Bad Boys 2: The Last True Michael Bay Action Banger

By
Thomas Krebs
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Bad Boys II stands as an epic and totally abrasive monument of US action cinema to this day.

Michael Bay’s films have often been reviled by critics and fans of action films alike, albeit for different reasons. He has been frequently accused of embracing style over substance, and excess over modesty. None of these things are bad in itself, and he made at least three ultimate genre classics during his career. These are Bad Boys, The Rock, and Bad Boys 2. The first Bad Boys was an atmospheric action thriller that has become a minor classic. Bay made the sequel eight years later in 2003, and was able to crank up the budget from 19 to 130 million USD, so let’s check out if this investment paid off for action movie fans.

Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) members Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) of the Miami PD are investigating a massive smuggling operation of Ecstasy by Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia. Taking on multiple gangs, they leave a trail of mayhem through Miami, and also need to address some quarrels between each other that have been boiling up for a while. 

The plot is a standard template, a violent scavenger hunt with some superficial interpersonal drama thrown in. But the super-thin story hook’s only justification is to place numerous action and comedy set pieces next to each other. And more than in any other Bay movie, Bad Boys 2 is about sensory overkill on all fronts. We’ll get to the action sequences, but everything that happens outside of them is also completely off the charts. 

Celebrating The Excellently Crafted Action of ‘Bad Boys’ (1995)

“Blue power, motherfuckers, Miami PD!”

Not a single minute passes by without someone getting insulted or yelled at. The jokes are hilariously offensive, and racial insensitivities are abound with Lowrey and Burnett lashing out against everyone, all the time. This is the type of attitude we remember from many of the 1980s action classics, but Bay puts it under a huge magnifying glass. Rats having sex, corpse groping and extreme humiliation of white supremacists are just a few of the outrageous sequences in the film, and I confess that I loved every single one of them. The quantity of juvenile jokes in this film is unsurpassed for an action blockbuster flick, and if this is your time of humor, you won’t be able to stop laughing for 2.5 hours. Granted, there are a few serious moments, but they are unable to balance out the pervasively ludicrous attitude of this film.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are the epicenter of all the insanity, and their chemistry is a key element to the success of the film. They are one of the best cop duos to ever grace the big screen, and both of them have great charisma and comedic timing. These two chaos cops are very much classic action heroes that shoot first and ask questions later, are slightly homophobic, and more concerned about the damaged headlights of their Ferrari than sparing their adversaries’ lives. 

And just like in the 80s classics, these detectives get away with anything, and thanks to their charm we also forgive them everything. The rest of the cast reigns in on the havoc, among them Joe Pantoliano as stressed out police chief, Peter Stormare in his archetypal role as sleazy mobster, and Jordi Molla, who totally hams it up as delusional Cuban drug kingpin.

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Absurd and Demented, Bombastic and Sexy

So we got great humor, great characters, and also in the action department Bay goes completely over the top, so much that there must not have been much left of Miami after he finished shooting. Where even the great action classics often feature only a handful of action sequences, in Bad Boys 2 we go into double digits, as Bay chains one spectacular and overlong set piece into another. We start off with a chaotic raid on a KKK gathering that is followed by other various shootouts and fights. The most spectacular sequences are a couple of car chases with one of them belonging to the best of its kind.

In one scene our heroes go after a hijacked a car transporter, and start getting cars thrown at them, and even a giant boat! Another car chase sequence shares some similarity but instead of cars, Lowrey and Burnett are being hurled at with corpses from a hearse. And when we think things can’t get more insane, Bay creates a finale where the TNT crew embarks on a commando mission into Cuba. It’s thirty minutes of total carnage, a mansion is razed with a few salves from an RPG, a Favela full of exploding buildings is flattened, and the final showdown even takes us to Guantanamo Bay. 

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“Everybody, start shooting at somebody!”

The composition and logistics of the action sequences are in a league of their own, and Michael Bay staged and controlled them like a wizard. They even top his other masterpiece The Rock, and just like in that movie they are practical for the largest part. It may even be fair to say that Bad Boys 2 is the very last of its kind from a time when action blockbusters almost completely embraced practical effects for anything, be it bullets and blood, car action or explosions.

The action sequences are filmed and edited in the typical Bay style: fast, loud and from all sorts of stylish angles. And while the camera whirls around a lot, the overall presentation is quite lucid, and you’ll not feel disoriented afterwards. Bay’s quirk of post-processing his scenes through the whole filter palette of the rainbow colors is an acquired taste, but it never gets to the point of becoming annoying. 

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A Pinnacle of Old-School Action Entertainment and A Lesson in Cinematic Excess

Bad Boys 2 was the last film before Bay fully embraced CGI over practical effects, and pretty much abandoned the non-CGI action genre genre until his 2019 6 Underground, which could be considered a sequel in spirit to Bad Boys 2. 6 Underground was a solid effort, but at no point does it radiate this energy that just uncontrollably explodes on the screen like in Bad Boys 2. 

Bad Boys 2 is Michael Bay at his creative peak. No compromises, no concessions, just a relentless onslaught on all your senses (particularly the lower ones). It’s a film that could still be made today showing no signs of age, and yet for me it marks the end of an era. No all-out action film of this scale and attitude been made since then, and thus Bad Boys 2 stands as an epic and totally abrasive monument of US action cinema to this day.

