The Top 20 Underrated Action Movies

Riley Jones and Goliath present The Top 20 Underrated Action Movies.  Using just Jones’ list, here are his comments (and mine) for my top three:

The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Released in the early 90s, The Last Boy Scout features the unlikely duo of Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans. The story follows an LAPD detective (Willis) investigating a murder surrounding a football team. With the help of the victim’s former boyfriend (Wayans), the two embark on an action-packed adventure filled with explosions, gunfights, and hilarious one-liners.

Considering how popular Willis was as an action star at the time following the wildly successful Die Hard and its sequel, it’s surprising that The Last Boy Scout only grossed a mere $59.5M at the box office. Despite Wayans being relatively new to the scene, the film featured an entertaining and equally ridiculous story full of laughs and excitement that will keep you hooked from start to finish.

Craig’s comments: I think two things hurt The Last Boy Scout: 1) Many viewed it as more of a comedy than action film and 2) The opening scene of the football player running down the field and then pulling out a gun to shoot opposing players turned people off.   I loved The Last Boy Scout.  I felt it was the right mix of action and comedy with many memorable scenes including two of my favorites: “If you touch me again, I’ll kill you” and the scene in the alley when Bruce Willis is about to get killed and survives because of a, pardon the expression, “killing joke.”

The Rundown (2003)
This little known 2003 buddy comedy, directed by Peter Berg (Hancock) and starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Sean “That Guy Who Played Stiffler” William Scott, is an absolute hoot to watch. One of our personal favorites, The Rundown isn’t a great movie by any stretch; it features a fairly predictable plot and some pretty corny moments, but damn if it isn’t just a whole lot of fun to watch. Great cast chemistry can often elevate an average film, and that’s most definitely the case here, as Johnson and Scott play well with each other, while Christopher Walken’s villain is also a surprisingly organic contribution to the film. Is it going to win any Oscars? Definitely not, but it’s the kind of movie we’ll never turn off if we stumble upon it when we’re scrolling through the channels late at night. Also starring Rosario Dawson, it’s a nifty little movie with some really great fight scenes.

Craig’s comments: If The Rundown had been made a little later in Dwayne Johnson’s career, I believe it would have been a hit.  The Rundown is a great, fun buddy-movie.  What’s equally surprising to me (that it wasn’t a hit), is that there was never a sequel.

The Way of the Gun (2000)
Before he was directing the aforementioned Jack Reacher, Christopher McQuarrie was best known for both writing The Usual Suspects (1998) and directing this cult classic starring Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliet Lewis, Taye Diggs and James Caan. Following two ill-advised career criminals as they kidnap the surrogate mother of a strange and mysterious man, The Way of the Gun was the subject of many a lukewarm film review upon its release; however, like a fine wine its reputation has gotten much better with age. Now considered an underrated film in the action genre, The Way of the Gun features a particularly strong turn from the savvy veteran Caan.

Craig’s comments:  I love The Way of the Gun.  Admittedly, it’s not for everyone.  At times it’s profane, not politically correct and gory.  Still, The Way of the Gun is so unlike most Hollywood movies, with characters (and a great cast) in a story that’s so compelling, it draws me in any time it’s on or I pull out the dvd.

Craig’s additional comments: There were two Stallone movies (Demolition Man and Cliffhanger) that made Jones’ list that I almost put in my top three.  The reason I decided against including them is because, they’d be obvious choices for me and I think these other three films deserve greater notice as well.  I also didn’t include John Wick because I don’t think it is underrated.  Doesn’t everybody love John Wick?