The 1980s and 1990s witnessed some of the greatest action movies of all time and these innovative films resulted in some of the best movie sequels in the genre. Some even claim that these sequels are better than the originals, but we’ll let you decide if that is true! Let’s examine some of the best action movie sequels from this period.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released in 1991 and is the sequel to the 1984 film The Terminator. The movie was written and directed by James Cameron and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie really set the standard for action movie sequels as it made use of new technology to set it aside from the original. The Terminator franchise used the critical acclaim of this sequel as a springboard to further success.
The franchise now includes a total of six movies as well as TV versions and various web series. We have also seen the Terminator in other forms of media such as video games like Terminator: Resistance, released in 2019 and set during the ‘Future War’ and a Terminator 2 slot game can be played at the best online casinos in Michigan. In this game, players will see famous characters like Sarah Connor, her son John Connor and the menacing T-1000. Clearly the success of the original Terminator movie and the sequel have contributed to the success of these innovative spinoffs as fans are drawn to new products featuring one of their favorite movies.
Aliens (1986)
Aliens was released in 1986 and is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction movie Alien. The movie, which was written and directed by James Cameron, saw Sigourney Weaver reprise her role as Ellen Ripley and is generally accepted to be an improvement on the original. Indeed, the movie magazine Empire dubbed Aliens the greatest movie sequel ever. The movie franchise continues to inspire reboots and innovations, with FX planning an Alien TV series.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior was released in 1981 and is the sequel to the 1979 movie Mad Max. The movie starred Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky and its reception was encapsulated in a New York Times review which said: “Never has a film’s vision of the post-nuclear-holocaust world seemed quite as desolate and as brutal, or as action-packed and sometimes as funny as in George Miller’s apocalyptic The Road Warrior, an extravagant film fantasy that looks like a sadomasochistic comic book come to life.” Director George Miller’s experience as an ER doctor gave him the inspiration for some of the more brutal scenes in the movie.
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Another sequel starring Mel Gibson is Lethal Weapon 2, the 1989 movie is the second in the Lethal Weapon franchise following Lethal Weapon in 1987. The movie which saw Gibson star alongside Danny Glover and Joe Pesci, was the third most successful box office draw of 1989, earning $227 million worldwide, behind Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Despite the success of the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, many view Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom as the better movie. The original starred Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and won five Academy Awards in 1982, including Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound. This makes it a bold argument to suggest the sequel (or to be accurate, the prequel) ranks above it, but there are many who believe this to be true.
So, it is clear that some of the most successful movie franchises from the 1980s and 1990s have benefited from successful sequels in terms of box office revenue and critical acclaim. Arguments will continue about whether the originals or the sequels were better, but it is clear that these franchises produced some of the best movies of the genre.
Steven Seagal violent plea for environmental conscience was the last — but perhaps the best — mainstream action flick of his career.
In the 1990s, Steven Seagal started to become an advocate for protection of the environment, even though what he exactly meant by that always remained a bit fuzzy. In his crazy classic On Deadly Ground he lashed out against Big Oil, and the film marked the start of an unofficial environmental-themed trilogy.
In 1997, he followed up with Fire Down Below that broached the topic of illegal dumping of toxic waste and the incapability of the Environmental Protection Agency to deal with it. So let’s check out if this violent plea for environmental conscience became another slam dunk for Sensei Seagal! EPA agent Jack Taggert is sent to a small Kentucky town to investigate the death of a colleague and rumors about the illegal dumping of toxic waste. He goes undercover as a carpenter, befriends the locals and gets into the crosshairs of crooked industrial magnate Orin Hanner and his henchmen.
“You are accused of dumping 4 million barrels of toxic waste 42 times in 13 different locations”
You know you’re in Kentucky when people are flaring gas in their front yard. Aside from that, the film paints a sympathetic picture of a peaceful rural community surrounded by a beautiful countryside. We get to see the benefits of a slow life, and the village could be a great place to live if it wasn’t for Orin Hanner and his goons. The chill vibe is enhanced by plenty of country music on the audio track. Six-String Seagal himself picks up the guitar in a scene at a party that rapidly escalates into a brawl with some of the more unsavory village folks, and it’s not because they didn’t like his musical performance. All these elements give Fire Down Below a surprisingly mellow vibe. The action keeps coming at a good rate and is anything but mellow, but the film retains the impression of the most laid-back actioner Seagal has ever made. His performance is nicely in tune with the overall atmosphere, and while his Taggert still likes to patronize everyone, he dials back on the macho attitude outside of the fights significantly. When facing his adversaries, he is also in an unusually good mood almost all the time, and cracks a lot of jokes before beating everyone to a pulp. And his display of half a dozen eccentric leather jackets worn throughout the film only adds to the fun.
A good supporting cast helps to further elevate the quality level, among them the late Harry Dean Stanton, Stephen Lang, and apparently half a dozen famous country musicians. Marg Helgenberger plays Taggert’s troubled love interest, and never has Seagal been more courteous to a woman on-screen than to her! Kris Kristofferson gives a great bad guy show as ruthless entrepreneur who likes to humiliate his poor son that is running the waste dump operation The sleaze level of his character is further enhanced by nice touches such as having a bedroom next to his office for his “secretary”. All is not well in Kentucky, and Jack Taggert is keen to clean up all the chemical waste and the human scumbags. There are some signs of Seagal enjoying the good life a bit too much, as he moves a tad slower than in his previous films, and his wide jackets maybe hide the onset of some love handles. He’s still got it, though, and no squad of goons is a match for Seagal’s Taggert, who aikidos everyone into the ground who gets in his way. It’s all a bit less graphic than in classics such as Out for Justice but we still get out fair share of broken wrists, cracked noses, and shattered kneecaps. And watch out for the physics-defying move where he takes out three baddies with a single kick to their groins!