U.S. Seals 2: Hong Kong-style Action Made in the Good ol’ USA

By
Thomas Krebs
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Remembering Isaac Florentine’s simultaneous stroke of genius and insanity…

The Nu Image production company (now named Millennium Films) was an active player in the realm of 1990s and 2000s DTV action flicks. Nu Image can pride themselves with creating a couple of classics at that time, but it’s probably fair to say that the larger part of their catalog resided below the average quality line for action entertainment. The five Operation Delta Force and three U.S. Seals movies firmly fall into that category, all of them being generic pseudo-military actioners, except one!

That exception is U.S. Seals 2, (aka U.S. Seals II: The Ultimate Force) which stands out as a beacon of awesomeness from the others, and the main reason is the involvement of master action director Isaac Florentine. Florentine helmed one of Nu Image’s all-time classics Cold Harvest in 1999, where he showcased his talent to create high-octane action on a budget. Two years later, he traveled to Bulgaria (as so often in career) to make U.S. Seals 2, and created an absolute classic for martial arts fans.

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“No Regrets, Only Thermonuclear Revenge!”

Ex-US Seals squad leader Frank Ratliff hides on a remote island with a small army of mercenaries. He builds a nuclear warhead, and plans to extort a few billion dollars from the US government. His former mate Lt. Casey Sheppard is tasked with assembling a team of fighters and infiltrate Ratliff’s base. All of them are mighty martial arts warriors, as the island is covered in a cloud of explosive natural gas which prevents the use of fire weapons. Instead our heroes bring a stack of swords with them, and an air gun that shoots acid balls.

Another film about an evil mastermind on a deserted island and a commando that is sent in to take him down? Sounds boring indeed, but Florentine successfully hijacks this terrible plot line, throws out all the generic military talk and action, and replaces it with a ton of martial arts badassery! The opening sequence with the archetypal guard camp attack may actually lure the viewers into the expectation that this will be just another lackluster military actioner. 

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Like The Power Rangers But With Broken Necks And Cut Throats!

When one of the heroes suddenly does a backflip while firing two guns from the hip, we get a hunch that there is more to this film than it seems at first glance. The scene after the shootout turns things around big time, when we learn out that the Seals team members are also martial arts masters and are graced with words of wisdom from their Sensei after working out in the dojo.

And the movie continues with a slightly bizarre vibe. The dialogues are of the simplest kind, characters are as one-dimensional as they can be, and the most ridiculous lines are delivered with straight faces. All this creates a cartoonish impression outside the action scenes and it really doesn’t matter if this was intentional or not, it just adds to the fun!

There is no big action star pulling the movie, and that’s actually all the better for the film, as we can fully focus on the numerous action sequences and the martial arts performers showing off their skills. For U.S. Seals 2, Florentine worked with young Hong Kong fight choreographer Andy Cheng (who also has a small role), who would go on and work as stuntman and fight choreographer for many Hollywood blockbusters and the awesome martial arts/fantasy TV show Into The Badlands.

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Jumpkick! Swoosh! Katana Strike! Woosh! Backflip! Swoosh!

Everything is over the top in U.S. Seals 2, and this impression is multiplied thanks to the excessive use of swooshing sounds, not only during the fights, but also outside of them. Whenever someone raises a gun, a sword or even moves their head, there’s a swoosh! It seems Florentine still drew plenty of inspiration from his years working as action director for the Power Rangers TV franchise. The funky sounds, fast zooms and goofy camera angles all make a return in U.S Seals 2. The big difference is that instead of harmless kid-friendly skirmishes, the film delivers actions that hurts with plenty of broken necks and with cut throats.

The first half has a couple of martial arts appetizers and the brakes are taken off afterwards, with a 45-minute showdown that has our brave seals rushing from one battle to the next. The action hits fast and hard with the camera whirling around the actors, and Florentine shows great skill in staging and capturing the fights with stunning intensity.

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Sticks, swords, and chains are all enthusiastically utilized for creative killings. There’s more weapon fights than unarmed combat but it makes it all the more exciting. We also get our fair share of people being slammed through walls and floors. Despite the super-low budget, the film has a sharp and crisp look. Florentine has a great eye for composition of the images, and perfectly utilizes the backdrop of some huge Bulgarian industrial ruins to create an almost post-apocalyptic vibe. 

Florentine puts two decades of US fight flicks to shame with this simultaneous stroke of genius and insanity. U.S. Seals 2 is a fine example for Hong Kong-style action made in USA, and another testimony of his talent to generate incredible action sequences!

Top 5 John Carpenter Action Movies

By
Alex Nguyen
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Known for his horror-prowess, we rank the best action films directed by the great John Carpenter…

John Carpenter is indisputably one of the most influential directors and artistic visionaries in the horror and action genres. Carpenter developed an interest in filmmaking at an early age, particularly the 1950s westerns of Howard Hawks and John Ford. As the son of a music professor, he grew up around music, later influencing many of his film scores. Carpenter attended the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts to become a filmmaker. While there, he made a student film and later expanded it into Dark Star, which was released as his first feature length film in 1974. In the following decade, Carpenter established himself as a prominent action director through films like Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and They Live. 

Compared to many of his contemporaries, Carpenter’s films could be characterized by small budgets, often favoring economic storytelling and resourcefulness over shooting dramatic and flashy sequences. He framed his characters in wide shots to expand his worlds and make them feel truly lived-in. Carpenter also infused his political perspective into his films, often noting the decay of American society during the Reagan era. 

Many of Carpenter’s films received disappointing receptions at the time of their release. However, they later garnered strong cult followings as the movies were often way ahead of their time. Since Carpenter has stopped making films, his legacy has only grown. In this list, we’ll honor many of these films by counting down the director’s best action movies. 

