Being a guy and a huge movie fan, I appreciate a no nonsense actioner from time to time. Now I’m not saying this list is made up of all the great moves. Three flies on my list are large and well made, the other two are average good. However, having said that, after watching these movies, most guys think, Damn!, he’s a good guy. A great macho movie requires a great lead, a great villain, at least two memorable lines, and usually explosions or fire of some kind. So here we go.
Coming in at #5 is Die Hard. This film was moved from A to Z by John McClane and turned the tables on Eurotrash led horror/thieves. . No one plays better than Bruce Willis and is out of his element. Hans Gruber was collecting the baddie’s head. Not only did this movie deliver on the action front, but the story held your attention. Director John Mctiernan knows the action stage and the batteries are loaded to the brim in this no-nonsense, in-your-face action pic. A few highlights include a fight with Karl (Alexander Godunov), McClane’s fire hose escape from the roof, and a pathetic SWAT attempt to enter the Nakatomi building. Yippee kye and the melon farmer.
Coming in at #4 is the lowest science fiction movie ever Alien. If you think science fiction a> you don’t have to count the action that James Cameron has never seen this action beast. This movie rededined the adrenaline rush. It is the only movie on the list with a female lead. If you don’t think Ripley isn’t one of the best characters in the discipline of action movies, that’s a sad moment, my friend. He has more testosterone than most of today’s so-called action heroes (not including Matt Damon Bourne). This movie had a great name (all about those military drums), and real antagonists in the aliens themselves. This movie sets you up and then throws you into a firestorm. Once the mayhem starts, it rarely lets go. As Bill Paxton growls, “Why didn’t you manage it!”
At #3, the squat icon is the Rocky Balboa button at Rocky IV. You might be wondering how this determined to act? You must speak as if you were playing. This movie has everything from mutilation, death, revenge, and one killer Vivaldi. The “action” is all in the boxing ring and built to show off the cliffhanger with the Russian Teutonic killing machine Ivan Drago is half the fun. The warning system brings out all the inside of the rocks. I know every time I watch it I think “I could do that”. Anyway, mistakes aside, this movie could be Citizen Kane. It’s certainly not far from the quality of Rocky 1 or 2, but who cares. We watch this and believe that every time the forty year approaches, the 180 pound Rocky Balboa can win 6 foot five, fists like stones, commie hon Ivan Drago.
Just missing the top spot and coming in at #4 is Gladiator. At its core it’s a love story/victory pic. But the blood is wet on the surface, mano y mano, slug fest. Or not, Russel Crowe Great. He makes marks, so that faith and nobility seem cool without effort. Gladiator is a stunning match for him, if a little polished. From the opening battle to the final spectacle of Maximus with Commodore, this picture is driven by many timeless themes, such as faith, revenge, and tragedy. A Little Thing also won the Academy Award for Best Picture. You are not a guest! Sorry he couldn’t resist.
My number one pic on the macho meter has to be Predator. Arnold is the quintessential alpha dog. His bigger biceps in every scene also get. This action palmer has it all and puts it in the thick of it. Everything about this bad boy screamed testosterone filled roller coaster (missing some common places). Firefights with the corn rower baddie stranger is just one highlight. Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, how can you lose? The dialogue between the leading male leads is delightful. But this is Arnie’s demonstration. It was this movie that really catapulted him to order dog action movies in the late eighties and early nineties. His Dutch character is like a fusion of all the great action heroes of the past 50 years from John Wayne to Rambo. When you talk about a “movie guy” this baby is standard.
