Action (Films) All The Way

Today I’m looking at the genre of what I term “Action Films” and listed below are some of the action films I have. Some of these I’ve already dealt with under the “Classic Films”, “Westerns”, “War Films” & “Drama Films” so I won’t go into any detail on those, however some of the “Action Films” I have not dealt with I will look at in a bit more detail.

All the films listed below are Halliwell 3* or 4* and have action listed as one of their categories..

Some of the “Action Films” I possess and enjoy include

Seven Samurai
The Lord of the Rings (1): Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings (2): The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings (3): The Return of the King
(The Adventures of) Robin Hood
Assault on Precinct Thirteen
Braveheart
Dirty Harry
A Fistful of Dollars
The French Connection
From Russia with Love
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Jason & the Argonauts
Saving Private Ryan
The Shootist
The Wages of Fear



I intend to look in more detail at

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, and Alan Hale.


PLOT:
When Richard the Lionheart, the King of England, is taken captive by Leopold of Austria while returning from the Crusades, his brother John (Claude Rains) takes power and proceeds to oppress the Saxon commoners. Prince John raises their taxes, supposedly to raise Richard's ransom, but in reality to secure his own position on the throne.
One man stands in his way, the Saxon Robin, Earl of Locksley (Errol Flynn). He acquires a loyal follower when he saves Much (Herbert Mundin) from being arrested by Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) for poaching one of the king's deer. Robin goes alone to see Prince John at Gisbourne's castle and announces to John's assembled supporters and a contemptuous Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) that he will do all in his power to oppose John and restore Richard to his rightful place. He then escapes, in spite of the efforts of John's men.

His lands and title now forfeit, Robin takes refuge in Sherwood Forest with his friend Will Scarlet (Patric Knowles). There they meet and recruit Little John (Alan Hale, Sr.). Other men join their growing band. Later, Robin provokes Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette) into a swordfight, but then persuades the friar into joining him to provide spiritual guidance to the outlaws. Soon, Prince John and his Norman cronies find themselves harassed beyond all bearing with many of their troops receiving instant deadly retribution for their abuses courtesy of the Merry Men's arrows.
One day, Robin and his men capture a large party of Normans transporting taxes through Sherwood. Among Robin's "guests" are Gisbourne, the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper), and Maid Marian. Robin and his men "liberate" the tax money, swearing to a man to contribute it towards King Richard's ransom. At first, Marian is disdainful of Robin and his "band of cut-throats", but becomes convinced of his good intentions. Robin lets the humiliated Gisbourne and sheriff go, telling them that they have Marian to thank for their lives.
The Sheriff then comes up with a cunning scheme to capture Robin. He suggests to Prince John that he announce an archery tournament, with the grand prize a golden arrow to be presented by Maid Marian, knowing that Robin will be unable to resist the challenge. All goes as planned; Robin identifies himself by winning the competition and is taken prisoner. Gisbourne sentences him to be hanged. However, Marian warns Robin's men, and they manage to rescue him on his way to the gallows. Later, in the dark of night, Robin sneaks into the castle to thank her. Marian and Robin declare their love for each other.
Meanwhile, King Richard (Ian Hunter) returns to England disguised as a monk, but is recognized at an inn by the Bishop of the Black Canons (Montagu Love) after he overhears one of Richard's men call him "sire". The traitorous bishop hurries to inform Prince John. Upon receiving the news, John and Gisbourne plot to dispose of Richard quietly before he can raise an army. Dickon Malbete (Harry Cording), a disgraced former knight, is sent to assassinate him in return for the restoration of his rank and Robin's estate. Marian overhears them and writes a note warning Robin, but Gisbourne finds it and has her arrested and condemned to death for treason. Marian's nurse Bess (Una O'Connor) informs her boyfriend Much, who intercepts and kills Dickon after a desperate struggle.
Richard and his escort travel to Sherwood Forest to find Robin. When Richard is certain of Robin's loyalty, he reveals his identity. Then they learn that John intends to have himself crowned king by the Bishop of the Black Canons in Nottingham the next day.
Knowing that the castle is too strong to take by force, Robin decides to use guile, visiting the bishop and "persuading" him to include Robin and his men, in disguise, in his entourage. Through this ruse, they gain entry to the castle and interrupt John's coronation. A melee breaks out, during which Robin and Gisbourne engage in a prolonged swordfight. Gisbourne is finally slain, and Robin rescues Marian from her cell.
Richard is restored to the throne; he exiles his brother, pardons the outlaws, returns Robin's earldom and orders him to marry Lady Marian. Robin declares, "May I obey all your commands with equal pleasure, sire!"

Awards
Wins
11th Academy Awards:
Best Art Direction, Carl Jules Weyl
Best Film Editing, Ralph Dawson
Best Original Score, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. An excerpt for violin and orchestra, the love theme of Robin and Marian has had a separate career as a concert piece.
Nominations

11th Academy Awards:
Best Picture, Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke
Other honors

In 1995, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.

In 2001, the film appeared at #100 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills list.

In 2003, the main character, Robin Hood, appeared at #18 on the AFI's 100 Years... Heroes & Villains list.

