Questions tagged [action]

TV/film genre noted for use of physical force by majority of characters against one another to advance plot points.

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74 votes
4 answers
24k views

Do they really crash super cars in action movies?

Many action movies show supercars (i.e. $200k+) being completely totaled during the action. I can imagine that some scenes are not CGI because they look overly natural. I also understand that with a ...
77 votes
12 answers
21k views

Why are so many American (spy) movies set in Europe?

I watched Jason Bourne yesterday and I was wondering why do so many American-made (especially spy) movies take place in Europe. I have some theories (as a European person that has spent some time in ...
4 votes
2 answers
167 views

Where does "Gun Fu" fight choreography originate from?

I'm asking b/c I've read the gun fu wiki and it omits key references. Clearly John Woo is the spiritual father, but his use of "balletic gunplay" is not what is meant by this term, which has ...
13 votes
3 answers
779 views

Has the length of action scenes changed over time?

It could just be me getting older but I feel like action movies these days have action scenes that just go on for an eternity. (I don't know what's wrong with me but sometimes I just want the ...
1 vote
2 answers
833 views

Are there action movies without a villain? [closed]

I was watching yesterday with my son Hotel Transylvania and he mentioned I like this movie because there is action and there are no bad guys, everyone is nice This got me thinking because I do ...
6 votes
1 answer
255 views

Movie or TV show with a flamethrowing badguy and a deathtrap car that raises taunting signs [closed]

I was three or four years old (late 1980s) and had been left unattended with the television. Something was on, probably from within the last ten to fifteen years, so think 1970+. The language was in ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Kung-fu movie about a monastery forming fighters with a painful final test [closed]

I watched in France a kung-fu movie in the early 80's (I believe) of which I do not remember much except one specific scene. The movie was part of the trend "a more or less random guy is taught kung-...
8 votes
2 answers
437 views

TV movie where an inconspicous truck transporting valuables is intercepted by terrorists in a dead radio spot [closed]

Timeframe: 80/90s Country: USA The two protagonists are transporting a MacGuffin in an inconspicous truck which approximately looked like this: The truck was internally armored and bulletproof, it ...
17 votes
1 answer
3k views

90's action movie about two guys running away from evil organisation [closed]

First of all some information before I go on to write the stuff I remember. I have watched this movie two times, both times it was on some random TV channel. First time I watched it was about 10 years ...
7 votes
1 answer
216 views

Name of this movie that was filmed as a terrorist attack/civil war on an unknown city in the USA? [closed]

My parents watched a movie and I caught glimpses of it...they wont tell me the name of the movie, and it was on netflix...not anymore: Points of detail not related to the plot: Language: American ...
36 votes
1 answer
8k views

Name of this somewhat sci-fi but also fantasy movie based on people on bikes with walls coming out behind them? [closed]

There was this one movie I watched ages ago and here are the points of interest: Necessary points of detail not related to any plot: It was in colour It was in English The characters I believe were ...
5 votes
1 answer
5k views

A man wins the jackpot at a slot machine [closed]

So I remember watching this movie a couple of years back on my laptop, it involves a man who is chased by someone (I think) and enters a casino in which he has a earpiece and the person tells him to ...
34 votes
1 answer
19k views

Spy movie where recruits are tested by flooding their dormitory [closed]

There was a movie I watched a couple of years ago, I can not remember the name of it but I remember the following: There was middle aged man who had a watch with the ability to shoot darts from the ...
6 votes
1 answer
650 views

Help identifying a sniper movie [closed]

The opening scene is set in the Balkans where two American (?) snipers are staking out a bombed-out building where hostages are being held. A third guy shows up, kills the snipers, the hostage-takers,...
5 votes
1 answer
191 views

80s/90s TV show with hero with abilities similar to Unbreakable? [closed]

When the movie Unbreakable came out, it triggered so many memories of a show I saw as a kid in the 80s/early 90s, but I can't remember the name of the show. The TV show was similar to The Six Million ...
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Two giant men fighting in the middle of a fake city [closed]

Based only on this scene I'm trying to remember a movie: Two giant men are fighting in the middle of a fake city, with fake buildings and stuff. There is not a lot of CGI or special effects, the ...
30 votes
1 answer
6k views

Action movie which shows the story of a terrorist attack on the US president from different characters' perspectives [closed]

Time frame (approx) I have watched this movie around 2008-2009, not sure of actual release date though (maybe 2006-2007 rough guess), watched in DVD Genre Action, Color Movie Plot This movie ...
28 votes
1 answer
8k views

Identify a movie featuring a mechanical spider [closed]

I would like to know this movie title. Unfortunately, I only remember a little about this movie plot. I watched it around 2008. I think it's an action adventure film. The only plot I remember is a ...
1 vote
0 answers
57 views

Origin of Killing-Attacker-A-with-Attacker-B's-Weapon?

My friend at work and I are action-shooter movie fans, going back to our childhoods in the 80s. We have noted recently that in modern action movies, there is often a scene in which the hero -- under ...
6 votes
1 answer
11k views

Movie about a girl taking revenge for the death of her parents [closed]

I remember pretty well that I have seen a movie like this on television. American, extremely well produced. Should be between 2005 and 2012. A woman, hot and confident, tries to take revenge on a ...
2 votes
0 answers
1k views

Did John Woo invent the flying-double-pistol-jump?

