Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ work on Raiders of the Lost Ark , harking back to the pulpy adventure serials of the 1930s, resulted in one of the most timeless, unique, and entertaining entries in the entire ge
The Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies opens with Rudolf Abel, technically the film’s antagonist, looking at himself in the mirror in his cramped New York apartment. As the camera pans out, we realize he’s trying to capture all of his own features in a self-portrait he’s painting. In a matter of seconds, Spielberg establishes that this is a mild-mannered man with a solitary existe
While many fans are convinced no one else could play Indy after Ford retires from the role, Phoenix made for a great Indy and brought a lot of Ford's charisma while making it his own. It is a fantastic opening scene showing how this hero came to
This series has always known the importance of throwing some comedy in with all the action and adventure elements. Each movie has its share of genuinely funny moments, but The Last Crusade has the biggest lau
But his message is more complex than that. This movie isn’t necessarily anti-America, but young, unprepared, terrified boys were shipped off to war to fight for that flag. It’s also worth noting that this particular flag can be found at the cemetery near Omaha Beach where the film’s framing narrative takes place. The flag can be seen as a symbol of liberty anywhere else, but in this cemetery, it can also be blamed for all those gra
After the first Mad Max movie presented a bleak dystopia in a somewhat recognizable near-future, the second one dived head-first into a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by gas-guzzling villainy. Mel Gibson returns to the role of Max, tearing across the desert in his V8 Interceptor, looking for a fight worth fight
When the plane went out of frame, it actually crashed. Since the pilot wasn’t able to close the cockpit door, this made it impossible to use the rudder. Thankfully, the plane wasn’t too far off the ground, so Ford and the pilot weren’t hurt too ba
Luc Besson’s Léon: The Professional offers a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a contract killer . Jean Reno stars as the titular hitman, who takes his 12-year-old neighbor Mathilda (Natalie Portman) under his wing when her entire family is killed by a corrupt DEA agent (Gary Oldm
Bruce Lee starred in a ton of classic action movies, from Fist of Fury to Game of Death to The Way of the Dragon , but arguably his most iconic work is the final movie he completed before his untimely passing: Enter the Drag
One of the most memorable moments from Raiders of the Lost Ark Mounts Ark is when Indiana Jones is in Cairo and comes across a swordsman looking to fight him. Instead of engaging the enemy, he simply pulls out his gun and effortlessly shoots him. However, that’s not the way the scene was originally supposed to go d
Both films do an exceptional job of delivering thrilling action sequences . With ambitious set-pieces and largely practical effects, these movies are still exciting to revisit today and marvel at what the filmmakers were able to pull
That being said, when they first tried to film the scene, none of the spiders moved when they were put on Molina’s back. This was because all of the spiders were male. After they added a female to the mix, however, the spiders got very animated and the shot was achie
Though both movies have action sequences that rank among the best of all-time, The Last Crusade edges out the original. From the opening train fight to the boat chase through Venice to the wild tank battle, these action scenes come one after another and are all extremely impress
An action movie is perfectly passable if it has a couple of fistfights and explosions and a wisecracking hero, but the very best movies that the genre has to offer go above and beyond with visceral camerawork, breathtaking stunts, and sharp storytelling driven by action. Directors like John Woo and James Cameron have brought an artfulness to action cinema that legitimized the ge
From establishing Indy’s characterization and his rivalry with Belloq in the gripping opening set piece to wrapping up the quest for the Ark of the Covenant in a neat bow with the grisly climax, Lawrence Kasdan’s screenplay for Raiders is airtig
Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best example of Indy as a cinematic hero. From the very first scene, as he goes through the temple filled with boobytraps to his iconic "fight" with the swordsman, he is a hero that explodes off the scr
Based on lengthy story discussions with Lucas and Spielberg, Kasdan masterfully boiled the plot down to its essence and turned in a script that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of its hero, as well as the spirit of adventure its
Raiders of the Lost Ark begins with a giant action scene of Indy trying to escape a temple that housed the Golden Idol. Indiana Jones almost gets crushed by rocks, trapped in the temple, has to outrun a giant boulder, and then runs for his life from the angry locals. Indy runs to a seaplane and they fly off, but things only got worse from there in real-l