# What's the most perfect action movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503 "2007-12-18T21:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/81 "2007-12-20T08:57:35Z")
Hello??? Ahem… [**The Departed**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/) It’s got all 4 of your criteria, in spades. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/82 "2007-12-20T09:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=Yeticus Rex] Hello??? Ahem… [**The Departed**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/) It’s got all 4 of your criteria, in spades. [/QUOTE] Ah yeah! Did you catch “Infernal Affairs”? ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/83 "2007-12-20T17:45:19Z")
All right, after reading some of the remarks about these films, the only thing I can think of is [Joe Bob Briggs](http://www.joebobbriggs.com/) , the Drive-In Movie Reviewer. Alas, the High Sherriffs took down his column before many of the films mentioned here were made. Here is his review of _Action Jackson_: > [@](#): > > Five breasts. Sixteen dead bodies. Knife-through-hand. Twenty-story falling fireball stunt. Harpoon-through-heart. Knife-through-throat. Barbecued ninja. Three motor vehicle chases. Three exploding cars, with five crashes. Exploding yacht. Exploding character actor. Gazebos-in-a-jar. Gratuitous “no arms and legs” jokes. Gratuitous Flintstones. Karate Fu. UPS Fu. Drive-In Academy Award nominations for Sharon Stone, for a gratuitous shower and a dress with no back in it; Bill Dueke, as Captain Ambruster, Action’s boss, for saying “I need to be sure your Action Jackson days are behind you”; Sonny Landham, as a weird Indian drug-pusher dude with a knife the size of Montana, for getting knocked out of one window, across an alley, and into another window; Chino “Fats” Williams as Kid Sable, desk clerk at the sleaziest hotel in Detroit; Vanity, for signing a song called “Undress,” acting it out, and saying I expected a standing ovation"; Craig T. Nelson, Vanity’s drug connection, for saying “You’re getting one,” and for a great scene where he offs his wife in mid-kiss and for a scene where he explains how “Murder is a tool”; Robert Reneáu, the kid that wrote this sucker; Craig R. Baxley, the stuntman-turned-director that brought Action Jackson to life; and Carl Weathers, for losing his lieutenant’s stripes, his badge, his car, and his wallet but remaining the one, the only Action Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/84 "2007-12-20T22:14:06Z")
[QUOTE=WilhelmGefallen] **Additional additional nitpick:** it was actually a minigun (designed specially for the movie iirc) and whilst it was Jesse Venturas’ gun, he was dead at the time so it was being fired by [Mac](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004886/) who was in Commando with Arnie as well. [/QUOTE] Aditional^3 nitpick: The Minigun was originally a specific gatling-style 7.62mm weapon developed by General Electric (the XM134). A “gatling gun” being any multi-barreled machinegun. Over time, the definition of minigun has expanded to include any externally powered gatling style weapon. Kurt Russel uses a minigun in Soldier, although I wouldn’t call it a perfect action movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/85 "2007-12-21T01:17:05Z")
Would anyone be up for an ‘Action Movie of the Week’ sort of thing? We could list all the movies in this thread in alphabetical order and watch one or two a week and discuss them. Then we could really nail down the top action movies. ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/86 "2007-12-21T06:49:20Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] Possible nitpick of your additional additional nitpick: The US Army attempted to develop a 5.56x45 version of the minigun, the [xm-214](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM214_minigun). It was impractical. They may have been using one of the prototypes for the movie - some sites mention it like that’s the case but none look authoritative. [/QUOTE] I can’t find my DVD of the movie at the moment as it’s packed away, but if I’m remembering the special features correctly it’s actually a BB gun and was only used because Jesse Ventura thought it looked cool. I’ll try and find the disc tonight to confirm that though. ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/87 "2007-12-21T06:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] Aditional^3 nitpick: The Minigun was originally a specific gatling-style 7.62mm weapon developed by General Electric (the XM134). A “gatling gun” being any multi-barreled machinegun. Over time, the definition of minigun has expanded to include any externally powered gatling style weapon. Kurt Russel uses a minigun in Soldier, although I wouldn’t call it a perfect action movie. [/QUOTE] Ahh ok I thought that the Minigun was a gun with an external power source to rotate the barrels whereas a gatling gun used the exhaust fumes(?\*) of the shells to rotate the barrels\*\*. \*I’m not sure it’s actually called exhaust fumes, but for the life of me I can’t think of the term at the moment. \*\*This of course excludes the original guns where the barrels were turned by a hand crank, unless of course western movies have lied to me about that as well 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/88 "2007-12-21T09:18:59Z")
[QUOTE=WilhelmGefallen] \*I’m not sure it’s actually called exhaust fumes, but for the life of me I can’t think of the term at the moment. [/QUOTE] It’s called [gas-operated reloading](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas-operated) but in practice this isn’t enough to make the barrels rotate. The weapon in _Predator_ had its own power supply for that; note how the barrels continue to spin after Mac has expended all the ammo, the spinning only stops when he releases the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/89 "2007-12-21T10:11:04Z")
