How About a Little Excitement? Watch These Movies!

I debated whether to list my favorite action movies because it's not a genre that I watch very often. I tend toward the drama, or comedy, or tearjerker movies and watch action films only on a limited basis, but I figured what the heck. On the rare occasion that I feel the need to watch an action flick, these movies are my "go to" films.  These are not listed in any particularly order. 

1. Die Hard (1988): The '80s seemed to be the action movie decade. Bruce Willis as kick ass protagonist John McClain vs. Alan Rickman as bad guy, Hans Gruber, is a score!  In addition to the excitement of the action film, it's also really, really funny!  McClain: "Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***er."
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): This film almost inspired me to become an archeologist, except that I realized that archeology is not nearly as exciting as Steven Spielberg portrays it. Nevertheless, this movie (actually, the entire Indiana Jones franchise) is one of my favorite action films.  It's a mixture of adventure, action, comedy, and romance - the perfect blend. Plus Harrison Ford is amazing as Indiana Jones. Marion: "You're not the man I knew 10 years ago."  Indy: "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."
3. X-Men (2000): A bare-chested Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.  Need I say more??  I thought not, but I will.  This movie may go under Sci-Fi, but it's also an action flick, soooooo... maybe you'll see it again when I do Sci-Fi.  Another amazing cast. Other than my pretend boyfriend, Hugh, we have: Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, and the list goes on. Wolverine: "There's not many people that'll understand what you're going through. But I think this guy, Xavier, is one of them. He seems to genuinely want to help you. And that's a rare thing, for people like us."
4. Lethal Weapon (1987): This movie is such a great "buddy" movie with fabulous action scenes.  Mel Gibson and Danny Glover play off each other brilliantly and Gary Busey plays such a great villain! Funny and exciting - this movie never fails to entertain.  Mel Gibson plays crazy well.  Riggs: "Do you really wanna jump? Do you wanna? Well, that's fine with me. Come on, I wanna do it, I wanna do it."
5. True Lies (1994): Take Arnold Schwarzenegger, add Jaime Lee Curtis, a dash of Tom Arnold with a mix of Bill Paxton and what do you get? A really exciting, hair raising and funny action film.  I'm not the biggest Schwarzenegger fan but this movie rocks.  Plus Jaime Lee Curtis is really hot in that black mini dress. Gib: "Same thing happened to me with wife number two, 'member? I have no idea nothing's going on, right? I come home one day and the house is empty, and I mean completely empty. She even took the ice cube trays out of the freezer. What kind of a sick bitch takes the ICE CUBE trays out of the FREEZER?"

There probably aren't too many surprises on my list of favorite action movies, but there you have it. Naturally, I have some honorable mentions: Iron Man (2008), Speed (1994), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), The Dark Knight (2012).  You might wonder why a Keanu Reeves movie (Speed) has made my honorable mentions list when I denigrated his ability to act.  Well, for this simple reason - action films are not about acting. Therefore, Keanu's ability (or lack there of) as an actor is not as observable in an action film. Besides Sandra Bullock really steals that movie.

Up next:  Animation (this is going to be a tough one)