Movies in the Action/Thriller genre

When Pierce Brosnan took over the role of James Bond for Goldeneye, much was made about how the franchise was being "modernized." In reality, the only apparent changes were cosmetic. Brosnan's 007 was easily connected to the character previously p...

Close feels like many of the numerous direct-to-DVD titles that were prevalent during the 2000s. High on action and low on logic, those movies were made quickly and for little money to satisfy an audience whose expectations were for 90 minutes...

It started ten years ago in 2008. Call it the “Liam Neeson Action Hero First Quarter Movie.” With Taken, Pierre Morel and Luc Besson tried an experiment: put a suave, respected actor in a B-grade action movie and see how audiences reacted....

Con Air, producer Jerry Bruckheimer's generic follow-up to 1996's blockbuster, The Rock, is the kind of motion picture that critics refer to when they moan about the "dumbing down" of American cinema. This movie is a perfect example of what's wron...

During the mid-1990s, in the wake of Quentin Tarantino’s unlikely ascent, the movie landscape was suddenly populated by all manner of Pulp Fiction wannabes. Some were better than others. Joe Carnahan got his start with one of these, 1998’s ...

There's not much of a mystery about what Crank delivers. As promised, it's 85 minutes of action, with little in the way of encumbrances like dialogue and exposition, and only skeletal fragments of a narrative to keep things moving. For the most p...

Daylight is an action picture without a villain. Frankly, it doesn't have much of a plot, either. Or characters, for that matter. In fact, the so-called dramatic elements of this movie are so shaky that you wonder if the filmmakers spent all o...

Released in 1971, Diamonds Are Forever was Sean Connery's final "official" turn as James Bond (although he eventually starred in Never Say Never Again, 1983's Thunderball remake). After skipping On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Connery was lure...

Imagine, if you will, the dispiriting experience of listening to an awful cover of one of your favorite songs. That's how I felt sitting through Die Another Day, the 20th official outing for Ian Fleming's super-spy. This is a train wreck of an ac...

Die Hard represents the class of modern action pictures and the standard by which they must be judged. Few films falling into the "mindless entertainment" genre have as much going for them as this movie. Not only is it a thrill-a-minute ride, but...