Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classic Paths of Glory) recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decadent Roman Empire. Kubrick would later disown the film because it was not a personal project--he was merely a director-for-hire--but Spartacus remains one of the best of Hollywood's grand historical epics.
Yuen Woo-ping's dazzling take on Robin Hood, set in a 19th-century Canton township, stars Yu Rong-guang as the humble healer Dr. Yang, who dons black tights and a bandit mask for nightly excursions as the Iron Monkey to rob from the thieving governor of Canton and give to the poor. When wandering herbalist and martial artist Wong Kei-ying (Donnie Yen) enters town with his son in tow, the governor blackmails Wong into capturing the outlaw. Needless to say, Wong and Yang become fast friends and team up to take on the new villain in town, the Monk, and his mob of street-fighting thugs.
No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen.
A flashy, splashy summer-movie blockbuster that's fun and exciting without being mindless? That's the impossible mission accomplished by director Brian De Palma, star-coproducer Tom Cruise, and the crack team of Mission: Impossible.
The world's greatest action hero, Jackie Chan (Rush Hour, Rumble In The Bronx), delivers twice the excitement and twice the fun in this nonstop, stunt-filled comedy thriller! Starring in dual roles, Jackie plays Boomer, a streetwise martial arts expert living in Hong Kong and his long-lost twin brother, John, a classical musician from New York! They've never met...but when John travels to Hong Kong to give a concert, these total-opposite identical brothers become unwittingly mixed up in a hilarious case of mistaken identity!
We are initiating a hard-target search for a fugitive in an ever-widening perimeter. We will navigate swamps, prowl Manhattan streets, search every house and doghouse. And since Marshal Sam Gerard leads the hunt, we will experience suspense, action and daring twists every step of the way. Returning to his Oscar-winning role from The Fugitive, Tommy Lee Jones joins Wesley Snipes and Robert Downey Jr. in delivering adrenaline-rush excitement.
Action superstar Jackie Chan stars in his most thrilling and stunt-packed adventure yet, Jackie Chan's Who Am I? Left for dead after a brutal CIA double-cross, a lone commando (Chan) must struggle to regain his memory and expose an international espionage ring before they can unleash a powerful and lethal new energy source. With the aid of two beautiful sidekicks, Jackie fights his way across continents and faces armed assassins and sinister plots at every turn. For blistering action and adrenaline-pumping excitement, nobody does it better than Jackie.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is special agent Harry Tasker, a top spy in the ultra-secret Omega Sector - although to his wife Helen, he's just a boring computer salesman. When Harry's two lives enexpectedly collide, both he and Helen find themselves in the clutches of international terrorists, fighting to save not only their marriage, but their lives. Jammed with incredible special effects, True Lies is an exhilarating mix of non-stop action and romantic comedy.
There are many reasons to recommend Troy as a good ol' fashioned Hollywood epic, especially if you've never read Homer's The Iliad. Dispensing with Greek gods altogether, this earnestly massive production (budgeted at upwards of $200 million) will surely offend historians and devoted students of the classics (for them, there's the History Channel's Troy).
Move over, Vin Diesel, because The Transporter, Hong Kong action veteran Corey Yuen's English-language directorial debut, is revving up to steal your thunder. As the other top-billed action star to emerge in 2002, British hunk Jason Statham--previously seen in Snatch, Ghosts of Mars, and The One--plays a hard-driving courier for well-heeled underworld clients. He follows simple rules: (1) Stick to the deal; (2) Don't ask names; and (3) Don't look in the packages he transports.