Introducing the Ultimate John Carpenter Series!

5) Escape from L.A. (1996)

With a new prison island in L.A., Carpenter revisited the post-apocalyptic America that he created in Escape from New York. Marketed as a sequel, this film is more like a remake, with much of the plot the same as its predecessor. As opposed to the previous film’s serious tone, Carpenter and Russell fill the runtime with moments of silliness and camp, including Snake Plissken surfing through the streets of Los Angeles and playing basketball in a gladiator-style competition. The film’s special effects and storytelling can be occasionally lacking, but the film’s condemnation of American society still remains.

The Carpenter Series Part 5: America Becomes a Horror Movie in ‘Escape from L.A.’ 

4) Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Russell dives head first into his role as Jack Burton, a version of John Wayne too dumb to realize he’s in over his head trying to face a world of magic, strange creatures, and martial arts. Jack constantly fails in his quest and would be completely helpless if not for the true hero of the story, Wang Chi. Through this dynamic, Carpenter deconstructs the typical 1980s American action hero while honoring Asian cultures. As an ode to past wuxia films, this is the most fun Carpenter has had, allowing Russell to go over the top as a goofy yet loveable truck driver and giving the audience plenty of laughs.

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3) Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

As John Carpenter’s version of Night of the Living Dead, Assault on Precinct 13 sees its ragtag crew of police officers and prisoners fight off a silent horde of Street Thunder gang members. Through this premise, he subtly depicts a society falling into a cycle of violence and revenge and comments on the relationship between the police and the marginalized communities they patrol. By mixing the horror and western genres, Carpenter crafts a world brimming with tension as his characters find themselves trapped in a police station with a limited supply of weapons to defend themselves with. As one of his earlier works, this sense of fear and isolation would eventually lead to films like his horror masterpiece The Thing.

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2) Escape from New York (1981)

Although the story is quite simple, Carpenter immerses viewers in a grimy world of betrayal and moral decay. Written as a response to late 1970s America, the film takes the country to its logical endpoint as an imperialist police state that attempts to control its citizens through military force. Russell plays Snake Plissken – an antihero filled with contempt for the world. With a permanent scowl on his face, Snake wanders through the streets of Manhattan, trying to survive. Featuring an excellent cast of supporting characters including a commanding performance by Lee Van Cleef, Escape from New York is one of Carpenter’s best films.

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1) They Live (1988)

Carpenter fully realizes his political ideology in the sci-fi film They Live. Roddy Piper plays a homeless drifter who discovers a pair of sunglasses that reveal America’s upper class to be aliens attempting to colonize the planet and control humans through subliminal messaging. The film is blunt in its criticism of Reagan-era capitalism, but it is filled with memorable performances including that of co-star Keith David, quotable lines, and a brilliant street fight. By achieving a perfect balance between fun action sequences and a strong allegory, Carpenter captures something truly special. 

The Carpenter Series Part 4: Staring Down the Barrel of Capitalism in ‘They Live ‘

Top 10 Kurt Russell Action Movies

By
Thomas Krebs
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Ranking the best – and most ultimate – action films from the legendary Kurt Russell.

Kurt Russell is one of the few legitimate action heroes who is also a great actor. Charming, charismatic and a total bad-ass when the role demanded it, every film is made better when Russell is on board! He started his career in the action genre with the breakthrough role as Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, and from that time he never stopped kicking ass. So let’s get started and look at the 10 best action classics featuring Kurt Russell!

10) Stargate (1994)

Roland Emmerich’s Stargate is a classic 1990s action-adventure blockbuster which builds upon the popular myth that aliens built the pyramids. Archaeologist Daniel Jackson and US Army colonel Jack O’Neil traverse an ancient Egyptian portal to another planet. They encounter and befriend the people of an indigenous culture worshiping the Egyptian god Ra who is not pleased with the earthlings’ arrival. Like every Emmerich film, Stargate never goes out of its way to become something truly special, and yet it delivers a thoroughly entertaining mix of humor, thrills and action.

The film is carried by its two main protagonists, the clumsy, but charming Jackson (James Spader) and the hard-ass military O’Neil (Kurt Russell). O’Neil takes the fight to the interplanetary tyrant Ra thanks to importing some good old American firearms, even though he also learns the lesson why you should never bring a nuclear weapon to another planet. It’s not an overly demanding role for Russell, but he is a formidable action hero, with the most ultimate flat top cut since John Matrix!

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9) Breakdown (1997)

Breakdown is the true spiritual successor to The Hitcher. The car of couple Amy and Jeff breaks down on a desert freeway, and friendly trucker Red offers to take Amy to a diner in the next town to call roadside assistance. When Jeff arrives at the diner, there is no trace of his wife. It’s a simple setup, but director Jonathan Mostow amps the tension and thrills up to the absolute maximum!

Russell portrays a fairly normal middle-class guy, who goes through an ordeal of torment and terror. He  rises to the occasion, though, and faces off a psychopathic trucker (the ever-shady late J.T. Walsh) and his associates. The film is packed with nerve-wrecking scenes, and just like The Hitcher closes out with a terrific car action finale. Breakdown is an absolute action thriller masterpiece, just don’t watch before going on a road trip!

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8) Backdraft (1991)

An action film without shootouts, car chases and villains but only fire, how is that supposed to work? Like a charm! The two estranged brothers Brian and Stephen (Russell) are firefighters in the same unit of the Chicago fire department. Their rivalry borders on becoming dangerous, but ultimately they get their act together, and investigate a series of mysterious arsonist fires that are killing people. Director Ron Howard created a genre bastard that blends drama with action, crime and the inevitable romance, and it all falls into place beautifully.

