I just watched Vantage Point and thought it was pretty badass! It's thriller popcorn and moves at an incredible clip, too fast to really take it apart much, which is good b/c it won't hold up to a Qt3 patented Yenta-ing, but it's just fun and fast and solid and good.
I'd love to track down some other awesome thrillers. I watched State of Play and loved that too, but can't think of any others at the moment.
Hit me with your best thrillers!
I rather enjoyed Perfect Stranger, but I also love Bruce Willis and Halle Berry.
"Out of Time" with Denzel Washington
"Nick of Time" with Johnny Depp
It wasn't my intent the titles be so similar; they were just two thrillers that popped into my head.
I really enjoyed "Out of Time", it had a nice tempo.
I'd have to say it's the best of his pre-Whitta films.
You really liked Vantage Point? That's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Bad story, bad acting, plot that falls apart. Yuck.
I don't know if it's quite a thriller, but Changing Lanes does a pretty good job of holding onto your nuts until the end.
There are, of course, some well-known classics: The Conversation, with Gene Hackman, almost everything by Hitchcock, Marathon Man, with Dustin Hoffman, and so forth.
More:
"No Way Out" with Kevin Costner
"Unknown" with Jim Caviezel
"Heat" with a whole crew of awesome
"The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer
"Year of the Dragon" with Mickey Rourke
"Dark Blue" with Kurt Russel
Last edited by ahoythematey; 07-21-2009 at 10:01 PM.
I hear "Inside Man" by Spike Lee is a damn good heist movie.
Now do we get into 'what makes a thriller a thriller' territory?
I just hope we get to hear which thrillers everyone Jose Liz knows thinks are good.
Taken.
I thought State of Play was a total bore though.
It was a shame as well because it had huge potential to be pretty good but it was just nonsensical.Originally Posted by Jeremy Johnsen
I always liked Falling Down.
well, what's a thriller versus what's just an action film. Is it the element of mystery/intrigue?
I always thought, in book terms, that a thriller was basically a horror book without supernatural elements. Like what David Morrell does.
Good question Eric. I would describe Thriller as anything that keeps me sitting on the edge of my seat the entire move taking shallow breaths as though I'm actually in the scenes with the actors.
As such I tend to define those as action thrillers. They might be sci-fi, horror, or just pure action. The original Terminator, Aliens and Die Hard fit that profile for me, placing me squarely in 80's cheese but they were oh so good as "edge of my seat" popcorn munching movies.
Last edited by Skipper; 07-22-2009 at 08:13 AM.
I know some people might hate me for this but: Cellular. I actually really enjoyed the pace and it was certainly an "edge of your seat" movie. There are some really tense moments, especially when the cell starts running low on batteries and the shit Chris Evans' character does afterwards.
Also, I just watched "Unknown." Fucking great movie. And 3 big twists in one! What a tweeeeest!
Speaking of crappy phone based movies, Scry, I thought Phone Booth was pretty good, too. Simple and heart-poundy. That Colin fella sure talks on the phone good.
Blue Thunder
Bullit
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Very Bad Things
Wild Things
Retroactive
Misery (not sure if it's more of a thriller or horror movie)
Phone Booth. Never saw that because I fear Joel Schumacher. It's really a shame Michael Bay didn't get to direct that.
Michael Bay is the guy who apparently looked at Larry Cohen's script for Phone Booth (which was ultimately directed by Joel Schumacher) and asked "How do we get him out of the phone booth? Because if we can't, then I'm not interested."
-xtien
Manchurian Candidate
Day of the Jackal
Hunt For Red October
That makes me think of Three Days of the Condor. I wonder if that holds up.
Also Westworld is pretty nifty and amusing. And creepy.
-xtien
Nighthawks
Turning Point
House of Sand and Fog
Mongoose vs. Cobra
Clockers
Willard (the remake with Crispin Glover)
-Tom
The Bourne trilogy.
Funny you mention Westworld I just re-watched that on netflix recently. Although a lot of the movie doesn't hold up anymore, Yul Brenner was indeed creepy.
Gone Baby Gone? Is that on anybody's list?
What about Suicide Kings?
I always meant to watch that. Your post reminded me, and hey, Netflix Watch Instantly! So I did. Not sure what I was expecting, but glad I watched it.
I loved Zodiac. Which would make a good double-bill with Dirty Harry, another fine thriller.
And how dare I forget to mention North by Northwest? It's not the most tense thriller you'll come across, but it has great energy, a marvelous cast, snappy dialogue, a couple of classic set-pieces, and a wonderful Bernard Hermann score.
Last edited by Omniscia; 07-22-2009 at 09:26 PM.
Not sure if you'd count these as thrillers, but:
The Fugitive
Brick
Silence of the Lambs
I'm not sure if Brick falls under thriller, as it has a very measured pace. There are some thriller-esque moments towards the end but it's more neo-noir mystery than thriller, I think.
Lots of good films mentioned so far. Highlights for me being 'Suicide Kings' and 'Falling Down'. To the list, I'd like to add:
The Game (Michael Douglas)
Collateral (Tom Cruise)
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