Action Movie Hall of Fame

In 1988, Bloodsport was released. It has exactly one star: Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is not good at acting. And how does the fighting hold up all these decades later? Bloodsport and JCVD are in the fight of their life. Can they beat the odds, and their way into the Action Movie Hall of Fame? Or will they get blind-sided along the way?

In 2008,  the Wachowski Sisters took the bold choice to follow up the Matrix Trilogy and V for Vendetta by using the IP from the Speed Racer cartoon to make Speed Racer the movie. Critically panned upon it's arrival, it has enjoyed a second life as a cult classic. But the film is still very decisive. Will Speed Racer have enough in the tank to cruise into the Action Movie Hall of Fame, or wil...

Ahoy, matey. That's something people on a ship say, though it's not uttered once in 2003's Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World. To mark it's 20th anniversary, Matt and Dereck take a stab at reviewing this swashbuckling adventure. Due to it's poor return on investment, a sequel was never made. But where does that leave this film? Will it be able to sneakily mane...

Before the Action Movie Hall of Fame podcast launched, Matt and Dereck recorded a pilot episode, never before released to the public. The episode, meant as a test run, was a review 1998's Ronin. Now, 25 years after it's release, the guys revisit this movie that will always have a special place in the history of the AMHOF. In the pilot episode, Ronin did not make it into the Hall. Will an...

In 2018, a movie came out that changed the course of American Cinema: 2018's Den of Thieves. Okay, that may be overstating things. But it certainly borrowed heavily from some great American Cinema, plus Gerard Butler is unhinged in the best way possible in this. All this to say, Matt and Dereck will review this wildly entertaining heist movie. Does it have all the pieces in place to maneuver...

This week, Matt and Dereck go back to 1998 to visit the German cult-classic, Run Lola Run. The red hair streaking through the streets of Berlin. The Groundhog Day/Edge of Tomorrow-style story-telling. The pre-millennium electronica! Does this off-the-wall action crime thriller have enough ingredients to make a run at the Action Movie Hall of Fame, or will it find that it's plans aren't w...

In 1998, Kurt Russell starred in the action movie, Solider. And in the 25 years since then, everyone has forgotten about this movie. Everyone, accept for Dereck. This week, he and Matt review what could be a cult classic, if you squint hard enough. Will Kurt Russell's steely-blue gaze be enough to penetrate the Action Movie Hall of Fame, or will those eyes experience something resembling actu...

The John Wick movies have joined the conversation as one of the best action movie franchises since is exploded onto the scene in 2014. This week, Matt and Dereck do one of their special Parking Lot Reviews, minutes after seeing the JW4 in the theatre. How does this compare to the other John Wick movies? Is this too long, with a nearly 3 hour runtime? And does this franchise have any fresh ideas le...

The AMHOF is back! After an extended break (2 weeks), the tension has been building as part 2 of the AMHOF Double Feature dares to answer one of cinemas most hotly debated questions: which is the better White-House-Under-Siege-film-of-2013: Olympus Has Fallen, or White House Down?  Matt and Dereck will also decide if White House Down has enough of its resume to make it into the AMHOF.

There's no doubt about it: David Lynch's 1984 version of Dune is weird as hell. But it laid the groundwork for the Denis Villeneuve movies. There are actually a lot of similarities between the former and latter films when it comes to the arch of beats of the story. In this episode, Matt and Dereck will do a deep dive on this 84 Cult Classic. Why was it originally received so poorly? And...

Ten years ago, an action movie about a siege on the White House was released. Coincidentally, 10 years ago, an action movie about a siege on the White House was released. These are two different movies, and this week, Matt and Dereck kick off Part 1 of a Double Feature with Olympus Has Fallen. This week, they'll examine another Gerard Butler gem, and decide whether or not it will be able to s...

With Kill Bill Vol 1 celebrating it's 20th anniversary, Matt and Dereck follow up last week's review with a review of Volume 2. How do the two movies work as one piece? Do they need to go into the Action Movie Hall of Fame together, or is one good enough to stand alone? Will the franchise be buried  once and for all, or will they be able to dig themselves out of a hole?

In 2003, Quentin Tarantino took a stab at his version of a martial arts revenge action movie. For it's 20th Anniversary, Matt and Dereck take a swing at reviewing it for the Action Movie Hall of Fame. Does the movie hold up well enough after 20 years, and does it still provide the kicks needed to make a one-way trip to the AMHOF? Or will Kill Bill join the heap of victims left out of the Hall...

