Slowtrain Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 ^ I am obscure action movie geek. I'm not proud of it, but it is something I have to deal with. Can you name the early 1970's Dirty Dozen rip-off starring Michael Caine set in North Africa in WW2? As for The Eagle Has Landed - the first novel I ever read (aged 8 or 9) and I love it to bits. Have read it probably twenty times. The movie is OK and I'd love to see a remake. Cheers MC I love the book, too. My copy is all dog-eared and torn up from reading it on trains. The movie was uneven, but Donald Sutherland was great. Larry Hagman was amusing in his incompetence. Treat Williams was comfortably reassuring as the American Ranger Who Knows What He Is Doing. Michael Caine is just about always awesome. And Robert Duvall was suitably menancing and mysterious in his small role. Really a great cast. That is probably what makes the movie. I vaguely remember a movie about some merc or troubleshooter who has to resuce a diamond magnates daughter. Is that the one? TOo much klate night TV grows foggy after a while. And yes, Robocop is a badass film. Another high point of 80's action. Verhoeven's Starship Troopers is also a favorite of mine. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowtrain Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Play Dirty (1969)? I looked it up on IMDB and this appears to be correct. Did you actually know that, Kelverin? Or did you look it up? I've never heard of it. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 It is indeed Play Dirty. Didn't realise it was 1969, kudos to you. Cheers MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 As for The Eagle Has Landed... Donald Pleasance as Himmler is suitably sinister. Rutger Hauer gets his first screen role as one of the Nazis who drags Col. Radl off for execution at the end. The Rangers sub-plot is great in the book and one of the better parts of the film. I don't know if Higgins was influenced by Went the Day Well (1942) but it's on similar lines. Cheers MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowtrain Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I would assume MC, that you've read every Alistair Maclean novel? Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowtrain Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 As for The Eagle Has Landed... Donald Pleasance as Himmler is suitably sinister. Rutger Hauer gets his first screen role as one of the Nazis who drags Col. Radl off for execution at the end. MC That's right, I forgot about Donald as Himmler. lol. Awesome casting. Next time I watch I'll look for old Rutger. Never noticed him there before. And I will say that the movie is clunky and not nearly as in-depth as the book, but that is nearly always a trade-off of book to screen, so for the most part it rarely bothers me. As long as the movie can distill some sort of essence from the book, I'm usually ok with it. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurlshort Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 The 80's had its high points in action movies. The ones that come to mind are probably Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, and Lethal Weapon, although Lethal Weapon was horribly tainted by its string of increasingly inane serio-comic sequels. Seconded! The 80's had the best action-comedies, by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowtrain Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 The 80's had its high points in action movies. The ones that come to mind are probably Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, and Lethal Weapon, although Lethal Weapon was horribly tainted by its string of increasingly inane serio-comic sequels. Seconded! The 80's had the best action-comedies, by far. I'm not a big fan of action comedies as a rule. They usually consist of blowing somebody's head off, than cracking off a one liner. Beverly Hills Cop did the action/comedy thing well though. Better than most. Eddie Murphy made that movie. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aram Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Another thing about the 80s and 90s is that their action heroes were nowhere near as cool as they were in the 60s and 70s. Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Toshiro Mifune, and the like, were much, much better than any of the Schwarzeneggers, Stallones, (god help us) Chuck Norrises, who were frankly uninteresting and interchangeable. The 80s also managed to ruin most of our best action stars--Lee Marvin got second billing in a Chuck Norris film, Charles Bronson got stuck in a series of horrible Death Wish sequels, and even Clint Eastwood for a long time largely made crap. Anyway, this thread needs more clips. Lee Marvin, cleaning that **** up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSXjiEOnQtE...feature=related (the whole movie is on there, actually) Steve McQueen and Peckinpah: The Wild Bunch shoot-out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUhUAa3y4rE...feature=related Warren Oates trying to get across the border with a severed head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SCBu7DUIdE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgon Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 How about listing a top 10 of 70s action films you like, I might check some out if I don't know em already. I dunno if French connection is an action film, it has a car chase sure, but not much in the way of bang bang. Na na na na na na ... greg358 from Darksouls 3 PVP is a CHEATER. That is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Some good 70's actioners: The Gauntlet & The Eiger Sanction (Clint Eastwood) The Warriors ("Warriors.....come out to pla-aaay!!!") Assault on Precinct 13 (actually, Ethan Hawke's remake wasn't too bad) Death Wish (Charles Bronson) --- The 80's though, is the decade of action movies (there are dozens, not all good, lots of pulp but a smorgasbord of fun) --- The late 60's had good action thrillers, my all time favourite being the uber-cool Lee Marvin in Point Blank. Cheers MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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