Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocolis the 4th offering of the popular action movie series Mission: Impossible. Starring Tom Cruise, who reprises his role as the main protagonist - Agent Ethan Hunt.

Year Released: 2011

Summary:
In this 4th installment of the popular Mission: Impossible franchise, Ethan Hunt and his team is assigned to discover the secret Moscow Kremlin archives to gather vital information about a person code-named "Cobalt". Half-way thru their mission, the team is unprepared for the counter attack of a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has an access to Russian nuclear codes and is planning to strike United States.

When things turned horribly wrong and without any back-up, Ethan and his team are forced to continue the mission to find Hendricks and to stop him from starting a nuclear war.

Cast:
Tom Cruise
Jeremy Renner
Simon Pegg
Paula Patton
Michael Nyqvist

Director:
Brad Bird

Reviews & Ratings:
"Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth Mission: Impossible is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works."
~ Rotten Tomatoes on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

7.9/10 - Ratings from IMDB

7.7/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

With great movie reviews, it is indeed a must see action movie of the year.

Movie Trivia:

• Tom Cruise himself performed the sequence outside of the Burj Khalifa tower - without the use of a stunt double. The Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai is currenlty the tallest building in the world
• Kristin Kreuk was considered for the role of Jane Carter
• Chris Pine and Tom Hardy were considered for the role of Brandt
• Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames are the only actors to be part in all Mission: Impossible movies

Source: IMDB - Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

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

Wanted

 

Wanted is based on a comic book miniseries created by Mark Millar. This action movie is directed by a Russian director, Timur Bekmambetov. Starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy, and Terence Stamp.

Summary:
The storyline follows Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a cube-dwelling, frustrated office worker with a dull and depressing life. Until he crossed path with a hot female assassin named Fox (Angelina Jolie) and introduces him to The Fraternity, a secret guild of the best assassins being led by the enigmatic Sloan (Morgan Freeman).

As a new member of The Fraternity, he must undergo a series of physical tests and discover his special skills - which is similar to his father. Thru this, he could take revenge on his father's death who's once a member of the secret guild. It's his destiny to be part of The Fraternity but there some secrets that he must uncover about the guild in order to find out his own destiny.

Year Released: 2008

Cast:
James McAvoy
Morgan Freeman
Angelina Jolie
Terence Stamp

Director:
Timur Bekmambetov

Reviews & Ratings:
"Wanted is a fast-paced, crackling thrill ride tailor-made for the Summer audience."
~ RottenTomatoes on Wanted

6.7/10 - Ratings from IMDB

6.6/10 (71%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Trivia:

• James McAvoy undergo trainings to improve his physique for preparation for his role as Wes.
• James McAvoy suffered an injured knee and a twisted ankle during shooting.
•  According to Angelina Jolie, she based her role in Wanted on Clint Eastwood.

Source: IMDB - Wanted

Rambo

Rambo is the fourth installment of the popular franchise of the same title starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo.

Summary:
After twenty years since the last film of the famous action movie series, Vietnam war veteran John Rambo has retreated to northern Thailand, and become a boatman at Salween River in Myanmar. He accompanied a group of mercenaries for a resue mission to help the people of a damaged village. The mission goes well until the Burmese army attacks the village, killing innocent villagers and some members of missionaries. When the missionaries fail to come back after ten days, their pastor comes to Rambo, tells him what has transpired, and asks for his assistance in guiding hired mercenaries to the village to rescue other survivors who had been kidnapped by the Burmese. Despite the fact that he already sworn off all forms of violence, he had no choice but to help the kidnapped mercenaries from the enemies...he knows what he must do and this is his most dangerous mission to date.

Year Released: 2008

Cast:
Sylvester Stallone
Julie Benz
Matthew Marsden

Director:
Sylvester Stallone

Reviews & Ratings:
"Rambo is the king of mindless action movies and its viciousness has set a new high point for action movies. All the action films that have come before it are an embarrassment in comparison to Rambo’s excess."

~ MovieCynics on Rambo

7.1/10 - Ratings from IMDB

Movie Trivia:

• This is the first Rambo film directed by Sylvester Stallone.
• In some countries like France & Germany, the film is called "John Rambo". While in Russia, it is called "Rambo 4"
• Julie Benz was cast to play Sarah because Sylvester Stallone was a big fan of her TV show Dexter.

Source: IMDB - Rambo

Casino Royale (2006)

Casino Royale
Movie Information

Genre:
Action | Adventure

Main Cast:
Daniel Craig as James Bond
Director:
Martin Campbell
About the movie:

Casino Royale is the 21st movie of the Bond franchise which stars Daniel Craig as the popular secret agent James Bond. The film was based on a 1953 novel written by Ian Fleming with the same title and it's the third adaptation of the novel (first as a 1954 TV episode and a 1967 satirical film).
Casino Royale bring in James Bond before he holds his license to kill. As he is raised to '00' status, 'M'(Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, send him to Madagascar for his first mission as a newly-promoted secret agent where he is to spy on a terrorist. He decided to do the investigation independently out of the MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6) agency to trace the rest of the terrorist cell. He landed to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clients who attempts to restore his funds by playing a high-stake poker game at Casino Royale. Then 'M' assigned Vesper Lynd to watch out for Bond, his stake for the game and for the government's money. As they face and survive danger together, Bond's interest towards her deepens while Le Chiffre's cruelty has heightens in a way Bond could never imagine and thru this, he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.
Though there are some negative comments about Daniel Craig's potential as an actor to portray the famous secret agent 007, his worthiness showed up and washes out all the controversies as the film was released- leaving the critics in awed by his acting which is explosive with emotions.


Movie Trivia:

• Casino Royale (released in 2006) is the highest grossing James Bond film to date

True Lies

True Lies Movie Information

Genre:Action | Sci-Fi

Main Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Jamie Lee Curtis
Tom Arnold
Bill Paxton
Art Malik
Tia Carrere
Director:James Cameron


About the movie:
True Lies is one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best action movie, was released in 1994 and a remake of a French movie LA Totale. The casts also include Jamie Lee Curtis, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Tom Arnold, Charlton Heston and Art Malik. True Lies was written and directed by James Cameron .


The movie is about Harry Tasker (played by Schwarzenegger), known as an ordinary computer salesman by his family, but he's actually the United States' top secret agent. Harry's wife began to seek for some adventure in her life dating another man because she thinks that he's dull and boring. He then found out that Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) is having an affair with a car salesman and seduced her by a lie that he is a spy. So Harry sends his colleagues to kidnap them, but they are actually the ones that were accidentally kidnapped by a group of Arab terrorists. By this event, Helen founds out that Harry is a secret agent by night, and he need to do his job against the terrorists that posseses an atomic bomb planted in Florida.


The most exciting part of the movie is when Harry tries to track down the bomb of the terrorists. While the escape scene on the bridge that connects Florida to the mainland is one of the best shot and the most thrilling part in the movie.


True Lies contain the elements of action, comedy and political thriller rolled into one pleasing entertainment movie. It's an old-fashioned yet high-tech action movie with fresh ideas to deliver the excitement for the breath-taking scenes.


It has a great action stunts that was often executed by Schwarzenegger and Curtis themselves and it has an expensive special effects having a production cost of approximately $120 million.