No Right Answer: Best Action Hero Ever

subtlefuge

Lord Cromulent
May 21, 2010
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DTWolfwood said:
Jason Statham was in Dungeon Siege... that discredits him!
The fact that he survived a Uwe Boll film is, in my opinion, one of the strongest points in his favor.

To everyone crying Bruce Willis: he's an obvious choice, but his roles in no way lead to him being considered a primary action hero. The fact that he has better forays into action than anyone else doesn't matter if he fails to meet the criteria for selection that was made at the beginning.

Really, Statham and Schwarzenegger represent the same thing from different time periods. Back in the 80s, if you had a hot action flick, and you wanted a star to make sure it was a success, you would choose Arnold, and for good reason. Now, Jason Statham isn't just the best choice, but the only choice (even if Gosling destroyed my opinion of the Transporter series). Anyone who might compete now did most of their action acting during the same period that Arnold did.

By means of monopoly, Statham wins. There were just more action stars in the 80s and 90s. Also, I've never seen Arnold come off as psycopathic outside of "Jingle all the Way", and Jason seems to be unable to turn that off. Scary stuff.

 

Darth_Payn

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Aug 5, 2009
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Torrasque said:
A better debate would have been between Ahnold and Bruce Willis.
I still vote Ahnold because I love his movies, but Bruce Willis movies are really badass as well.
I think Jackie Chan wins this hands down just because of all the many bones he has broken doing his own stunts.
No that's a debate worth having! Guys, make this your next episode; I think we need a rematch.
 

Redd the Sock

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Apr 14, 2010
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Arnold leaps to mind just on versatility over a long period while Stathan seems very generic and repetitive. On the other hand, all good will I have about Arnold went out the window the time I saw Junior. All action stars have to have one blemish on the record, but they usually aren't that painful.
 

TeletubbiesGolfGun

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Sep 7, 2012
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ImSkeletor said:
PlasmaCow said:
Jason Statham stars as Jason Statham in Jason Statham the Movie starring Jason Statham.

BORING!

Seriously, every film where he's the "big name" is exactly the damn same.
False. Just wrong. Crank =/= The Italian Job. Transporter =/= The Bank Job. Safe=/= War. Death Race=/=Revolver. Very different movies. Its cool if you don't like him. But saying his films are the same is just plain wrong.
agreed, when i saw crank my mouth was dropped that turned into a big smile throughout the movie, i love him as an actor. such a crazy movie that hits the spot on occasion.

OT:

Bruce willis and jackie chan!

I mean jackie chan has(had) his own sweet ass cartoon...and bruce willis just oozes cop action.
 

TeletubbiesGolfGun

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Sep 7, 2012
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Aureliano said:
In this fight I've gotta go with Statham, if only because Arnold doesn't really do anything. His entire acting career is: flex, punch thing, get hit by thing, sound ridiculous, repeat. If/when you get bored of 'huge Austrian guy does not fit in this scenario' he's got nothing left to offer you.

Statham can tell a joke, he's a joy to watch in a fight, his accent is fantastic, he has a real sense of humor and he can actually be sexy. Also, seriously: Crank. Crank may be the same movie as Transporter, but so much weirder and funnier.

Overall though, we know who the real winner should be:
van damme is where it's at!

i could watch his movies all day for their cheesy helicopter kicks, it never gets old seeing those.

hard target anyone? a mullet wearing random tears shit up and roundhouses a guy on a motorcycle like he was just clothes lined.
 

Something Witty

Omnidimensional Conductor
Sep 18, 2012
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Statham is far too young to be the best action star compared to Arnold. Maybe after Statham does some better movies.

You have to admit the Terminator series, Total Recall, and the Running Man were some of the best scifi action movies of all time. Nothing Statham has done garners that kind of response.
 

Urameshi13

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Jan 18, 2011
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Jason Statham is awesome. But he will never have the cred of AHHNOOLD!

PROOF!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxn0Xfqkgw
 

SilverUchiha

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Dec 25, 2008
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Clearly, the best action star is Bruce Willis. Why?
Much like Statham, he's cool and a badass. He's also a talented actor who is capable of more serious roles. However, like Arnold, I guess, he can have fun with the roles and play more out-there characters. Some of them are crazy, some of them are guys who don't take the situation seriously. But Willis provides a wide range of character he can play and play them all very well.

Alternates?

Will Smith is good and has a decent range, much like Bruce Willis. But I have yet to see him hit his defining action film. If anything, he's competent but hasn't hit the high point yet.

Jackie Chan is old, but every movie he is in is fun to watch (with the exception of a couple of the more recent films). A lot of his older stuff is comical not only because of poor dubbing, but also because of the slapstick humor incorporated into the fighting, which is pretty awesome. While not being as skillful as Bruce Lee or Jet Li, I've found him at least more entertaining on many different levels.

Nicholas Cage is... interesting. Not handled properly, you have a guy trying to play crazy when he likely shouldn't be. Handled properly, his crazy personality will shine just when you need it to and bring his characters to life. I think Kick-Ass best highlights just what kind of fucked up people Cage is capable of bringing to life on screen, and that's probably one of the tamer action-based character's he's played.