In 2005, the film appeared at #11 on the AFI's 100 Years... Scores list.
The tale of Robin Hood is a typically English one. The robber outlaw who robs from the rich and gives to the poor, the protector of the downtrodden and helpless, the one who fights for the underdog. Errol Flynn cuts a dashing figure as the leader of the men in green, and Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisboure is well cast as one of the villains. This is an entertaining film of swashbuckling and daring which will keep you entertained for the whole of its running time

Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 American action/thriller film inspired by the Howard Hawks western film Rio Bravo. It was written and directed by John Carpenter. The film tells of the fictional attack on a police precinct by the Street Thunder gang out for retribution for the death of their comrades. The film received mixed reviews with an unimpressive box office return in the US. However, it went on to receive tremendous critical and popular acclaim in Europe

As you may well have grown to expect from John Carpenter this is an action packed and vicious film which pulls no punches. Even an innocent little girl buying an ice cream is gunned down by the gang in their attempts to kill all the police, criminals and civilians in Precinct 13.

A Fistful of Dollars (Italian: Per un pugno di dollari) is a 1964 western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volontè, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, José Calvo and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in 1967, it initiated the popularity of the Spaghetti Western film genre. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), also starring Eastwood. Collectively, the films are commonly known as "The Dollars Trilogy" or "The Man With No Name Trilogy". This film is an unofficial remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo (1961). In the United States, the United Artists publicity campaign referred to Eastwood's character in all three films as the "Man with No Name".
As one of the first Spaghetti Westerns to be released in the United States, many of the European cast and crew took on American stage names. These included Leone himself ("Bob Robertson"), Gian Maria Volontè ("Johnny Wels"), and composer Ennio Morricone ("Dan Savio").
A Fistful of Dollars was shot in Spain, mostly near Hoyo de Manzanares close to Madrid, but also (like its two sequels – For a Few Dollars More & The Good, The Bad & The Ugly) in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park in Almería province.

A Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood) arrives at a little Mexican border town named San Miguel. He is quickly introduced to the feud between two mafioso style families bitterly laying claim to the town: the Rojo brothers, consisting of Don Miguel (the eldest and nominally in charge), Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp) (the most head-strong) and Ramón (the most capable and intelligent, played by Gian Maria Volontè, who would go on to reappear in For a Few Dollars More as the psychopathic El Indio), and the family of town sheriff John Baxter (Wolfgang Lukschy).
The Stranger quickly spies an opportunity to make a "fistful of dollars" and decides to play both families against each other. Eventually he ends up rescuing Ramón's prisoner and mistress, Marisol (Marianne Koch) and reunites her with her own family. Together again, she and her family are told to flee the town by the stranger.
The Rojos capture and torture the stranger after this betrayal, but the stranger soon escapes with the help of the coffin maker Piripero (Joseph Egger, who would also reappear in the sequel For a Few Dollars More). In their search for the stranger, the Rojos, the stronger of the families, gather outside the Baxter home, set fire to it, and massacre them all. The Rojos become the only family left in San Miguel. The Man with No Name returns to town to engage the Rojos in a dramatic duel. In doing so he rescues his new friend, the local innkeeper Silvanito. The Man with No Name kills the Rojos, including Ramón, and rides away before the governments of America and Mexico arrive at San Miguel.
There is excitement all the way in what is initially a Spaghetti Western. Despite some quite harrowing and bloody scenes (particularly when the man with no name is beaten up by Ramon) one feels that if the man with no name survives, Ramon has signed his own death warrant and will get his come uppance.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963) is a Columbia Pictures fantasy feature film starring Todd Armstrong as the titular mythical Greek hero in a story about his quest for the Golden Fleece. Directed by Don Chaffey in collaboration with stop motion animation expert Ray Harryhausen, the film is noted for its stop-motion monsters. In particular, the sequence in which seven skeletons rise from the earth and attack Jason and his comrades is still widely considered to be among the greatest achievements of motion picture special effects. The score was composed by Bernard Herrmann, who also worked on other fantasy films with Harryhausen, such as Mysterious Island and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.

It is worth watching this film just for the special effects of Ray Harryhausen. This film was made long before we had CGI (Computer Generated Effects).

The Wages of Fear (French: Le Salaire de la peur) is a 1953 drama film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Yves Montand, and based on a 1950 novel by Georges Arnaud. When a South American oil well owned by an American company catches fire, the company hires four European men, down on their luck, to drive two trucks over mountain dirt roads, while carrying the nitroglycerine needed to extinguish the fire.
On its original release, The Wages of Fear was hailed by Bosley Crowther of the New York Times who wrote “The excitement derives entirely from the awareness of nitroglycerine and the gingerly, breathless handling of it. You sit there waiting for the theatre to explode.” Pauline Kael called it “the most original and shocking French melodrama of the 50s”. Roger Ebert has stated that “The film’s extended suspense sequences deserve a place among the great stretches of cinema.”
Due to the negative portrayal of the American oil company SOC, the film was accused of anti-Americanism and several scenes were cut for the U.S. release. The depiction of Véra Clouzot’s character as an easily manipulated simpleton, has led to accusations of sexism.

Awards
Berlin Film Festival: Golden Bear
1953 Cannes Film Festival: Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (Palme D’Or)
BAFTA: BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source
I remember the first time I saw this film being glued to my seat with the tension and excitement created by the hazards of driving to fully laden tankers of nitroglycerine over such dangerous tracks. So do seek this film out. I promise you that you will be thrilled, particularly by the last half of it