What movies have you seen that have an excellent action scene, but are otherwise only average at best?

I'll submit Proof of Life and The Final Option.

Proof of Life is really pretty bad, until the final jungle raid/rescue scene. That scene is badass. It's quintessential 90's Hollywood military action.

The Final Option is a slightly more tolerable overall movie, but the final raid scene is far better than the rest of the film.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KSGM,

Tears of the Sun. The final battle scene almost makes up for the rest of it.

Batman v. Superman. Batman violently clearing out a warehouse of bad guys is not only a great action scene, but also one of the best Batman scenes ever. The rest of the film, though...

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The lightsaber duel between Kenobi/Jin and Darth Maul is about the only redeeming quality of that film.

Cast my vote for “A man apart”. The story is unremarkable at best.

New “The Crow” is just one (absurd and not exactly original) scene. The rest i don’t think i remember.

“Copshop” with Gerard Butler.
“The Town” has good action but for a Shakespearean (if not mistaken) adaptation, it’s meh.0

These are the first that come to mind.

0~0

The Way of The Dragon

Chuck Norris vs Bruce Lee at the end. The rest of the movie doesn't even reach average. It sucks.

6 Underground. Or Extraction. Either are just frameworks to hang action scenes on.

But, they were pretty good at doing that.

Misread the OP. Withdrawn lol

Bullitt, The French Connection

That's harsher criticism than I would level at Tears of the Sun. You are right in saying the final battle outshines the rest of the film though.

The Town is a very good example. Both heist scenes in that movie are quite fun, and the last one has near-Heat levels of cool gunfire audio. The rest of the movie is merely OK.

I haven't seen Extraction, but I understand that it is like you said: a barely passable plot that serves only to provide circumstances for action. I don't know that a movie like that is what I had in mind. If the action is pretty steady, and the movie is self-aware in it's mediocrity, then it's a "B" movie. You know what you're signing up for.

I think The French Connection has a better chase scene than Bullit, and is an otherwise better movie as well. That said, TFC may not qualify, the way I see it. Bullit certainly does. I don't know that the chase in TFC outshines the rest of the film enough.

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
“The Town” has good action but for a Shakespearean (if not mistaken) adaptation, it’s meh.

The Town isn't Shakespeare. It's based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan.

+1 for Tears of the Son,
first one I thought of,


Heat is a strong contender,

The fight in the diner between Spencer Tracy and Ernest Borgnine in Bad Day at Black Rock. The former handed the latter his ass, with only one arm to boot. The martial arts tactics he used were almost unknown in movies at the time.

You could throw away all but the action scenes in Equilibrium.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
Heat is a strong contender,

If you're mostly interested in it as an action movie, then yes, the bank robbery shootout overshadows the rest of the film, and there is not enough action to fill out its long runtime.

But as it says on its poster, Heat is a "Los Angeles crime saga". If you enjoy Heat as a suspenseful crime drama, then it's still great even if you removed most of the bank robbery shootout.

The Final Option and Tears of the Sun were the first two movies that came to mind, so it was no surprise to see them mentioned right off the bat.

I wouldn't include Way of the Dragon, b/c I liked the other fight scenes besides the climax. Action movies such as 6 Underground and the Extraction franchise have several good action scenes in them, so I wouldn't count them either.

Two films I'd nominate are The Yakuza where Ken goes samurai berserker in the climax and the park fight from Billy Jack.

"I'm gonna take this right foot, and I'm gonna whop you on that side of your face... And you wanna know something? There's not a damn thing you're gonna be able to do about it."

I hardly remember anything from those flicks besides those scenes.

From the OP...

"What movies have you seen that have an excellent action scene, but are otherwise only average at best?"

The overwhelming majority will likely agree that Heat is much better than average.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
You could throw away all but the action scenes in Equilibrium.

I pay it gladly.

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
From the OP...

"What movies have you seen that have an excellent action scene, but are otherwise only average at best?"

The overwhelming majority will likely agree that Heat is much better than average.

Heat is much, much better than average indeed. The characters Hannah and McCauley are particularly complex. The supporting cast is deep. It has action but the story wasn’t a simple good (Hannah) versus evil (McCauley).

You actually find yourself hoping McCauley gets away at the end.

Proof of Life - yes, the rescue mission at the end is pretty good, as is the scene where the "good faith payment" is going to take place which is spoiled by Russell Crowe's entrance. I enjoyed the whole movie and wish Hollywood would make more like this, but I can understand why people find the rest of it doesn't live up to the exciting parts.

I thought The Kingdom (2007) was okay. It starts with a pretty good terrorist attack. Then it settles into a run-of-the-mill crime investigation. Then it ends with an intense car chase and city shootout, culminating in one of the best fight scenes. It's the best scene I've seen Jennifer Garner partake in.

Oh, the film Short Time is a rather forgettable '80s comedy, but it does have this hilarious car chase where the late Dabney Coleman tries to intentionally kill himself but keeps failing.

V For Vendetta

The opening sequence in Swordfish. The rest of the movie is OK, but that opening sequence is amazing.

Oh, and Halle Barry topless is cool too.