Russell is great as Stephen, who recklessly storms to the front line with every assignment, but who is a surprisingly complex character with a large burden of grief and anger. The fire fighting operations are the centerpiece of the film, and Howard created some jaw-dropping set pieces with the most spectacular pyrotechnics and fire effects to ever make it into a movie. Backdraft is a welcome change from the myriad of weaponized actioners, and a sincere ode to one of the most honorable and dangerous professions that exist!

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7) Soldier (1998)

A few years before director Paul W.S. Anderson ruined his reputation with the Resident Evil saga he created a bad-ass piece of Sci-Fi action cinema. Elite soldier Todd (Russell) is dumped on a garbage planet after his squad is replaced by new generation of genetically engineered supersoldiers. He is taken in by a human colony, and needs to protect them from his replacements who are landing on the planet for a training mission.

It’s a slightly bizarre setting that combines ultraviolent over-the-top action with the schmaltzy portrayals of harmonious life in the garbage colony. There are no interesting characters, dialogues and plot lines in Soldier, and yet the film never fails to entertain thanks to atmospheric sets, good special effects and high-octane action set pieces. Russell talks less than the T-800 and has a rather dumb stare for most of the film. No problem, though, he’s totally jacked and turns into a killing machine in the instant danger approaches. Mission accomplished, private Todd!

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6) Executive Decision (1996)

Action movies featuring a hijacked aircraft have understandably fallen out of favor since 9/11, but if you can detach yourself from that dark memory at least briefly, you’re in a for a lot of excitement with Executive Decision. A passenger airplane is abducted by terrorists demanding the release of one of their own. To stop them, a squad is assembled to sneak aboard the plane while in the air, among them intelligence analyst David Grant (Russell).

There’s a lot going on in this plane, with thrills galore thousands of feet above ground, and one of most nerve-wrecking bomb disarming sequences ever seen on celluloid! It’s a certainly a change of character for Russell in an action film, as a nerd who doesn’t want to get involved in the mission other than watching it from his desk. But as usual he nails it, and contributes his share in making Executive Decision one of the best action-thrillers of the 1990s.

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5) Deepwater Horizon (2016)

Several years after Backdraft, Deepwater Horizon saw Kurt Russell (alongside Mark Wahlberg) caught in another flaming inferno, a film that was based on the real-life catastrophe of the offshore oil platform Deepwater Horizon. Director Peter Berg effectively builds up tension as we witness the mistakes and malfunctions leading to the disaster almost in real-time.

After the well blows out, the platform becomes a hellish place, and the disaster is captured in grueling and spectacular images, it feels as if you’re on the rig yourself. Russell’s Jimmy Harrell is a blunt platform manager who takes the heat for his crew, and gets into many quarrels with cocky BP executives. Deepwater Horizon will stress you out and leave you exhausted, it’s one of the best disaster movies that exists.

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4) Tombstone (1993)

A film about a time when the width of a man’s mustache determined his manliness, Tombstone is the ultimate mustache action film. Joking aside, this tale written in gunpowder and blood is one of most action-packed Western sever made! The story of the Earp brothers, who want to create a good life for themselves in the booming town of Tombstone, and their deadly quarrels with the outlaw gang The Cowboys is a famous piece of Wild West lore.

Russell vividly brings Wyatt Earp to life as a man full of conflicting emotions who only seems truly alive when facing his adversaries. He is joined by an all-star cast, from which Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday stands out the most. Tough men, tough talk, tough action, Tombstone is kicking some serious ass!

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3) Tango & Cash (1989)

“Action, good old American Action!” The 1980s went out with a bang named Tango & Cash, a film that is in overdrive mode every single second. Detectives Ray Tango (Sylvester Stallone) and Gabe Cash (Kurt Russell) are framed for murder by crime lord Perret and thrown into prison. Their violent escape is just the beginning of an avalanche of mayhem and corny one-liners.

Stallone’s cultivated Tango and Russell’s Cash, who is a loose cannon with loose mouth, have a terrific love-hate relationship. The plot is a hot mess, but we don’t care, it all moves so fast with car chases, shootouts, a thrilling prison escape sequence and a finale that is pure insanity. Tango & Cash is maybe the most outrageous and wildest buddy cop action flick of them all, and just perfect in its own special way.

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2) Escape from New York (1981)

Dystopian Science Fiction films used to be fairly serious and depressing affairs in the 1970s, but at the start of the following decade, John Carpenter showed us that much fun can also be had in this type of setting! In the future, all of Manhattan has been cordoned off and turned into an open air prison. Ex-elite soldier Snake Plissken is sent into Manhattan by the US military to rescue the president after terrorists abducted and crashed Air Force One.

Carpenter crafted a unique and captivating piece of genre cinema that became a template for countless ripoffs. A fantastic world-building with terrific visuals and a killer soundtrack, all about this film is pure movie magic. Russell’s Plissken is one of the greatest antiheroes of action cinema, a violent nihilist with a bad attitude that can only be made compliant by a bomb implanted into his body. Russell’s and Carpenter’s first collaboration became a timeless classic that yields the first place in our ranking only to another of their 1980s masterpieces.

