Inception

"Your mind is the scene of the crime"

Inception is one of best mind-bending action movies from the best cinematic mind-bender in the industry, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight).

The film features an all-star cast starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine.

Summary:
The film is set in future, in a time when technology and substance experts are able to create levels of deep sleep and invade the dreams of others.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays as Dom Cobb, a dream thief and a specialized corporate spy who goes into people's dreams and steals their secrets. However, stealing secrets isn't enough for Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe) - a business magnate that wants to go one step further into this high-level espionage. This time, he wants a new process of planting a false memory into his competitions heads; which is called Inception. Everyone says that this "inception" can't be done and that it's impossible, however Cobb’s character knows that it can possibly be done – but no certainty that it will be successful.

TIP:
Watching this action movie requires the ability to concentrate and focus in order to follow the plot. :)

Year Released: 2010
 
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Ken Watanabe
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Marion Cotillard
Ellen Page
Cillian Murphy
Tom Hardy
Tom Berenger
Michael Caine

Director:
Christopher Nolan

Reviews & Ratings:
"Smart, innovative, and thrilling, Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually."
~ Rotten Tomatoes on Inception

8/10 (86%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

8.8/10 - Ratings from IMDB

Movie Trivia:

• James Franco was a choice by Christopher Nolan to play Arthur, but was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.
• "Yusuf" is the Arabic form of "Joseph", the Biblical figure from Genesis 37-50, who had the gift of interpreting dreams.
• The first letter of each of the main character's first names - Dom, Robert, Eames, Arthur/Ariadne, Mal, and Sato - spell the word DREAMS.
• The "Penrose stairs" that Arthur shows to Ariadne is a reference to a lithograph print by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. The print is usually called "Ascending and Descending" or "The Infinite Staircase", and was first printed in March 1960; Escher is well-known for his drawings exploring optical illusions and real architectural, mathematical, and philosophical principles rendered in fantastical ways
• Mal's totem, a spinning top, is (probably) a reference to the Clifford D. Simak's story 'Ring Around the Sun' where the spinning top is used as a way to skip from one parallel Earth to another (by way of helping characters to concentrate).

Source: IMDB - Inception

Avatar

Avatar is a science fiction film written and directed by the top-caliber director, James Cameron (Aliens and Terminator). Avatar is a live action film with a new generation of special effects and revolutionary technology that made the film a cinematic masterpiece.

Summary:
Avatar is an epic adventure movie that will take us into a spectacular alien world beyond our imagination – that will surely take our breath away. “On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love -- as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization.” - CinemaBlend

Set in the year 2154, a group of scientists and selected military personnel is on a mission to Pandora to find rare minerals, that is the key to solving Earth’s energy crisis.

To learn about Pandora’s biosphere and its inhabitants called Na’vi, scientists developed an Avatar Program. Avatars are genetically engineered hybrids of human DNA mixed with DNA of Na’vi that are operated via mental link of its avatar operator. Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-Marine is recruited to be part of the mission and replaces his twin brother who was part of the program.

As Jake begins to appreciate the beauty and secrets of Pandora, he finds himself torn between the ruthless military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi - forcing him to choose sides and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

Year Released: 2009

Cast:
Sam Worthington
Zoe Saldana
Sigourney Weaver
Stephen Lang
Joel David Moore
Michelle Rodriguez

Director:
James Cameron

Reviews & Ratings:
"It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking."
~ Rottentomatoes on Avatar

8.8/10 - Ratings from IMDB

8/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Trivia:

• Avatar is one of the most expensive movies ever made (as of December 2009), with an estimated budget of US $280,000,000.
• It is also the first movie to reach more than US$ 2.5 billion mark worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in history.
• James Cameron was convinced that CGI effects had improved to make this film as what he had imagined when he saw Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

Source: IMDB - Avatar

Aliens

Aliens
Movie Information

Genre:
Action | Sci-Fi

Main Cast:
Sigourney Weaver
Michael Biehn
Lance Henriksen
Carrie Henn
Paul Reiser
Bill Paxton

Director:
James Cameron


About the movie:

Aliens (1986) is a sequel of the action/sci-fi/horror movie Alien (1979 - directed by Ridley Scott). The film is set 57 years after Ellen Ripley's ordeal with the deadly extraterrestrial creature. With the combat-oriented structure of the movie, Aliens promoted the tagline: "This Time It's War."

After more than half-century after the events of 'Alien', Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of a salvaged space freighter Nostromo, was found and rescued at LV-426, a planetoid where they encountered the alien eggs. Then a unit of space marines together with Ripley were set to a a mission to investigate LV-426's activities and to search for their contact. As they returned to the planetoid, they discovered a large Alien nest and they're unprepared as they encountered a mature alien, killing most members of the unit. The remaining survivors including Ellen were trapped in the alien infested territory, leaving them with no other choice but to fight the alien queen in order to survive.

Aliens offers a high-intensity thrill ride that set a new standard for action movies that is hard to match. Aliens is a sequel that surpass the success of the original movie Alien (1979) and it is even more powerful making it one of the best action movies ever made.

