Missed out on the crazy action movies. What should I watch?

I'm 20 right now and missed out on a lot of the action movies of the past (Like Predator, Commando, Rambo etc.)

I've got a bunch of time now before I start college and thought "Hey! Now would be a good time to watch a bunch of dumb action movies!"

So help me, GB community. These movies don't have to be good, they have to be good.

Tango & Cash

Escape from NY

Six String Samurai, and The Road Warrior are two you can't go wrong with.

Die Hard 1&2 are pretty good. If you don't mind reading subtitles, then I also suggest The Raid: Redemption.

You've got three great examples right there, so let me point you in the direction of some other "classics". The first few Steven Seagal movies (Above The Law, the Under Seige duology) are something special if you like how Arnold in Commando is basically an unstoppable force. If you just want more good Arnold, go to The Running Man, Total Recall, and/or True Lies. There's a reason that Giant Bomb has that Cobra poster, and Sly is also great in Demolition Man. If you want some cheese with your Sly, go to his version of Judge Dredd first, and then if you love that then you're ready for the arm wrestling opus Over The Top. Other random suggestions for a good time: Bloodsport, Big Trouble In Little China, Road House, Vampire$ (the one directed by John Carpenter), and of course Robocop. I assume you've probably seen Robocop.

But if you haven't go see Robocop.

American Cyborg: Steel Warrior is secretly the best movie of all time.

Escape from LA if you want dumber after NY, or The Rock or Con Air or Face/Off. Needed more Nicholas Cage.

Pitch Black

might be a perfect movie. so dumb, but so good- and completely self-aware.

Speed 2: Cruise Control.

Under Siege 2

Die Hard 5

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

K-9

Stop! or My Mom will Shoot

Running Scared

Beverly Hills Cop 3

----------------------------- Movies you should stay away from. Right answer will always be Beverly Hills Cop I & Die Hard.

Hard Boiled and The Killer. The Killer is on Netflix right now. Hard Boiled is one of the best of all time though.

I like shoot 'em up.

Heard the raid movies are good. Haven't seen them tho.

500!

Die Hard

The Rock

Bad Boy 2 (the first was is great but I think the second is bigger and dumber)

Terminator 1 & 2

Aliens (Alien is a horror movie, but still incredible)

Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 (Don't watch 3)

Road Warrior

Rambo

Star here.. They're the cultural touchstones in the action genre.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Torque

Flash Gordon

Highlander

Total Recall

Big Trouble in Little China

Demolition Man

edit 1: Hard Target

edit 2: @cornbredx

Man, I came running back to edit this thread when I was reminded of Hard Target. Only to see you've done the lord's work by bringing JCVD to this thread. Hats off to you. I'm super happy you put The Quest in there too, I second that recommendation.

I should point out the reminder came from this glorious painting by Miiverse artist Rawnda

Since no one is recommending Jean Claude Van Damme movies for some reason, I'll mention those:

Kickboxer
Bloodsport
Replicant
Universal Soldier
Hard Target
Time Cop
The Quest (In my opinion this movie is more like what Street Fighter the movie should have been)
In Hell

Here's some that are not popular, but I like them:
Double Team
Street Fighter (this movie is ridiculous and not like the game, but it's bad in a way that is still fun to watch)
Sudden Death
Cyborg

After you watch all those, it's not technically an action movie, but if you haven't seen it JCVD is really good. Although, I guess with that one it's only meaningful if you were a fan of his for years and became disillusioned and disappointed with how bad of a person Jean Claude Van Damme became for a long time. JCVD is kind of his apology for being a douchey dickhead of a younger man.

Jean Claude Van Damme- next to Arnold Schwarzenegger I guess- was my hero as a kid. So many of his movies are awesome imo.

• The Road Warrior (watch Mad Max 1 first, though)
• Die Hard 1-3
• Lethal Weapon
• Demolition Man
• Predator (Predators is also good, never seen Predator 2)
• Commando
• Terminator 1 and 2
• Total Recall
• Rambo
• Aliens
• The Raid 1 and 2
• True Lies
• The Running Man
• Robocop
• Starship Troopers

That's just a few. Keep in mind that most of these really are kinda dumb, but you may be surprised at how a few of them really aren't.

You should check out Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. I don't think these are exactly what you're looking for, but the more obvious suggestions have already been given and these movies are lots of fun.

I think the RAID is pretty rad, there's still lots of camera cutting like the above but the frequency is much lower which makes it feel much more raw. When I watch 99% of the movies above I know none of those people know how to fight. If you like fist fights go for Jackie Chan/Jet Li stuff, If you like Cars go for Mad Max 1 and 2 and the new one. If you like gunfights then most of the above are alright.

Robocop was mentioned once, so I'll mention again for emphasis. Any Bruce Lee film will also be essential viewing. Just make sure to skip Game of Death 2.

