Your top 5 greatest action scenes

[Fairweather Pure]

This topic comes up for a number of different reasons. First off, I was watching a dvd the other day with several friends all commenting on how a particular scene was one of the best action sequences of all time. This actually started a rather heated debate amoungst all the people in the room. Second, I realized that when I got my new HD TV and upconverted DVD player, I went digging through my collection and gathered up a selection of movies to kind of test the big screen out. Rather unintentionally, I had chosen my top action scenes without even thinking about it.

Here is my list, in no particular order.

1. King Kong (Peter Jackson) - While the entire time on Skull Island is pretty damn action packed, I think the King Kong vs. 3 T-Rexes stands out as one hell of an action scene. It's location ranges from the jungle, off the cliff hanging on vines, and finally to a most excellent 1 on 1 on a jungle plateua. It's also a rather long sequence that tended to one-up itself from start to finish.

2. Matrix Reloaded - The car/bike chase scene on the highway. Once again, this one is pretty long and includes changes from what started out as a simple car vs car chase, to eventually including motorcycles, semi trucks, and even some fighting atop moving vehicles. I was close to choosing the "swarming" scene in Matrix Revolutions over this, but I believe the chase scene had more adrenaline overall.

3. Return of the King - The seige of Minas Tirith. To be more specific, when the Riders of Rohan lead a charge into the goblins and orcs. Just when you think they've won, in come the Oliphaunts. I could almost feel the dread that the good guys must've been feeling when they saw those things lumbering into battle. This sequence also has a few smaller battles taking place that add to the overall scope and feel of the conflict.

4. Saving Private Ryan - The intial beach landing in the movie is visceral. The sound in this scene is particularly noteworthy. The zips, zings, and near misses almost had me ducking for cover in the theater when I first saw it. I believe that the inital combat scene in Enemy at the Gates is pretty much just as good as this. Both of these were later reproduced in video games. This scene is even more spectacular when you realize it actually happened. My grandfather lived through this.

5. X-Men 2 - The Nightcrawler opening sequence was one for the ages. It did an excellent job of setting the tone for the entire movie. I think it was a special treat for those that knew the character from the comics, although I imagine everyone thought it was pretty cool.

I think it will be interesting to see if trends emerge, like what happened in the "top 5 sitcom" thread. Age will likely play a part in people's choices. There are plenty of older movies with fantastic action scenes, but looking at my selections I lean more towards more modern movies for my choices.

[VariaVespasa]

Havent seen King Kong, and yes, I know I should fix that.
In no particular order-

1:- Aliens 2. Both the initial fight with the aliens while the marines dont have their ammo ending when the APC bursts out of the base into the open, and the final retreat from the lab to the second shuttle do it for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Nqj-qU ... ed&search=

2:- Saving Private Ryan. The beach landing, although several other scenes are way up there too.

3:- Return of the King. The Minas Tirith sequence, although engaging the oliphaunts head-on when, in the tactical position as depicted in the movie, they could and should have been kited to death still sorta bugs me. Of course, if I recall correctly, the situation as described in the book didnt allow for that kind of tactic, but in the movie...

4:- Heat. The running gun-battle after the bank robbery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7exsa3zXI8

5:- The Bourne XXX. Lotsa action goodness in the series, so its hard for me to pick a specific one.

Honorable mention:- Royal Space Force- The Wings of Honneamise. The battle at the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgVi_I-w ... ed&search=
Its an older (1987) japanimation movie so most people probably havent heard of it, but the battle at the end approaching ever closer to the spaceport as the launch crew feverishly tries to ready the rocket for launch just resonates with me. It won several best picture awards, and has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so it may be worth checking out.

