- 1 hour ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00We know the component parts of action movies, as well as we do the actors who made the genre
00:05their own.
00:06They've found reliability in this shadowy realm, if not quality, and the chance to stay relevant.
00:11Here are some stars whose action movie careers aren't what they once were.
00:16Between 1987 and 1992, Steven Seagal made a streak of three-word titled action films
00:22that prominently featured him kicking major ass and running very awkwardly.
00:26Movies such as Marked for Death and Above the Law were hits, and Seagal's star rose.
00:31But Hollywood grew weary of his attitude, and audiences moved on, with Seagal finding his
00:36way into the wild frontier of direct-to-video releases, a land where his ego was free to
00:41roam.
00:42Belly of the Beast, Code of Honor, Out of Reach, Against the Dark, and A Dangerous Man all feature
00:47Seagal doing what he does best.
00:49No, not sick Aikido moves employed against an army of thugs, but feeding his insatiable need
00:55to flood the zone with Steve.
00:57I have something in my pocket right now that'll completely clear up that bruise on your forehead.
01:02What bruise?
01:03Ow!
01:05Often produced by Seagal, many of these films are built around the concept of Seagal is
01:09badass, even if he's ultimately not even in them very much.
01:13Case in point, Outlaw Verne wrote of 2016's Sniper Special Ops, despite Seagal being the
01:18only person photoshopped onto the cover, he's not the main character at all.
01:23Contract to Kill, also from 2016, and yet another three-word title, is the exception.
01:28AV Club's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky noted that Seagal is in every scene, but he gives the kind
01:34of performance traditionally associated with stars who died during filming.
01:38After a lauded, late-career comeback that included a Best Actor nomination for 2008's The Wrestler
01:45and a high-profile role as a villain in the Marvel Universe, Mickey Rourke drifted idly
01:50into the direct-to-video universe, and hasn't looked back.
01:53The offbeat eccentricity that was his calling card for years has served Rourke well in this
01:58world, too.
01:59Rourke is often tasked with helping to sell a film on his name recognition, but only has
02:03to show up for a few scenes full of, quote, weird charisma, as The Hollywood Reporter described
02:08his brief appearance in 2015's Blunt Force Trauma.
02:12Rourke played Satan in a bizarre action-horror romp from 2013 called Dead in Tombstone, but
02:18according to Collider, he just kinda lopes around hell saying esoteric things and staring contemplatively
02:24at the floor.
02:25Variety was blunter concerning Rourke's appearance in The Legion, released in 2020.
02:30Bluntering his way through an extended cameo as a Roman general, it's the spectacle of a
02:34lazy actor who can't be bothered to take anything seriously anymore.
02:38Are you saying I risk being forgotten?
02:43The moment Cuba Goating Jr.'s career skidded off the Hollywood highway is very clear.
02:48It was with the 2002 release of the widely panned Boat Trip, for which he received a Razzie
02:53nomination for Worst Actor.
02:55A nearly unbroken string of direct-to-video releases followed, most featuring artwork were
03:00the stern-faced Goating holding a gun.
03:03Clunky actioners began to pile up, like 2009's The Way of War, which IGN described as, quote,
03:09a tedious war thriller, 2012's One in the Chamber, or the paper-thin 09 action-sci-fi hybrid Hardwired,
03:16where Goating's performance was described by real film as, quote, lazy and far from engaging.
03:22He is seen brandishing a gun on the DVD cover, though, so there is consistency.
03:27And as Goating settled into DTV momentum, his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Jerry Maguire
03:32A Distant Memory, he became the subject of articles pondering the question of just what the hell
03:37happened to his career.
03:40It was around 2011, even as he returned to movie screens as John McClane in A Good Day
03:45to Die Hard, that direct-to-DVD started appearing next to titles in Bruce Willis' filmography.
03:51A bankable, reliable action lead throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Willis was suddenly and
03:56frequently appearing in cheap DTV actioners and thrillers where he had little to do but
04:01show up and convey a sense of vague irritation while deploying his wry half-smile.
04:06Asquire asked the question burning on so many of our minds, why does Bruce Willis keep making
04:11films he clearly hates?
