Action Classics

I'm as much a fan of today's action movies, even the ones filled with either computer-generated imagery, ADHD-esque, lightning-quick editing, shaky camera movements, or all of the above, as the next guy, and generally think that action movies have improved over the years, but I can think of at least two movies out on DVD that make a solid argument for the old adage: "They don't make 'em like they used to." The first one, which has only been out for about five years in the format, is John Frankenheimer's 1966 Formula One film Grand Prix, while the second, which has been available in the format for so long that I was able to get it at a bargain-bin price, is James Cameron's sci-fi classic Aliens. These films are twenty years apart and literally worlds apart in their setting, but for me they truly set the bar for what a truly fantastic action film should be like.

I won't go into a detailed review of either film; I already reviewed Grand Prix elsewhere (specifically at http://apeltala.multiply.com/reviews/item/51) and Aliens is, I think, so well-known that even among many of the younger sci-fi geeks that it needs no introduction from me. What I WILL discuss is why I think these films continue to serve as the standard for action movies even today, and will present my "theses," point by point.

1. Keeping It Real - Aliens was made when CGI was in its nascent stage, and therefore not only clunky but prohibitively expensive, which meant that it wasn't an option for Cameron. Grand Prix was made when CGI was nonexistent. As a result, both filmmakers relied on a combination of stunts and practical effects for the action sequences, and while Aliens had some iffy green-screen sequences and Grand Prix had an awkward scene in which a racing car's wheel broke off but didn't quite look realistic, I was really struck by how in-your-face most of the action was in both films, although this was more evident in Frankenheimer's film than in Cameron's as Cameron seemed to have budgetary constraints.

2. Building Tension is Essential - Aliens being a horror film set in space, Cameron obviously had to build more tension than Frankenheimer did, but clearly both of them knew how to do it. The Aliens script is easily Cameron's best, and it is through this that he sets the stakes and maps out the perils that lie ahead for Ripley and the marines. Also, even though this was a sequel and therefore part of a franchise, Cameron was able to create an atmosphere of fear that people from the cast of characters would die, as many of them did. Frankenheimer didn't write the rather so-so script of Grand Prix, but in filming the races and even the quieter moments, he managed the all-important task of establishing why the races mattered, why the drivers would risk their lives driving around and around.

3. Letting the audience see the actors in the thick of things - the cast of Grand Prix, in many sequences, actually drove their cars at ridiculous speeds. Of course, safety and insurance clauses dictate that actors should not do anything quite so dangerous these days, but there is still something important about creating the genuine illusion that the lead character was in some kind of peril. Audiences could see Ripley in the robotic loader fighting the alien queen at the end of Aliens, and could see Sigourney Weaver's adrenaline charged-performance. These days, it's all CGI and jump cuts, with a lot of the original magic gone. Sam Worthington's duel with Stephen Lang at the end of Avatar, as slick as it may have been, did not, to my mind, have anywhere near the visceral impact or emotional resonance of the Ripley/Alien Queen throwdown, and never will.

This is not to say that there aren't a number of action films these days that get it right. For all the criticism leveled at the "shaky cam" device they leaned so heavily upon, I remain a fan of all three Bourne films, which as improbable as they are when one really thinks about them really riveted me for two hours at a time and sold me on the idea of Matt Damon as an amnesiac hyper-assassin. I'm also a fan of Frankenheimer's 1998 cult classic Ronin, the spy film starring Robert de Niro and Jean Reno that featured more high-speed car chases, this time through city streets. There are films where CGI is used as a supplement to the atmosphere, including Cameron's own Terminator 2 rather than as a substitute for real, balls-to-the-wall action. There are plenty of good action films out there, even the ones that used CGI, shaky cams and quick-cuts.

The reason I picked these two films as my standard was, to be honest, my astonishment at how well they've aged, which goes to show that at the very least, adherence to the three rules I cited are a pretty good indicator of how well a movie can endure the inevitable onslaught of time.