“I will show you a new meaning to the word violation”
Apart from the numerous fights, there’s a nice variety of other action-packed scenes. Production values are excellent, and part of the sizable budget was reserved for pyrotechnics. The two largest set pieces, a shootout in a cave in the midst of fluorescent toxic waste and a car chase, are actually the weakest parts of the film. Both of them are somewhat sloppily filmed even though their destructive conclusions are ultimately satisfying. Fire Down Below stands out from Seagal’s filmography with lots of firsts (and lasts). A laid-back vibe, an ecological message, the beautiful landscape of Kentucky and country music are mixed with a big chunk of kick-ass action, and it all works like a charm! It’s a fun flick from beginning to end, and unfortunately was Seagal’s last truly awesome film before he started his descent into the realm of DTV actioners.
Harrison Ford was already a big star thanks to his role as Han Solo, but he took center stage in Steven Spielberg’s epic. Viewers were glued to the screen as Indy ran, jumped, and fought his way to the film’s conclusion, setting off a chain of canonical events still producing films, but a chain of real-life events that saw hundreds of imitations spring up across digital media.
There’s no denying that without Indiana Jones, there would probably not be a Lara Croft. The fantastic Tomb Raider character first appeared on home consoles as early as 1996 and has since become an action hero in her own right, but the stories and themes borrow heavily from the Indiana Jones series. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, particularly in video gaming, where Indy has become so aped, copied and mimicked, he has almost created his own game genre!
Some characters are loosely based on Indy, the first being Rick Dangerous. Interestingly, Rick Dangerous was a game developed for Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari St and that era of home computers, but it came from Core Design, who were also behind the original Lara Croft. The similarities here are striking; Rick Dangerous, the star of the game, travels to the Amazon Jungle to search for a lost tribe. His plane crashes, and he has to outrun a boulder to survive; it’s a game bordering on copyright infringement as it’s so heavily laden with Indy themes and plots.
Rick Dangerous came out in 1989, and there was a sequel, Rick Dangerous 2, and it seemed they tried to shed the Indy vibe; his iconic hat was even blown off in the game’s opening sequence. Still, six years later, Core Designs had refined the idea of a tomb raiding hero with Tomb Raider.
It isn’t just direct platform games that we see the Indiana Jones inspiration either. A visit to the Gala Bingo range of online slots reveals a game called Book of the Fallen, featuring a character who looks suspiciously similar to Indiana Jones. It isn’t the only title from the provider that leans on themes from the film either; Book of Ra Temple of Gold has a similar character, albeit female, wearing Indy’s iconic hat. Elsewhere on mobile devices, titles such as Temple Run lean heavily on themes thrown up in the Indy films, as does the recent release Secrets of the Temple.
Some games make no apology for their Indy influence. La-Mulana, from 2005, was developed for the Wii, PC, Mac, Linux and PlayStation Vita but was designed to feel like a platform game from the time of the Indy films. There’s a definite Indy clone on the cover with that recognizable hat. The game was a huge hit, to such an extent that Destructoid revealed a sequel was crowdfunded and released to a waiting audience. We could go on and on. Spelunky, another platform game, featured a protagonist with a whip exploring caves full of enemies. Flight of the Amazon Queen was set just after World War II and featured a protagonist afraid of snakes. Pitfall, released on Atari 2600 in 1982, clearly sought to cash in on the film’s success before licensing became such a thing. There have even been direct interpretations such as Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. In fact, the only action film of the era that is likely to compare is Star Wars, again featuring Harrison Ford. Most action movies do influence video games; everything from Die Hard to Lethal Weapon has had a video game, and the influence of some films can be seen in games such as Grand Theft Auto. However, it seems unlikely that any action movie has had the same cultural impact or lasting effect as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
It doesn’t get more wholesome than kick-ass 80s action nostalgia!
If you were a kid in the 1980s, and love old-school action movies up to this day, chances are you were sitting in front of your TV every time The A-Team was on. This eccentric quartet of rogue mercenaries led by the cigar-smoking Hannibal Smith was a guarantor for kid-friendly action with cool car stunts, shootouts and explosions where miraculously no one ever died or even got seriously hurt. Director and action specialist Joe Carnahan took up the challenge to recast the original template into a feature film. I remember I had a blast watching The A-Team when it was released in 2010, and I will already say I still enjoyed it a lot during my recent re-watch. So let’s jump in and see if Carnahan’s plan came together!
Hannibal, Face, B.A. and Murdoch are the A-Team, an elite US Army Rangers unit specializing in the most difficult covert operations. During the second Iraq war, they go on another secret mission to retrieve a stolen suitcase of US dollar printing plates in Baghdad. The operation turns out be a setup, and the four are locked up for the alleged murder of a high-ranking US military officer. Their escape from prison is the beginning of a wild adventure to prove their innocence and bring the bad guys to justice.
