Eleven that could be one hundred and eleven. From Hong Kong action cinema in the eighties to the explosion of marginal cinema in Spain in the same decade. From the best car chases in the world in Hollywood in the seventies to dynastic kung fu in Asia in the sixties, from the CGI zanies of the two thousand to the urban B-movie of the VHS era. There are dozens of subdivisions of action cinema and, therefore, hundreds of films that have gone unnoticed. or that they have directly been failures.
The first films by established directors, the debutant efforts of actors who later succeeded, stumbles at the box office by apparently infallible names… action cinema is one of the largest in the world because suspense films, adventures, science fiction and a long etcetera. To pay a small tribute to some of them, Our new installment of ‘Everything is a lie in film and television’ reviews some of the best… and least known.
You have to see these movies before they kill you
For this we have assumed that we have to leave gaps and holes along the way, and what we have gone is to claim a few pieces that may have gone unnoticed. Of course, if you are a gourmand of oriental action you will know the absolute classic ‘Yes, Madam’, but… do you know ‘Tiger on the Beat’, which brought together the Shaw Brothers classic Liu-chia Liang and the magnificent Chow Yun-fat in a chainsaw-fighting bombshell that leaves ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’ in its infancy?
In the same way, if you like more commercial and bombastic action, you will know The Rock’s filmography inside out, but we offer you a couple of movies from when he was not so well known, a remake of a classic from the seventies and a jungle adventure comedy with a very unique macabre tone. Another one we unearthed from dark times is Renny Harlin, who I’m sure you’ve seen The Jungle 2. How about some genetically enhanced sharks with Thomas Jane on board?
And of course, of course, there are many gaps to fill. We have not put anything from Japan or India. We have skipped all the Spanish cinema, there is a lot and it is very good. The latest mind-blowing wave of French action cinema, strongly influenced by the Orient, is also not represented in this selection where there have been room for self-parodies, surly and dark films, one by Mel Gibson that is actually two and even a misunderstood sequel one-hit
But surely you have many titles in mind that you consider inexcusable that we have not included. Tell us in the comments and let’s all pay homage to the action movies that didn’t get the attention that they deserved