[Movies] Good, "Realistic" Action movies

[Marimba]

I think we need this list for one of my favorite genres, "historical" period war movies. More specifically ones that have minimal CGI and don't abuse line and pulley systems (a pet peeve of mine).

Some examples:

13 Assassins
Braveheart
Kingdom of Heaven
Akira Kurosawa stuff

Give me some others.

[usmc216]

"The Last Samurai" maybe?

[Marimba]

"The Last Samurai" maybe?

Ya, that kind of stuff. I love action/war movies but as soon as I see people getting punched and flying 10 feet its a major turn off for me.

[Badpaladin]

As far as realism goes, aside from the very end with the tank I'd have to say Saving Private Ryan takes the cake. Shit's intense.

[Bikni]

Black Hawk Down, pretty awesome movie, based on real events.

[Jackmoves]

Black Death(midevil)
Centurion(Rome)

I would not rate them as awesome but they are worthy a watch.

If you enjoy tv series, Rome(HBO) was fairly good.

If you are interested in things like WW2, Vietnam etc there is a ton.

[Marimba]

As far as realism goes, aside from the very end with the tank I'd have to say Saving Private Ryan takes the cake. Shit's intense.

Ya pretty sweet movie, just curious though, which part with the tank? Been a while since I've seen it in entirety.

---------- Post added 2012-01-06 at 10:32 AM ----------

Black Hawk Down, pretty awesome movie, based on real events.

Another one that I like, I enjoy it more when the main character isn't superman.

[Nillen]

WW2 : Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Rome from HBO was good, not that much action maybe.

[Fuzzzie]

I always really enjoyed the Bourne movies. Fairly realistic except for some of the computer stuff.

[Jackmoves]

Valhalla rising and The eagle might be something for you as well.

[Gheld]

Braveheart! (Minus the fact that Mel Gibson annoys me, and is about a foot shorter than the real William Wallace was).

As far as realism goes, aside from the very end with the tank I'd have to say Saving Private Ryan takes the cake. Shit's intense.

You misinterpret that scene actually, a plane bombs the tank, it's just coincidental to the last shot he fires.

[Marimba]

Braveheart! (Minus the fact that Mel Gibson annoys me, and is about a foot shorter than the real William Wallace was).

You misinterpret that scene actually, a plane bombs the tank, it's just coincidental to the last shot he fires.

Ya, that's what I was gonna say if that was the part he was talking about.

[Badpaladin]

You misinterpret that scene actually, a plane bombs the tank, it's just coincidental to the last shot he fires.

No, I didn't misinterpret the scene; It just felt a little too coincidental. I realize that stuff like that happens, but it's so rare that I felt it really just sort of went for dramatic effect too much.

[kynthrus]

Crows Zero 1 & 2. /kickass

[Stormcall]

I think we need this list for one of my favorite genres, "historical" period war movies. More specifically ones that have minimal CGI and don't abuse line and pulley systems (a pet peeve of mine).

Some examples:

13 Assassins
Braveheart
Kingdom of Heaven
Akira Kurosawa stuff

Give me some others.

Historical period war movies?

As have already been mentioned, Centurion and The Eagle(both deal with the same event, neither is CGI or wirework based) are worth watching.
The 13th Warrior should fit the bill as well.

If you like Kurosawa and samurai stuff, try the Zatoichi series. The series consists of 26(!) movies, all featuring Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman Ichi(he also reprised the role in a 4 season TV series, making him I believe the record holder for longest portrayal of the same character). Despite the odd premise, they're quite entertaining if you like samurai period stuff and feature no wirework(the first 2 were in black and white, so the effects level is roughly the same as Kurosawa). In fact, Toshiro Mifune essentially reprises his role from Yojimbo/Sanjuro in one of the Zatoichi movies. Admittedly, with there being 26 movies in the series the quality does vary, but check out the first couple then if you enjoy them, you can look into the others. As a side note, there have been 2 modern Japanese Zatoichi movies(one in 2008 by Takeshi Kitano, one in 2010 that I have not seen), and there is also an American remake of one of them, Blind Fury starring Rutger Hauer, which was released in the 80's. But I'd stick with the original Katsu movies to start with.

If martial arts movies count, Fist of Legend, with Jet Li, is both a period movie and features VERY little wirework(and no CGI), and is also one of the greatest martial arts movies ever made.

[Skizzit]

WW2 : Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Rome from HBO was good, not that much action maybe.

Along the same lines, but involving the Iraq War is Generation Kill, another great HBO series. Not a ton of action since it is more about the characters, but it was fantastic.