Movies That Were Probably Made By a Spasm of Six Year-Olds on Acid: The Top 75 Action Films Poll Results Thread

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#15

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Sergio Leone
1966
United States/Italy
(423 points, 13 votes)

I once saw a very very early matinee of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (with ice cream and everything) and I have rarely ever been so truly truly happy.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla)

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly may be my all-time favorite movie, the more I think about it.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole)

Leone > EVERYONE ELSE.

― Alex in SF

The title sequence is for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is one of my favorite things ever (the rest of the movie is up there too!).

― Spencer Chow

Sergio Leone!

watched the whole trilogy recently, for a few dollars more is my fav, very elegantly done

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (with ice cream)

great start! The s/track has everything in it (including ice cream truck music)

i like it but i think it goes on a bit..

For a Few Dollas More def the best of the trilogy, but you can't beat the music from this one.

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#14

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

William Friedkin
1971
United States
(436 point, 15 votes)

Hackman is incredible, as is old Roy. You can almost see my old house near Coney Island in the train/car chase.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler)

This is one of my favorite movies. HOWEVER does anyone else agree with me that it'd be way better, and easily the greatest movie in history, if it ended WITHOUT the "where are they now" synopsis at the end?

― Ally

A little bit of a revive here -- as mentioned above, had picked this up a while back, finally sat down and watched it tonight for the first time. Very very good film indeed -- I think Ally's right to an extent regarding how the synopsis throws things off a bit at the end, but even knowing there's a sequel (admittedly the original audience wouldn't have known) it's still a strange and striking conclusion, and in ways even knowing what happened -- whatever it was -- still leaves a great question mark. I think that has to go down in large part to Don Ellis's score -- while I initially thought it was a touch strident thanks to the opening credits, his use of extremely high strings, reverb and more really all came together beautifully at the end.

The editing is something I noticed throughout the film as well, very disorienting without losing the thread of the story (and I thoroughly appreciated how many details weren't spelled out but were left for an aware audience to deduce or create). Pity about the blood when it appeared, though, it all looked fake.

Fave realization via the BBC documentary -- he, that was Eddie Egan, the prototype for Popeye Doyle, actually playing Popeye's boss! Did a pretty job too, I had thought it was just a random character actor.

― Ned Raggett

But is the car chase as unplanned and real as they say? I've seen reference to it being so, and also seen it referred to as 'reputedly' unplanned and real. Anyone know?

― Dave B (daveb), Monday, January 6, 2003 7:49 AM (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't think it was totally unplanned, but it wasn't in the script and they sort of made it up as they went along. I seem to recall the director getting interviewed saying it was originally going to just be a regular car chase but those had been done to death and they wanted to out-do all the other chase scenes.

― Aaron W

The French Connection

man, i was convinced good bad ugly would be top 5, top 3. i gave it my second place vote.

i always feel like a rube when i admit this, but most of leone's movies test my patience. this movie has a special ingredient that all his other movies are missing: TUCO

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i actually had to see good bad & ugly 3 times before it really clicked with me. once when i was a teenager (thought it was ok), again when i was about 19 in the theater (felt disconnected from it, didn't care about what was happening really), and again last year in a really big, nice theater, and it finally hit me how good it was. i think i actually loved it from the opening shot onward. probably my favorite opening shot of all time: first just an empty vista, then suddenly al mulock's mug fills the frame:

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the whole thing was just so captivating and awesome, leone was so great with mis en scene, it all just *worked* for me suddenly. maybe i had to get older, maybe i had to see it in a theater, maybe it just needed time to grow on me. i'm inclined to give his other stuff 2nd and 3rd chances now though

the civil war digression was p unnecessary imo

how does a male teenager not love that movie, I don't even understand how that's theoretically possible

yeah civil war etc takes it below 'few dollars more' iirc

French connection was in my top three i think?

the civil war digression drags a bit because the actor who plays the captain is such a ham, but it culminates in one of the all time best movie explosions so its still cool. the extended version is really unnecessary - the scene where tuco meets up with his old gang didn't need to be restored, it goes nowhere.

civil war stuff in TGTBATU is epic imo, i mean they have to scam their way through a war, both sides of it, to get to this gold. plus it brings out some interesting empathetic moments from each of the three characters.

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french connection owns. i accidentally gave it fewer points than TL&DILA but its really way better - hackman & scheider > petersen and that other guy, and 70s NY >>>> 80s LA

Civil War stuff was necessary for it to be more awesome. Also, it's set up by the great gag with the dust covered blue uniforms.

Just saw Sorcerer not long ago. It's pretty great, but makes me wish "Wages of Fear" was in the running. But I guess that's more ... a thriller?

