IMQ #31 - People in Film - Favorite Action Star

[Chaplin]

Ok, now we're getting into the fun ones.

I know it's probably cliche, but I really have to go with Arnold on this one. I still believe he is the most improved actor in Hollywood history. Now, that sounds ridiculous, but think about his appearance in Hercules in New York and then his more recent appearances in movies like Maggie--and it is night and day the differences.

Honorable Mentions:
Dwayne Johnson
Brandon Lee
Bruce Lee
JCVD - more of a "so bad, he's good" kind of action star
Tom Cruise
Jason Statham
Liam Neeson
Michelle Yeoh
Chow Yun-Fat
Jet Li
Donnie Yen
Sonny Chiba

 

[puckhead]

Harrison Ford

 

[Superbone]

I'm surprised Sean Connery isn't on this list. Is he disqualified because he's on the Bond list?

 

[Chaplin]

I'm surprised Sean Connery isn't on this list. Is he disqualified because he's on the Bond list?

What list are you talking about? You mean, the list of strictly my opinions? It's not a multiple choice, for gawds sake!

 

[Superbone]

What list are you talking about? You mean, the list of strictly my opinions? It's not a multiple choice, for gawds sake!

I should say in the thread. My bad. Plus, the thread is only hours old. Thought it had been around longer.

 

[Covert Rain]

Arnold
Stallone
Bruce Willis
Jet Li
Jackie Chan
Carrie-Ann Moss
Chuck Norris
Jason Statham
Kurt Russel
Angelina Jolie
Harrison Ford
Sean Connery (pretty much all the Bonds)
Tom Cruise
Kate Beckinsale
Mel Gibson
Keanu Reeves
Clint Eastwood
Milla Jovovich
Liam Neeson
Michelle Rodriguez
Dwayn Johnson
Wesley Snipes
Michelle Yeoh
Vin Deasel
Antonio Banderas
Pam Grier
Matt Damon
Scarlett Johansson
Will Smith
Nicolas Cage
Charleze Theron

 

[NJCardFan]

Bruce Lee
Chuck Norris
Sylvester Stallone
Mel Gibson
Sonny Chiba
Liam Neeison

 

[oaken1]

was a body builder as a young man and had a few gals compare me to arnold in commando...that has always made him my favorite, plus I worked out with him once at the naval base. But stallone always seemed to send a message I needed to hear at the time...you know, like "It dont matter how hard you hit, it matters how hard you can GET hit and keep gettin back up"

so those two guys are my favorites for those reasons

but:


Danny Trejo...short, not a great actor, and kinda ugly... but a great guy and who didnt lobe "Machete"?? I meen really.

Chuck Norris for making it okay for Good guys to wear black....and for curing cancer

I would pick Bruce Lee...but the movies were terrible and always got my ass kicked after....my older brother was a huge fan...but
Jet Lee...awesome, pure...and

Jackie Chan..great martial artist who makes you laugh at life...love his movies

 

[Cheesewater]

Danny Trejo...short, not a great actor, and kinda ugly... but a great guy and who didnt lobe "Machete"??

He's a big Rams fan, too.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Bruce Willis

 

[Cheesebeef]

For me, I look at best action stars by looking at them if they've been able to play multiple action heroes... a reason I leave Bruce Willis out because while John McClane is one of the greatest heroes of all time (through 3 movies), that's really the only standout action he did outside of Striking Distance which almost no one but me and @AzStevenCal probably remembers. So, with all that said, I go...

1. Arnold - The Terminator, John Matrix, Conan, Dutch, Harry Tasker, Quaid... 5 great action heroes, slight differences between them
2. Sly - Rocky, Rambo, Ray Tango, Gabe Walker (Damn you Walker!), John Spartan
3. Keanu - maybe a little bit of a surprise, but Johnny Utah, Jack Travern, Neo and John Wick. Those are 4 absolute classic action movies with Point Break, Speed, Matrix and... John Wick.
4. Tom Cruise - I know he should fall under the Bruce Willis exemption, but the ridiculousness he's pulling off in the Mission Movies gets him on the list. But he was also great in Edge Tomorrow.
5. Sho Kozuki!