[QUOTE=WilhelmGefallen] Ahh ok I thought that the Minigun was a gun with an external power source to rotate the barrels whereas a gatling gun used the exhaust fumes(?\*) of the shells to rotate the barrels\*\*. [/QUOTE] “Gatling gun” technically refers to the multibarreled gun designed by Richard Gatling, Popularly, any multi-barrel gun is referred to as a Gatling gun. There was apparently a second generation of such guns that used gas operation, but then were later used with electric motors. By the way, “chain gun” isn’t correct at all to use for such guns. There are such things as chain guns - they’re guns in which the action is driven by a chain attached to an engine. They’re not that common but there are some in use, like the 25mm cannon on the Bradley and the 30mm cannon on the Apache. Generally, chain guns are used in scenarios in which mechanical problems are not easily cleared by the user, and there’s space for an engine to be used. If there’s a dud round in a gas operated system, the system comes to a halt until the gunner manually works the action. In something like the sealed compartment of the Apache this is impossible, but a chain-driven action will keep working through. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/90 "2007-12-21T12:10:22Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] … 3. Minimal “slow” scenes. Keep the action coming. … [/QUOTE] **Aliens** , _in spite_ of your requirement. that 45mins buildup made for a fantastic ride. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/91 "2007-12-21T15:28:40Z")
[QUOTE=shijinn] **Aliens** , _in spite_ of your requirement. that 45mins buildup made for a fantastic ride. [/QUOTE] No! No buildup. Too many movies take forever to get to the point. I just want the movie to start in the middle of a kick-ass action scene and we don’t know what the hell is going on. Followed by another 1.5 hours of action. That’s all. Like Shoot Em’ Up, I counted I think 2 minutes before a 70-something black Trans Am crashes into a parked car and a guy jumps out wanting to kill a pregnant prostitute. Now that’s filmmaking. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/92 "2007-12-21T15:30:09Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] Would anyone be up for an ‘Action Movie of the Week’ sort of thing? We could list all the movies in this thread in alphabetical order and watch one or two a week and discuss them. Then we could really nail down the top action movies. [/QUOTE] Not a bad idea, as long as we’ve got enough people that can and will obtain the movie of the week and take time to watch it. Anybody else up for it? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/93 "2007-12-21T17:05:06Z")
Jet Li’s **Fist of Legend**. Each fight is a masterpiece of tension and performance, Jet’s badassery is already dialed up to eleven in the opening fight sequence, yet only gets higher and higher. Bruce’s **Enter the Dragon** suffers a bit from “70’s slowdown” pacing, but is the pinnacle of its decade. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/94 "2007-12-21T17:05:59Z")
[QUOTE=Hockey Monkey] True Lies. My absolute favorite movie of. all. time. Guns, explosions, Harrier Jets crushing police cars, terrorist being shot through a building to explode a helicopter, Jamie Lee Curtis strip tease, car chases, Aaaaaanuld, goofy love story, comedy, and the tango! [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s near the top of my list as well. You forgot about the scuzzball used-car salesman pissing himself, too (twice), and the classic response to the question “Have you ever killed anyone?” – “Yeah, but they were all bad.” Plus a small piece of Florida effectively gets nuked. I was a little surprised when the movie plotline didn’t have a thread that somehow short-circuited that from happening. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/95 "2007-12-22T01:42:17Z")
I’ll nominate Jackie Chan’s **Who am I**. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/96 "2007-12-22T05:05:36Z")
I came in here to nominate: 1. Die Hard 2. The Rundown 3. Predator Guess I was beaten to it by about everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/97 "2007-12-23T06:28:09Z")
An oldie(sixties I think) Point Blank(not Gross Point Blank or Point Break) starring Lee Marvin based on the book The Hunter. Its totally chilling,very violent and the hero is not a very nice man at all,even for an anti hero. There are no “hero guns”,superhuman fighting ability or gymnastics. Only genuine cunning gets him results. It says something that usually I cant stand Lee Marvin movies. ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/98 "2007-12-23T09:23:58Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] “Gatling gun” technically refers to the multibarreled gun designed by Richard Gatling, Popularly, any multi-barrel gun is referred to as a Gatling gun. There was apparently a second generation of such guns that used gas operation, but then were later used with electric motors. [/QUOTE] Ahh cool thanks to everyone for the corrections 🙂 I’m still looking for Predator, only 8 more moving boxes of DVDs to sort through 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/99 "2007-12-23T10:53:38Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] An oldie(sixties I think) Point Blank(not Gross Point Blank or Point Break) starring Lee Marvin based on the book The Hunter [/QUOTE] The original “Get Carter” would be along similar lines. No car chases as such, but some nice shots of 60s cars driving about. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503/100 "2007-12-29T02:22:31Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Like Shoot Em’ Up, I counted I think 2 minutes before a 70-something black Trans Am crashes into a parked car and a guy jumps out wanting to kill a pregnant prostitute. Now that’s filmmaking. 🆒 [/QUOTE] Having just watched this, I second “Shoot 'em up” - How many movies have a sex scene that is also (that is, not interrupted by) a shooting scene? Also: deviant fetishes, loads of guns and loads of people getting killed using carrots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-perfect-action-movie/430503.md?page=6)