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#13

THE SEVEN SAMURAI

Akira Kurosawa
1954
Japan
(441 points, 12 votes, 1 first place

what does it mean that samurai once filmed as (mythical über-invincible warriors to) pragmatic professionals now filmed as mythical, über-elegant killers?

also, there is definetly a mythology of the samurai sword as well as of bushido.

― cºzen (Cozen)

Caught a screening of Seven Samourai last night. Perfect three hour film, but the NFT had a 5-10 intermission (a screen with a japanese character (which I suppose might have meant 'intermission') and music). The guy who introduced said it wasn't really a break as such.

People talking afterward was all a mix of 'this was great' but also 'three hours'!

― xyzzzz

I think Seven Samurai justifies its 3,5 hour length... Though apparently there are also 3 hour and 2,5 hour shorter cuts of it in existence, but I've only seen the original cut, so I have no idea how well the other versions work. And the intermission (along with the japanese text and intermission music) was part of the original version of the movie, or at least that's how it was introduced when I saw it at a local film archive. I love Seven Samurai, but I still think it was nice to take a break in the middle of such a lengthy film, I'm not sure why movies these days don't have intermissions any more. IMO every movie that lasts more than 3 hours should have one.

― Tuomas

I think Samurai films have trouble with endings because the genre already contains, in The Seven Samurai, probably the best ending ever.

― Andrew Farrell

#13.... what the fuck!!!

^ my first place vote

aw fuck i've checked my ballot and i left FC out, no idea how

Roy Schneider currently has more movies that placed than Bruce Willis or Sly.

scheiderman

i watched 13 assassins over the weekend b/c it was talked about itt -- its really fun and good but a lot of the time i was wishing that i was watching 7 samurai instead

seven samurai has more awesome scenes than you can count. and awesome characters. kurosawa's camera movement in the battle scenes is incredible. its the perfect movie imo

yeah same max

Just popping in to say thanks to Alfred for recommending 'Southern Comfort'. Was p cool, 'Warriors in the Bayou'. Good s/t too.

French Connection 2 ws an excellent sequel -- smacked out Popeye ws the only they could do to beat the car chase on the 1st. Not action tho'.

Loved that Fernando Rey was in it..

Adore SS, but I wouldn't have thought of it as an action film (Yojimbo I can kiiinda see) - all the scenes that come to mind (haven't seen it in ~5 years? Need to re-watch) are either the kind of idyllic dappled sunlight stuff Kurosawa can shoot in his sleep, or Toshiro Mifune chewing scenery, comic or otherwise. So so happy to see him and Takashi Shimura share screen time in this.

13 Assassins is p.great!

13 Assassins is still pretty much, hey, if you like Seven Samurai, here it is again, but newer.

and with 6 more

and with less character development and more boring scenes

and the blood is red, like real life!

i really loved 13 assassins but i mean, SS is just one of the best of all time.

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#12

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

John Carpenter
1981
United States
(480 points, 16 votes)

John Carpenter totally has the mind of a twelve year old boy, which I intend as a sincere compliment. Remember being that age and making up stories that evolved as you went along?

― Dan I.

Most of Hollywood's best comic book movies were made from original material rather than adapted from actual comic books. Escape From New York is a classic of the genre.

― Aimless

great film! best viewed in a double-feature w/ the warriors.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen)

god i love this movie
and john carpenter
i feel like i have rediscovered something and it's changing my life all over again
and i'm not even a 12-yr-old boy!

― rrrobyn

"Escape From New York" - stupid film, but.... Classic or Dud?

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I guess at this point, every thing that comes up is going to seem too low.

greatest tagline of all time:

1997. New York City is now a maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane.

:D

The Plissken role made famous by Russell will be re-cast with a yet-to-be named actor. Series creator John Carpenter has a deal with New Line which stipulates that the character "must be called 'Snake'"; "must wear an eye patch"; and "always be a 'bad-ass.'"

lol yess

Ryan Gosling, duh.

get out

shia

should've been top 10, but hey ho didn't vote

fat val kilmer

Don't you mean "bloated"?

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#11

HARD BOILED

John Woo
1992
Hong Kong
(482 points, 13 votes, 3 first place)

Mad Dog is one of the great henchmen of all time (love his scene after the warehouse shootout when he lights a cigarette by leaning into a burning car)

― Elvis Telecom

Hard Boiled, the first scene is unmatched acting wise, amunition wise and otherwise. No comparison. Hands down or hands up.

― Deadman

Hard Boiled, definitely.....the death count was outstanding.....Chow is the dapperest man to ever grace the screen.

― Ramosi

hard-boiled seems a lot less crazy and insane by today's standards

― ﾞ（ﾟ､ ｡ ７ (cankles)

hb is probably too contemplative too, that shit with the origami wouldnt fly in bad bwoyz 2

― ﾞ（ﾟ､ ｡ ７ (cankles)