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1) Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Every time John Carpenter and Kurt Russell collaborated in the 1980s, is resulted in a masterpiece, and Big Trouble in Little China is their crowning achievement in the action genre! The film takes us on the quest of truck driver Jack Burton and his friends to defeat ancient evil sorcerer Lo Pan in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Russell is Jack Burton, tough talker and clumsy wanna-be action hero, who never gets anything done right but in the end still gets the girl. Carpenter is at the top of his game fusing different genre elements, and he created a fantastic world behind the walls of everyday life in Chinatown, as we follow our heroes sneaking and fighting through alleyways, sewers and hidden tunnels. Fantastic special effects, enchanting sets and, as usual, a banging soundtrack composed by Carpenter himself, all contribute to make Big Trouble in Little China one of the best action-adventures to ever see the light of day!

The Carpenter Series Part 3: Deconstructing the American Action Hero in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’

The Carpenter Series Part 5: America Becomes a Horror Movie in ‘Escape from L.A.’ 

By
Alex Nguyen
-

“Welcome to the human race.”

John Carpenter’s action films are mostly known for their serious tones centered around stoic, deadpan action heroes. However, many of his films are also humorous. Dark Star, Big Trouble in Little China, and They Live all have their share of ridiculousness. Similar to these films, Escape from L.A. taps into the absurdity of Carpenter’s filmography and almost acts like a satire of Escape from New York. 

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Escape from L.A. was released in 1996, 15 years after its predecessor. While many were expecting a sequel, Carpenter delivered more of a remake, with the film following many of the same plot points as Escape from New York. In the year 2013, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is sent to a heavily guarded prison island populated by everyone who didn’t fit within the government’s idea of a “moral America.” The country is run by a right-wing theocratic president who holds a lifetime term in office. Much like the America of today, this brings about a strict domestic policy of deportation where those who perform petty crimes and others who don’t follow the American ideal of religious beliefs and gender identity are all imprisoned. 

Snake Plissken’s mission is to enter Los Angeles, where the president’s daughter Utopia (A.J. Langer) possesses the remote control to the “Sword of Damocles,” a weapon with the power to shut down every electronic device on the planet via satellite. The film’s big bad is Cuervo Jones (Georges Corraface), the leader of Shining Path, a communist guerilla group based in Peru. Cuervo wants to invade the United States with an allied group of third world nations as an act of revenge against America’s destructive imperialist policies. 

Carpenter’s cynicism and exasperation towards the Hollywood studio system are present throughout the film. This is most apparent in Steve Buscemi’s character “Map to the Stars” Eddie, who sells out anyone to move one rung up the ladder. Like in Escape from New York, Carpenter draws parallels between the traditional antagonist Cuervo and the president, allowing the audience to ponder who the true villain of the film is and whether Cuervo has a point to his mutiny. In one scene, Utopia says that Cuervo and her father are equally terrible and that they both just want to control everything. 

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Higher Budget, Yet Worse Special Effects

Carpenter’s decision to make the plots of the two films identical is most likely intentional. Perhaps his experience living in the 1970s was practically the same as that of the 1990s, forcing him to believe that nothing has changed. If anything, things may have gotten worse. Despite this intention, Escape from L.A. comes across as the lesser of the two films. The reuse of the same plot structure removes a significant amount of dramatic tension. In addition, it’s occasionally tough to get on board with the film’s sillier moments. The submarine scene where Snake narrowly avoids a shark or the action sequence where Snake surfs along the L.A. River to jump on top of a moving car are hit or miss depending on one’s appreciation of absurd campiness. 

Part of this is down to the special effects. Although the film had a higher budget, its effects often come off looking worse than Escape from New York. Carpenter may work better on a tighter budget. Up to this point, his career had been mostly characterized by small-scale independent films. These restraints required Carpenter to use his intuition and efficiency to come up with creative solutions.

For example, instead of going for large set-pieces, he would often shoot more subtle and suggestive shots that immerse themselves in anticipation, allowing the audience to fill in the blanks. Escape from L.A. is flashier than its predecessor in every way, often distracting from what it is trying to say at its core.   

In addition, the supporting characters in Escape from L.A. are not as interesting as its predecessor. Taslima (Valeria Golino) simply acts as a plot device to provide expositional dialogue and further the film’s worldbuilding, while Hershe (Pam Grier) is not given enough to do and comes off as a tacked-on character with no significant bearing to the second half of the film. 

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But, How Ultimate is it?

Escape from L.A. ends much in the same way as Escape from New York. The gladiator fight is replaced by a basketball game, and Snake gets the better of the president. However, Carpenter takes this a step further and allows Snake to get his way. Instead of Snake simply ruining the president’s moment in front of the cameras, he has Snake perform the ultimate act of defiance by shutting down all electronic devices with the remote control, forcing the human race to start over.

Carpenter is dissatisfied with what the world has come to and wishes to return to the time of his beloved westerns where everything made sense. Although Escape from L.A. doesn’t take itself too seriously and gives in to Carpenter’s goofy and satirical tendencies, the film’s prophetic nature of a terrifying America remains the same. 

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The Marine 4: Moving Target — The Grittiest and Darkest Installment

By
Ultimate Action Movies
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The Miz is back for perhaps the most ultimate (or at least toughest) film in the franchise.

As soon as a franchise reaches its fourth film, there are definitely challenges to be faced. Rather than treading over familiar ground, one can refine and develop what already exists. With The Marine 4: Moving Target, Director William Kaufman (Sinners and Saints, One in the Chamber) aims for the latter.

