Worst Action Movies Actor of All Time?

[Drasko]

Cool article Grazioso.  I like Chan's earlier movies (from Hong Kong I think) more than his American ones, though the first Rush Hour is good... there are some bad ones like the Tuxedo.  The American films don't really play to his style of slapstick humor, glad he thinks the same thing!  He basically goes underused in formulaic plots...

The mixture of slapstick talent and unbelievable athleticism in earliest Jackie Chan movies was incredible. I can watch anytime few films from late 70s that made him a star, like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow or Drunken Master. He managed to keep good pace during 80s with Police Story, Wheels on Meals, Armour of God... But that type of comedy is very physical and as he got older it naturally become tamer and moved more into more mainstream action-comedy waters, where I lost any interest in watching him. I guess majority of viewers mostly know him from these last 20 years, which is shame.     

[eyeresist]

Arnold deserves a mention as well, although I did enjoy Conan The Barbarian and the first Terminator.   

I actually really enjoy Arnie's performances. Technically he is questionable, but I've never seen a lazy performance from him. And he has a pathos I like, as a result of his ungainly body, thick accent and sad eyes. I thought he was the best thing in Batman & Robin, and I even like his comedies!

[Mirror Image]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the worst I've seen. Dolph Lundgren is another one that just can't act to save his life. Jean-Claude Van Damme is another one...

[eyeresist]

Great films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger:
Conan the Barbarian
Terminator
Predator
Total Recall

Great films starring Dolph Lundgren:
...

[The new erato]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the worst I've seen. Dolph Lundgren is another one that just can't act to save his life. Jean-Claude Van Damme is another one...

I read about van Damme once that the only expression he was capable of was that fleeting, unsecure look he got on his face when he desperately tried to remember the lessons of the single acting class he ever attended. Well put I thought at the time.

[MishaK]

I'm trying to find a decent transfer on youtube but I can't find one - the entire movie used to be up there - go search for "The Man Who Saved the World", a Turkish 80s knockoff that liberally copied and pasted special effects scenes from Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica for lack of native production capabilities. Has got to be the worst action/sci-fi movie ever. So horrible, it's hilarious.

[Lethevich]

Great films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger:
Conan the Barbarian
Terminator
Predator
Total Recall

Indeedie. I would add Terminator 2, Commando, True Lies and the Running Man to this. Even Eraser is okay, in a retro way. Arnold had a way of making bad films interesting, sometimes simply by being a big enough name to attract a sufficient budget to make the special effects look really good. It sets him apart from people like Seagal and Van Damme, at least - they were largely trapped in dingy modern-era military settings because their films were produced on such a shoestring.

I will give Stallone his due, though - Rambo 4 was better than anything Arnold has done recently.

[The new erato]

I will give Stallone his due, though - Rambo 4 was better than anything Arnold has done recently.

You mean, like cheating on his wife and running Califonia bankrupt? Yeah, that's a walkover.

[jowcol]

Okay, you may be missing one of the most disturbing of all time, and that has to be BillyJack. 


I must confess that when the first movie came out, I was just about 12-13, and was so deeply moved by the end that that I and my friends stood up, raised our fists and shouted "Right On!".  The scary thing was the we meant it.  I saw it again when I was in my 20s, and I could not believe how wretched it was.  It wasn't only the bad acting and stereotyped villians, but the psuedo-philosophical and self righteous posing that made it so uniquely bad on a cosmic level.


I never lasted through the nearly 3 hours of "The Trial of BillyJack" .  If you are a glutton for punishment, check out the BillyJack website, where you can see that, in addition to kicking ass, he's a Jungian philosopher who can cure cancer, and also may help Bulldog and Grazioso diagnose what is wrong with the film industry.  You may aso reach out and contact BillyJack.  Wow.

http://www.billyjack.com/



http://www.youtube.com/v/v325wdgoFH4

http://www.youtube.com/v/jXXyms5g5ok

[The Six]

Anyone saying Schwarzenegger can't really be serious. Even saying he's a bad actor is outrageous, but worst of all time? Some of y'all need to actually watch the films.

Nick Cage isn't the worst, either, but with the crap he's put out there recently there should be some consideration to revoking his Oscar.

[DavidW]

Nick Cage isn't the worst, either, but with the crap he's put out there recently there should be some consideration to revoking his Oscar.

NOT THE BEES!  NOT THE BEES!!

http://www.youtube.com/v/e6i2WRreARo

[Grazioso]

Dolph's done at least two:
Universal Soldier
Johnny Mnemonic

Johnny Mnemonic a great film?

I'm with those who think Arnold is a decent actor, sometimes quite good, given the material. Certainly he's vastly superior to someone like Van Damme, who simply cannot act. Even Seagal looks John Gielgud next to Van Damme.

[eyeresist]

Indeedie. I would add Terminator 2, Commando, True Lies and the Running Man to this. Even Eraser is okay, in a retro way. Arnold had a way of making bad films interesting, sometimes simply by being a big enough name to attract a sufficient budget to make the special effects look really good. It sets him apart from people like Seagal and Van Damme, at least - they were largely trapped in dingy modern-era military settings because their films were produced on such a shoestring.

Yeah, I really had to be stringent with my list-making, because most of Arnie's movies have high entertainment value. As I implied earlier, part of his appeal is that he really is an odd fellow, not at all the bland all-American tough guy we typically see in this genre. But I guess you are right about the budget thing, too. Seagal and Van Damme's films by comparison usually look like they were made for the straight-to-video market, even if they weren't.

Johnny Mnemonic

WTF?!

[DavidRoss]

You mean, like cheating on his wife and running Califonia bankrupt? Yeah, that's a walkover.

If you think the Govinator had anything to do with California's fiscal catastrophe then you're definitely living in an alternate universe. 

Segal, hands down.  Not even close.

[Lethevich]

In a Google related to this thread, today I learned: Steven Seagal isn't Asian or Native American or something. I don't know why I thought he was. Possibly the jumpers?

[mc ukrneal]

In a Google related to this thread, today I learned: Steven Seagal isn't Asian or Native American or something. I don't know why I thought he was. Possibly the jumpers?

He lived in Japan, where he headed a dojo, which was unusual for a foreigner. Maybe that is what you are remembering.

[DavidW]

I think Seagal has a black belt in aikido.  I had a friend that practiced aikido... and it was a pretty different martial art.  It's mostly used for defense and is built around using your opponents momentum against them by redirecting their motion.

[knight66]

When I read the rirle of the thread I at once thought of Victor Mature; but I see the thread is about the modern Action Pic.

So my prize goes to



Vin Diesel. In the cinema he actually made me laugh out loud, wooden. The characters in Stingray were more expressive.

Mike

[Lethevich]

Vin Diesel has one saving grace for me - Pitch Black was a pretty good film, and like the best films of this type it was scripted around his acting talents.

[The Six]

The Fast and Furious franchise is the best thing going in cinema today.