[cadalano]

FW's Saving Private Ryan and Nightcrawler would definitely be on my top, but since FW already mentioned them I'll keep it more interesting

1- 300 - The first Persian wave. pure testosterone awesomeness, yet the body parts flying through the air in slow motion are strikingly serene and almost beautiful.. so there's something for the ladies too. makes you want to go find a spear and impale the nearest torso

2- Heat - If you've seen the movie, you know the scene. The bank score gone wrong. The start of the action is probably the best part where the cop is spotted off guard and it just hits the fan in a split second. You feel the same level of "OH SHIT" as the man who spots the cop

3- Ronin - Car chase through Paris.. couple other good scenes in this flick though. Easily the best car chase scene I've watched. Bourne Identify also has some great ones in it, but Ronin takes it for me. A buddy of mine said the car chases in French Connection set the precedent all other car chases and put Ronin and any other to shame, but I havent seen that movie yet. Its a personal list anyway!

4- Kill Bill - Crazy 88 fight. Kill Bill is probably one of the most hit-or-miss movies in existence among my circle of friends. I loved the movie and I love this scene. The schoolgirl miniboss at the end is fantastic

5- Empire Strikes Back - Siege of Hoth. Very long scene but once you see it you start to understand why ESB is often cited as one of few sequels that outdoes the first.

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

In no particular order

Heat (with Val Pacino et al)

Aliens 2 (when the Aliens start their zerg-rush)

Return of the King (The whole siege)

Way of the Dragon (Bruce VS Chuck)

Massive Asses (Alexis Texas-scene)

[Leonaerd]

Matrix Reloaded - Neo taking on hundreds of Smiths, and THEN he gets the pole and shit just hits the fan. That first slow-mo whack where he nails a Smith in the face then propels him into the nearby brick wall is intense. You can hear the "ping" of the metal pole and it's just nasty cool.

The Last Samurai - the whole movie is one big boner for me but if I had to pick a scene, I'd say the one at the end where the asians with guns run over the hill to be ambushed by MUTHAFUCKIN SWORDS.

DBZ (series)- Super Saiyan level 2 Gokuu against post-growth Frieza. Such hierarchal development throughout the series as each ally and opponent got progressively stronger or weaker. When Frieza gets kicked in the face and you see him really get the wind knocked out of him for the first time ever it's immensely satisfying. And then Gokuu's just standing there with golden hair looking completely badass. Very much a "I told you not to fuck with mankind" moment.

Gladiator - Opening scene (I'm a huge Rome: Total War fan, so seeing Testudo formations and Praetorian cavalry is amazing), also any of the gladiatorial matches were severely top-notch

LotR 2 - defending the castle... when Gimli blows that massive ass horn I get this huge adrenaline rush that no other scene in any movie can possibly ever duplicate. Also when he and Aragorn take on 50 or so orcs on the bridge to defend the castle gates in the same battle... very amazing.

Shanghai Noon - several awesome action sequences, but the dust bowl fight at the saloon where Jackie Chan concocts this horshoe + rope weapon and then slings it around his arm is pretty sweet.

Superbly crafted action sequences often trump a good story for me. They're more memorable and provide the instant enjoyment that we all really desire when in the theaters.

[Siji]

Do pr0n action scenes count?

[Spang]

Sherlock Jr. - 1924 silent flick starring and directed by Buster Keaton - can be seen on youtube!

part 1 of 5 - http://youtube.com/watch?v=PrfzXSUQ2J0 ...that'll get ya started

[masteen]

The Professional - Leon's finale

The Two Towers - Battle of Helm's Deep

Empire Strikes Back - Lightsabre Duel/Escape from Cloud City

Unforgiven - "Any man don't wanna get killed better clear on out the back."

Terminator - "I'll be back."

[Ogbar]

You guys picked a lot I would have picked, so let me go a different way and add some that weren't mentioned before.

-) Plane crash scene from "Aviator" - exceptionally well filmed sequence: I still say "whoa" at points when I watch it.

-) Final fight from "Ivanhoe" - it was made in the 50s, so the treatment is a bit different than how it would be done today, but it still holds up as a darn cool one on one midevil dual.

-) The ice battle from "Alexander Nevsky" - youtube has some cuts of it, but they don't do it justice. I strongly recommending renting this soviet made epic from the 30s

-) Attack on Hidetora's castle from "Ran" - "Ran" is Kurosawa's telling of "King Lear" as set in feudal Japan. The mixture of imagery and music is amazing (again, youtube just doesn't do it proper justice).