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UAMC Reviews ‘The Marine 4: Moving Target’

With Jake Carter (Mike “The Miz” Mizanin) returning, the fourth film finds itself stripped of any nonsense. Quickly we’re caught up in the first few minutes after opening credits end. Carter has left his hometown and found employment with a private security agency. The agency is tasked with protecting a company whistleblower Olivia Tanis (Melissa Roxburgh). While on the way to a safe house, the convoy is ambushed by mercenaries hired by Tanis’ former employer. They are led by the intimidating and determined Simon Vogel (Josh Blacker).

The assault on the convoy is the first of many exceptional shootouts the film takes us through. Kaufman with the help of his second unit director Kimani Ray Smith, (Wu Assassins, Countdown) puts us directly in the middle of the action. The blocking, camera placement and camera movements make it almost impossible not to get an adrenaline response from it. The camera shakes whenever a tree or other surroundings are hit as if it feels the recoil from the impact. The guns feel dangerous, and the people holding them feel even more dangerous. With Kaufman’s track record it may be expected, but it can not be overstated, the man is one of the best working directors when it comes to tactical action.

The Marine 2: An Ultimate Mix of Cheap Fireworks and Popcorn

Fight Choreographer Dan Rizzuto’s bare-fisted brutality

Along with the brilliantly captured tactical shootouts, the film also delivers some good bare-fisted brutality. Fight Choreographer Dan Rizzuto (Boss Level, Legion) has a good understanding of the characters body’s and how they would fight. Thankfully, Kaufman and Smith capture it very well. You feel every hit, there’s a good sense of geography and it’s clear to decipher what’s happening. So you get a good view of the arm breaks, neck snaps, and slams. The only issue I found was some fights feel too choreographed, the moves look more mechanical rather than organic. A slight nitpick for otherwise cathartic fight scenes.

Kaufman never lets up on the action, yet we still get believable, genuine characters. Everyone understands what movie they’re in and performs accordingly. Nobody really seems out of place.With that being said, Mizanin’s Jake Carter feels somewhat different from his prior film, The Marine 3: Homefront. While the character is the same, the Miz feels more confident in the role. We are able to get a better feel of the direct-to-video action lead that he is becoming because of his commitment. I can’t go without mentioning that Roxburgh’s Olivia Tanis holds her own very well.

It is noteworthy that the story never leaves her feeling helpless. In actuality, in the midst of the hail of bullets and explosions, her character manages to go through a complete journey. All of the character development in the film occurs within her, and it never feels as if it was a waste. Blacker as Vogel is at an alltime high throughout the whole film. He is a hired gun that will obliterate everyone in his way. Despite the excitement that he creates when he bursts into action, he is sadly one note. Watching him on screen was engrossing, but I wish he had more material to work with.

The Miz Shines in His Turn to Helm ‘The Marine 3: Homefront’ (2013)

But, How Ultimate is it?

All in all, the fourth installment is The Marine’s grittiest and darkest yet. Although the plot is simple, there are doublecrosses and betrayals to keep you guessing. This simple story is told by Kaufman as one long gunfight that has shades of First Blood in the end. It is a great example of the good that can come out of DTV films. I would show this to someone who is standoffish when these types of films come up in conversation. The film is a lean 90-minutes filled with great set pieces that will keep your eyes glued to the screen.

Article By: Cameron Levins is a filmmaker, comic book lover and fight scene enthusiast. Ever since his dad showed him Bruce Lee as a kid, he became obsessed with action films. In his free time he’s either day dreaming about an action scene or researching fight choreographers. Follow Cameron on Twitter here.

The Carpenter Series Part 4: Staring Down the Barrel of Capitalism in ‘They Live ‘

By
Alex Nguyen
-

Part 4 of our UAMC series exploring the ultimate action movies from legendary director John Carpenter.

“The whole deal’s like some crazy game. They put you at a starting line, and the name of the game is ‘Make It Through Life,’ only everyone’s looking out for themselves and looking to do you in at the same time.”

Economic inequality in every part of society, media attempting to control the way we think, militarized police patrolling our cities, and conspiracy theories spreading unhindered – They Live is a movie that is more relevant now than perhaps it has ever been. In a direct response to the 1980s Reagan era, Carpenter went from making anarchic films like Escape from New York to straight-up anticapitalist criticism in They Live. When asked about the movie in a 2015 interview, Carpenter said, “It’s a documentary. It’s not science fiction.”

The Carpenter Series Part 1: Fighting Zombies in ‘Assault on Precinct 13’

UAMC Reviews ‘They Live’

They Live follows an unnamed working-class protagonist credited as John Nada (Roddy Piper) who finds a job as a laborer and meets Frank Armitage (Keith David), who brings him to an unhoused community. The local TV is often interrupted by a pirated signal warning viewers that the human race is being lied to and controlled by outside forces. Piper locates the signal to a nearby church where he finds sunglasses that grant him the power to see that the city’s upper class is made up entirely of skeletal aliens.

Casting Roddy Piper as opposed to a recognized movie star allows the film to maintain its focus on a simple, working-class protagonist. This helps get Carpenter’s pointed populist and anti-establishment messaging across. Initially, Roddy Piper’s character naively says that he believes in America, and that if he follows the rules, good fortune will befall him some day.

The Carpenter Series Part 2: Rebelling Against the State in ‘Escape from New York’

Roddy Piper’s Simple, Working-class Protagonist

However, we see how this will never be the case. Early in the movie, Nada looks worn down and tired. He has had to endure challenge after challenge in his life and is desperate for a job in Los Angeles after the economy in Denver collapsed. Even the unhoused community he stays at in the beginning of the film is bulldozed by the police once the authorities realize that revolutionaries had set up base there.