Several classic TV series have been given a modern treatment, with The Fugitive (and more recently The Equalizer) still being the gold standard for a successful movie adaptation. The A-Team was part of a small wave in the 2000s with other series such as Starsky & Hutch, 21 Jump Street and The Dukes of Hazzard also getting converted for the big screen. Those three didn’t really know what to do with their source material, and became comedy flicks bordering on spoofs.
The A-Team fortunately takes a different route with Carnahan and his writers showing great respect for the original show, and embracing its ridiculousness without ridiculing it. The cheesy dialogues are upgraded appropriately with lots of witty lines and irony. Many familiar elements are back, such as B.A.’s legendary van, the physics-defying tinkering, and even two fun cameos from the old cast. It’s more than just a fan service, though, Carnahan weaves it all together masterfully, and the film moves at a frantic pace. The A-Team came out in the same year as The Expendables, and – please forgive me for saying that – our four rogue operatives are actually a more fun bunch than Stallone’s all-star ensemble.
Embracing the Ridiculousness of the Original without Ridiculing it
DF-13961r (left to right) Bradley Cooper as Templeton “Face” Peck, Sharlto Copley as H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock, UFC light heavyweight Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as B.A. Baracas, and Liam Neeson as Col Hannibal Smith in The A-Team.
There’s Liam Neeson as the authoritative and strategizing Hannibal Smith, who is complemented by his confidant Face (Bradley Cooper), bon vivant and womanizer. The other Duo Infernale is formed by Quinton Jackson as the brawler B.A. Baracus with a serious fear of flying, and Sharlto Copley as unhinged master pilot Murdoch, who indulge in a terrific love-hate relationship.
Every single of them does a fantastic job in bringing their characters to life. Their on-screen chemistry is awesome, the dialogues are full of funny banter and awesome one-liners. From the rest of the cast Patrick Wilson stands out as arrogant and cunning CIA agent, and Jessica Biel as military investigator trying to capture the fugitives. She is pretty is awesome in her own way with a totally hard-ass and unironic performance that stands out from all the craziness that is going on around her.
A lot of fun is also to be had with the action sequences. The opening sets the stage with plenty of firepower and pyrotechnics as well as introducing us to the characters and their quirks. Carnahan cranks the level of mayhem up quite a bit from the TV series with bigger explosions, heavier shootouts, and more cars being demolished. And while no one is getting killed visibly on-screen, it slightly violates the spirit of the original by implying that a few people are actually killed in the proceedings.
But it’s not a big deal, and with tanks flying through the air and our heroes having a firefight while hanging on the outside of a skyscraper, it’s all a blast to watch! And while the action rocks, it is edited a bit choppy occasionally (that was still a thing in 2010). The big finale also unnecessarily goes a bit over the top with the CGI-laden demolition of a container ship.
The A-Team was not a box office success so we never got the chance for another adventure beyond this origin story. But it was another testimonial to Carnahan’s talent, who would go on to become a trademark name in the action genre to this day. And we can be grateful to him and his crew for creating an easygoing and fun actioner that ranks high on the list of TV shows turned into films. It’s also perfect family entertainment for every family who appreciates a kick-ass action movie.
Ranking the best actioners from legendary Hong Kong director John Woo!
Few action movie directors have attained as much prominence as Hong Kong’s John Woo. Hailed for creating the Heroic Bloodshed sub-genre, his films were loaded to the brim with passion and creativity. With his Gun Fu, he reinvented shootout sequences in action films, and combined them with an elaborate cinematography and ultra-bloody violence. Woo is a poet of action cinema who has created many unshakable masterpieces of the genre in his career, and in this article we present the Ultimate Action Movie Club’s 10 favorite films from the legendary director!
Woo’s second US production is a classic 1990s action blockbuster, and possibly the film with most helicopters getting thrashed in movie history. Major Vic Deakins (John Travolta) crashes a stealth bomber carrying two nuclear weapons to collect a big ransom from the government, and only his co-pilot Riley (Christian Slater) can stop him. Shootouts, car chases and an absolute overkill of explosions, the film moves at a relentless pace with one action-packed set piece after another.
Travolta goes completely unhinged and delivers a manic performance. He also goes out with a smile on his face in one of the best villain death scenes I’ve ever seen. Broken Arrow is as straightforward as an action film can get, but Woo’s stylish and energetic direction make it an entertaining minor classic of US action cinema.
Two years before Woo landed his first classic A Better Tomorrow he already took a successful venture into the action genre. The plot is as generic as the title of the film: A group of Hong Kong mercenaries is tasked to capture the leader of a drug trafficking ring in the golden triangle between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, and faces much resistance. I don’t know what the popularity of military-style action was in in Hong Kong in the 1980s but the film shares many similarities with the Cannon productions and the cheap Italian war movies of the same decade.
It’s an orgy of destruction, and Woo’s least refined film on this list by quite some margin. The movie serves the full buffet of war exploitation elements: brutal violence and torture, unmotivated sex scenes, grenade launchers fired from the hip, and a never-ending display of pyrotechnics. Heroes Shed No Tears is cheesy and violent entertainment, old-school action at its best!
Woo’s first US production is not exactly a treat for fans of Woo, the auteur, but definitely for fans of John Woo, Master of Mayhem. The plot is yet another variation of the manhunt for decadent rich folks theme. Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) also becomes their prey when he tries to find a missing person in New Orleans.