04:13There's no way I could ever explain that to you.
04:17Well one big reason is the steady paychecks proffered by dreck like Extraction, The Prince,
04:22Vice, and Reprisal.
04:23Even if you've never heard of these films, they find markets for the distributor internationally
04:28or on streaming services, with Willis' well-known mugs scowling from the front cover.
04:32Look, not even John McClane can single-handedly take down teams of bad guys forever.
04:38Sometimes work is work, even if it's for, as The Independent put it, remnants of his name.
04:43And if viewers still crave a bit of that famous Willis cantankerousness, maybe a late-night
04:47viewing of Extraction will do the trick.
04:50Of this particular flick, Den of Geek said,
04:52It's not totally awful, just kind of dull and predictable, with Willis' brief action chops
04:57being the opposite of tested.
04:59The Rock, John Cena, Hulk Hogan.
05:03It's a well-traveled road between professional wrestling ring and action movie marquee.
05:07For Steve Austin, who ascended to wrestling's elite upper reaches in the 1990s with his Stone
05:13Cold moniker and the catchphrase Austin 316, the transition to cracking skulls on the silver
05:18screen seemed like a natural progression.
05:21And that happened, kind of.
05:23In 2007, Austin starred in The Condemned, a world wrestling entertainment-produced spin
05:28on the most dangerous game that was critically condemned for its brutality and questionable
05:33moral compass.
05:35From there, it was on to a litany of direct-to-video releases, films with hard-bitten titles like
05:40Tactical Force and Maximum Conviction where there was plenty of brawn displayed, but an
05:45obvious lack of budget.
05:47Austin's run at action film heroics wasn't even fooling genre fans.
05:51Considering the 2015 bruiser Chain of Command, Manly Movies reviewer questioned whether Austin's
05:56brief scenes were filmed anywhere other than in one room, and Den of Geek stamped 2010's
06:02The Stranger with the faintest of action movie praise.
06:05It has bursts of violence that are ugly, uninspired, and lazily choreographed, but at least make
06:11for a reason to keep watching.
06:14After a series of smaller movie and television roles, Megan Fox's career really took off with
06:19her appearance in 2007's Transformers.
06:22The big, loud, Michael Bay-directed sci-fi action spectacle spawned too many sequels, but
06:28Fox only made one, having been dropped from the project after she made disparaging comments
06:32about Bay.
06:33A live-action role in the Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films followed, and Fox
06:39appeared on TV and in numerous, mildly successful films.
06:43She eventually returned to action with 2020's Rogue, a film Fox seems to have taken at least
06:49in part to reckon with her own action movie past.
06:52In Rogue, Fox plays the leader of a team of mercenaries who face off against a pack of CGI
06:57lions.
06:58Critical comment is mixed on the film, with some outlets offering praise for Fox's performance
07:03films, and others reacting negatively to the film's budget constraints and the aforementioned
07:08computer-generated animals.
07:09For now, the jury is still out on whether Fox can transform herself back into an action star.
07:16Wesley Snipes' run in the 90s was unparalleled, thanks to roles in films like Blade, Too Wong
07:22Fu, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar, New Jack City, U.S. Marshals, Demolition Man, and
07:27Major League.
07:28And in the 2000s, he would of course go on to star in two more Blade flicks.
07:32But, as Snipes' fans have noticed, his career doesn't have the momentum it once did.
07:37You can say what you want, but I promise you, you'll be dead by dawn.
07:44From high-concept flops like 2000's The Art of War, which Variety called a, quote,
07:49the level international thriller, to real-life trials, like Snipes' three-year stint in jail
07:54over tax crimes, Snipes has hit some roadblocks in his quest for continued action stardom.
07:59Luckily, with Snipes' name recognition and well-known look, there was work to be had in
08:04the direct-to-video world.
08:06Snipes seized on this, and his early aughts filmography teems with quickie DTV action films.
08:122007's The Contractor was shot in Bulgaria, and 2006's The Detonator was produced in Romania,
08:19and Snipes appeared as some form of rogue operator or black ops trigger man in both.
08:24He even made a direct-to-video sequel to The Art of War, which Variety called, Tired
08:29and Uninspired.
