By Troy L. Smith, Cleveland.com | Posted March 19, 2018 at 06:30 AM
Photo: Miramax Films
CLEVELAND, Ohio – What makes a great action scene?
Visual wonders help. Skilled performers are a must. Tension and execution are essential.
The 50 scenes featured on our list of the absolute best action movie sequences ever filmed each have that little extra something. Maybe they were groundbreaking for their time or simply pushed things to a level of excellence that had yet to be reached.
It’s just one opinion. But these are the action scenes we keep coming back to, ranked in order of how awesome they were.
We limited the list to one scene per movie. And Warning: Several of the video clips feature graphic violence.
50. “Point Break” – Chasing the Ex-Presidents
The “Ex-Presidents” bank robbery scene is thrilling to watch. But it’s the chase afterwards that marks the turning point in “Point Break.” Keanu Reeves’s FBI Agent Utah breaks his cover to try and catch Bodhi’s crew. What ensues is a foot chase through a neighborhood where a dog is used as a weapon and Utah eventually blows out his knee.
49. “28 Weeks Later” – The escape
49. “28 Weeks Later” – The escape
“28 Weeks Later” breaks all the rules of zombie culture and that’s what makes it so terrifying. The escape scene, in which a husband leaves his wife and a child they were taking care of behind, is disturbing to say the least. But it’s hard to blame his quest for survival when he’s being chased by zombies that can run faster than Carl Lewis.
48. “Fast Five” – The bank vault
What makes the fifth installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise the best is that it’s the most self-aware. The moments may be over-the-top, but they filmmakers and characters known how to own them. Dom and Brian pulling a bank vault through the streets, while using it as a weapon against crooked cops is a fun bit of destruction that’s one of the more unique and destructive getaway scenes you will ever see.
47. “Jurassic Park” – Must go faster!
The T-Rex spends a good amount of time showing how strong it is when the dinosaur first shows up in “Jurassic Park.” But it’s the second appearance that’s scarier. Watching a creature of that size (and looking so real) keep up with a jeep at full speed let’s you know (if you didn’t already) that this theme park definitely isn’t going to work.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