As an example of this stunt, see the image of Chow Yun-fat performing the stunt in Hard-Boiled. Did John Woo invent the action movie stunt of a person doing a flying leap through the air while firing ...
6 votes
1 answer
827 views

ID a scene where a woman shoots a man on a boat without flinching [closed]

Many years ago I saw a scene from a movie or a tv show and I can't identify it. There is a woman and two men on a boat. One man is sitting on the bottom of the boat with his legs spread, I don't know ...
25 votes
1 answer
4k views

Looking for a movie of about futuristic city and alien society [closed]

I can't describe the title well.So, maybe it's a bit confusing. Anyway, I am looking for this movie. I watched it maybe around 10-15 years ago. These are what I know about it: Year : I guess it'...
2 votes
1 answer
229 views

When did the lighter to the spilled gasoline scene begin?

In several movies there's a repeated scene. Someone wants to start a huge fire, or burn something, or make stuff explode. So they spread some kind of fuel around and then they light it up. When was ...
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Gold hijacking movie from the 1990's [closed]

I remember watching in 1998 this movie about a gold hijacking operation set in rural towns (maybe in Alaska, Canada or the Northwestern US or another place possibly). Some terrorists who included one ...
5 votes
1 answer
153 views

Movie set in scotland or somewhere up north [closed]

I am trying to find the title of a film I watched a few years back but never caught the ending. It was set in Scotland or somewhere up north. One of the opening scenes is a young boy being woken up by ...
6 votes
1 answer
620 views

In one episode of this cartoon series some copying slime appeared with a real creepy scene [closed]

I watched this episode around ten to fifteen years ago in Germany. I'd describe the cartoon style as classical American. I think the setting in this specific episode is partly at a military base. ...
1 vote
1 answer
196 views

Why look and shake your gun after ammo runs out?

This has always amused me. A lot of times, while in the heat of battle, after the gun ammo runs out, the character looks at his gun giving it a slight shake. As if thinking this will fix a possible ...
5 votes
1 answer
181 views

Movie about a former bounty hunter who is threatened by his previous employers [closed]

In this film from ~10 years ago, an ordinary guy works as a bartender in a diner. One day the diner gets raided by some robbers and our bartender neutralize them professionally. This accident gets ...
8 votes
2 answers
13k views

Movie with a bomb triggered by a musical phrase played by an orchestra [closed]

I've been trying to recall the title-described movie for days now, and I can't quite place it. It's action/thriller, as I recall, I think with either some mistaken-identity regarding the main ...
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Movie where the bad guy fools police into shooting at hostages [closed]

I'm looking for the name of an action/thriller movie where the bad guy performs a bank robbery (or some other heist), then escapes by dressing up hostages as hostage-takers and fooling the police into ...
6 votes
2 answers
879 views

Villain tracks henchmen chasing hero through a maze/labyrinth [closed]

I'm trying to ID a movie that I had caught the end of as a child. The specific scenes that I remember are a cat-and-mouse exchange between the protagonist and a couple of henchmen in a giant, well-...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

German movie about female assassin who frames a man [closed]

The movie takes place in Germany, they visit Cologne. The movie was filmed probably around 2005 or 2006. The killer is a woman with long dark hair and uses a bow and arrow at some point. She's a good ...
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Underground fist fighting, alienated brothers [closed]

Can someone please help me identify this? I hope to be able to provide sufficiently detailed information about this movie I'm looking for (I'm guessing it's a psychological drama). I have been trying ...
10 votes
2 answers
4k views

sci-fi movie from 2010+, probably a blockbuster - involving mutants [closed]

I recently watched a sci-fi/action movie and forgot the title... it was probably a blockbuster a recent one (probably after 2010) I cannot remember the main story but it was around people flying in ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

80s TV action series about an "electric man" [closed]

I'm looking for an 80s tv-series. The main character was some kind of superhero-ish. He had a blue sparkling/glowing body, and he "healed" himself with electricity. He had a "sidekick" who was a star (...
7 votes
1 answer
3k views

Girl is drugged and on the run with the protagonist [closed]

The protagonist is a secret agent / spy and meets the girl somewhere. The hero is chased by gangs everywhere he lands up and the girl is also targeted by virtue of being with him. Girl goes hysterical ...
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Man who answers a ringing payphone is told about a imminent nuclear attack on North America [closed]

Midnight, small diner in a large city, possibly Chicago or New York, an adult male sits and drinks his coffee. A couple others in coffee shop going about their business. He pays for his coffee and ...
8 votes
1 answer
876 views

Looking for a martial arts movie [closed]

From what I remember about it: 1980-2000 man saves woman from getting robbed at an ATM man gets recruited by wrestling/ultimate fighting organization man refuses mind-control steroids father of saved ...
5 votes
1 answer
846 views

Nick Nolte or Gary Busey lookalike who lives in a warehouse and is a bounty hunter [closed]

This movie starts out with a convenience store being robbed in a desert setting. This bounty hunter(a Nolte or Busey lookalike) comes in and shoots the store up with a sawed off shot gun. I believe he ...
6 votes
2 answers
809 views

Female lead learns martial arts from an android [closed]

Looking for an older most likely 1990's science fiction movie that has a female lead who learns martial arts from an android. I remember the movie was set in post apocalyptic world and had a bit of a ...
7 votes
1 answer
719 views

An "older" movie about a man stealing a dead man's identity [closed]

All I remember about the movie is that a man in a hotel in Africa (I think) takes the identity of a man that he finds dead next door. The man doesn't realize that people are looking for the man whose ...
4 votes
1 answer
3k views

Identify this alien invasion movie with invisible aliens [closed]

There was a movie that came out about 1-3 years ago at most that was about an alien race that invaded Earth and they hid in plain sight, and would literally snuff people right out of thin air. I think ...
6 votes
1 answer
313 views

What was this movie with a real-life Assassin game? [closed]

I saw part of this film on television long ago; probably in the late 1970s. It was a live-action, action-genre film in which the protagonist participated in an international game like "Assassin"--...