Hard Target only has hints of Woo’s iconic style here and there, but it’s still a blast of an action film with giant explosions, motorcycle chases, and plenty of shootouts. His star Van Damme lacks the charisma of a Chow-Yun Fat, but he does not disappoint as a bad-ass action hero. And Hard Target features not one but two of the most awesome hand grenade kills ever shown on screen!
After ten years of working for US studios, Woo returned to his home country and adapted the historic battle of Red Cliffs into a feature film. In the 3rd Century AD, a coalition of warlords from Southern China faces the overwhelming forces of the North. Woo created a war epic of almost five hours length distributed over two films that seamlessly connect to each other. The movies effortlessly switch between drama, philosophy and battle action. The production values of the film are spectacular, as is the execution of the massive battle sequences.
Some scenes go a bit over the top in their heroism, and we will never know if the portrayal of the righteous characters from the South vs. the Machiavellian clique from the North is even remotely grounded in reality. But it doesn’t matter, and the final battle is of such a ferocity, excitement and epicness, it makes Braveheart and Gladiator look like child’s play. Red Cliff is the ultimate historic war drama!
Bullet in the Head is a very different beast from Woo’s other action films of the 1980s. Pathos and melancholy make way for a much darker tone in this tale of three friends who see their dreams getting shattered. Their journey from being gang members in Hong Kong to building a smuggling business in war-ridden Saigon, and being haunted by the terrors of the war after their return to Hong Kong, is a grim and ultraviolet epic.
It’s a gripping tale with plenty of intense action sequences that propel the story effectively. The shootouts are masterfully staged, and feature a raw brutality not found in Woo’s other works from that era. Bullet in the Head is two hours of action-packed tragedy, and another absolute highlight of Woo’s career!
After a few years it seemed Woo finally got warmed up to working in Hollywood and delivered his American opus magnum. Terrorist Castor Troy and FBI agent Sean Archer swap their faces as part of a plan to infiltrate Troy’s organization. Things don’t go as planned, though, and the chaos unfolds. An outlandish plot and eccentric performances by John Travolta and Nicolas Cage collide with insane set pieces. Just as in Woo’s Hong Kong classics bullets are flying left and right, and the next explosion is never far away.
Woo stages the feud between Troy and Archer with elegant takes, and created some of the most spectacular action scenes that you will find in a movie from the 1990s. Every single action sequence is pure awesomeness, be it a helicopter dueling with an airplane, plenty of Gun-Fu mayhem, and an explosive boat chase. It misses the deep pathos of his classics, but maybe Face/Off is just Woo just having a lot of fun, and in any case it is pretty much as perfect as a Hollywood actioner can get.
With A Better Tomorrow, Woo invented the Heroic Bloodshed genre, and introduced the world to Gun Fu and brutality in style. Former gangster Ho is released from prison and seeks to make amends with his younger brother Kit, a police officer. Ho tries to live an honest life, but his past catches up with him in the worst possible way. With A Better Tomorrow, Woo created a template for his later movies, with many of his thematic and stylistic trademarks being present already. The story is full of pathos (occasionally bordering on kitsch), characters that are torn between loyalty and righteousness, and excessively bloody shootouts.
Chow Yun-Fat in his role as Ho’s left hand Mark became a chain-smoking fashion icon and the coolest bad-ass of the action genre overnight. A Better Tomorrow also marked the start of his collaboration with Woo, and several more masterpieces would follow. The action sequences are all awesome, but are staged on a comparatively modest scale, and are less slick compared to Woo’s later films. But none of that doesn’t diminish the groundbreaking masterpiece A Better Tomorrow is!
Just one year after Woo landed his first masterpiece A Better Tomorrow, he followed up with a sequel. Brothers Ho and Kit return, and go undercover to infiltrate a counterfeiting ring. Chow-Yun Fat also makes a return as Ken, the twin brother of Mark (who died in the first film).
It’s a cheap trick to bring Chow-Yun Fat back from the dead, of course, but no complaints, it’s awesome to see him return!
Woo created several iconic set pieces that have been copied endless times since then. A Better Tomorrow 2 is really the first film where he fully implemented his unique vision on filming action sequences, with a stylish cinematography, and ultra-violent shootouts in slow motion. The bloodsoaked finale is one of the most intense and insane action sequences ever created in the history of cinema with bodies literally piling up on the floor. A Better Tomorrow 2 is one of the greatest excesses of cinematic violence.
John Woo’s last film before he went to Hollywood is the very essence of action cinema, a force of nature. Two hard-ass cops (Chow-Yun Fat and Tony Leung) team up to take down a crime cartel and its boss. If you find Woo’s previous films too melodramatic or even cheesy, Hard Boiled may even be Woo’s best film for you, as it is a relatively unsentimental actioner by comparison.
The action choreography is the best Woo ever created, with one massive bullet storm after another, each one filmed on an astonishing scale and with a level of detail that is hard to grasp. And the film’s finale is and will forever be the best action sequence in the history of cinema, a slow-mo annihilation of everyone and everything!
