Mr. Cinema

Which are the best/most exciting? The ones that make you buy the big screen with surround sound.

Off the top of my head:

Saving Private Ryan - "Omaha Beach"
King Kong - "Kong vs the V-Rexes"
Armageddon - "Opening with asteroids"
Jurassic Park - "Meeting the T-Rex"
The Lost World- "2 T-Rexes"
The Matrix Reloaded - "Highway Chase" and "Neo vs Smith clones"
The Empire Strikes Back - "Battle on Hoth"
Terminator 2 - "Hospital breakout"
The French Connection - "Car chase"
The Fugitive - "Train wreck"
Raiders of the Lost Ark - "Desert chase", "opening sequence"
The Phantom Menace - "The pod race"
LOTR: The Two Towers - "Gandalf leads the charge"
Cast Away - "Plane crash"

I'm leaving out alot. Fill in the blanks.

GIjon213

Ben Hur - The chariot race
Dune (1984) - The end battle
Equilibrium - at the end
The Fifth Element - on the "boat"
Just a few off the top of my head

Y2K Falcon

I'll take "Every-James-Bond-Film-Up-Until-The-Silhouette-Shoots-The-Gun-Down-The-Bloody-Tunnel-Thingy" for $200, Alex.

Matty-O

Heat- bank heist

obscurelabel

The opening sequence of Mad Max is probably my favorite opening of a movie of any genre, ever. An all time great action sequence if there ever was one.

johnglass

The bridge scene in True Lies.

Hokeyboy

The last 40 minutes of HARD BOILED.

Mr. Cinema

Oh yes. Forgot about this one. That is a loud scene.

awmurray

Kill Bill Vol 1: The entire House of Blue Leaves/Crazy 88 carnage scene

Ky-Fi

As far as no special effects, just physical skill, imagination and skilled camera work, I always marvel at the Bond ski chase in For Your Eyes only. You've got the big ski jump, the 360 ski turn on the small jump, the motorcycles going downhill weaving through the skiers, and then the actual bobsled, skier and motorcycle going down the pure ice boblsed run, and you can see them all on there in the same shot. Then the skier landing on the picnic table, the motorcyle crashing through the barn----just a ton of great, skilled physical stunts in a very short space of time.

Cartload

I also greatly enjoyed the ski chase in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". The way they shot it was very dynamic and the awesome John Barry theme song for that scene only made it better. One thing I always wanted to do and never did was ski with just one ski because of that part.

Ky-Fi

Definitely another good one, and yes, that John Barry score during that scene was just so perfect.

Fok

Ep 4-6

Schwenkstar

A Better Tomorrow - Jon Woo's film that started the Heroic Bloodshed Craze
A Better Tomorrow II - Jon Woo's sequel, just as good as the first
Beyond Hypothermia - The endshoot out, poetic and emotional
The Big Heat - Johnny To's first film is an excessively violent crime thriller with several stunning action sequences
Bourne Identity - Several intense sequences with the mini cooper car chase being a highlight.
Bourne Supremecy - End car chase scene in the tunnel is amazing!
Breakdown - The end car chase is intense
Bullet in the Head - Jon Woo's Vietnam war epic
Color of Truth - Solid thriller from Hong Kong with the shootout in the apartment being a highlight... Amazing!
Dead Presidents - Though the rest of the film drags, the heist sequence is very well executed and intense
Die Hard Trilogy - The entire trilogy features a multitude of action sequences that are terrific
Full Contact - Ringo Lam's notorious thriller, simple story but great action including a shootout at an ice factory.
Fulltime Killer - Johnny To crafts another exceptional thriller with incredible style and several exciting shootouts.
Hard-Boiled - Jon Woo's most famous film with a rather simplistic story but action that is so amazing it has to be seen to be believed
Kill Bill - Several sequences, but especially the fight with the crazy 88s
Kill Bill vol. 2 - The cat fight between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah
The Killer - Jon Woo again, his most artistic and well crafted film with an end shootout that is stunning.
Leon: The Professional - An absolutly mesmerizing action climax
Long Arm of the Law - Slightly dated film, but that end shootout with incredible! A gang of thieves fight the police through the narrow corridors of Hong Kong
The Mission - Johnny To, once again, with several intricate shootouts
The Nest - Shootout at the wearhouse, The shooting doesn't stop!
The Princess Blade - Absolutely mind-blowing action choreography, stunning swordplay!
Shiri - Korea's biggest blockbuster presents an onslaught of action sequences
So Close - Simple story compensated with some stunning action sequences, including a wonderful swordfight at the end
Speed - The whole film is a non-stop thrill ride
Time and Tide - Tsui Hark's action thriller with amazing stunts and acrobatic shootouts
Violent Cop - The end shootout is simply fantastic!

