Kevin's Watch

I would've sworn we had a topic for this, but I went back a year and couldn't find it.

With the release of Live Free or Die Hard, there's been a lot of talk about the Original Die Hard being the Greatest Action Film Ever Made. I, of course, was skeptical about this, so I went out and bought the original Die Hard on DVD after seeing LFoDH in the theater (and it's great).

I saw Die Hard in the theater during the summer of '88 and loved it. During the summer of '89, my roommate and I would get blown up and watch it on VHS or cable every night. Conservatively speaking, I've seen Die Hard 120-150 times, though I haven't watched it since the summer of 1990.

So I slipped the DVD into the player last night expecting to be blown through the back wall of my apartment.

I was. Again.

I am stunned at how well this film held up. It's definitely an '80s film, but it's not hopelessly stuck there with goofy camera work or music. The story is simple but well-realized. The lighting is spectacular. The cinematography is beautiful. The action is nearly non-stop.

And the action sequences are real. Miniatures. Stuntmen. Explosions. Optical tricks. Die Hard is the last of the non-CGI action movies, arguably the pinnacle of good old-fashioned practical and optical effects. When something blows up, something really blows up. They don't make action films like this anymore, and that's a damn shame. I'd rather watch Die Hard another 150 times than watch the BS computer-generated crap in The Matrix.

But is it The Best?

I've wracked my brain since last night, and I can't come up with anything better.

Lethal Weapon? Great movie, but there's nothing in there that comes close to the action in Die Hard.

Hard Boiled? The hospital shootout is probably the best ever, but other than the action sequences, the rest of the film is weak.

Leon? Again, great film, but there are too many lulls in it.

The Terminator? Too much exposition (typical for Cameron).

So I can't think of any movie that delivers the action as well as Die Hard. The only movie that possibly could dethrone it is (oddly enough) Die Hard With a Vengeance.

Raiders of the Lost Ark comes CLOSE, I'd argue. Starts out hard, and never lets up.

Raiders isn't an action film. Good movie, but it doesn't compare to any of the films I listed.

Likewise, I wouldn't include Star Wars in the running. It's a fantasy film with action, not an action film.

Yeah I get your point. I kinda struggled with that as well. Thought about listing "Minority Rpeort"..but it is more of a Sci-Fi..but then again so is Terminator.

The Great Escape is a damn fine action movie.

Raiders isn't an action film? **scratches head, whistles...**

Nah, I don't think Raiders is. It's a tribute to the old serials that has some action, but it doesn't hold a candle (action-wise) to the Rambos, Missing in Actions, Commandos, or Die Hards.

Let me give an example. Ronin is a great movie and has the two best car chases ever filmed. But it is emphatically not an action film.

Cail wrote:Ronin is a great movie and has the two best car chases ever filmed.

Ronin, huh? Saw the cover for the movie ages ago, but never gave it a chance. Will have to rent it sometime soon!

I'm seriously divided on action films and, maybe, don't know how to classify them. MI is action right? I can't stand Rambo or Chuck Norris...would Enter the Dragon or Black Rain be considered action? Now Cobra's the man!

Lord Foul wrote:

Cail wrote:Ronin is a great movie and has the two best car chases ever filmed.

Ronin, huh? Saw the cover for the movie ages ago, but never gave it a chance. Will have to rent it sometime soon!

I remember being bored to tears by Ronin.

MI, like The Matrix, is the new action idiom (which I think blows). Black Rain (to me) is a great cop movie with some good action sequences. I suppose it could be called an action movie (and that's probably where Blockbuster files it), but I don't look at it that way. Cobra, Raw Deal, Commando...Those are action movies. But films like Black Rain or Aliens, while both excellent movies, have so much down time between action sequences that I don't consider them action films.

And yeah, I know I'm being picky, but if I have to sit through 30 minutes of anything (love, drama, plot) before someone gets shot, stabbed, or blown up, then it's not a good action movie.

Predator.
Gladiator.
First 20 minutes or so of Saving Private Ryan.

Predator unquestionably kicks ass.

Die Hard is the best. Agree with Cail that Die Hard with a Vengence is the only other action movie that comes close.

Some other's that I've liked;

Speed
Point Break (who knew Keanu could be in so many good movies!!?)
The Bourne Identity
Beverly Hills Cop 1

I was also thinking that there are probably some Bond movies that deserve a mention, but I'm not really a Bond buff. I'm not sure there are many better than Casino Royale tbh.

The Die Hard Song...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyw6cq86kY

yes, yes, i agree with Cail. Die Hard, like The Police's first album, will surly stand the test of time unlike say Robocop. Die hard stood tall against the other action films of the time for "action" and originality, beating out other films like Action Jackson, wich wins for most quotable, and They Live wich everyone agrees best fight scene. although RoboCop ,comming out the year before, can stand on it's own for best "cheesy dated action".
and yeah, #2...Predator.

Oh gawd, I'd forgotten Action Jackson.

And yeah, Robocop is hopelessly dated now.

Hudson Hawk is possibly the worst action film of all time.

The Dirty Dozen

and what about Steve McQueen?

Steve McQueen's not an action movie.

Action movies really didn't exist prior to the '70s, and really came into their own in the '80s. War movies (early ones like TDD or Kelly's Heroes) generally don't have sustained action, though they are clearly (along with westerns) the forerunners of the great action films.

It's hard to look back at the old action films now, but stuff like Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Vanishing Point, The Getaway, and White Lightning, while the genesis of the genre, simply can't hold a candle to the great action flicks of the '80s.

Fair enough. The French Connection, however, does have the mother of all chase scenes in it.