-) The bride crossing scene from "Sorcerer" (part 1, part 2) - They're desperate men, trying to transport highly unstable nitroglycerin through the jungle.

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Ogbar, your final fight-clip from Ivanhoe leads to the Aviator....

[Momopi]

1 Rocky VS Ivan Drago

2 Imperial assault on the Hoth rebel base

3 Michelle Yeoh VS Ziyi Zhang in the courtyard with all the different weapons in crouching tiger hidden dragon

4 Aliens take your pick its all good.

5 Steve McQueen car chases

[Xatrei]

There may be others that don't come immediately to mind, but these are definitely top contenders in my book. In no particular order...

• The lobby assault in The Matrix.
• The escape from the ancient Peruvian temple at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The beach landing in Saving Private Ryan
• Crazy 88 fight in Kill Bill: Vol. 1
• The Qin's archer attack on the calligraphy school in Hero(U.S. title)

[Zamtuk]

Beach Landing - Saving Private Ryan
First Battle Scene - Braveheart (how is this just now getting mentioned?)
Temple Scene - Blade
Guerrilla Camp - Predator (makes men out of boys)
Persian Assault - 300

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

5 more great scenes!

300 - First Persian attack!

Rocky VS Ivan Drago in Rocky 4

The Thing - First Encounter with The Thing in the dogpen.

Hero - Donnie Yens encounter with the guards.

Fists of Fury - Bruce VS the Russian.

[Bubba Grizz]

Damn. Most of the ones I was going to mention were already taken. All I can add are a few.

Magnificent Seven - The two big battles.
Starship Troopers - First assault
LotR - Aragorn faces off the White Hands
Enter the Dragon - Bruce > All
Serenity - River vs anyone

[Ogbar]

Ogbar, your final fight-clip from Ivanhoe leads to the Aviator....

Fixed now: sorry, and thanks

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

1. Godfather - when they shoot Mo Green through his eye glass lense while he's on the massage table.
2. Godfather - when they kill Luca Brasi by strangling him with a wire and his eyes pop out of his head.
3. Godfather - when Sal Tessio kills Carlo Rizzi, also by strangling him with a wire, but this was in a car and he ends up kicking the windshield out.
4. Godfather - when Michael Corleone walks out of the bathroom and shoots Capt. McCluskey in the throat while he's eating.
5. Godfather - when Santino Corleone gets shot up while stopped at the tolls.

[Kithyen]

Hard Boiled - Even if it wasn't my favorite Woo movie no one can compete with Chow Yun Fat sliding himself down the stairs firing away guns akimbo with a toothpick still hanging out of his mouth.

House of Flying Daggers - I didn't really like this movie but the final fight in the end is one of my favorite action scenes. It starts off with fairly elaborate sword play but as the two fighters start tiring they start wildly swinging and flailing in desperation at each other. The transformation to the snowy landscape just sealed the deal.

Eastern Promises - I enjoyed Cronenberg's A History of Violence so I figured I would enjoy this film as well. Even though I didn't enjoy it as much ( and found myself checking my watch at times ) the final fight between Viggo's character and the two henchmen in the bath house was worth the 6.50 admission. It's sloppy, violent, visceral and yes, Viggo is in his birthday suit with a split second shot of his junk as he gets thrown around I have a great respect for anybody that can act a fight scene in the nude.

Bourne Supremacy - The ending car chase. One of my favorites of all time.

The Killer - Pretty much every action sequence in their is tied for my fifth choice.

[Sionistic]

No order

Iron Monkey - Final Fight
Unleashed - Final Fight
Equilibrium - Final Fight
Kill Bill 1 - Final Fight - I actually like the Oren sequence a LOT more than the crazy 88 fight. Everything was just perfect about it.
Hero - Tough choice between the unamed/sword fight on the lake or siege of the emperor's castle