Netflix's Drive to Survive series has brought F1 Racing into the mainstream. But did you know F1 existed  before  2016? In fact, 40 years earlier, there was quite a rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda and British driver James Hunt. It was such a fierce rivalry, Ron Howard made a movie out of it. This week, on it's 10th Anniversary, Matt and Dereck revisit this action/biopic. Will...

This week, Matt and Dereck review Snowpiercer on it's 10th anniversary. How does this genre-bending train-bound movie hold up? Will this version of Die Hard on a train have what it takes to infiltrate the Action Movie Hall of Fame? Or is this movie destined to be left out in the cold?

Last week, The Fugitive navigated its way into the Action Movie Hall of Fame. Tommy Lee Jones has a lot to do with that, so how does the sequel (1998's U.S. Marshals) hold up? Matt and Dereck join the chase for the second week, but this time, they're hot on the tail of Wesley Snipes. Will U.S. Marshalls be able to swing into the AMHOF, or will it be dead on arrival (RIP Newman)?

This week, Matt and Dereck hop on a bus, that gets derailed by a derailed train, that takes them back to 1993 to review The Fugitive. How does the action in this action thriller hold up 30 years later? How does the train crash look? What about Dr. Richard Kimble Peter-Panning off the dam?  Hopefully you care. But does this movie have what it takes to plunge into the Action Movie Hall of Fame? Or h...

Hopefully we start season 3 of the Action Movie Hall Fame by putting a smile on your face as we review The Dark Knight for episode 1. So far, director Christopher Nolan has had a love/hate relationship with the AMHOF. Dunkirk easily made it into the Hall while The Dark Knight Rises got tossed in that hole from that movie. (You know, the one you can't escape from? It can stay there too). Will...

Matt and Dereck, millions of movie-goers, and a number of sky-people return to Pandora after 13 years. But is this a place we want to be? Last week, 2009's Avatar was left out of the Action Movie Hall of Fame based on it's weak story, while acknowledging the impressive CGI. Here, the guys review Avatar 2 immediately after watching it in IMAX 3D. Does Pandora offer a deeper experience thi...

This week, audiences will go back to Pandora, with the release of Avatar 2: The Way of Water. To prepare for this event, Matt and Dereck go back to 2009, and to Pandora, to review the original Avatar. And this episode poses a lot of questions:  How does this movie hold up in the 10 plus years since it's release? Are the visual still as groundbreaking as we remember? Is the story better than w...

The claws are out for this episode of the Action Movie  Hall of Fame with Matt and Dereck reviewing Logan on its 5 year anniversary.  The movie was critically well received by critics, and audiency well received by the audience. But how does it hold up 5 years after the fact? Super hero movies are starting to get tired, almost as tired as Logan is in this movie. So does Logan have one more run lef...

On the 25th Anniversary of The Fifth Element, Matt and Dereck take it into consideration for the Action Movie Hall of Fame. Does Director Luc Besson's weird Sci-Fi/Space Opera (mixed with hip-hop)/Comedy/Action movie, with it's fabulous costumes, and perhaps a bit too much Chris Tucker, have all the elements it needs to make it into the AMHOF? Or will  it lack the stones to get the job d...

Put a bunch of youth in an enclosed area, and have them kill each other until there's only one left. That's the dystopian plot of 2012's The Hunger Games. Does this movie have the right collection of skills to reach the Action Movie Hall of Fame, or will a sound ring out across the sky, signaling that the Hunger Games didn't make it? 

Matt and Dereck make a trip back to the Alien Universe (AU) to see if some of the questions left in Prometheus will be answered. What is the black goo? How does the black goo become the beloved Xenomorph we've all come to know and love? Is this movie necessary? Would you prefer a world where only the original Alien movie was made? How long exactly have we been in David's apartment?  The...

In 2012, we got one of the great movie trailers of all time: the Prometheus Trailer. This week, Matt and Dereck delve into the prequel to Alien. Was Prometheus able to live up to the hype of the trailer?  And how does it hold up 10 years later. Will this action horror movie burst it's way into the Action Movie Hall of Fame, or will it be surgically removed from contention?