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Action Movies 80s 90s versus today

rockerrockstar

rockerrockstar

I have noticed a big differnce from movies shot in the past and newer movies. For one most movies today seem to be shot more like the Born Idenity with a shaky camera and close ups like TV show 24 does a lot. I actually don't like how they do that. I don't like the close up shots all the time during action movies. It just seems uncomfortable close to me. I really hate shaky cameras during action sequences. The walking along camera instead of a dolly comes to mind. Walking along shaking camera versus a nice smooth dolly or a good steady cam. No comparison.

Next I miss the long shots like in Leathal Weapon. I think that and Die Hard 3 With A Vengences were shot nicely. But I did not like how Die Hard Live Free or Die Hard was shot similar to 24. I miss the helicopter and large crane shots that were in the older action movies. I guess budget may be one of the reason the new movies are lacking the shots that the old movies have. Or maybe they are just trying to make them look more modern. I prefer the old ways.

Also, I prefer real stunts and stuntman versus CGI. For instance look at the differneces between Fast and Furious and the Fast and Furious 2. The first was much better because they used real cars and little CGI.
 
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rockerrockstar said:
I have noticed a big differnce from movies shot in the past and newer movies. For one most movies today seem to be shot more like the Born Idenity with a shaky camera and close ups like TV show 24 does a lot. I actually don't like how they do that. I don't like the close up shots all the time during action movies. It just seems uncomfortable close to me. I really hate shaky cameras during action sequences. The walking along camera instead of a dolly comes to mind. Walking along shaking camera versus a nice smooth dolly or a good steady cam. No comparison.

Next I miss the long shots like in Leathal Weapon. I think that and Die Hard 3 With A Vengences were shot nicely. But I did not like how Die Hard Live Free or Die Hard was shot similar to 24. I miss the helicopter and large crane shots that were in the older action movies. I guess budget may be one of the reason the new movies are lacking the shots that the old movies have. Or maybe they are just trying to make them look more modern. I prefer the old ways.

Also, I prefer real stunts and stuntman versus CGI. For instance look at the differneces between Fast and Furious and the Fast and Furious 2. The first was much better because they used real cars and little CGI.
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Yes! I hate shaky-cam. I also hate the camera being too close during action sequences. On a minor note, it's actually "Supremacy" and "Ultimatum" that use these annoying techniques (Paul Greengrass, I am not a fan). "Identity" was directed by Doug Liman, and is FAR superior to either of the follow-ups, in pretty much every way imaginable, IMO.
 
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re

Yeah I think you are right about the Born Ultimatium etc... I just liked Idenity best but have not watched it in a while I do remember hating the close ups and shaky cameras in several of the sequals.

I will have to check out Unleashed. I have not seen that yet I think.
 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF0ShH6XtN8

For a short while, I was a semi-professional (meaning I made money, but not enough to pay rent) film-critic. "Unleashed" is one of the many movies I reviewed; here's what I wrote about it:

Blame it on genetics and testosterone. Blame it on the media. Turn up your nose and point your fingers wherever you please, but you’re not going to change what wickedness lies in the average man. Whatever it is that drives us to the WWE, football, and the UFC is the same thing that gets our blood pumping for a butt-kicking action flick. It’s been a long time since there’s been a good manly man movie worth watching, and finally – FINALLY – that movie is here.

If you’ve seen the preview for Jet Li’s Unleashed and were turned off by it, well, you might as well just skip the rest of this review – Monster in Law is probably more up your alley. But if you saw the Unleashed preview and thought it looked pretty sweet, you were right. Unleashed is everything one might’ve hoped for, and a million times more. This is the kind of movie that will make you want to beat your chest, while letting out guttural grunts and screams, then punch your best friend in the face just because you can.

Not since Fight Club has there been a movie so visceral. Unleashed is so brutal that you might occasionally want to look away, but you won’t. You want to see this train wreck. While most kung-fu movies make the audience go “ooh” and “ahh”, with fancy-pants acrobatics, Unleashed makes the audience go “Ow!” and “Arggh!”, with untamed primal fury. What’s hard to believe is that a movie so full of rage could be half as gentle as Unleashed is.

In Unleashed, Jet Li is Danny, a slave trained by his gang-lord master to be a human attack-dog. With his collar on, Danny is quiet and complacent. Take the collar off, and, uhhh, you don’t want to take the collar off.

When Danny happens upon freedom one day, he is taken in by a blind piano tuner (Morgan Freeman) and his step-daughter (Kerry Condon). Introduced to a new life of warmth and compassion, he wants nothing more than to stay away from his past life of hate and malice. Eventually, Danny’s former master comes looking for him, and he is forced to protect his new family from the danger of his previous life.

For a movie that’s all about fighting, Unleashed devotes a lot of time to not fighting. Just about half of the movie is spent not on fists of fury, but on pianos and ice cream. As hokey as it might sound, the sentimentalism in Unleashed is completely necessary to the film’s success. By the time the former master finally comes a-knocking, the audience has grown attached to Danny and his loved ones, making the final battle all the more momentous.

This shouldn’t surprise us, considering that Unleashed was written by Luc Besson, the same man responsible for The Professional. Featuring Oscar-caliber performances from Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and a very young Natalie Portman, The Professional could very well be the most tender action movie ever made, and is an absolute must-see (the un-cut French original, Leon, is worth checking out, albeit a little creepy).

Unleashed doesn’t carry as much emotional weight as The Professional, but it’s got enough to make us care, and this is due in large part to a surprisingly affective Jet Li. While Li may catch us off guard, though, Morgan Freeman’s superior performance will not. He is Morgan Freeman, after all, and we’ve come to expect greatness.

But let’s not forget what this movie is really about – punching people in the face. Unleashed is easily Jet Li’s best movie made outside of China, and one of the most unquestionably enthralling action flicks I’ve seen in a long time.
 
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I can agree with this. The 80's action films were the best for me. Silent Rage, Lone Wolf McQuade, Invasion USA, then there's the Rambo films, Predator, the early Seagal and Van Damme movies.

Yep, it's like old cars...they just don't make 'em like that anymore. (but if I ever get my hands on a decent budget...)
 
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The French are the masters at cinematography. They have done it all. They are great at doing the "natural movement" thing with a camera. Watch District B13 - major fantastic cinematography and action.

I don't really think the overall style is changing so much - there are many many different Cinematographers out there, and even the greats change it up from movie to movie. It comes down to three things, the story's need, the Director's wants, and the Cinematographer's experience.

If you watch the old silent movies, you see a lot of what looks like steadycam work. Things come full circle.


For my money, the best action movies were made in the 70's. The best movies, for that matter.
 
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Cenydd Ros said:
If you watch the old silent movies, you see a lot of what looks like steadycam work. Things come full circle.
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FWIW, if you're talking silent movies you're probably seeing dolly and crane moves: I think the Steadicam was invented in 1976 if I remember correctly.
 
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I love action movies of the 90's. For me not much beats the Cage triology; The Rock, Face Off and Con Air.

In the 90's it was that awesome time when stunts and physical were perfected, before CGI seemed to over run everything.
 
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I'll take the action movies from the 90s to present. I love the oldies, don't get me wrong and there are some classics that stand up to the test of time. But I like the fact that we get more action movies done nowadays by actors instead of muscle heads, Kung Fu masters or the like. Yeah the cinematography, style and story are at the mercy are subject to the painful mimicry of the no-talent execs, but the hits that survive the Hollywood exec tinkering are some of the best action flicks made.

Now if there is one genre that people has suffered more than any lately it has to be sci-Fi.
 
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Kosh said:
Now if there is one genre that people has suffered more than any lately it has to be sci-Fi.
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Respectfully strongly disagree.

Just goin off the top of my head, here:

Matrix
28 Days Later (ok, I'm kinda cheating, but TECHNICALLY it's sci-fi)
Star Trek (2009)
Wall-E
District 9
I, Robot (I know a lot of people weren't impressed; I like it a lot)
I am Legend
Underworld (another stretch, but technically sci-fi)
Children of Men
Signs
Transformers
Dark City
Starship Troopers
Episode III (c'mon, you gotta at least give him credit for sheer spectacle)
Minority Report
Men in Black
Twelve Monkeys
T2
Jurassic Park
The Arrival
Galaxy Quest
Pitch Black
Stargate
Star Trek VI - Undiscovered Country
Cloverfield
Moon
Eternal Sunshine
And......there's one more I feel like I'm leaving out. Came out very recently; you've probably seen it. Darn it, what's that movie?

BTW, I started by just going off the top of my head, but then started having fun and wanted to make a point. I think sci-fi is alive and kickin, better than ever. All of those movies are from the last two decades.
 
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