Lastly, Liam Neeson anyone? There are probably other names that deserve to by on my list, but I think I'll give it to Liam. This is a guy who was able to play Oscar Schindler. Since then we've pretty much been cool with letting him do whatever he wants and not judging him for the roles he takes. Some roles have landed him interesting action jobs. Taken was surprisingly good when it came out and he's had several others. While his action roles take a heavier acting tone than Chan, Willis, or Smith, Liam will always deliver a solid, kick ass performance. If none of the five names here are considered better than Schwarzenegger or Statham, then you must be crazy or just have terrible taste in film.
 

Zehuty

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Dec 13, 2009
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Bruce Lee the reason he is the best, after ten minutes in the Expendables 2 he left.
 

blackrave

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Living_Brain said:
blackrave said:
Bruce Willis for sure
Because Die Hard
And also he still does movies I kinda like (Surrogates and Looper- if you haven't seen Looper yet, go and check it out it is good)

Second would be Jackie Chan, but he usually plays Jackie Chan.
(only movie I really liked was "The Myth"- it is at least different)
Red?
Yes, also great movie (tnx for reminding)
 

Jofarin

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May 16, 2009
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Jason Statham is more the only left over from a period of great action movies, because he came too late. Crank is very good, but that's about it. Transporter movies are kinda really generic, Crank 2 is basically Crank 1 but not so good and if you look up his list of movies he was in half of the movies you remember he wasn't even "the star" (like The One, Expendables 1+2, Collateral, The Italian Job, Death Race, Snatch and Lock, Stock And Two Barrels). Not even mentioning the dozen movies you can't remember because they were shit even AFTER he became famous.

Now turn to Arnold. You know 90% of the movies he made after Conan and he isn't "the star" in a handful of them. And he made DOZENS. Ok, a few of them weren't action movies. But he made more action movies than Statham was in movies at all. And he was a governor for some years not making any movies at all...


If you translate the debate to sports, I'd say Jason Statham is like the best player in the NBA this season and Arnold is a legend like Air Jordan. Anyone who favors Statham is probably too young to know more than a dozen Arnie movies.


P.S: I'm glad nobody mentioned Chuck Norris as best actor in action films, because Chuck Norris doesn't act, he just kills.

[Edit]
And I'd go that far and say Statham isn't even a star, because a star behaves like a star. Statham doesn't.
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
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Why does it seem like whoever is sitting on the right side of the screen (guest stars included now :p) always seem to gain the upper hand?

For the record, this debate is easily decided. Arnold survived the 80's - a trial-by-fire for action stars - with his career intact. Jason didn't even make movies in the 80's. Game. Set. Match. Arnold.
 

ZexionSephiroth

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Apr 7, 2011
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You know what, I'm gonna make a joke Thesis; and try to take it seriously:


Rainbow Dash would make the greatest Action star, because her very presences seems to turn the very world around her more into an Action film the longer she's in the area. And since she lives in a world where Peace and harmony rule for 90% of the time, that's saying something.

Her first scene is her crash Tackling the Main character; she attempts to leap strait for Violence with Nightmare Moon, Twilight (Again), A (Misunderstood) Monster, A Sleeping dragon, and more.

In the episode she focuses most in, she spends the entire time acting like a comic book super hero, despite her abilities being only kinda above average for her species. And she spends the half the episode trying to out Action star Six other ponies posing as one Super hero.

She leads a cart chase after a friend and takes it way too seriously...

She practices Combat sports as a hobby, despite the fact that it's only done anything good in that "Diplomacy based world" like... once.

She seems to have even taken up the hobby of "Dragon Watching", which has already scorched her once; and she healed perfectly.

All this comes to a head when her "action star, reality warping powers" get so strong, that in a season finale, that should have been about a normal everyday wedding; the entire castle is invaded by changelings and she kicks every single one of their butts before they're rounded up back to the thrown room for "round 2". At which point, the only reason she wasn't the one who saved the day is because "Magical Love" solved all their problems... by nuking it!

So, yeah... She'd make a great action star.
 

Harbinger_

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Jan 8, 2009
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One-Liners an action hero does not make. An action hero isn't the kind of guy that you can sit there and laugh at. No, an action hero is the kind of guy that you go "Wow, that was really bad-ass." I honestly find that Arnold's movies with the exception of Predator are just trying too hard. Batman and Robin is not an example of a good action movie unless you live in opposite land.

As far as Jason goes, he has done multiple action movies with different characters and he doesn't stray far from what he does. (Arguably some actors don't like being type-casted but for some it guarantees that when you think something specific you think of them.)

If you want comedy you think Robin Williams.
If you want satire you go for Will Ferrel.
If you want martial arts you go for Bruce Lee.
If you want action you think of Bruce Willis.

Bruce Willis wasn't on your option for best action hero so the next one I think of is Jason Statham.

If you want a ridiculous over-the-top silly action star you want Arnold.

Last Action Hero, Jingle all the way, Commando, Junior, Batman and Robin, Twins, Hercules in New York, Raw Deal, Collateral Damage, etc.

I'm not counting the Expendables on this list because apparently it's not considered to be that bad at all. (Even though I certainly thought it was a waste of money.)
 

Angnor

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Nov 11, 2010
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DTWolfwood said:
Jason Statham was in Dungeon Siege... that discredits him!
Agreed. Of the two choices, only one was in an Uwe Boll movie. No Batman movie is half so bad...