Tyler_Durden

Thank you, Schwenkstar, for your great choices. Scenes from John Woo's Hong Kong films alone could easily top any credible Top 5 Action Scenes list.

TimeandTide

NatrlBornThrllr

Ong-bak is just one long, kickass action scene.

In my eyes, this should be the end of the conversation. That's one amazing sequence.

-JP

RichC2

The scene where the guy uses one of the baddies as a weight to jump down the stairs is one of my all time favorite scenes.

animalmystic

^Co-sign

Aliens-Sigourney fighting the mother alien in the sick yellow loader thing.

Bad Boys II-Chase on the freeway/bridge.

The Rock-You name it, any scene rocks!

Already mentioned, Rainders Of The Lost Ark, golden idol scene, Cairo chase, dessert caravan chase off the fucking hook!

King Kong fighting the dinos was sick!

T2-Name it, beginning, car chase, showdown at the steel plant.

Schwenkstar

Thought of some more...

Bad Boys II - The film itself I considered a disappointment... but it can not be denied that the film featured one of the most breathtaking car chases
Ballistic Kiss - A somewhat muddled film but the shoot out in the apartment is quite good and well choreographed.
Brotherhood of the Wolf - Though a film that is more style than substance, the fight scenes are quite exceptional.
Bullit - Steve McQueen and the 390 Mustang GT... Classic car chases scene, intense and thrilling though, admittedly, overated to some degree.
The Corruptor - I actually found the film to be rather poor IMO, but the car chase scene is brutally realistic and ranks up there with the best of them.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Terrific fight scenes, would you expect less from Yuen Woo Ping?
Equilibrium - End gun scene is exciting simply for its originality.
To Live and Die in LA - Quite possible the best car chase scene put on celluloid. A huge influence on Ronin.
The Road Warrior - The end car chase scene is good, yet overated. Still, very effective and deserves it's popularity.
Ronin - Not one but two of the most intense car chases ever!
Scarface - The end shootout is good one, very popular but slightly overated IMO...
Terminator 2- The final action scene from the shootout at Skynet to the duel of the terminators...
Terminator 3 - By far the weakest of the films, The chase with the truck mounted crane and fire engine is intense...
The Transporter - Not a good film either IMO, but the opening car chase scene is great and the fight in the oil is wonderful as well... The rest... Eh
The Untouchables - The shootout at the train station...
A War Named Desire - Asian thriller/drama is more focused on character but the end shoot out in the cars is terrific, emotional, and ballet-like.
Way of the Gun - The end shoot out at the villa, very intense and exciting
Wild Bunch - Action is slightly dated by today standards, but still holds up fairly well with an absoluting mesmerizing final shootout with a gattaling gun... Presented in dramatic slow-mo courtesy of Mr. Peckinpah.

kahuna415

Aliens - "Lets Rock!!"
King Kong -The Rex scene
LOTR TT -Helms Deep
ROTK -Final Battle
Raiders -Truck chase scene

IDrinkMolson

Superman II - the fight over the city
Hero - most of the fight scenes
Gladiator - all of the arena fights
Black Hawk Down - The landing and the extraction
The Crow - the mob meeting
Gangs of New York - opening fight scene
The Matrix - government building lobby
Punisher (2004) - apartment building fight/end fight
Sin City - Marv
Twister - we have cows/movie drive-in

Bateman

Collateral - night club shootout
Heat - bank robbery
Equillibrium - final
Ronin - car chase sequence
Leon - final

Bateman

I can't stand the movie but that is one great sequence. Espcially if you are into home theater. I tend to prefer the shuttle part though.

PopcornTreeCt

Agreed.