Woo garnered much acclaim with his A Better Tomorrow films, but with The Killer he perfected his style and created one of the best action films to ever see the light of day. It’s another simple premise: Contract killer Jeffrey (Chow-Yun Fat) accidentally injures the singer Li during a job. To prevent her from losing her eyesight, he takes one last assignment so he can pay for an expensive operation. His mission is put into jeopardy when a hard-nosed cop and a treacherous mafia boss are at his heels.
The Killer is the ultimate romantic action film, a poem written in blood. Woo cranks the pathos to the absolute maximum with brooding characters and a pervasive melancholy. It’s beautifully directed with atmospheric images that will irresistibly draw you in. It’s also another showcase of his qualities as an action director with rivers of blood and a triple-digits body count. The Killer marginally concedes first place in quality of the shootouts to Hard Boiled, but it is Woo’s most intense and complete film.
Whilst cinema had certainly seen plenty of action through the seventies, the early onset of special effects played into the action movie genre. Bigger budgets and better technology meant more explosions, better futuristic settings and realistic car chases. In the eighties, directors either went big or went home.
Some eighties action movies were so popular that they spawned a sequel, a video game, a pencil case range, and even their own duvet covers. Some films may have been intended as serious action movies, but they ended up as much more.
Here are some of the eighties action movies that spawned a franchise.
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard was the quintessential eighties action movie, a unique blend of Hollywood megastar, menacing baddie and witty one-liners. Bruce Willis was a relative unknown before he donned his white vest, loaded up with ammunition and took on the terrorist group led by Alan Rickman. The film cost $28m to make but pulled in more than $83m, according to Box Office Mojo. That could only mean one thing: the start of a franchise. There have been five films now, with Willis/John McClane taking on everyone from Russian terrorists to cyber hackers. As for video games, owners of the NES, C64, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, PC, GameCube, Xbox and TruboGrafx-16 have all been able to help McClane through a total of six different titles.
RoboCop (1987)
The obsession with robots continued in 1987, with the release of the 18-rated RoboCop. The cast are still not massive names; few can recall Peter Weller as the law enforcer RoboCop, ridding Detroit city of crime. You can remember the image of the cop because he’s been everywhere since. There’s been films (four), TV series (four), comic books and even theme park rides. RoboCop was perfect for video gaming, being the good guy fighting crime, with 1988’s RoboCop the first of many. You can still find RoboCop in video games today: the online slots hosted by Coral feature RoboCop, with the same branding as the original films. There’s an Android game of the same name which has been around for a few years too, and 2023 sees the release of RoboCop: Rogue City on PC and consoles.
Terminator (1984)
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name was not synonymous with movies in the mid-eighties unless you count his appearances in Conan the Barbarian. In 1984, he played an emotionless cyborg, a role that really suited his acting style. Directed by James Cameron, it was a huge success, and a sequel was commissioned. Terminator 2 became a box office smash, and soon there was a video game and a great soundtrack featuring Guns and Roses. Today, there have been six films, a TV series and numerous video games, including Terminator: Resistance, from the same developers that are bringing you the new RoboCop game. The Terminator was even spoofed on The Simpsons, a sure-fire indicator of a franchise hitting the big time.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark differs from the others for many reasons. When it dropped, Harrison Ford was already a star, having hit the screen as the lovable rogue Han Solo in Star Wars. It came much earlier in the eighties, and the film’s title does not correspond with the now-familiar franchise. This is also the first Indiana Jones film, the first of five, all starring the seemingly evergreen Ford. The forty years since its release has seen a series (Young Indiana Jones), books, comic books, video games and theme park attractions. It’s also widely credited with helping launch an entirely different franchise, Tomb Raider, with Lara Croft often thought of as the female Indiana Jones.
The female action hero has started to become more commonplace over the decades. Once upon a time, females in action films were simply a two-dimensional love interest of the male hero or a sidekick to the, usually male, lead protagonist. Changes in representation within films have gone hand in hand with changes in society. This is why, in 2022, box offices aren’t solely dominated by male-led action blockbusters.
However, though there have been some positive changes, there’s still a gaping gender disparity within the film industry, as there is across many other sectors. It’s important to acknowledge the trailblazers of the past who have enabled the heroines of modern cinema to find their place as the lead, instead of another face in the supporting cast. Let’s explore the changing faces of the action heroine.
Changes in society and other elements of popular culture
Before we move on to the increased female presence in action movies, it’s worth exploring how the situation has changed across different forms of entertainment. In the iconic TV show Doctor Who, we are currently seeing the first female Doctor after years of iconic women playing the companion role.
We also now see a strong female presence in all elements of the iGaming world. Virtual slot machines such as Hotline and Lil Devil are two good examples. Like other industries, there have been many positive changes. In fact, a search through casino comparison sites like bonus.ca will bring up all sorts of examples of strong females standing at the forefront of the gaming experience.
Despite this, some video game developers clearly need more encouragement to place a female character at the forefront of their story. One of the exceptions to this is Lara Croft. The Tomb Raider series has remained popular throughout the different generations. Why is this only the exception? Will the action heroine in video games eventually become as commonplace as it has in cinema?
Who’s the fiercest of them all?
There have been some strong female leads throughout the history of cinema. Trinity in The Matrix, played by Carrie-Ann Moss, is seen by some as one of the greatest of 90s cinema. In the previous decade, you had Princess Leia, played by the wonderful Carrie Fisher. She is a character that holds her own in a film and series that went on to have a cult following.