Nada never considered the possibility of an organized effort by the upper class to exploit working people. Carpenter depicts the upper class as aliens, beings that lack morals and any sense of human decency. The working class suffered a deteriorating standard of living while being fed ideas like “meritocracy” and the ideal of “individualism.” Much like the political messaging in The Matrix, John’s sunglasses show actual reality. Billboards and TV commercials selling specific products bear subliminal orders to “Consume,” “Obey,” and “Marry and Reproduce,” while money says “This is your god.” Carpenter denies us any subtlety, with reality displayed in black-and-white. When Nada realizes his plight, he snaps, mercilessly gunning down aliens at the bank.

The Carpenter Series Part 3: Deconstructing the American Action Hero in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’

But, How Ultimate is it?

Then comes the big action set piece – a six-minute brawl between Nada and Frank over putting the glasses on. The scene is brilliant in showing us every heavy blow that they land on each other. It feels real as they both take time to recover after getting hit. Notably, the fight is between two members of the working class over seeing the true America. Carpenter may be telling us that the upper class has devised systems that pit members of the working class against each other. They end up fighting amongst themselves instead of revolting against the wealthy.

In this way, They Live acts as a counterculture-left film. It was released a few days before the 1988 presidential election, but even if it had been released earlier, it most likely would not have had the intended impact as George H.W. Bush easily won the election. Like many of Carpenter’s projects, the film bombed at the box office and didn’t receive its due praise until much later as its prophetic nature became more apparent.

On its surface, the movie is quite dated, but if we dig into the deeper elements of the film – the oppression of the working class by the elites, the rule of the wealthy class over the government, or the police as a brutal institution to carry out this exploitation – it hasn’t aged at all.

Is Shooter Secretly Mark Wahlberg’s Best Action Movie?

By
Thomas Krebs
-

The director/star duo keep this action thriller as tight as an ultimate action thriller can get.

Mark Wahlberg, former underwear model and member of more than one cheesy pop group, transformed into a veritable action hero in the late 1990s. Director Antoine Fuqua started to make feature films around the same time, and in 2007 both of them teamed up to create Shooter. The film became an instant classic in the modern action thriller genre, and in this article, we’ll have a closer look at this spectacular mix of Sniper, The Fugitive and JFK!

Bob Lee Swagger, an elite sniper of the US army is left behind after a clandestine mission in Ethiopia is abruptly abandoned. He lives a secluded life after he makes it back alive, and is approached by government officials asking him to help stop a planned assassination on the US president. He reluctantly agrees, but gets set up and is blamed for attempted murder. While on the run, he tries to prove his innocence and take revenge.

The Top 10 Most Ultimate Mark Wahlberg Action Movies

UAMC Reviews ‘Shooter’ (2007)

On the surface, Shooter tells the classic fugitive story, with the nature of the conspiracy also being relatively straightforward. The bad guys make themselves known almost from the start, we don’t know their exact motive until later in the film, but when it’s revealed it doesn’t come as a big surprise, I would argue. Government conspiracies are standard fare in political thrillers, but evil antagonists at the highest level of the US political system are rather unusual for a film in the action genre, where the spectrum of corrupt characters rarely extends beyond cops, ex-CIA agents, or mayors.

What also sets Shooter apart from other conspiracy thrillers is its very straightforward and violent solution to the problem of institutionalized corruption, even though you’ll need the almost superhuman skills of a Bob Lee Swagger to do so. The conspiracy theme is further enhanced by some cleverly ambiguous comments related to the JFK assassination, and other quips about the long history of alleged secret operations and their cover-ups by the US government.

The most provocative topics broached by the film, however, are class warfare from above as signified by the insolent remarks of Swagger’s adversaries, and the openly asked question why people go to war for their country to secure oil production on another continent. I will argue, though, that Shooter does not cater to anti-American sentiments, as these questions can be asked in many countries around the world.

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All the Classic Action Genre Types

The main characters in the film are all classic genre archetypes, but are brought to life by a great cast. Wahlberg tones it down quite a bit from his trademark role (the brawler with a foul mouth and a short fuse) and delivers a convincing portrayal of a calm and decent citizen, who also happens to be one of the best soldiers to ever serve in the US military. His Swagger is an idealist and a violent advocate for democracy with a strong disdain for the ruling political class.

An unholy trinity of villains is trying to take Swagger down, two evil politicians (Danny Glover and Ned Beatty) and their sadistic enforcer (played by Elias Koteas with a hairstyle that gives away his malevolence immediately when he shows his face for the first time). All three of them do a terrific job in their roles, and you will want to kill them yourself every time they appear, but thankfully we have Swagger to care of that.

Mark Wahlberg goes Full Mark Wahlberg in Mile 22 (2018)

But, How Ultimate is it?

As in many of his works, Fuqua masterfully combines thriller elements with expertly directed action sequences that seamlessly connect to the plot and never feel out place. We start off with a spectacular sniper battle, follow Swagger on his violent escape from the conspirators, and conclude with a fantastic showdown where he takes the fight to his enemies in a most explosive way.

The action is tense and focused, with a crisp cinematography and perfectly staged practical effects. All set pieces retain a sense of realism, at a level where I imagine all this could actually happen in real life. A good chunk of the film is also dedicated to the details of sniper action which create a nice feel of immersion for the mostly layman audience.

Shooter is as tight as an action thriller can get, and its two hours runtime will fly for you. Wahlberg and Fuqua delivered an entertaining and though-provoking masterpiece that is one of their best films, if not their best.

