close
close

Gottagopestcontrol

Trusted News & Timely Insights

The 10 most linear action films, ranked
Albany

The 10 most linear action films, ranked

Non-linear films are sometimes fun. When a film goes off in strange directions, folds in on itself in a meta-like way, or indulges in a non-chronological narrative, the results can be dizzying and unique. That’s a big reason why films like Memory And pulp Fiction are so revered. Sometimes action-packed movies can get into non-linear action, as seen in films like Kill Bill And Sin City.




But as far as action movies go, there is also a lot of appeal in those that keep things simple and more or less linear. The following action movies are all direct in one way or another, with characters achieving simple goals, coping with time moving steadily, moving from one point to another, or being stuck in one placewithout much room for unpredictable movement. Such linear films – all of which still feature great action – are rated below on how linear and satisfyingly straightforward they are.


10 “John Wick” (2014)

Director: Chad Stahelski

John Wick - 2014
Image via Summit Entertainment


The John Wick Movies have gotten bigger and more complex with each new installment, and they’ve also gotten bigger in terms of things like budgets and running times. The sequels to the first film therefore offer more spectacle, but the story of the 2014 film is also simpler. John Wick that really satisfies. Its directness was probably one reason for its success; a reason that contributed to the sequels.

With John WickThe film is about a ruthless ex-killer who has everything taken away from him, so he goes on a quest for revenge – seemingly with nothing to lose – and shoots/beats up a lot of people who deserve it. Narratively, the other John Wick Movies aren’t the most complex things in the world, but they build a big world that you can only guess at in the first film. It’s mainly about taking revenge and kicking a lot of people in the ass.


9 “The Rattlesnake” (1981)

Director: John Carpenter

Escape from New York
Image via Embassy Pictures

Escape from New York is about the escape from New York and presents a cinematic argument why no one on screen has ever been cooler than Kurt Russell here he plays Snake Plissken. His character is tasked with infiltrating what was once Manhattan, which is now a huge prison because the President is imprisoned there and needs to escape from… you know, New York.


Snake Plissken goes in, he clashes with people, he meets some allies, and then he gets the President, and then they disappear from New York (spoiler, sorry). It’s so blunt and matter-of-fact, but that’s also part of what Escape from New York so cool. It’s almost like a movie about hanging out in a dystopia, with a little action and a lot of hardship along the way – it’s really fun.

8 “Commando – The Command” (1985)

Director: Mark L. Lester

Arnold Schwarzenegger Commando
Image via Silver Pictures


Of all the many entertaining action films with Arnold Schwarzenegger, command is probably one of the silliest and most entertaining. Schwarzenegger plays a former elite commando who has to use his skills again when his daughter is kidnapped. From this point on, it becomes clear that he will stop at nothing and spare no one when it comes to saving her.

After this annoying conspiracy is established, command is more or less a series of rather ordinary action scenes in which Schwarzenegger easily takes on dozens of people. He has amassed an incredibly high body count before the film ends exactly as you would expect. But it is a silly kind of entertainment, and the quality of the action is forgivable if command ultimately leads to the delivery of quantity.


7 “The Dirty Dozen” (1967)

Director: Robert Aldrich

Lee Marvin as John Reisman poses with a gun
Image via MGM

While The Dirty Dozen didn’t rewrite the book narratively, but it did push the boundaries of its time in terms of content, featuring a vicious brand of violence and a willingness to follow some pretty flawed antiheroes who were sometimes more “anti” than “hero.” The story is set in World War II, and the titular troupe consists of military prisoners who are told they will be granted freedom if they successfully complete a dangerous mission behind enemy lines — and survive.


Structurally uncomplicated but undeniably satisfying, The Dirty Dozen follows the formation of a team, then shows how the team prepares, and then presents the team taking on the dangerous mission after great preparation. It’s a film that gives a sense of adventure and scale, but in the end it’s factual and very easy to follow in terms of story. which gives it a sense of linearity (in a positive sense, of course).

