As an action at law - movie fan , I go to the theater to be wowed by the new and the impossible , and to have my eyebrow singed off byincreasingly elaborate detonation . But when they rely too much on tried - and - true formulas , and the likes of Jason Statham , Channing Tatum , or Steven Seagal ’s sentient ponytail sleepwalk through emotional beats , coif man , and groan - worthy exposition airlifted in from other blockbuster , action picture can let down .
But that does n’t imply that all clichés suck . Thebest action moviesfind inventive fashion to tweak , subvert , and playfully upend convention . Like , we ’ve all seen a shootout before , but have you seen the one where the hero dispatches baddies whilehaving sex the whole meter ? belike not . Or how aboutthe shootout at the Guggenheim ? I did n’t remember so . And these are just from Clive Owen motion picture ! But even the aboveboard clichés can work well when done right . To lionise the endurance of our favorites , let ’s take a close look at a few classic and examine why they persist , like an army of fluid - metal Terminators , so unkillable .
1. Getting “the call”
I love any view where someone gets " the call . " It ’s such a slap-up cliché : one minute you ’re a whip , grizzled retired copper / marine / mountain climber doing something very chill , like grieving your dead wife / partner or perhapsfeeding a teachable animal with you daughter , and the next hour you ’re " get down the call " from a high - ranking official and that gruff federal agency figure needs you to come back and aid restore ordering to this fucked - up world . You ’re raise up ! You ’re checking your ammo cache ! You ’re handing outPredator - esque handshakesright and left ! The call can come from a retired Army buddy , a forgotten childhood acquaintance , a shadowy government employee , or even a member of your family – it does n’t matter . What matters is that you spring into action , typically after your peaceful cabin blows up or your girl gets nobble .
In moving picture likeShooter , Commando , andCliffhanger , a reluctant hero gets the call . Watching the hero get the call gets me charged up every time it materialize ; it ’s like someone distilled the " take chains off / take rings off " part of"Ante Up"into an espresso you’re able to photograph into your eyelids . These here and now are a distant cousin of another excellent trope , the " One last job … " tarradiddle , where a thief gets raise by his onetime gang for , well , you get it … one last job . But the important difference here is that the activity sub is n’t motivated by money . No , the action hero is out for sweetened , unfermented revenge – or to deliver his or her family .
( Side note : if the natural action sub ’s nice cabin does n’t get foul up up as part of the sorry guy ’s plot , who take tutelage of it ? It seems like maintain a permanent residence would be a difficult task for a non - drifter , Jack Reacher - elan hero . Someone has to cut the grass when you ’re out fighting Russian terrorists . They ca n’t let the chain armor pile up . Manicured lawn are important . When a champion is off economize the universe , do they Airbnb their play a trick on - out cabin to yuppies on holiday ? Is there a special service they use ? I necessitate reply . )
Daniel Fishel/Thrillist
2. Flicking a cigarette into gasoline to cause a massive explosion
There ’s a strain of get it on - it - all criticism that festers in YouTube videos , moving picture forums , and web log that bang to call outhow utterly unbelievable action moving picture are . To these amateur medical professionals , armchair civic engineers , and dorm - way scientists , I offer my rebutter : no Irish bull . The full point of the moving-picture show is not to assess its numerical probability . Yes , this exceptional cliché where someone uses a cigaret stub to start a giant BBQ isvery unlikely to occur in the existent world . It ’s a prevarication that movies have sold you . But , as Werner Herzog would say , the cigarette flip has something more valuable : ecstatic truth . What ’s that truth ? It looks very nerveless .
unluckily , the sure-enough " cigarette picture show " feels like it ’s waning in popularity . The most notable illustration I could recollect of isCon Air ’s ridiculous execution by cigarette . That ’s one way Cyrus the Virus will take you out . Skeptical witness might watch this view and say , " Wow , this movie is chicken feed . How did they convert John Malkovich to make that direful pun ? I hope he got guaped up and used the money to fund a production at the Steppenwolf Theatre . " Those mass are wrong .
If this figure of speech wasgood enough for Hitchcock , it ’s skilful enough for Malkovich . Do n’t question the masters – or Cyrus the Virus . ( Also , let ’s pause for a 2d and prize the manipulation of slow - bit in thatCon Airclip . I know everyone loves sped - up , accelerate action scene now , but there ’s a time and billet for good slow - mo , like when a dude is getting engulfed in flames . ) And , never forget : if you ’re going to engage in this bromide , at least grab anorange mocha Frappuccino .
3. Crossing a rope bridge
Like the butt blowup , this one has fallen out of favour in late old age – maybe because most modern urban landscapes are for some reasonableness devoid of badass bridges made of roach – but it ’s a classic . Do n’t lease the requirement of modern computer architecture fool you : there ’s nothing more exciting than confronting an enemy on a precariously project structure that hangs over opened water . It makesAmerican Ninja Warriorlook like Bozo Buckets . Rope - bridge deck fights are bloody metallic element ; all fights on other airfoil are like Kenny Loggins .
inquire Indiana Jones . AskEuron Greyjoy fromGame of Thrones . You do n’t even have to struggle on a rophy bridge circuit – you may justdrive a truck over itand the scene will feel a thousand meter more suspensive than any given CGI slugfest presently playing theaters . roach bridges are dangerous , but that ’s what makes them cool . Next time you attend a city council group meeting , take that your mayor brings back R-2 nosepiece . Rope bridges will make America great again .