Gary Daniels and Robert Bronzi in ‘The Gardener’ (2021)

By
Braden White
-

A modern take on an ultimate action formula that is actually pretty darn… ultimate?

Action movies shot in the COVID era have a few staples that make them more and more noticeable: small cast and one major location. The Gardener is no different in that respect, but I believe it pulls it off better than most.

Top 10 Gary Daniels Action Movies

UAMC Reviews ‘The Gardener’

Synopsis: An immigrant living a quiet life as a gardener at a manor house in England has to rely on old skills to save the family he works for from home invaders.

The film stars Robert Bronzi as Peter, a soft-spoken gardener who works for a wealthy family in England. He mainly keeps to himself but develops a bond with the family’s son Justin.

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Legendary Action Star Gary Daniels

Our action picks up when a team of mercenaries led by Volkar, a sadistic leader who twists the meanings of the warrior code to fit his agenda, played brilliantly by legendary Action Star Gary Daniels, invades the home of the family in search of a piece of hardware. When the family, who was supposed to be on vacation, is taken hostage, Peter relies on a normally dormant skillset to save them.

The action pieces in this film are mainly in the latter half, but Bronzi proves himself to be formidable action star, utilizing boxing and kickboxing as well as improvised weapons. The choreography is simple yet effective with highlights being Peter vs Mischa and Volker vs his crew. Gary Daniels put his skills on full display during his fight with his own crew. Although Bronzi and Daniels do come to blows, the exchange is rather unimpressive.

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But, How Ultimate is it?

Overall, The Gardener is a satisfying action piece that settles your hunger while also not leaving you fully satisfied. Bronzi is a solid action performer and Daniels’ presence does in fact elevate the film, The restrictions of the movie leave one wanting more. All in all I give it 3 ½ out of 5 stars for solid action and Daniels’ presence in the film alone. The film is now available on VOD and DVD. Keep it lock and loaded here on UAMC for all things action!!

The Carpenter Series Part 3: Deconstructing the American Action Hero in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’

By
Alex Nguyen
-

Part 3 of our UAMC series exploring the ultimate action movies from legendary director John Carpenter.

“Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol’ storm right square in the eye and he says, “Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it.”

In the climactic final battle, Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) attempts a grand hero’s entrance by shooting his gun at the ceiling. The bullets dislodge debris from above that falls onto Jack’s head, knocking him out for the majority of the fight and leaving his friends to fend for themselves.

You can find the previous episodes in our Carpenter series here:

The Carpenter Series Part 1: Fighting Zombies in ‘Assault on Precinct 13’

UAMC Reviews Big Trouble in Little China

Jack Burton is an idiot. At best, he serves as a sidekick to his friend Wang (Dennis Dun), the actual hero of our story. Jack is only involved in the action because Wang owes him money. Instead of taking up the call to action, the hero’s journey is thrust upon him when a gang kidnaps Wang’s fiancée, Miao Yin. In this aspect, he’s most similar to characters like The Dude in The Big Lebowski, whose journey starts by simply sharing the same name as an indebted millionaire.

Frequently throughout the movie, Jack asks characters where they’re going or what’s going on, and in response he’s deemed too slow to understand. He’s also constantly getting lost and leading his friends into trouble. But at the end of the day when the group defeats Lo Pan and rescues Miao Yin, Jack is back in his truck, mythologizing himself as the hero who saved the day.

Ironically, these traits are what make Jack absolutely necessary for what the film is trying to do. With his quotable one-liners, Russell is riffing on American heroes that he grew up watching like John Wayne, but he has the self-awareness to fit the film’s deconstruction of the 1980s action hero. Instead of being like his contemporaries such as Indiana Jones, Jack Burton is able to be the butt of the joke. He’s not only able to get beat up, he’s allowed to lose, and often at that.

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Kurt Russell in his Perfect Role

This is what makes Russell perfect for the role instead of established stars favored by the studio like Jack Nicholson and Clint Eastwood. This is most apparent when Wang and Jack are confronted by a gang of Lo Pan’s men. For the entire fight, Jack is offscreen trying to find his knife while Wang defeats all of the men handily. Without him, all of the comedic elements in Big Trouble in Little China wouldn’t work as it would just be another martial arts film with a traditional heroic protagonist.

Another important feature of Big Trouble in Little China is its detailed world-building. Taking inspiration from supernatural ’80s wuxia films, Carpenter subverted Hollywood’s tendency towards stereotypical depictions of Asians onscreen by placing their stories at the forefront of the film. Instead of Jack Burton becoming a typical white savior figure, the film undermines his traditional, all-American John Wayne impersonation by making Wang Chi the most capable character. Carpenter also immerses Jack in a world filled with magic, bizarre monsters, and dynamic martial arts choreography that goes way above his head.

The Carpenter Series Part 2: Rebelling Against the State in ‘Escape from New York’

But, How Ultimate is it?

Throughout the movie, Jack is outdone both mentally and physically by his Asian counterparts, who are better equipped to battle Lo Pan and his henchmen. Jack, representing American culture, plays the sidekick, a role usually reserved for racial minorities. Likewise, Wang Chi, representing a more modern version of Asian culture, battles and defeats the stereotyped Asian villain in Lo Pan.

After a difficult and rushed production, the film’s failure financially drove Carpenter to give up on studio films and return to independent filmmaking. However, Big Trouble in Little China grew in popularity later on with strong VHS sales, and like a lot of Carpenter’s films, finally received its due recognition and acquired cult film status.

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