 

[Chaplin]

For me, I look at best action stars by looking at them if they've been able to play multiple action heroes... a reason I leave Bruce Willis out because while John McClane is one of the greatest heroes of all time (through 3 movies), that's really the only standout action he did outside of Striking Distance which almost no one but me and @AzStevenCal probably remembers. So, with all that said, I go...

1. Arnold - The Terminator, John Matrix, Conan, Dutch, Harry Tasker, Quaid... 5 great action heroes, slight differences between them
2. Sly - Rocky, Rambo, Ray Tango, Gabe Walker (Damn you Walker!), John Spartan
3. Keanu - maybe a little bit of a surprise, but Johnny Utah, Jack Travern, Neo and John Wick. Those are 4 absolute classic action movies with Point Break, Speed, Matrix and... John Wick.
4. Tom Cruise - I know he should fall under the Bruce Willis exemption, but the ridiculousness he's pulling off in the Mission Movies gets him on the list. But he was also great in Edge Tomorrow.
5. Sho Kozuki!

I wonder why you think Cruise should get an exemption? Yes, there is the Mission Impossible movies, but in addition to Edge of Tomorrow, there was Oblivion, the first Jack Reacher (regardless of what you think about the book character), Top Gun, Minority Report, even Last Samurai and Days of Thunder. The guy just doesn't make bad movies -- well, unless there is NO redeeming quality in the writing or directing, as there was with the 2nd Jack Reacher movie.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I wonder why you think Cruise should get an exemption? Yes, there is the Mission Impossible movies, but in addition to Edge of Tomorrow, there was Oblivion, the first Jack Reacher (regardless of what you think about the book character), Top Gun, Minority Report, even Last Samurai and Days of Thunder. The guy just doesn't make bad movies -- well, unless there is NO redeeming quality in the writing or directing, as there was with the 2nd Jack Reacher movie.

Probably because I don't think many of the movies up there are very good. Top Gun is a classic and I liked the first Jack Reacher, the rest (Oblivion, Samurai and Thunder0 I'd never watch again. But I guess between Ethan Hunt and Maverick... that's two classic characters with another couple great performances in Tomorrow and the first Jack Reacher. So, he might just be a straight up member of the list without the Willis exemption on second thought.

 

[AzStevenCal]

For me, I look at best action stars by looking at them if they've been able to play multiple action heroes... a reason I leave Bruce Willis out because while John McClane is one of the greatest heroes of all time (through 3 movies), that's really the only standout action he did outside of Striking Distance which almost no one but me and @AzStevenCal probably remembers. So, with all that said, I go...

1. Arnold - The Terminator, John Matrix, Conan, Dutch, Harry Tasker, Quaid... 5 great action heroes, slight differences between them
2. Sly - Rocky, Rambo, Ray Tango, Gabe Walker (Damn you Walker!), John Spartan
3. Keanu - maybe a little bit of a surprise, but Johnny Utah, Jack Travern, Neo and John Wick. Those are 4 absolute classic action movies with Point Break, Speed, Matrix and... John Wick.
4. Tom Cruise - I know he should fall under the Bruce Willis exemption, but the ridiculousness he's pulling off in the Mission Movies gets him on the list. But he was also great in Edge Tomorrow.
5. Sho Kozuki!

I think you're selling Willis short. He's in a lot of decent action movies or action roles such as Red, Death Wish, Last Man Standing, Fifth Element, Whole Nine Yards, Looper, The Jackal, Mercury Rising and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. With the exception of Looper, we've liked each of those movies enough to watch them multiple times.

We like Striking Distance although it doesn't live up to it's cast IMO. Sizemore and Pastorelli can be so charismatic but they are almost wasted in their roles despite the fact they get plenty of screen time.

I agree on Cruise, he's an easy call as an all time great action star although I like Oblivion more than the Reacher movies. Which isn't saying much as I don't care for the Reacher movies.

 

[Chaplin]

I think you're selling Willis short. He's in a lot of decent action movies or action roles such as Red, Death Wish, Last Man Standing, Fifth Element, Whole Nine Yards, Looper, The Jackal, Mercury Rising and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. With the exception of Looper, we've liked each of those movies enough to watch them multiple times.

We like Striking Distance although it doesn't live up to it's cast IMO. Sizemore and Pastorelli can be so charismatic but they are almost wasted in their roles despite the fact they get plenty of screen time.

