What was the last movie you've seen?

[RCBH928]

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is one of the greatest films ever made imo, but an action fan might not be the biggest fan of it as it's a deconstruction of an action film through a horror lens.

I am not sure if this is supposed to be sarcastic. I watched an hour of that film before i decided to stop watching and wishing for my hour of lifetime back. Should I give it a chance?

The first hour is just a guy walking around asking people "what happened? what happened?" and random guys beating up random guys. Out of 60 min, there is about 40min of uninteresting violence/action.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is one of the greatest films ever made imo, but an action fan might not be the biggest fan of it as it's a deconstruction of an action film through a horror lens.

You’ve probably seen it already, but Nicolas Refn’s Only God Forgives does something similar with Asian “supercop” tropes. It is, basically a “supercop” movie from the villain’s perspective, and the super cup is horrifying!

[Anapan]

Got the final 4K UHD Blu-Rays of the last two Rebuild of Evangelion movies, and just re-watched the first one. I never got around to watching the third movie, so having the final version (3.333) with the extras, I'm excited to see it and the last movie. I hear they are far different from the original series even taking into account the various endings that series entailed. Fan consensus is that it's not as good, but the visuals are so enticing I'm sure I'll enjoy the new version at least as much as I enjoyed the old one on a 250lb 720p CRT back in the day. Cartoons and anime were the only thing that looked better with it's up-smear scaling on that display.

[Raging Justice]

So I got my hands on Avengement and Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning (I think I got the uncut version), so I'll be watching them soon. In the meantime, I watched:

Sha Po Lang 3 a.k.a. Paradox



So this was really good, better than SPL 2 in my opinion. The story is great. The movie does a great job of creating tension, and having moments that catch you by surprise. It's a pretty dark story, though that seems common with SPL movies. This one is darker than SPL 2 though. We've got a little bit of a detective story here revolving around a missing person, though the movie inevitably just becomes an action spectacle as you would expect.

Louis Koo and Wu Yue are both awesome as the leads here. Louis Koo in particular is fantastic and has real screen presence. There's an intimidation factor he gives off in this movie, like a guy who can make you piss your pants with just a look. Tony Jaa is also in this one, though his role is smaller than it was in SPL 2. I have to say, his performances in both movies are really good. Jaa portrays the kind of hero you want to root for really, really well in these movies, even in this one where he's not a main character. He's really good at just playing a character who comes across as someone with a strong moral center and a big heart. You find yourself wanting him to win because you know he's a good person. He also emotes fairly well for a guy who gets cast into these movies mainly for his fighting abilities. Though he's sort of a bit player in this film, he does get a truly stand out action sequence. You can't have Tony Jaa in your movie and put him to waste.

The action in this is fantastic. Some really creative and fun stuff here that I can't describe in words. The action feels a bit more grounded and realistic than SPL 2, and there's no CGI weirdness like that weird wolf scene in the previous one.

There's little to complain about. The movie's fantastic. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece or an action movie benchmark like The Raid 2 or John Wick 4, but it's damn entertaining. Definitely and 8 out of 10 movie.

[Raging Justice]

Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning Uncut



So I just finished watching this, and I kind of want to watch it again I have a slew of adjectives running through my head to describe this movie:

Brutal, unnerving, horrifying, primal, disturbing, existential, bloody, bleak, and kind of trippy

Yeah, it's a little bit of all those things. It's not a traditional action movie, though it does features some of the most badass action scenes I've ever seen. I used the word primal before, that's how some of the action felt. All of the action is in service to the story, which is nice. No action just for the sake of action. The movie is mysterious and uncomfortable from beginning to end. It does have some horror movie elements, though I wouldn't place it within that genre. This is like sci fi, horror, and action all kind of rolled together with a little bit of existentialism. The way they filmed some of this stuff is really cool. Some very cool use of the first person perspective. Some scenes kind of drove me crazy with really bright flashing lights, fair warning to people who can't handle that sort of thing, but it felt kind of like those scenes were supposed to be uncomfortable. I loved that scene with...

the dudes slowly coming out of the river.

It just looked really cool.

I vaguely remember the first Universal Soldier movie. It's the only other one I've seen. Man, this one strikes a different tone, though still delivers brutal action for people looking for that. I remember the first one just sort of being a typical action movie with beefy dudes fighting and a pretty damsel in distress. This one has much more substance to it. The tone, atmosphere, and story are all top notch. This movie does a much better job of diving into the subject matter of the universal soldier program

Atkins is showing way more acting skills here than in Ninja. It's nice to see him evolve. I've said it before, but he was awesome in John Wick 4. Van Damme is also quite good with the scenes he's given, though Atkins has a lot more put on his shoulders acting wise. Fun to see Dolph Lundgren again, there's something kind of awkward and comical about the guy yet it kind of works in movies like this. He just has a unique sort of presence to him. "That's the spirit soldier!"

