Action Movies

[Caroline]

((Stuff that makes action movies awesome.

So, as I'm impatiently waiting for Sucker Punch, Thor, and others to start the summer blockbuster fest of action, adventure, and stuff blowing up, I've been wondering what makes an action movie awesome. You know, sure it's clichéd, and overdone, but it's the stuff we all wanna see in any action movie. So, in no particular order, here is a list of five things I think makes action movies over-the-top awesome.

1) The gear up. "Guns, and lots of 'em." For some reason, heroes equipping themselves for battle takes on this dramatic, end-of-the-world feel. They can't just grab something and run into battle. No, they have to slowly, dramatically, clip on everything, or tuck everything in, or zip everything up, or snap everything in place, or holster everything. You know something big is about to happen, when the hero spends some five-minutes of movie time gearing up.

2) The Speech. "Me, I'm through running!" Every action movie needs one of these. You know what they are. The overly-pompous, dramatic speech that is given to either inspire the troops, or to get the hero themselves out of some sort of self-induced funk. The best ones are often accompanied by thunderous music too, like from bagpipes and drums and chanting and stuff.

3) Everyone Walks in a Line. This is one of the awesomest things ever! You know that they mean business when they walk, slowing, dramatically, towards the camera in a line. I still think the best scene of this is from The Right Stuff, but others have done it well too, like Tombstone, and even Mystery Men.

4) The Reload. Kachick-Katchk. There is just something cool about hearing a reload action. Whether it's from a bolt-action rifle in some WWII movie, the pump of an old-style shotgun, rounds being individually loaded into a revolver, a blade being drawn from a scabbard (and yes I know this one isn't quite a "reload action"), or one last clip being fed into the heroes pistol, I enjoy that mechanical sound. And it's usually followed by some dramatic pose for a second too.

5) The Pin. "You've spun your last web, Spiderman." Okay, usually this one goes to the villain, but we've all seen it. The moment where the villain has the hero trapped, and at his mercy. The time that is usually followed by some villain monologue about their supremacy, and how the hero was nothing but a dupe the entire time. This stuff is awesome! And when you get cool villains taunting heroes like this is just makes you cheer the hero and the villain on even more.

))

[Silvador]

Hmmm... Things that make an action movie good.

1. What Caroline put for number 1.

2. The chase. One guy chasing another. Each man darting through alleys, leaping out widows and parkouring over fences in a frantic attempt to escape or capture the other guy. Even if it's just one guy trying to get to another place before time runs out. Something about that urgent, heart-pounding, desperate sprint gets the adrenaline pumping. This can also include car chases of various kinds.

3. KABOOM! Explosions! Nothing makes a good action movie like a really big explosion. And the cherry on top is the good guy, in slow motion, running and/or diving away as the roaring red and orange thermal energy spread out just behind him.

4. Plot. It's rare these days to find a really, really awesome action movie without a good plot. It doesn't have to be complicated, there doesn't have to be a lot of twists; though a really good, well placed, twist can be a very good thing. As long as the plot gets you drawn in, makes you want to see what happens next. Makes you want to see the bad guy get done in by the good guy.

5. "Yippee Ki Yay, Motherfucker!" I guess in most ways it is similar to Caroline's number 5. The catch line. All through the movie you watch the good guy slowly chip away at the bad guy. slowly, gradually, the bad guy gets more frustrated and desperate. But with that one clinching line, the bad guy knows he is fucked. He knows he is at the end of his rope and he throws caution out the window, pulling out all the stops to try and come out on top.
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[45dragoons]