Some experts believe we have Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in Alien to thank for helping to create the modern-day female heroine. She has been credited by some as changing the very perception of females in action movies. Back in 2008, afi.com ranked the character as one of the best heroes in American cinema history. Has this character become the blueprint for the iconic women of the present and the future?
The present situation and a look towards the future
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has created several strong female characters. Captain Marvel is one of the best examples, culturess.com explores how there has been a rise in interesting female characters across the MCU.
You could argue that the positive changes in society are starting to be reflected in movies and other forms of entertainment. Those memorable films of the 1980s still hold up well, but they would ultimately look very different if they were to be released in this current environment. Ultimately, this is an ongoing revolution, and one that should provide more gender balance in cinema and other forms of entertainment.
Exploring the legacy of ultimate awesomeness packed in front and behind the camera of The Last Boy Scout…
Shane Black is a multi-talented luminary of the action genre, and collected most of his credits as a writer of classics such as the Lethal Weapon movies series, Last Action Hero and The Long Kiss Goodnight. In 1991, Black and the heavyweights of action cinema producer Joel Silver, the late director Tony Scott, and Bruce Willis joined forces to produce The Last Boy Scout. The script Black wrote was the most expensive ever at the time with a value of almost two million USD, and we’ll argue in this article that it was worth every penny!
Ragged private investigator Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis) takes a job to protect a nightclub stripper from stalkers. When she gets killed, he reluctantly teams up with her boyfriend and former football star Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) to track down her killers. They uncover a conspiracy involving corrupt politicians and illegal gambling, and a big target is painted on their heads.
Nihilism and Cynicism Collide With Pithy One-Liners and Hard-Hitting Action
I’ll admit this doesn’t sound like a story from a two million Dollar script. The plot is simple and moves rather slowly, but the real star of Black’s work are the characters, their dialogues and other more violent interactions. In classic action films cheeky one-liners were just as important as spectacular action sequences. But what Black puts into the mouths of his protagonists are some of the most testosterone-charged and quotable lines ever written into a movie script.
For the most part, it’s not uplifting humor a la Beverly Hills Cop, but the outpourings of the characters reveal a thoroughly cynical and nihilist attitude towards life and human society. At the same time so many lines are delivered in absurd and sincerely funny ways, creating a unique and slightly weird vibe for the dialogues.
“Water is Wet, the Sky is Blue, Women Have Secrets. Who Gives a Fuck?”
John McClane was already a character with a somewhat troubled private life, but in The Last Boy Scout Willis’ Hallenbeck has hit the bottom of the barrel. He is burnt out and depressed (and we learn for good reason as the film progresses), a broken man who takes his anger out both on himself and others. A large part of his negative energy is fortunately channeled into the violent disposal of numerous crooks and mobsters. It’s another awesome performance by Willis from what were the best years of his career for action fans.
Damon Wayans is Hallenbeck’s involuntary partner in crime Dix, a professional football player who has fallen from grace and struggles with some inner demons. Wayans and Willis apparently hated each other on set, and part of that antagonism productively spilled over onto their on-screen relationship, especially in the beginning of the film.
The Ultimate Assembly of Alpha Males Behind and In Front of the Camera
Despite their ludicrous attitude, both Hallenbeck and Dix are surprisingly well fleshed-out characters. Same goes for Hallenbeck’s wife and daughter who seem to despise him during their first encounters on the screen (also for good reason), and we’re graced with some impressive hateful exchanges between them.
In the bad guy faction, camp and cheese reign supreme. There’s plenty of sweaty villains with mullets and cheap suits who are always eager to pull a gun from their over-sized blazers. Extra credit goes to the cooler-than-cool performance of the late Taylor Negron as master henchman Milo who elegantly introduces himself simply as “I’m the bad guy”.
I’ll be honest, other than Top Gun and Crimson Tide, I’ve never been a huge fan of director Tony Scott’s work, but with The Last Boy Scout he created another gem of his career. The film looks fantastic, both in the action sequences and outside of them. Scott’s Neo-Noir visuals make L.A. an uncomfortable place where it’s either too bright or too dark, and always sweltering and filthy.
“It’s The ’90s, You Don’t Just Smack a Guy in the Face. You Say Something Cool First.”
The film takes a break at around half-time from its depressive stance, and this is when both the mood is lifted up a little and the action really gets going. The action set pieces are not megalomaniacal, with the violence usually being brief and brutal. Every bullet and shotgun blast does a lot of damage, and the camera is always eager to show us the perforated bodies.
There’s also a couple of nice car chases and crashes, and a thrilling finale in a packed football stadium. The film also teaches us another major action flick rule: Never fight on a ledge if a helicopter is hovering below you! The Last Boy Scout showed us that ultimate awesomeness can be achieved if the concentrated power of giants behind and in front of the screen is harvested. It’s pure entertainment from the first to the last minute, and one of the best buddy actioners to ever see the light of day.
Ranking the best movies from the great Michael Ironside!
Michael Ironside can proudly look back on a decades-long career in which he contributed to many action masterpieces. The Canadian actor is mostly known for his supporting roles, first and foremost his portrayals of villain characters. Nobody can clench his teeth better than Ironside, and his growling voice and commanding physique often made him an intimidating presence. With this article, we’ll try to honor his work and present you his best 10 films in the action genre!
