neonfalcon16 said:If you're into high-octane action movies where things get messy—I mean really intense—then you've gotta be a fan of what 🙏Woo brings to the table.
Look, I’m pretty much in the same boat as you—I can't stand those forced happy endings. You know the ones? Where the movie spends two hours making sure you know every shred of hope is dead and buried, and then suddenly—bam!—some spectacular miracle or some totally nonsane script twist fixes everything. It just ruins the whole experience for me. There are a million endings like that out there. Personally, I thought the ending of Funny gama US was spot on—I won't spoil it, but if you've seen it, you know what I mean. It felt right, and honestly, if we're being real, that's how movies should be. But, I guess I still hold onto this little dream that one day we'll get a genuinely high-quality, gripping film where the main guy actually takes a bullet to the head or gets his heart ripped out—provided he was a total badass, of course. Even video games don't really go there anymore. Speaking of which, since we're on the subject, the ending of Mafia was incredible; it’s such a shame nobody has brought that story to the big screen. Most video game movies are absolute garbage, but man, if Scorsese took that on, it would be legendary... Anyway, I'm totally drifting off-topic here, so I hope you guys don't mind! Really great topic, by the way. 🙂 🙂
Brenda Parker5 said:Personally, I found it a bit boring compared to how great the first two were... though you still get some decent moments, like that "I hate [slur] in Harlem" scene, that old car😁 and a really solid performance from Jeremy Irons!
Jeremy was great, and honestly, that Harlem scene is one for the books. 😂
Brenda Parker5 said:👍👍👍👍Schwarzenegger turned down the role of John McClane in Die Hard (1988). The role went to Bruce Willis instead. Ironically, Bruce Willis has a line in the film where he says that the terrorists "have enough explosives to orbit Arnold Schwarzenegger". *Man, Alan Rickman totally crushed it in the first one playing the villain Hans🙏
haha, what a classic scene—that guy Hans and that blue-eyed German dude dressing him up like Santa Claus and snatching his rifle
In my book, his absolute best work has gotta be Se7en, Shawshank Redemption, and that legendary flick The Unforgiven... I mean, the man is an all-time heavyweight.... standing right up there with Clint Eastwood and De Niro... just pure class.
Terry Morris41 said:you totally missed my all-time favorite, The Killer
But yeah, John Woo is basically the gold standard—especially those early Hong Kong action flicks he did, though I’d say Face/Off might actually be his peak
Ugh, who even cares anymore... honestly, whatever. I haven't caught this new 'Red Cliff' movie yet, but everyone's talking it up... and this guy is my absolute go-to for lead roles
Larry Harris8 said:There are plenty of us left... I haven't checked out his older stuff yet, but 😉 Hard Target is definitely my favorite—mostly because of all those tiny little details I started noticing back in '93 when it first hit theaters. Even then, I knew this director had a seriously unique style. Face/Off was killer too, and Mission: Impossible 2? Man, that final sequence where the action kicks off with the mask removal set to rock music... I think that’s exactly what John Woo was waiting his whole life to blast onto the screen, and he nailed it (especially that scene where Cruise pops a wheelie on the bike and guns down the car... the editing alone is a solid 5 stars). The only thing I'd cut is that bit where Cruise kicks the gun out of the sand, because the ending where he circles around, takes him out, and knocks him with a headbutt is more than enough. But hey, John Woo loves focusing on the faces of the leads—who rarely stay dead, by the way—while the side characters just pass through until they get taken out. 🙂 Anyway, a massive BRAVO to that action master!
Yeah, you summed that up perfectly... brilliant director... the intro to Hard Boiled is just gorgeous, though Bullet in the Head felt a little dragged out to me—it really should have wrapped up about 20 minutes earlier. Also, total rookie mistake on my part for not including Mission: Impossible in my list above, but thanks for reminding me with those scenes. I've seen a good chunk of his movies, maybe not the very earliest ones, but since you mentioned the mask-stripping thing, I guess it's time to go watch that one too! 👍
So, I’ve got a soft spot for this one director—he’s basically the king of high-octane action... what's the consensus here? What do you guys think of him?
He’s got this massive catalog of movies that I can honestly rewatch over and over without ever getting bored, stuff like: 'Broken Arrow' (1996), 'Hard Target' (1993), 'Paycheck' (2003), or 'Windtalkers' (2002).
But if we're talking absolute favorites—the ones I'd pick every single time—it’s definitely 'Bullet in the Head' (1990), 'Hard Boiled' (1992), 'Face/Off' (1997), and 'Once a Thief' (1991). Honestly, the guy's style just hits different for me.
He’s an absolute powerhouse—honestly one of my all-time favorites. I feel like I can turn on almost any movie he’s in and just be entertained, but if I had to pick the heavy hitters, it would have to be Fallen, Man on Fire, or Training Day—which, if I remember correctly, actually earned him an Oscar. Even his newer stuff, like Unstoppable, is just top-tier. And man, when he teams up with Ridley Scott's brother, Tony, they really cook up something special.
Richard Kelly7 said:Seriously, the setting can make up like half the movie—it’s all about the atmosphere... I mean, I watched The New Daughter (Katelyn Kostner) recently, and man, that house and the location were just stunning.
It’s a promising flick, really, but it feels like it’s missing that certain *something*... even if the location and the house are absolutely top-tier.
Kind of gives me those The Goonies vibes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_euinI3iXDQ
Ashley Nguyen44 said:I've been browsing through these horror flicks lately, so I'm curious—what's your take on this?
Are we talking something along the lines of the Goonies? 🤷
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Honestly, looking at this house, I’m definitely going to end up rewatching that movie after about twenty years of avoiding it! By the way... does anyone actually know which US city they filmed the Goonies in? It just occurred to me... back in the day, houses used to look so much more cluttered and lived-in. Like, does anyone remember how the houses looked in E.T.?
Nowadays, everything just feels so sterile and perfectly manicured with those boring blue tones.
All I know is they look exactly like those jagged cliffs from the Goonies—you know, that whole vibe—plus that beach scene near the end of the movie in Portland.
I’ve always had a huge soft spot for those movies filmed out in the American mountains—you know, the ones where you get that deep, thick forest vibe—but man, that house from the Goonies? That place is legendary. There's just nothing else like it.
I’m pretty much a light sleeper myself—honestly, if a floorboard creaks or a car drives by outside, I’m wide awake. But then there are those stretches in life where my sleep schedule just goes completely haywire; I'll wake up way earlier than usual and there is absolutely zero chance of drifting back off. It doesn't happen all the time, though. I can't really offer much in the way of expert advice, but if it were me? I'd probably try rearranging the bedroom layout or just toss the whole lot out the window. 😂