Rent on Apple TV

6 “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Indiana Jones is pulled by a car in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Image via Paramount Pictures


A wonderfully successful reminiscence of the action/adventure series of the past, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the best Steven Spielberg films and one of his easiest to enjoy. It was the first Indiana Jones film and is still the best film in the series that bears his name. Here it follows him as he races Nazi troops to the Ark of the Covenant, trying to get it before they can use it for likely nefarious purposes.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Is The plot is quite sprawling, as it is an adventure film that travels around a globe, but the plot is not complex and mostly revolves around getting from one point to the next.and so on until the final destination is reached. There is humor along the way, great action sequences and fun characters, and that’s really all you need for an action movie like this.


5 “The Revenge” (2017)

Director: Coralie Fargeat

With a self-explanatory title similar to the one above Escape from New York, Revenge revolves around revenge. It has a straightforward premise and a small cast of characters. The protagonist is a woman who is attacked by a group of men and left to die in the desert. only that she does not die and is reborn as an unstoppable being who will stop at nothing to make men pay for it.

The film stands out for the audacity with which it pursues this premise and the extent to which it goes in terms of violence, making it one of the most extreme action films in recent history. Revenge is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re willing to put up with something violent and think you’ve seen all the carnage there is to see on screen, give it a watch. You’ll probably come away surprised and/or a little traumatized.


Watch on Shudder

4 “Die Hard” (1988)

Director: John McTiernan

Bruce Willis as John McClane looks down from a broken window in Die Hard
Image via 20th Century Studios

The Die Hard Sequels were not as wild or progressively bigger in the same way as the John Wick That’s been the case with most of the films, but this is another classic action franchise where the first film was both the easiest and the best. Die Hard follows an unlikely hero who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time…but he also turns out to be the only person who can stop a group of suspected terrorists who have taken over the building where his estranged wife works.

It is a film that unfolds over a short period of time and always has clear goals for John McClane (Bruce Willis). It is not so much about what happens, but how it happens, proves to be exciting, with so much tension, well-placed comedy and exciting – though never too flashy – action scenes scattered throughoutall in all a real classic.


3 “The Raid” (2011)

Director: Gareth Evans

The 2011 attack
Image via PT. Merantau Films

A fundamentally structured but completely simple martial arts classic, The attack has the feeling of an old-school video game; a beat ’em up with one level after another… in the truest sense of the word. It is set in an apartment complex where an elite police unit’s mission goes awry and the cops must fight their way out of the building, practically floor by floor.


The attack wastes very little time, clocking in at just over an hour and a half long, and keeps the characters very straightforward. There are a few minor narrative twists here and there, but the focus is clearly on the action, and in particular on following a cop as he takes on numerous criminals who have an incentive to kill him and his allies. The attack is relentless and completely linear. It’s a simple action film with complex fight choreography and a film that delivers a real adrenaline rush. The sequel, while fantastic, is a more complicated (and some would say convoluted) affair.


2 “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)

Director: George Miller

A War Boy jumps from car to car in Mad Max: Fury Road
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

While Mad Max: Fury Road is little more than just a feature-length action scene, but it certainly feels like one at times due to the ferocity of the editing and the relentless pace. The title character is swept away on what is arguably his wildest journey yet, forming an uneasy alliance with a woman named Furiosa, who is planning a risky escape from a post-apocalyptic warlord with some of his most prized “possessions” (a group of young women) in tow.

In Mad Max: Fury Roadthe main characters escape to a place, find that it is not what they expected, and then return to where they came from, defeating the evil that enslaved them along the way and ultimately emerging victorious. For two hours, the characters travel from point A to point B and then back to point A.. That may sound boring, but it makes it one of the best action movies of all time.


1 “The General” (1926)

Directors: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

Buster Keaton looks out of a train in “The General” (1926)
Image via United Artists

Generally speaking, The General is one of the most important action films of all time and one of the first examples of what is now known as the “action genre” to be seen in full force in a feature-length film. But even then, the reputation The General “Just an action movie” is an understatement, because it is also a romance movie, a civil war movie, an adventure movie and a really great comedy.


It is Buster KeatonIt is the most famous film for good reason. The plot follows him as he sets out to save his train and the girl he loves from people who have taken them both from him. How Mad Max: Fury Roadit compresses a journey from A to B and then back to A in one film. It is even more linear, since most of it takes place on a railway line and they can only travel in one direction without derailing. The Generalthe film never derails. It races forward and then back and is consistently funny, impressive and exciting.

NEXT: The worst DC Comics movies, ranked

LEAVE A RESPONSE

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *