I wish I could see an action movie that did not involve a dead wife, or

[Thtwudbeme]

girlfriend, and and man "left behind with NOTHING (melodramatic music) to lose!"

What a crock of shit; Lethal Weapon started this crap, and the script writers just cannot let it go.

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Yes...true...even the Gladiator was based on that.

Sick even. :thumbsup:

[Thtwudbeme]

2. My God, I forgot about that!

That's the only time I ever that Russell Crowe was good looking too...he wears his mini skirts very well!

But, you are right...just set in Rome.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. Speaking of Mel Gibson, didn't 'Braveheart' AND 'The Patriot' BOTH use

this plot device? :shrug:

[Thtwudbeme]

4. Yep

Sure did....hey, in "Braveheart," we even got to see the woman look tenderly at Mel right before the evil scriptwriter had her throat slit.

[petronius]

7. I just looked up Mel Gibson on IMDB

to see how many of his flicks used this plot, and I learned that his full name is 'Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson'. Others may already know this, but it made me laugh...

[RagingInMiami]

5. It started way back before Lethal Weapon

It may have been Death Wish with Charles Bronson.

[Az]

6. Gonna have to go overseas to get anything original

Try the Returners, Azumi, or Hero from the far east.

[JanMichael]

8. But but but...What else could get a man to kill so many people?

A dead dog?

[JVS]

9. The joy of killing, duh!

[Az]

10. You want a body count?

Go find the movie Battle Royale. Its Japanese. Its unlike anything you have seen.

[JVS]

11. Is that the one about the school kids?

[Az]

12. Yessss

[ContraBass Black]

13. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I think that movie screwed me up.

[Az]

15. It's definately not for everyone

Thing is there is social commentary in it. And the sequel even throws more social commentary including a slam on the US and our war on terrorism.

[JVS]

14. Here is the IMDB for anyone who cares

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/

[NNadir]

18. Plus, you get to make more surviving spouses.

[mitchum]

16. How about a dead wife chase?

Yeah, I hate those movies also, but if they didn't exist Nicholas Cage would have to spend all of his time doing coke and trying to comb his hair

[tjdee]

17. That's why "Kill Bill" was genius.

It really was just genius. It was a woman on a revenge kick, for the best of reasons. Instead of some buff guy with 'nothing to lose'.

Quentin Tarantino can be cheesy sometimes, but he really knows what he's doing sometimes too.

[6000eliot]

19. She had a dead husband.

[tjdee]

20. Well, yeah...

I don't think she mentioned him once, though. It was all about losing her baby. But I guess it was both.

The refreshing/genius part for me was that it was a woman on the rampage--we've seen sooooooooooooooooo many movies about some dude blowing away other dudes. There are only 36 plot points, as the saying goes, but just changing the sex of the hero (as QT did) and the villains made it a fresh concept (for me).

[6000eliot]

21. I agree

Just like "Thelma and Louise" did with the buddy movie.