I agree on Cruise, he's an easy call as an all time great action star although I like Oblivion more than the Reacher movies. Which isn't saying much as I don't care for the Reacher movies.

Death Wish, The Jackal, Mercury Rising and Red 2 were TERRIBLE!! Not to mention he was in the last Die Hard movie, which is one of the worst movies I've ever seen in a theater. Shouldn't even be considered part of any respectable filmography.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Death Wish, The Jackal, Mercury Rising and Red 2 were TERRIBLE!! Not to mention he was in the last Die Hard movie, which is one of the worst movies I've ever seen in a theater. Shouldn't even be considered part of any respectable filmography.

I messed up. I should not have included Death Wish in my list as I haven't seen it. And I didn't include Red 2 in my list because I agree, it's a bad movie. I don't feel the same way about Mercury Rising nor especially about The Jackal but I can see why others might not enjoy them.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think you're selling Willis short. He's in a lot of decent action movies or action roles such as Red, Death Wish, Last Man Standing, Fifth Element, Whole Nine Yards, Looper, The Jackal, Mercury Rising and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. With the exception of Looper, we've liked each of those movies enough to watch them multiple times.

We like Striking Distance although it doesn't live up to it's cast IMO. Sizemore and Pastorelli can be so charismatic but they are almost wasted in their roles despite the fact they get plenty of screen time.

I agree on Cruise, he's an easy call as an all time great action star although I like Oblivion more than the Reacher movies. Which isn't saying much as I don't care for the Reacher movies.

I'll give you 5th Element. The rest of those movies outside Looper were trash, IMO.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'll give you 5th Element. The rest of those movies outside Looper were trash, IMO.

Oh come on, really? Red is one of my top 100 movies all time and as you know, I watch a lot of movies.

 

[Chaplin]

Oh come on, really? Red is one of my top 100 movies all time and as you know, I watch a lot of movies.

Red is top 100? Really?

 

[AzStevenCal]

Red is top 100? Really?

For us, easily. Maybe even top 50, I'd have to make a list to be sure. But we don't typically share the same tastes in comedies so I can see why you'd disagree.

 

[Chaplin]

For us, easily. Maybe even top 50, I'd have to make a list to be sure. But we don't typically share the same tastes in comedies so I can see why you'd disagree.

I can probably name 50 action comedies, let alone 100 movies that I would put before Red.

I'm curious though, what kind of comedies do you like and what kind do I like?

 

[AzStevenCal]

I can probably name 50 action comedies, let alone 100 movies that I would put before Red.

I'm curious though, what kind of comedies do you like and what kind do I like?

I don't know what you like, I just know (or believe) that you don't typically like the type of comedies I like. Red, Big Trouble, Easy A, The Whole Nine Yards, Mr Right, American Ultra, Oceans 11, Oceans 13, Pitch Perfect, Decoy Bride and Gunless are some of our favorite comedic movies from the last 20 years. How many of them do you like?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Oh come on, really? Red is one of my top 100 movies all time and as you know, I watch a lot of movies.

yeah, that one did nothing for me.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't know what you like, I just know (or believe) that you don't typically like the type of comedies I like. Red, Big Trouble, Easy A, The Whole Nine Yards, Mr Right, American Ultra, Oceans 11, Oceans 13, Pitch Perfect, Decoy Bride and Gunless are some of our favorite comedic movies from the last 20 years. How many of them do you like?

America Ultra was great in concept, awful in execution. Oceans 11 and 13 were both very good. Easy A was a solid B. Pitch Perfect wasn't for me, but I can see where it might be for others. Never saw Mr. Right or heard of Decoy Bride and Gunless. Big Trouble and Nine Yards were aborted fetuses rotting in a garbage can.

 

[MadCardDisease]

For me, I look at best action stars by looking at them if they've been able to play multiple action heroes... a reason I leave Bruce Willis out because while John McClane is one of the greatest heroes of all time (through 3 movies), that's really the only standout action he did outside of Striking Distance which almost no one but me and @AzStevenCal probably remembers.

The First three Die Hard movies alone should be enough.

The Fifth Element was awesome

Pulp Fiction was a great flick

I personally really enjoyed "RED"

Unbreakable was decent