That’s all within 2-3 years. Inception and DKR are in supporting roles, and Looper is co-starring with action fav Bruce Willis. If he can successfully headline an action flick or two, he’ll really break out, IMHO.
Who would have thought it, but Liam is I think the best action star currently. I think Tom Cruise and Jason Statham are the biggest (although they are shorter
After becoming an Olympic medalist in the '20s, stuntman-turned-actor Buster Crabbe was Tarzan and Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon in the '30s before starring as a gunfighter in dozens of aptly-named westerns during the '40 – everything from THUNDERING GUNSLINGERS to BILLY THE KID’S SMOKING GUNS – and then spent the '50s as the go-to guy for hunting Nazis in PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS and making like an Air Force captain turned jungle adventurer in KING OF THE CONGO.
Nothing to do with the stars, it’s simply a matter of our ever increasing need for novelty and relentless stimulation that’s redefined action movies.
As for names, I missed Harrison Ford if he was mentioned. The original Star Wars trilogy, Indy Jones, and the occasional one-off here and there. Good plots, writing and effects, but action and adventure movies in every sense of the word.
But seriously, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the first actor I thought of when I saw the thread title. Given that the idea of “action star” has changed a lot, I think he fits the bill really well. And he’s under 50, unlike most other stars mentioned here.
When interviewed about his two-fisted Captain Kirk role, Chris Pine mentioned his respect for Ford in general – and, specifically, for the guy’s ability to take a punch. (At that, Pine followed up STAR TREK with profitable outings in UNSTOPPABLE and THIS MEANS WAR to soon become – what else? – the new Jack Ryan.)
