Nineties Action Movies

Today for some reason I wondered about which action movie from the nineties was the best one, and I came up with this list:

Top 2 (I just can't make up my mind of which one deserves the number one spot more):

True Lies (1994)
This movie is just awesome. It has a great secret agent opening sequence with Arnie inflitrating the mansion, then escaping through the snow (poor doggies). Later the shootout in the hotel bathroom, the horse that doesn't want to jump skyscrapers, even a nuclear explosion. Lots of action, lots of comedy. Charlton Heston is in it. Too bad James Cameron never made a sequel.

Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)
"I didn't say park drive. I said through the park!"
When this came out I went to the cinema and saw it three times on three consecutive days. The first time I disliked it. The second time I liked it. The third time I loved it. I still love it. It's awesome.

Place 3-5:

The Rock (1996)
"Hey Man, you just fucked up your Ferrari."
I love Nicolas Cage action flicks. This was probably the first one. He was all whiny in this one, but then again he had Sean Connery to team up with.

Terminator 2 (1991)
"I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle." Do I have to say more?

Demolition Man (1993)
Stallone and Sandra Bullock in one movie. L.A. destroyed in 1996. I've seen it so often dubbed over German: "Kalmieren Sie sich, John Spartan!"

Place 5-9:

The Last Boy Scout (1991)
"The sky is blue, water is wet, women have secrets."
Probably the coolest Bruce Willis movie ever. Awesome script by Shane Black. "Satan Claus" is in it. Halle Berry dies a horrible death.
(on a side note: at some point Joe Hallenbeck says to a minor bad guy: "She said her husband was a big pimp lookin' motherfucker with a hat."
The German dubbed version turned it into "Du siehst du aus wie ein verwichster Zuhälter mit Hut.", which means basically the same thing.
One night in a city I didn't know so well and between bars I quoted this line to a guy and his friends. The guy, whom I had never seen before, really looked the part, and I kind of hoped he'd recognise the quote and therefore kind of dismiss the underlying insult. (Truthfully: I probably didn't care, I was a bit drunk.) I didn't mean to insult him, really. It just seemed so much fun to use this quote on him at that particular moment.
Luckily I had a bunch of friends with me, too. When I just walked away they used a lot of effort and spend quite a bit of time negotiating the pimp and his friends down. Thank you, friends.

Con Air (1997)
"That's a rock."
As I said, I love Nicolas Cage action flicks. In this one he really really overdoes the southern accent tough guy saying things like "why couldn't you put the bunny back in the box" before kicking ass. This movie is totally ridiculous, but so much fun, right up to the ending in Vegas, where John Malcovich gets killed by some fly-by propeller blade.

Cliffhanger (1993)
Stallone in the mountains. That's all I need really to be entertained. The opening sequence also always makes me think of Ace Ventura 2. (Also it stole or re-used the music from The Last of the Mohicans (1992). I like the Cliffhanger score more.)

Under Siege (1992)
Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones are the bad guys, Steven Seagal is the ex-special forces chef who saves the day, the whole thing is Die Hard on a boat - there are many reasons to love this movie. I personally only need two: Erika Eleniak's boobs. I used to frame-by-frame her on my old VHS back in the day.

Place 10 (three movies here):

Speed (1994)
"Shoot the hostage."
Die Hard on a bus. To me this movie is gritty. And Dennis Hopper makes an awesome bad guy. Sandra Bullock is in it. I am a fan. Always have been. Likely always will be.

Last Action Hero (1993)
This one was so underrated. I love all the little references everywhere.

Die Hard 2 (1990)
"Why does this keep happening to us?"
The third best film in the Die Hard franchise.

Honorable Mention:

Total Recall (1990)
Arnie, Sharon Stone, lots of blood and gore and great special effects. Awesome.

Goldeneye (1995)
I couldn't not mention a James Bond film here. So I chose this one, mainly because I've always loved the bungee jump off the dam in the opening sequence.

The Matrix (1999)
This one really set off the CGI era in action movies. Therefore I mention it here. It is awesome after all.

All these movies are movies that I try to re-watch every few years or more frequently. I might have forgotten one or two. I didn't mention The Fugitive (1993), because it is not really an action movie. Bad Boys (1995) and Armageddon (1998) come to mind, too, the former probably a candidate for the honorable mention section, the latter I just enjoyed watching. Then there is The Specialist (1994) and Assassins (1995), both solid Stallone vehicles. Lethal Weapon 3 (1993) should also be mentioned, but in my opinion it just doesn't reach the quality of it's predecessors.

Maybe I'll compile a list of eighties action flicks next.