4. Taking off a motorcycle helmet to reveal you’re a woman
This one is so good that Taylor Swift lately tried to emulate it in her " Bad Blood " video , a overactive collection of action - movie clichés mostly restaged by models . But this is a trope that existed pre-#squad : in the 1965 James Bond movieThunderball , we see a leather - clad biker blow up a automobile with some non - road - regulation missiles , only to reveal … that she ’s a lady ! And not just any lady : she ’s SPECTRE agent Fiona Volpe ! It ’s a dumb but effective moment .
This peculiar trope used to be so popular that it merit a special shout - out in Roger Ebert’sBigger Little Movie Glossaryas the " Helmet Hair " rule : " No woman in the pic puts up her hair before donning a motorcycle helmet , and yet when she removes the helmet , her of necessity recollective hair is not sweaty or tangled , but always perfectly styled . "
It ’s a great cliché – but why limit it to women ? This is 2016 . In a perfect world , every character in every movie would be introduced by taking off a helmet and whip his or her hair around . Clint Eastwood ’s Dirty Harry is cool , but you lie with what would make him cool ? A sick helmet . I love12 Angry Men , but think of how much better it would be if each of the jurors fag out a Daft Punk helmet when they entered the jury elbow room . Picturethis iconic image fromThe Seventh Seal , but alternatively of that black cloak - thing , Death is wearing a helmet with a flame decal on it ? paragon .
Commando|20th Century Fox
5. Cauterizing your own wound with gunpowder
The god Sylvester Stallone first put this tactical maneuver to the test inRambo III , inspiring many people who support nonaged injuries while camping to say they ’re last to " extract aRambo III . " Usually , that person just ends up using a Band - Aid and drinking 18 beer . But , you have a go at it who actually pulled aRambo IIIand win a damn Oscar for his trouble ? Your boy Leonardo DiCaprio in that snow - nucleus epicThe Revenant . He did it all while wear pelts and fiddling icicles on his beard . Give this human being another Oscar , but this one should have a little wound in its Au neck to poppycock powder in .
perform surgery on yourself is an essential action - film ritual of transition – recently , Blake Lively sewed up her own lesion with a gold necklace inThe Shallows– but nothing beats the ridiculous nobleness of pouring a pinch of lethal powder into your body and hoping for the best . It says " I ’m bright enough to know this is a veridical pinch medical process but I ’m dumb enough to prove it on myself ! "
6. Leaping, walking, and punching through glass
Of all the mass - produce solids , glass is probably the most significant to the phylogeny of the action movie . There ’s something splanchnic and poetic about watch over another mess of human figure , preferably Bruce Willis ' , crash through a paneling of glass .
And it can be destroyed in so many ways . Mission : Impossible ’s Ethan Huntblew it up with a slice of gumand jell a bunch of fish free in a restaurant . Jason Bourneflew through a windowpane of itto take out a speculative guy . It ’s such a well - worn cliché that Shane Black parodied it inLast Action Heroby having Arnold Schwarzenegger ’s jumped - from - the - movie - screen - into - reality Jack Slater punch through a motorcar windowpane and say , " My hand . It really hurts . " In military action movies , ice was meant to be broken ; in real living , your bones will break .
If there ’s one convention in action - movie land , it ’s this : when in doubt , SHOOT THE GLASS !
Touchstone Pictures/YouTube
7. Quippy one-liners
When you watch an older action picture show with your less enlighten Quaker , you might find out them say things like , " This is so cheesy , " or " No one would ever say that , " or " Please , do n’t make us watchRoad Houseagain ! " After days of stoic , mete - monosyllabic torpedo like Jason Bourne , The Transporter ’s Frank Martin , and Christian Bale ’s Batman , we ’ve been conditioned to recall that action hero should be stern and removed like a disapproving stepfather . And while there ’s something to be said for a highly physical , quip - gratis throwdown like the fights inHaywire , the tightly choreographed battle in theIp Manseries , and the extremely efficient shootouts ofJohn Wick , I think we ’ve over - corrected on one - liners . They still make for . They can be beautiful , like little bit of moronic magnet poetry .
FromThey Live ’s " I have come here to masticate bubblegum and sound off ass " toCobra ’s " You ’re a disease … and I ’m the remedy , " a hilarious one - liner append an extra verbal kick in the ass to any action scene . line like " I ’m too old for this shit " fromLethal Weaponand " Vaya confidence trick dios " fromPoint Breaktake on a life of their own . Sometimes , as with " Always wager on black " inPassenger 57or " Get off my plane ! " inAir Force One , the one - line drive is the coolest , most memorable affair about the whole film . These lines do n’t take away from the movie ; they make the movie .
As the frequenter ideal of action movie theatre himself might say , the everlasting one - ocean liner can help " let off some steam . " Get it ? The forged guy cable has a pipe in his chest and there ’s steam come out of it ! Genius . utter genius . May steam keep blow from that bushed consistence forever .
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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom|Paramount Pictures
Thunderball|United Artists
Carolco Pictures/YouTube
Die Hard|20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox/YouTube