Mariah Bonner is hot. I had to say that. Those eyes man...anyway. Speaking of attractive ladies, lots of nudity in this movie. Between that and all of the ultra violence, I can see why one version of the movie has some censorship. I went out of my way to get the uncut version

One neat thing about the movie is that near the end of it...

I wasn't even sure who the good guy was in this story. Is it wrong that I was rooting for Van Damme's character in the end?

Anyway, this was great. I'm pretty happy with this and Sha Po Lang 3. Seeing some good movies this week

Looking forward to Avengement.

[REPO Man]

Rewatched Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and I'm just so glad I finally got this cult classic on my shelf.

[Raging Justice]

Avengement



So I don't want to say too much about this one as to not spoil anything. I'll say that it's got tons of brutal, realistic, fights. These are like bar room brawl, prison type fights, not Jackie Chan, martial arts, type stuff so expect lots of loose teeth, broken jaws, concussions, stabbings, an blood. The fights are a lot of fun, and man there a LOT of them. I can't stress that enough. A big chunk of the movie is just awesome fights. The high number of fights is actually an important part of the story though, so it's not overkill.

The movie also has tons of great, funny, dialog. You know how you can watch a Tarantino movie and just enjoy people talking. I kind of felt that way watching this. Some of that great dialog comes from narration, which there's a lot of from our protagonist. There's also a lot of flashbacks. The story has some surprises that kept me wanting to see what would get revealed next. It's like watching a tapestry gradually unfolding and you only see the full picture when you're close to the end of the movie.



Scott Atkins is great. He definitely has a different look in this film, but it fits the character he is playing. It's fascinating the range this guy has, more than he should as an action movie star. You can put this guy in a role even if he doesn't look the part. Just put him in a fat suit (John Wick 4), or do a bunch of stuff to his face to make him look different (Avengement) and then just let his acting ability do the rest. This guy seems multi-talented. He can play a super serious character (Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning), or something fun like we see in this movie and also his role in John Wick 4. I'm very impressed by this guy and have no idea how it is that I never knew about him until very recently.

Avengement is a great movie with an engaging story, some good comedy, and lots and lots and lots of bone crunching action

[Ack]

Ha, hell yeah, glad you liked it!

[Raging Justice]

Ha, hell yeah, glad you liked it!

Thanks for the recommendation!

So I have one more movie to talk about. I know I have been posting a lot in this thread. I'm on a bit of a movie binge I guess

Extraction 2



So, I thought I had seen the best action movie of 2023 in John Wick 4, but goddamn does this one give it a run for its money. Well, I guess it's an action thriller, but whatever. For anyone who didn't see the first Extraction, it was a very solid action movie and a good vehicle for Chris Hemsworth. Well, much like The Raid movies and the aforementioned John Wick movies, here we get a sequel that just ramps everything up to eleven to give us a movie that outdoes its predecessor.

At one point in this movie, there's something like twenty minutes of nonstop, mind blowing, tense, and exhilarating action that felt to me like one long take. Watching that whole thing felt like one seriously awesome roller coaster ride. I'd argue that the movie peaked right there, but there's still plenty of kickass action to follow.



We also get a good story that builds off of the first movie's story in a satisfying way. Great performances from everyone including some brief appearances by Idris Elba. He gets little screen time but still plays a very cool character that you find yourself wanting to see more of. Golshifteh Farahani is fantastic and she is every bit the badass that Chris Hemsworth is in these movies. I have to give that woman props.

Sam Hargrave has been involved in some capacity as a stunt coordinator on several Marvel movies, but the Extraction series is him branching out as a serious director and I'm impressed so far

This one is a much watch if you're an action junkie. This and John Wick 4 may be the best action movies to come out this year. Speaking of which, these movies are in my opinion doing for Hemsworth what the Wick movies did for Keanu Reeves. It's nice to see him finding a nice new niche for himself after doing all of those Marvel movies as Thor.

[Raging Justice]

Sisu





Nazis versus Badass old geezer = Sisu

It's almost like a World War II era John Wick, if John was an aging, war veteran getting revenge on a bunch of Nazis instead of gangsters and assassins. There's also some ladies that play into the story in a way that gave me some Mad Max Fury Road vibes. The movie also has a little bit of comedy though it primarily maintains a serious tone. It never takes itself too seriously though. The music alone has a bit of an over the top vibe to it in some scenes, usually right before some Nazis get brutally sent to their maker. Honestly, I could totally see this movie as a cool comic book and the main character has that spaghetti western, lone gun man kind of vibe.

Forget "Baba Yaga" as John Wick is known, this movie gives us "The Immortal". The title of the movie itself is a Finnish word that means...well...here ya go:



So yeah it is basically a revenge movie with very creative, tense, action scenes. It's a basic formula done smartly and effectively. It's the sort of movie where you pretty much know where the story is going to go, it's a basic plot. The fun of it is seeing HOW we get there. This came out last year and I missed it somehow. I totally recommend it, very fun movie.