Action Movies -- An All-Points Bulletin

So I have a question: is there something about Nicolas Cage that I need to know?

I’m asking this because -- as I’ve said before -- I’m not exactly the most competent when it comes to movie trends. I know who Nicolas Cage is, obviously, but the qualities of his filmography are lost on me.  Is he generally considered to be a good actor?  Is he bad?  Is he just plain weird?  Does he have a habit of appearing in terrible movies? 

That last one deserves a bit of focus, because…well, I seem to have gotten “unlucky” when it comes to Nic Cage movies. 

I don’t usually go out of my way to watch movies, but when my brother and I have our buddy over, more often than not we end up taking a break from games (and the gathered rage therein) to see what’s on TV.  And since my brother’s the one holding the remote, he’s certain to try and find something that tickles his fancy…and you can just imagine how well that tends to go for me.  More recently, he’s had us sit through not one, but two of Cage’s movies: first Drive Angry, and then Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  I can sum up my thoughts on each in less space than a tweet.

Drive Angry: Too stupid to be good.  Not stupid enough to be awesome.

Spirit of Vengeance: A movie featuring a hellish biker isn’t allowed to be this boring.

Let’s ignore the fact that I’m baffled by the mere existence of these movies (and the less I have to remember the image of Ghost Rider pissing fire all over the place -- twice -- the better).  It brings up a more important question: what’s a good action movie?  I know I asked a question like this in the context of horror movies -- and now have a verifiable armada of movies to check out, so thanks for that -- but given how successful that post was, I thought I’d do the same for action movies.

To be honest, I don’t have a problem with action movies -- at least not as much as horror movies.  Whereas the latter has consistently disappointed me to the point where I assume directors would rather shoot a nuclear bomb than try to make one, action movies have much more potential to surprise us, amaze us, and in general be much more competent than the carnival of explosions might suggest.  Like I suggested with Drive Angry, I don’t mind if an action movie (or the subgenres related to them) is stupid; there’s no denying that The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is stupid and several types of terrible, I still enjoy it a lot more than I do Drive Angry or…well, either Ghost Rider movie, now that I think about it.

So I guess that’s what brings me here today.  Name me some good action movies, if you’re willing -- anything that’s entertained, excited, or even inspired you in the past.  It can be stupid.  It can be smart.  It can be deep.  It can be shallow.  It can be in any subgenre, any language, or any [insert third qualifier here].  I don’t even mind if it’s got Nic Cage in it; in fact, you get five million bonus points if you can point me toward a good Nic Cage movie.

So whatever you’ve got in mind, let me hear it.  I’m in the mood for a little excitement.  Just one thing, though -- don’t bother putting Die Hard on your list.  I’m pretty sure that’s already the one movie I need to see, so…yeah, I’ll get to it.