Guy Fight no. 4

[vikingshadow]

Ok, the last one was a bit of a challenge and ended up closer than I expected. So for this one, I went way back to the 80's and early 90's again, and the birth, and subsequent rise, of the action hero. Who better to use than these guys?

NOTE: For the polls purposes, I only listed what I personally thought were typical Action Hero movies of the period in their movie credits. I may have missed some, or not added some that you personally may think belong on the list. (For example, I didn't list Sin City under Bruce Willis because he wasn't really the star or the movie, nor did he really be an "Action Hero" per sey.) Also, I did not list sequels or prequels in their credits - you can figure those out on your own!

So, who was the bad ass of all these bad asses? Which one did the best movies, who could kick who's butt, who had the best one-liners? TRY to keep your thoughts on their present day lives out of it (Ahnold as the govenator, and Mel's recent Jew bashing...for example. ;) )

Harrison Ford

(Star Wars, Indianna Jones, Blade Runner, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Fugitive, Air Force One)

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/adc/10101953A~Harrison-Ford-Indiana-Jones-Posters.jpg

Arnold Schwarzenegger

(Hercules in New York, Conan, Terminator, Commando, Red Sonja, The Running Man, Predator, Total Recall, Total Recall, The Last Action Hero, True Lies, Batman and Robin, The 6th Day)

http://images.art.com/images/products/regular/11796000/11796692.jpg

Kurt Russell

(Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Tango and Cash, Backdraft, Tombstone, Stargate, Breakdown, Soldier, Sky High)

http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/52b/a50/52ba500b-9dda-49cf-bb4b-d175396d68e3

Sylvestor Stallone

(Rocky, Rambo, Lock Up, Cliffhanger, The Specialist, Tango and Cash, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd, Assassins, Daylight)

http://p.vtourist.com/1171199-Rambo-Penticton.jpg

Bruce Willis

(Die Hard, The Last Boyscout, Last Man Standing, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Mercury Rising, Apocalypse, Tears of the Sun)

http://www.toxicshock.tv/news/wp-content/uploads/live_free_or_die_hard.jpg

Mel Gibson

(Mad Max, Lethal Weapon, Air America, Maverick, Ransom, Payback, We Were Soldiers, Braveheart, Conspiracty Theory, The Patriot)

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/19/MAD_MAX~Mad-Max-Beyond-Thunderdome-Posters.jpg

[HelpDeskHustler]

no poll yet?

[vikingshadow]

It's there. Guess it takes a bit for the poll to come up after the post.

[HelpDeskHustler]

Of those.... Bruce Willis, but you really missed a lot of good ones.

[marvin-martian]

oh man...this is even harder. are we voting for whos the bigger BA, or who we like more?

[applesauce]

im not voting because Russel Crowe isn't up there...

[shunut]

Bruce Willis FTW. Die Hard was awesome, and Tears of the Sun was my favorite movie that he did.

[Ace24]

I voted for Harrison Ford... I grew up with the Indiana Jones movies as well as Star Wars and I loved them.

Bruce Willas would have been my second choice, and Arnold for third. (Which would have been close between Arnold and Gibson).

Crap I like Kurt Russell too! LKjdlsfjksdklfjlsfjks HARD POLL!

On a side note, for the Bruce Willis films, you forgot the Sixth Sense.

[VS3 Sniper]

Bruce Willis imo

[leed]

Iono, as far as a BAMF goes.. I figured Sylvester Stallone.

[Taillo]

Shwarzie, due to the number of action movies he as done.

[newkid]

sylvester FTW cause of all the rocky movies

[HelpDeskHustler]

Bruce Willis FTW. Die Hard was awesome, and Tears of the Sun was my favorite movie that he did.
tears of the sun was so lame. it's like 1000x corny the only good scene is the town where they bust out silenced.

and Stallone has less intensity in his voice than Steven segal.

[vikingshadow]

Of those.... Bruce Willis, but you really missed a lot of good ones.

Who did I miss? I can't think of anyone else (outside of the martial artists in the last poll, but I didn't want them in this one. Different genre and all.) Outside of these six, there isn't anyone else that could fill the "Action Hero" shoes. I even looked up action hero in Google to make sure...

im not voting because Russel Crowe isn't up there...

Russell Crowe's not an action hero - he was in only one movie - Gladiator - that would even compete. Then that lame one with Meg Ryan....not enough to make him an ACTION hero.

He's a good actor, sure. I loved Master and Commander and Cinderella man, but those movies aren't what this poll is about.

As far as the poll goes, I think in the category of "Action Hero" Arnold and Stallone fit the description the best. Harrison and Willis are GREAT actors and I loved their movies - particularly the Indianna Jones and Die Hard movies - but face it. Those moves were basically normal people squeaking by on luck - in the end, they always win, but barely. And Mel Gibson was definiely more of a bad ass in Lethal Weapon (the first two, that is) and Mad Max (Road Warrior) than Bruce Willis was in Die Hard - hate to say that because I know people won't agree, but when Riggs was involved, you knew he was going to go freaking nuts and kill as many people as he could - and NO ONE could shoot better than him! I mean, come on. He kicked Jet Li's ass when he was in his upper 40's.

However, Arnold is pretty much going to kick someone's ass all the way through the movie, and Rambo and Rocky, well - yeah. However, if it came down to Ahnold vs. Stallone (remember that discussion, you older guys?) I'm going to have to go with Arnold! So, that covers all topics EXCEPT who made the better movies. In that category, it comes down to Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson, for sure.

So, Ahnold, Stallone, Willis, Harrison and Gibson....wow, my reasoning didn't help me any!

[HelpDeskHustler]

I think Travolta might have been a worthwhile choice. Pulp Fiction, Swordfish, Basic, Faceoff, Punisher.

[vikingshadow]

Those were really good movies, but I don't think that he belongs in the "Action Hero" category. Face off may have qualified him, but the others, not so much. If we were going to go in depth, he might have qualified more in the modern day "gangster" genre with Pulp Fiction, Swordfish and Punisher. To me, he is a very cool actor (been watching him since Welcome Back Kotter) but not the Action Hero type.

By action hero, I mean the kind of guy that when you go to see a movie that they're in (or rather, watch on television) you just KNOW there's going to be women, car chases and crashes, shooting, and MAJOR explosions - and cheesy one liners every 3-10 minutes.

[tater_salad]

I voted Sylvester Stallone.

[vwjimmy]

I like most of those movies....
...but a true action hero is almost all action, and few words....
With that in mind, my vote went to Arnold

[clickclicksplat]

I picked Harrison Ford. My childhood was filled with Star Wars, and to this day it's probably my favorite movie of all time. And Air force One kicked ass.

[118917]

i'm going with Solo