08:30And as no one probably recalls, Snipes entered the second half of the 2010s by battling aliens
08:37in 2017's The Recall.
08:40We were pleased to see Snipes in a prominent role in 2019's My Name is Dolomite, as well
08:45as the hilarious bit part in FX's What We Do in the Shadows, so maybe this action vet's
08:50next act will be more promising than the last.
08:53Career-wise, John Travolta has been on top with hits like Saturday Night Fever and On
08:58the Bottom with duds like Two of a Kind.
09:01Of course, later he'd appear on top again with Pulp Fiction, but these days, he's mostly…
09:06sideways?
09:07Since 2010, Travolta's film output has showcased a tendency for roles as a broad, despicable
09:13villain, or a man wronged.
09:152016's I Am Wrath is a great example.
09:18The New York Times called it a, quote, revenge movie and a buddy movie and a spiritual crisis
09:24movie, with the result doing none of those genres justice.
09:27There is, of course, plenty of violence and a chance at redemption for Travolta's character,
09:32so there's material for him to mine, however muddled it might be.
09:36Writing about the misbegotten biopic Gotti in Rolling Stone, Peter Travers said,
09:40Starring in this manic mess is one offer John Travolta should have refused.
09:45With various grim crime thrillers and awkward character studies filling out Travolta's recent
09:50slate of work, it seems like the nagging question of what happened to Travolta's career is going
09:55to keep being asked.
09:57It's hard out here for an aging heartthrob.
09:59While he has worked steadily in films since his teenage years, John Cusack has more recently
10:04found roles — or at least access — in Hollywood a little harder to come by.
10:09Cusack told The Guardian in 2012,
10:11It used to be that if you did a big, big movie, then you could leverage it and make some smaller,
10:16cooler ones.
10:17But now they just want you to put on the tights.
10:19If you don't put on the tights, they just get rid of you.
10:22Not interested in populating a superhero flick for Marvel or DC, Cusack has instead stepped
10:27into the murky waters of video-on-demand.
10:30In 2014, he made Drive Hard with Thomas Jane and The Prince with Bruce Willis.
10:352017 found him chewing scenery beside Nicolas Cage in the DTV action-thriller Arsenal.
10:42Dean Cain landed the role of a lifetime when he was tapped to bring Superman back to the
10:47small screen.
10:48ABC aired four seasons of Lois and Clark between 1993 and 1997, and the show later developed
10:55a bit of a cult following for its lasting, quirky appeal.
10:58Well, one thing's for sure, nobody's gonna be looking at your face.
11:01Mom?
11:02Well, they don't call them tights for nothing!
11:07Forever tied to his part in the ongoing narrative of Krypton's favorite son, Cain drifted from
11:13Lois and Clark into TV movies, guest spots on CSI Miami, and film where he made low-budget
11:19martial arts actioners like Max Havoc Ring of Fire, director Rennie Harland's 2011's limited-budget
11:25war film Five Days of War, and like so many of his contemporaries, action, particularly
11:30of the VOD variety, has offered a landing place for an actor still coming to terms with
11:35his legacy, or at least just looking for a solid gig.
11:39In 2015, Cain put up his dukes in the World Wrestling Entertainment-produced prison fight
11:44film Vendetta, which The Hollywood Reporter called, quote,
11:47Ruthlessly Efficient, despite its formulaic aspects.
11:51As the late-period action movie work of so many of these actors suggests, Ruthlessly
11:56Efficient counts as gold when a paycheck is the next best thing to a box office hit.
12:01Check out one of our newest videos right here!
12:04Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite former superstars are coming soon.
12:08Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.
12:17Justhi 일ahir.
12:23Thank you very much.
12:26Nice.
12:27This is a fantastic gift for you.
12:35What is the perfect thing for you?
12:38Especially as you can see it's her favorite you've both seen.
Recommended
2:23
|
Up next
1:49
1:41
2:08:50
10:41
1:19:05
1:12:38
41:28
1:52:59
1:43:40
10:54
56:49
9:55
1:57:18
1:11:08
1:42:02
1:42:47
1:23:58
2:12:00
4:08
1:36:30
8:37
Be the first to comment