Beside high-profile actioners, Ironside also starred in numerous low-budget productions, and Forced to Kill may be the most entertaining from that segment in his oeuvre. Repo man Johnny gets abducted by a crazy family while on a job in a rural area. They notice his martial arts skills and force him to partake in an illegal fight tournament. Distributed by PM Entertainment, Forced to Kill is a sleazy action-drama that feels like a blend of Bloodsport and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at times.
Johnny is being simultaneously tortured and trained, an unorthodox approach that actually works, however. The corrupt Sheriff Wilson (Ironside) is orchestrating the whole endeavor, and Ironside seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself as sadistic and bloodthirsty villain, creating many moments of malice throughout the film. Forced To Kill is not peak PM Entertainment, but there’s enough fights, car crashes, and even a boat and helicopter chase to make it an entertaining affair.
McBain is an action inferno from exploitation specialist James Glickenhaus that mops up all the clichés from 1980s Cannon flicks and molds them into a totally brainless spectacle. The films centers around the crusade of Bobby McBain (Christopher Walken) and his band of Vietnam veterans (among them Michael Ironside) against Colombian dictator El Presidente, after he killed one of their old comrades and starts to wage war against the local resistance. Who knows how Glickenhaus lured Walken into this project, but Ironside seems to feel at home immediately as slightly lunatic veteran Frank, who now lives the good life of a weapons dealer.
When McBain asks him to supply equipment for the resistance, he joins their noble cause, but still takes 10 million USD from McBain for his support. Happy to get back in action, he puts on his most colorful Hawaii shirt, and McBain’s private war feels like a tropical vacation for him. A great cast, corny humor and generic, but impressive action sequences with giant explosions and an enormous body count make McBain a highlight of B-action cinema.
Thanks to his snarling voice, Ironside also collected credits as voice actor for animated series and video games, and for action fans the sequel to the 1980s cult classic Heavy Metal may be his most work. Miner Tyler is transformed into a power-hungry tyrant after being exposed to a mysterious rock. He raids a space colony and takes the girl Kerrie hostage. He didn’t count on Kerrie’s sister Julie, though, who is blasting her way through the galaxy to take down Tyler.
Lizard people, techno wizards and space battles, the film is a nice amalgam of animated Sci-Fi pulp with over-the-top violence and plenty of nudity. Ironside lends his voice to Tyler, a bloodthirsty psychopath, who leads a gang of deranged space mercenaries that are killing and raping their way through the galaxy. Heavy Metal 2000 is nowhere near as good as the original but still solid entertainment for everyone who thinks gore and sex are essential ingredients for an action film.
Ironside can pride himself with starring in one of the penultimate 1980s movies, even if it’s only a minor supporting role. Top Gun is an action drama of the highest caliber, that shows us the daily life and troubles of the elite US Navy pilots at the TOPGUN academy, a film that cemented the superstardom status of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.
Ironside’s Jester is a no-nonsense military instructor who wants to bring out the best from his students. His blunt approach turns out not to be the best way to straighten out the “wild card” Maverick, though. Top Gun has the perfect recipe, a bunch of cocky testosterone-laden cadets clashing with each other, and some of the most ultimate air combat action to ever make it onto celluloid!
This space action-comedy follows in the footsteps of Flash Gordon, but features a slightly post-apocalyptic vibe instead, and almost non-stop action! Three women crash on a contaminated planet and are captured by the mutant minions of the deranged cyborg Overlord. It’s up to bounty hunter Wolff and his companions to rescue them.
An almost unrecognizable Michael Ironside is the flamboyant master villain Overlord, a cyborg tyrant whose torso is welded to a moving crane, and who has two enormous claws that shoot fireballs! Spacehunter features great set and vehicle designs and plenty of goofy action sequences, it’s a great adventure through the wasteland for the whole family!
One may not expect Highlander 2 to show up on any list other than at the top of a worst sequel ranking, but this time, we’ll make an exception. The film has to endure the reputation of the most terrible sequel to an action film to this day, and it’s probably justified. In the original cut of the film, the immortals are from planet Zeist, waging war against each other. Connor MacLeod and Ramirez are banished to earth after being defeated by general Katana. Not happy with their survival, Katana decides to pay earth a visit.
Christopher Lambert sleepwalks through the film and Sean Connery shows up in a few pointless scenes. Only Michael Ironside as Katana gives it all, and his enthusiastic performance is one of the few positive things to be said about the film. Ironside was not blessed with a lot of hair, but his Katana sports an enormous mane. He wears the fashionable combination of a trench coat and medieval armor, plus a big-ass extendable sword. This diabolic hooligan wreaks havoc as soon as he arrives on earth, such as overcharging and crashing a subway train just because it’s fun.
Turbo Kid is a charming ode to post-apocalyptic cinema and 1980s pop culture. The Kid scavenges the ruins of civilization on his BMX bike. He finds the power glove of the mythical soldier Turbo Rider, and takes it up against the ruler of the wasteland, Zeus. The film is just as much parody as it is an homage, and is right up there with other masterpieces such as Kung Fury and Commando Ninja.
