It’s extremely satisfying when a conclusion to a trilogy ends up being the best, and there are few trilogies that do this better than Bourne. The Bourne Ultimatum is faster, more intense, and far and above the best film of a phenomenal action trilogy. By this time, Matt Damon had really come into his own as an action star, and he turns in a performance that ensures he will forever be remembered as Jason Bourne.
It’s difficult for something as action-packed as this to be intelligent as well. Paul Greengrass successfully bridges the gap between adrenaline-rush action and quality, well-thought out cinema in a way that few films in the genre have ever managed. Greengrass doesn’t do much new in his second Bourne film, but rather he perfects all the successful elements of his previous thriller, making for a film that’s on an entirely new level. So many complicated loose ends from the previous films are deftly tied up, never feeling forced, but rather serving as such satisfying conclusions to all the questions Bourne is faced with.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a fight scene as intense as Bourne vs. Desh. The way the two fly across rooftops and through tiny buildings gives feelings of moving too fast and claustrophobia all at once. The stakes are almost painfully high, as not only is Bourne in danger, but his new companion is as well. The music is perfect for the scene, but it’s also removed at the ideal time, leaving just the sound of glass crashing, bones breaking, and flesh pounding flesh. Instead of flooding those moments with music to build intensity, a much more intense sound is present – the sound of two men literally fighting for their lives.
With The Bourne Ultimatum, Greengrass and Damon showed that there are few action heroes who can be extreme in more ways than Jason Bourne.
[h2]5. Raiders of the Lost Ark[/h2]
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a rousing spectacle matched by few. Steven Spielberg’s seminal globe-trotting journey is not only as crisply thrilling as it was in 1981 but has transcended its roots as a “mere” action adventure, spawning a sub-genre of its own and propelling the character of Indiana Jones to near-godly recognition.
Not to be constrained to a single archetype, Raiders of the Lost Arc effortlessly combines humour, heart and a heaping pile of rugged masculinity, all snuggled perfectly amongst a film that offers up set pieces, romance and religious lore. A difficult task executed with care and aplomb.
Some of the best action sequences of all time came out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, from the exhilarating opening in a South American temple to a Cairo-set airplane fight scene with an ill-fated Nazi mechanic. And any review of this movie would be incomplete without a tip of the hat to one of the most hilarious non-action sequences ever captured on celluloid, by which we mean Indy’s brief, character-defining standoff with an Arab swordsman.
Harrison Ford’s winning performance is essential to the film’s appeal; as the whip-cracking, snake-hating Dr. Jones, Ford radiates effortless charm and laconic wit, effectively redefining ‘cool’ for an entire generation. The actor is almost single-handedly responsible for creating the archetype of the burly, brainy explorer, today emulated by protagonists like Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft and Uncharted’s Nathan Drake. “I hate snakes,” he growls, a line that would become an instant classic. And we love him for it.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is to action what Psycho is to horror or Blade Runner is to science fiction. It’s an inimitable experience, rich in thrills, laughs and cinematic ingenuity, and the finest example of great cinema’s ability to fully astound and transport its viewers.
[h2]4. Terminator 2: Judgement Day[/h2]
Terminator 2 sits atop a pile of action movies that qualify as great movies, period: that select group of films for whom the excitement is never gratuitous but a logical means to an end, an integral storytelling mechanic that’s never abused but rather incorporated as foundation. Terminator 2’s truck slide, its motorcycle chase and its knock-down, drag-off-in-pieces robot wrasslin’ bouts are never a gloss, and work as well as statements on our own nature as people (also espoused by the superb young Ed Furlong as John Connor in one scene for those who prefer their allegory with a more literal slant) as they do as fuel for popcorn binges. The silence of Arnie and Robert Patrick’s tussles as they slam each other to bits and pieces is chilling as a rumination on desensitization, but it’s also a plain old-fashioned thrill to see, too.
Schwarzenegger (and in this dominant performance, he truly is the mononymous Schwarzenegger – entity, not actor) turns in perhaps the best work of his career, adding another layer to his still underappreciated (methodically speaking) work from the first film and bringing to life a soulless thing like none other in the robotic cinematic canon. No slouch, either, is Linda Hamilton, so completely transformed from the bike-riding, big-haired and doe-eyed teen of the first film that she could pass for another actress. Children Of The Corn fans may balk, but that Hamilton’s legacy has proven to be almost exclusively these two films is a testament to her dedication and adaptability as an actress, and while she’s not plastered on the posters, she steals the film.
Terminator 2 is many things to many people – special effects showcase, valid and superior sequel, love story, social commentary – but most people who’ve seen it, regardless of their level of investment in sci-fi or Schwarzenegger, are likely to acknowledge its enduring ability to make you feel like you’ve just seen someone make the most of the medium.
The film is considered by many to be one of the best sequels in cinematic history, and one of even fewer films that surpasses the original. Director and co-writer James Cameron, who was already well-known at this point for the first Terminator and Aliens, took everything about the original and multiplied it by 1,000.
For starters, he took the original story and turned it on its head to where The Terminator is reprogrammed by The Resistance and sent back in time to protect John Connor, the same boy whose life he was trying to prevent before. However, the machines have upped their game too by sending back The T-1,000, an unstoppable force composed of liquid metal. What follows is a film filled to the brim with pulse-pounding action, state of the art special effects, and a thrilling story that has you gripped every step of the way.
Technically, T2 set an ambitious tone as well. With a budget several times that of the first film, Cameron went hog wild with car chases, close-quarter combat that destroyed walls, and one scene where Schwarzenegger’s Terminator takes on what looks like the entire LAPD. But not content to just do big explosions, Cameron upped the ante with visual effects, seamlessly integrating the real life Patrick with the computer-generated liquid metal form of the T-1000. Although the effect seems simple 20 years later by today’s standards, Cameron broke new ground at the time, and, in fact, continues to break new ground for the technical aspects of filmmaking today.
Don’t get me wrong, the first Terminator is a good film, featuring one of the most unforgettable climaxes ever seen in science-fiction, but the sequel raised everything to a whole different level, which earns it a prestigious place on our list of the best action films ever made.
There was once a day where in the rare circumstance your film got a sequel, it would be a carbon copy of the first film because, well, you can catch lightning in a bottle twice, right? James Cameron begged to differ. By comparison, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was not just bigger, louder and longer than the 1984 original The Terminator, it raise the stakes to a level nearly impossible to match, and it’s a high that subsequent studios and filmmakers have been chasing ever since, but to little success.
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