission Impossibles, the Bournes, Kill Bill, Apocalypto, Edge of Tomorrrow. We've had international films, like The Raids, Sleepless Night, 13 Assassins, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Drug War. There's plenty of terrific action out there.

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>We only remember the good ones, but all of those problems
>existed in the 80s and 90s too.
>
>We literally just got Mad Max: Fury Road and both John Wicks.
>We've had the Mission Impossibles, the Bournes, Kill Bill,
>Apocalypto, Edge of Tomorrrow. We've had international films,
>like The Raids, Sleepless Night, 13 Assassins, Hero, House of
>Flying Daggers, Drug War. There's plenty of terrific action
>out there.

Good point. Maybe my perspective about the release schedule is skewed because my interest in movies isn't as intense as it was back then and so movies that would have caught my attention back then, now slip by.

Also, the fact that 'middle-class' movies rarely are greenlit now, of which most of the action movies that are part of the the canon of action movies would be now. Besides studio dramas, action movies seem hardest hit by that change in the movie industry.

I had read All You Need Is Kill beforehand and didn't feel cheated by the adaptation/interpolation the movie set up. I'm a little concerned about the next movie they are setting up, but Edge bought enough goodwill for me to give it a shot.

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>But action movies have been supplanted by superhero movies.
>While the best of these movies rank among the best
>blockbusters of all time - Nolan's Batman movies, Iron Man,
>Captain America: Winter Warrior and Civil War, The Avengers,
>Wonder Woman - for the most part the structure of these movies
>fall flat to me because the superheros are indestructible and
>so the stakes are lowered for every battle.

hell, they WERE superheroes for all intents and purposes. were there ever really stakes in the battles in Rambo, Die Hard or Schwarzenegger movies?

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http://www.avclub.com/article/todays-best-action-directors-arent-working-in-holl-104394



I can vouch for the last Universal Solider flick.

I almost glossed over this.

I've looked over a lot of these movies while scanning the Netflix catalog, but like the article said because of lack of word-of-mouth and marketing - cover art and mass media - the quality titles just blur into each other.

Next time, I get in an action mood, I'll try one of flicks mentioned in the article.

Thanks again.

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But I think the international crossover appeal theory is legitimate. More specifically...that appealing to foreign audiences has changed the nature of what gets the greenlight. The end result seems to be a disproportionate value in spandex costumes. Movies that emphasize dialogue are less successful and movies that provide more visual cues are more successful. I'm trying to imagine watching Die Hard with no sound. A movie like Spiderman could be viewed without sound much better.

They sucked.

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LOL.

Yeah, this looks pretty good. I'll have to check this out when it finally is released.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/08/03/bruce_willis_is_out_for_blood_and_a_few_laughs_in_the_trailer_for_death.html

i was going to look for the old death wish topic to mention this upcoming remake, but having so far avoided watching the sequels to the original i really didn't have a strong feeling against a remake other than finding it pointless as usual. i kinda like this cast but now am a bit ambivalent again learning eli roth directed (he seems low on original ideas ever since hostel).

has the cult of auto-greenlighting sequels watered down the genre?

'cause nowadays it seems like no matter how wack the movie is, it's getting a sequel.

i'm too lazy to look up the trend in the 80's and 90's for comparison.

critics crapped all over predator 2, but i've seen it at least a dozen times and like it nearly as much as the original.

Once people started stylizing EVERY shot ( two hand pistols/slow motion), to blowing up shit in every other scene, there was no need for good writing; not that action films were really known for clever writing.

On top of that, it turned into a every movie getting a sequel with twice as much of the same shit. It got old really fast. Especially if you're not a teenager.

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Studios probably steered their filmmakers to copy the elements of those great action movies around the turn of the century rather than invest time in crafting a good script. But studios have been undercutting the craft of making films since there has been a film industry.

That was straight up 80's action. I miss that. I had a friend pass who was a big fan of those type movies and I make it a point to see every sction flick that drops in honor of him...and there aren't that many anymore.

>I would think that some director can breathe life back into
>the genre, like McTiernan with Die Hard or Woo with The
>Killer.

Raid 2 has some of the most beautiful action scenes in cinema history. it's lack of popularity in correlation with its quality is downright appalling (subtitle haters).

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