It is not just cramming as much tropes and references as possible into its runtime, but tells a story full of heart, humor and gory action, all accompanied by a fantastic Synthwave soundtrack. Ironside shines in his role as tyrant Zeus. Just like everyone in the film he hams it up terrifically, and gets awesome lines such as “I like blades! I like fire! I like blades and fire!“
The story about the interplanetary war of an earthly military dictatorship against the alien race of the bugs is the darkest of satires, that cleverly embeds its message between ultra-gory action sequences, and soap-opera characters and dialogues. It’s another masterpiece from Paul Verhoeven, and after already working together with Ironside for Total Recall, he cast him in another bad-ass role.
His Rasczak is a high-school teacher who fervently indoctrinates his students to join the war and hate the bugs. After Johnny Rico and his friends sign up for their first campaign, they are surprised to see Rasczak return as leader of the Roughnecks infantry squad. He also gets the best lines of the film such as: “Come on you apes, you want to live forever?”
Walter Hill graced action fans with many masterpieces, and his modern Western Extreme Prejudice is no exception. A border town is plagued by drug traffickers from Mexico, and a violent triangle is created between Jack Benteen (Nick Nolte) and his Texas Rangers, the drug cartel led by the charismatic Cash Bailey (Power Boothe), and an undercover government task force.
A dream cast brings their unhinged macho characters to life: Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Clancy Brown and William Forsythe, it’s the ultimate assembly of character actors. And of course there is Michael Ironside as resolute leader of the Zombie unit, a special task force composed of operatives who are all presumed dead. Extreme Prejudice is a mean film with tight direction by Hill, belligerent exchanges between the protagonists and frequent eruptions of bloody violence; an absolute 1980s action thriller classic!
Total Recall is one of the ultimate Sci-Fi action bangers, and the villain team has a huge contribution to why this film is so awesome. Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) seeks to spice up his life, and visits the Rekall Corporation to have the fake memory of a secret agent implanted into his mind. From that point on, he finds himself caught in a violent conspiracy, and ends up supporting a rebel insurgency on Mars against the tyrannical regime of Vilos Cohaagen.
Technically Coohagen is the evil head honcho, but Ironside’s Richter does all the dirty field work, and he and his crew make life a living hell for Quaid, chasing him over two planets. Richter is ruthless and cynical, always one step behind Quaid, and barely able to suppress his constant anger. Ironside gives us the evil stare and teeth clenching at its best, making Richter one of the best movie villains of all time!
Video game movies can occasionally make great ultimate action movies…
But this new Halo TV series on Paramount+ is quite up to the level of the most recent Mortal Kombat film (or perhaps even the level of the original 1995 Mortal Kombat version). But, after catching its world premiere at this year’s SXSW I can report that it is at least entertaining.
So, take that as you may as I also have to report that I’m not the world’s leading Halo historian. I’ve played a few of the games, I know that there are books and other pieces of the folklore out there, but this screening was purely viewed from the lens of looking for enjoyment.
Still, there’s a little something there in terms of cheesy one-liners and gruesome deaths. And it pays some homages to sci-fi action vehicles of the past like Starship Troopers or The Running Man. So, without further ado, here’s our full review:
I’ll recount all the things I knew about Halo before going in. The main character is named Master Chief. He’s a space marine. He kills aliens with guns. There are some story arc involving the covenant and some oracle-type character. It’s all kind of complicated, but I do remember it being quite enjoyable to follow.
Also, it’s fun to shoot your friends at LAN parties.
Now, the show which made its world premiere at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas yesterday at SXSW honestly seems to be made for someone with about my level of insider knowledge.
There were quite a few cheers from more fans during the premiere when some of the iconic guns and weapons made appearances in the first fight scene (which truly was quite brutal and surprisingly well-done for the amount of CGI obviously involved).
But there were also a few snickers at times during some of the acting and plot points, as well as some obvious displeasure by some fans during the Q&A session that indicated that their deep knowledge of the Halo-verse might not be specifically targeted with the show.
Once we get past the opening battle sequence which I will say, on a big screen and experienced with plenty of fans, was quite enjoyable to watch, the show falls into some humdrum-ness as we understandably set up as many of the characters, and as much of the story as possible.
Which, I mean I get it. Total Recall couldn’t have had Arnold just wailing on people for 90-minutes straight, right? (But also, that would have been awesome ha.)
Created by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, the bright spots for Paramount+’s flagship show definitely come from these battles as well as some of the performances from leads Pablo Schreiber (who has the univenable task of playing a helmeted character stomping around in mech armor) and newcomer Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha Boo (Master Chief’s eventual sidekick, I guess).
The acting doesn’t get much chance to take off, but it’s solid (if not bad occasionally) enough to hopefully get audiences to the next video game style battle. Which is why we care to review it here on UAMC…
As with much modern action, Halo isn’t quite meant to be an “action” show per se, but rather a big sci-fi, fan-fiction service that has action out of necessity. I mean, could you make a movie based on a first-person shooter game and not have the main character shoot copious amounts of people or things?
I actually quite enjoyed the first battle sequence close to the level of watching one of the bug attacks in Starship troopers. (Although, few movies would be as lucky to have a CGI battle age as well as that one.)
Its un-ultimateness comes more from the story so far, and so much so that I wouldn’t quite recommend it to any ultimate action fans based on anything besides possible love of the video game franchise.
So, if you’ve played the game and love it, fire this bad boy up. If not, maybe watch the first 30 mins of the first episode and see if it sticks. If not, leave it be and fire up Starship Troopers instead!
