I can still remember Christmas time of 1988.




I went to see a movie that by most accounts looked kinda cheesy from the previews. What I ended up seeing was one of the greatest movies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing on the big screen.

It was so good that even horrible gun misinformation in follow up movies couldn't detract from the original. Die Hard II had the following quote:

"That punk pulled a glock 7 on me. That's a porcelain gun made in Germany. They cost more than you make in a month and they go right through your airport metal detectors."

There is no such thing as a glock 7 (it started with the model 17), Glocks are made of steel and polymer, not porcelain, and they are made in Austria, not Germany. They also never were that expensive (though that quote probably sold more Glocks than any other feature of the handgun) and they obviously won't go through a metal detector.

But back to the original film. First off in 1988 Hollywood was not so politically correct that white European terrorists were a obvious substitute to keep from portraying other groups like Muslims as fanatics such as in "Sum of all Fears." It simply seemed plausible to the story and THANKFULLY they weren't nazis.

Aside from your average "shoot em up" this one actually had a pretty decent storyline and character development. I saw a lot of stuff coming but I didn't have the movie figured out 10 minutes into the movie. Another nice thing is the main character is identifiable. Yes, he was a cop but he was closer to a everyman as well. Cops were portrayed as both good and bad, helpful and hinderance just like in real life.

And then there were the guns. Jesus christ I already liked HKs before the movie but this thing was like sending a crackhead to Bogota. It was like the HK factory made a movie. MP5s galore and if you were paying attention a P7. And this is probably where most people got their first glimpse of something called a Steyr AUG.

Also the hero was an American who LIKED being an American. And the Euros were the bad guys. How refreshing it is to watch this movie today. This is one of those movies you would show to your kids to let them see what a real hero is, and oridnary man who simply does the right things.

When the credits rolled I was pretty floored. I was pretty young but "I got it." Something very difficult to achieve with young kids. Last time I had "got it" was when I saw Red Dawn. But that movie (despite being very good) seemed to kinda lose steam halfway through.

So is it the best of all time?


EDITTED TO ADD:

We are talking about ACTION MOVIES. Not Sci Fi, Not War Films and not Horror Flicks.

Geeze I'm waiting for one of you non reading bastards to name Sixteen Candles.

Quoted: Hell no.

Name a better one.

Quoted: Quoted: Good...yes. I liked Aliens better. Even though it's SciFi . +1 As a bit of Trivia, the ending music where the big cop from Family Matters blows away the big blonde dude after the incident is "over" was actually written for Aliens.

Guys Aliens was more correctly a SCI FI movie, not an action movie.

Please focus or we will have guys bringing up war movies like Saving Pvt. Ryan and Balckhawk Down.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hell no. Name a better one. Die Hard III, for starters. Die Hard was a good action movie, but not the best by a long shot.

Die Hard III?!?

With the guys robbing the gold depository? That one sucked.

Wasn't as lame as the second one but pretty damn close.

Quoted: It's a very subjective question. Personally I think Predator had it all. Sci-fi, humor, Jesse Ventura and a minigun. Hard to go wrong there. Die Hard (I) is definitely the best of the DH series (it didn't need sequels). Commando is a good one (if you like your action pretty raw and without a lot of depth).

Predator was a SCI FI movie. Commando was an action flick. But not as good as Die Hard.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hell no. Name a better one. Terminator Terminator 2 That's two...

SCI FI one and two.

Quoted: It sucked! Oh & Bruce Willis is a Pussy!

At least you didn't name a sci fi movie.

Quoted: Quoted: Predator was a SCI FI movie. Commando was an action flick. But not as good as Die Hard. I dunno how you make that call. It was an action movie with a sci-fi element. Just because the antagonist is alien makes it sci-fi? Does that make Terminator sci-fi?

Yes, sci fi. And if Die Hard had nazis and Bruce Willis was a Ranger it would be a war movie.

Quoted: Remember a lot of film goes by without even seeing the Predator. The plot was based around a missing special forces unit who had gone looking for a guerilla camp...

Sci Fi. One could argue The Blob was a action flick but we both know it was sci fi.

Quoted: Die Hard with a Vengeance, in spite of the lame name, was the best of the series. Even with the .38 scene at the end. C'mon, how many hot killer chicks (killer hot killer chick?) were in Die Hard? As far as better, HEAT, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tears of the... no, wait, not that one. That one sucked.

Heat is a contender.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hell no. Name a better one. El Mariachi Replacement Killers The Professional Killer True Lies...

All lame. True Lies was almost a comedy.

No.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hell no. Name a better one. Terminator Terminator 2 That's two... SCI FI one and two. Yeah, cuz we all know there was no action in those movies...

Geeze there was comedy in them too, are they comedies.

Movies with aliens, movies about cyborgs from the future, etc. are SCI FI flicks.

Just because they have action in them (and virtually every movie does) does not make them NOT a sci fi flick.