Now this is a very hard genre to pick from, as I watch more action and thriller movies than any other film genre. But if I had to select three favorites, I’d go with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Rock (1996) and Body of Lies (2008).
Of the four Indiana Jones movies, I think most people would regard the first – Raiders of the Lost Ark – to be the best of the lot. The film had a strong female lead, a villain who didn’t simply reek of evil without purpose, interesting henchmen, and most of all, introduced to us an everyman’s hero who took his punches and gave them back equally as well. The second film, Temple of Doom, was a lot more adult than the first film, getting into the dark and murky themes of human sacrifice, child slavery, and demonic cults.
The most recent and fourth film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, saw Jones return after a nearly 20 year hiatus. It was supposed to had been a welcomed return, but the film was deeply marred by a awful story that took us into the extraterrestrial realm of possibilities.
I liked the third film the best for several reasons: there was Sean Connery as Jones’ estranged father, and the The Last Crusade benefited greatly from the chemistry enjoyed between the two, great conversational dialog, and meaningful father-son moments of exposition.
The story also had a better plot progression: there were changing loyalties among characters, and third parties with invested interests getting involved in the quest for the Holy Grail.
The humor quotient was also taken to even higher levels than the first two movies: there was the very memorable bicycle chase and the priceless look Henry Jones gives his son after the latter disposes of the last German motorcycle, the father and son scene with the castle burning around them, and Indiana Jones way of traveling without tickets.
And who can forget Hitler’s autographing of the Grail Diary? That’s a scene I could watch over and over again LOL.
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There was also The Rock, one of director Michael Bay’s earlier and better efforts in directing big budget action movies (his earlier movie Bad Boys wasn’t nearly as good). I caught The Rock at Bugis Junction with Salmon Run back 12 years ago, and I still remember the memory of that cinematic experience.:)
The story centers about a well-decorated, skillful but disgruntled army general who puts together a band of mercenaries, and threatens the use of force on San Francisco unless the families of men who’ve died in combat are adequately compensated, and their loved ones who’ve died in the line of duty honored. What was very special about the film was that General Hummel here wasn’t a bad guy – he just had his own means to achieve an end, and it’s something we empathize with him.
Opposing him is Nicholas Cage as an FBI expert in biological warfare but is a fish-out-of-the-water when he’s ordered to follow the highly trained SEAL operatives to take down Hummel’s mercenaries. Joining him is Sean Connery who plays an aged British ex-secret service operative imprisoned but released just for this operation.
Like in The Last Crusade, Cage and Connery have great chemistry, especially the early moments when Connery learns that Cage is no counter-terrorism expert, snarls to him “Don’t get us all f***ing killed!” LOL.
I recently watched The Rock again with Ling on blu-ray and was telling her “Oh there there – I saw this location in San Francisco!” :)
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I’ve blogged about Body of Lies here already. Suffice it to say it’s a really thought-provoking spy thriller with great acting from the two leads Crowe and Di Caprio, and supporting by Mark Strong who does a mesmerizing number as the Jordanian Head of Intelligence.
Special mention: Titanic (1997), Spy Game (2001) and Crimson Tide (1995).
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