Mad Max 2 : The Road Warrior

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Movie Information

Genre:
Action | Sci-Fi

Main Cast:
Mel Gibson
Michael Preston
Bruce Spence
Vernon Wells
Kjell Nilsson
Virginia Hey
Emil Minty

Director:
George Miller


About the movie:

Mad Max 2 (1981; also known as The Road Warrior), is a follow-up movie of Miller's sci-fi action movie Mad Max (1979). It's a post-apocalyptic action movie that eventually became a cult classic.

This is the continuation of Max's adventure and the summary of the events happened on the first movie that shed light on the political situation of the world - that a war has occurred. It features Max's life after the he loss his wife and son. This sequel is more intense than the predeccessor and the world's standing become worse. The highlight of this film is the pulse-pounding and breath-taking car chases, probably one of the greatest movies involving cars.

The movie has a stunning action sequences without a single ounce of computer graphics that is equally impressive by today's standards in action movies. It's a follow up movie that's even more exciting and intense than the first one and really a must-see for action buffs.

Predator

Predator Movie Information
Genre:
Action | Sci-Fi
Main Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Elpidia Carrillo
Bill Duke
Kevin Peter Hall
Jesse Ventura
Carl Weathers
Director:
John McTiernan


About the movie:

Predator is a combination of the elements of action, science fiction and horror. It was directed by John McTiernan and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger , Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura and Kevin Peter Hall. It was released in 1987 by 20th Century Fox.

The Predator is an alien humanoid creature that is fond of hunting and is capable of interstellar traveling and has a multiple visions and armored by a light-bending suit with advance weapons. It descended on Earth, specifically in Central America, to hunt for humans. However, the US Army Special Forces unit led by Major Dutch Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is also on the same location to rescue a cabinet minister in the hands of a rebel group. But the members of the military unit is beginning to disappear and they still don't have the idea that another enemy is attacking them - the Predator. Until they finally encounter the extraterrestrial creature and found out that it is powerful enough that their weapons are no match with this alien assassin.

This action-packed movie maintains a feeling of fear and tension all throughout with gun-fighting, explosions and hair-raising sight of the Predator.

After the success of the Predator movie (and the character as well), having a gross revenue of $60,000,000 in United States, sequels of this movie have been made. These are Predator 2 (1990) and Alien vs. Predator (2004).


See more of Predator movie in DVD:

Total Recall (1990)

Total Recall Movie Information
Genre:
Action | Sci-Fi
Main Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rachel Ticotin
Sharon Stone
Michael Ironside
Ronny Cox
Director:
Paul Verhoeven

About the movie:

Total Recall is a major box office movie that stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is a science fiction action movie based on the story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” written by Philip Dick. The movie was released on 1990 and it won a Special Achievement Academy Award for its quality visual effects. At the time of its production, Total Recall movie had the biggest authorized budget produced by Hollywood studio.

This action movie's casts are Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox and is directed by Paul Verhoeven.


Arnold Schwarzenegger is Douglas Quaid in the movie. He is a construction worker that is being haunted by nightmares of the planet Mars. He longs for an adventure cause he's bored with what he regularly do. One day he heard about Rekall Inc., a company that is selling and implanting false memories and he purchased a vacation to Mars as a spy. Then the procedure goes terribly wrong that Doug lost some parts of his memory and he's into another personality surface believing that he's name is Hauser and he's a former Mars Intelligence Agent and he is being chased by a group of assassins. He also battles with mutants, aliens, and alien machines from Mars and he met Melina that told him about his identity as an agent. Quaid's wife didn't believe him; and he is also confused if everything that's happening to him is real or just a dream.

Total Recall is a fascinating action movie with a few twists and unpredictable plot. A movie full of action and violence, it is highly recommended for the action movie fanatics.

RoboCop (1987)

RoboCop Movie Information
Genre:
Action | Sci-Fi
Main Cast:
Peter Weller
Nancy Allen
Dan O'Herlihy
Ronny Cox
Kurtwood Smith
Miguel Ferrer
Director:
Paul Verhoeven
About the movie:

RoboCop is a 1987 action movie about a cyborg police officer created to control the Motor City known as Detroit that has been ruled by criminals and a gang of cop killers. It is both an action and science fiction movie that features advanced science and cybernetics.

The movie stars Peter Weller as RoboCop, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferrer. RoboCop was directed by a Dutch Film director Paul Verhoeven.


Robocop is about a good police officer that was brought back to life after being killed by feared gang leader in Detroit. The Omni Consumer Products (OCP) that runs Detroit Police Department, offers a new solution against the well-armed criminals in the city by building an almost inexterminable ED 209 robot combining the body of Murphy with the high tech gadgets and weaponry to dispatch the city criminals. The scientists rewires Murphy's brains with computer chips for communication control and self-organization system that blocks up his memories. However, his former partner, Officer Lewis recognized RoboCop's body that started to reveal his true identity.


RoboCop film has a well-written plot and action-packed stunts, a very fitting entertainment for the action movie aficionados.


It's also entertaining that there's a heart breaking scene in this movie where RoboCop visits his former house without the chance of getting back what he had left before.


This may be the first high-profile movie directed by Verhoeven but it was directed well with a sense of smooth style and appeal that made RoboCop a great action movie. By its good remarks, it is considered as one of the best action movies of its genre and it was followed by movie sequels and RoboCop TV series.