Grantland did an article on the "Action Hero Championship Belt" here. I don't agree with everything on that list (no Bruce Lee, some of the more recent movies are just flat bad), but most of the stuff will make for a pretty solid choice. It's particularly useful since it goes back to the 60s and gets Steve McQueen in there. Bullitt isn't exactly a "dumb" action movie, but still. . .

. . . look, just watch Bullitt.

Aliens, Terminator 1 & 2, Die Hard 1 - 3, Bullit, Demolition Man, Robocop, Predator, Rambo, Equilibrium, The Matrix (only ever the first one), Guardians of the Galaxy. ETC!

Pretty much this but with Lethal Weapon 2 (much better paced than the first) First Blood Part 2, Hard Boiled/The Killer and Speed.

Why the disrespect for Casey Ryback, military chef? You've seen him outrun a train right?

Heat

Not really a traditional action movie per say, but it has one of the best action scenes.

and to whoever said that that Van Damme was their hero as a kid, I am right there with you buddy.

Go to the cinema right now and watch Mad Max Fury Road. It is the best action movie released since The Matrix.

Might just be UK Netflix, but Hard Boiled's on there too.

But yeah OP I dunno, after watching both Raid films I don't know if there's anything I could ever recommend that isn't them, even if you do want 80s stuff specifically, sorry. The Man From Nowhere is also rad as fuck, but recent.

I'd recommend 1994's The Chase starring Charlie Sheen.

Also Bad Boys (1995) Cliffhanger (1993), SuperCop (1992) aka Police Story 3, El Mariachi (1992) and The Crow (1994).

For something more recent there are the Crank movies (2006 & 2009), Red (2010), The Losers (2010) and John Wick (2014)

Die Hard 1 (pretend nothing else in the series exists)

The Rock

Already did that. Flamethrower Guitarist will forever be in my heart.

Thanks for all the recommendations! Keep em coming! Some of these I've already watched (Alien, Aliens, Face/Off, Tango & Cash). Will start on these as soon as I finish Metal Gear Scanlon :)

Don't forget to watch Last Action Hero somewhere towards the end of your action movie journey.

No one has mentioned Showdown in Little Tokyo?!?!

C'mon people!

Predator is a great action movie. So are the raid movies. The new Dredd movie is a good action movie. The Rock!!!!! The kickass movies have some good action in them.

Honestly, a lot of them aren't that great. Rambo is actually kind of boring... While not an '80s film, I'd say Speed is a pretty great one; it has little action in the sense of shooting, but it's tense enough, and has a great soundtrack. It has some pretty dumb stuff too though (like a scene in which they unrealistically jump a gap on the free way). Terminator 1 and 2, and Die Hard. I liked Lethal Weapon too, though that's not really action like Commando and what have you. Aliens also. Predator's decent. I've seen most of the old action films, but like I said, they're not that great. Also, it may be interesting to know that the building in the beginning of Speed is also Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard, which is really Fox Plaza. And also, in the ending scene of Die Hard, they use a song that's the song that plays in the end of Aliens as well. After I knew this, it made me appreciate Die Hard's end less to an extent honestly... The end is a bit hokey, especially with the music, though I like when Let is snow plays. Die Hard is still one of the best Christmas time movies, ironically.

Ill add another vote for Demolition Man.

First off, everybody here is right. All of them. But the most important thing to watch is Robocop and Starship Troopers. Everything else is after that. Trust me.

Another good action movie not mentioned yet is Last Man Standing. I really like that movie. Some people don't like it, but to me it's great. It one of a few films that is able to cut through the bullshit and just be insane action. It's almost like a Max Payne movie in some ways. It has that kind of action in it (John Woo like).

I just really like the gun play in it, Bruce Willis is great as a "Speak Softly" action bad ass, the setting is during Prohibition, the action set pieces are awesome, and I don't know. I just love that movie. There's also a lot of great actors in it, but funny enough it's not really a movie about acting so much as the action.

Fifth element is great, too.

The Street Fighter (different movie from the one based on the video game) is good too.

Sorry I can name movies all day =P So many good ones from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. There's many more that still haven't been mentioned, but I'll stop now.

@tom_omb: I do my best =)

Ya, The Quest is a great flick. Especially after how disappointing Street Fighter the movie was.

The best action movie for it's actual action scenes is hands down Hard Boiled. I probably like Die Hard more overall because of it's characters, writing, tension, and pacing. But Hard Boiled is fucking crazy. There is a like 7+ minute uncut action shot in it later on (an insane thing to do in a movie) and all sorts of crazy ballet, dual wielding action scenes that are jaw dropping to watch. The stuff besides the action is fine, just not much of it and it's basically just ferrying you from one action scene to the next. The main character's name is Inspector Tequila, for gods sakes!

I agree with many other recommendations in here but Hard Boiled is one you really need to see.