good action movies that have some kind of plot or are thoguht provoking?
 

the movies I can think of
terminator 2
true romance

I want your opinions on a few good movies that are action packed (or contain lots of violence) but also have some kind of plot or where the plot isn't overshadowed by the violence.

While Equilibrium (a touchy subject, I know some people hate this movie) brings nothing new to the table per se, I still thought it was rather cerebral for a film based on Bale whooping everyone's ass.

Leon/The Professional comes to mind, as well.

Also, see:

Pulp Fiction
The Matrix
Die Hard

I'm sure there are tons more, too.

own all 3 and am not sure if I should get the superbit leon hoping that columbia used the wrong sound mix and they would get replaced, or if I should just go and get the current version.

Just see Leon. You really have to. Also what is so thought provoking about True Romance or Die Hard?

If you like foreign films, I suggest Once Upon A Time in China 1 and 2.

Die Hard has a plot, and is not just mindless action sequences strung together. The original question was a two parter.

Im sorry but 99% of movies have some kind of plot. I love Die Hard but I dont see how the plot is so much more complicated than many other action flicks.

OK, I haven't seen DH in ages, but think about it. DH 1: he's going to visit his wife in a big building where she works. She takes him to a place where he can relax for a bit while she takes care of some business. We have a logical reason for him to take off his shoes and having to worry about his feet throughout the movie. He's a cop so he has experience dealing with criminal and violent types and he knows weapons. It's not dumb basically.

DH2: He's at an airport that's closed down. The airport is in a major metropolitan area with other airports the planes could have landed at. Give it a search on the web, there's pages of errors in this movie.

DH3: slightly better, but chasing around a criminal who leaves clues in children's riddles? That's stretching it a bit.

It's not that the plot is complicated, moreso that it flows more naturally. A movie has to be somewhat extraordinary to be entertaining, but unless it's dealing with elves and wizards, it has to have some real world logic to it.

Different people have different logic.

I think I'm beginning to see why you were demoted.

Different people have different logic. People that like smart action movies like logic that flows naturally from events that could conceivably happen.

People that like explosions and titties and loud rock soundtracks don't care, they just want explosions, titties and loud rock soundtracks.

That's what the original poster was talking about.

Dont get defensive milo. I was just trying to see what the difference is between movies like True Romance, Die Hard, and Terminator and other so called stupid action movies. If one illogical thing is all you need then those movies would probably be off the list. For example, how does the mystery John Conner's father work out logically?

The reason Die Hard seems simple now is that it has been copied so much by other movies that DH itself seems derivative.

The PKD movies (Bladerunner, Minority Report, Total Recall, Imposter.) I haven't seen Screamers, but "Second Variety," the story it was based on was interesting.

Existenz
The Matrix
Pulp Fiction

tasha

I never said anything about the Terminator flicks.Too many time paradoxes for me to take sersiously, so I don't pretend to debate the intelligence of them. Besides their main focus is about destiny and fate and all that jazz.

Rolling thunder.

The Killer

Ronin

Under Seige 2 provoked the following thoughts:

"Can I sue to get back that hour and half of my life?"
"Finally, an actor that make Chuck Norris look like Olivier."

Ach!, How could I have forgotten Total Recall, people are still arguing about that one today.

Jurassic Park - the whole fiddling around with nature bit

Personally, I've never seen an action movie in my life that is "thought provoking", and I think I've seen about every action film ever made. I guess my definition of "thought provoking" is different than most. I fail to see in any way whatsoever how True Romance & T2 are thought provoking. I think a better definition for what you are looking for Rypro would be action movies that do not have paper thin plots.

My suggestions are . . .

La Femme Nikita

The Killer - May be your best bet.

Starship Troopers - Not really an "action" movie, but there is tons of action & tons of violence w/ a great story & socio-commentary.

Soldier - Very underrated movie IMO. Not that heavy on the action though.

I don't understand why a few people have mentioned Pulp Fiction - Pulp Fiction is not an action film by any means!

My suggestions would be:

Equilibrium
The Matrix
Starship Troopers
Total Recall
Die Hard
Speed
Windtalkers

Not sure if you would consider it action:
- Fight Club

Battle Royale
Robocop - kind of a undefineable genre film, action/sci-fi/splatter/vigilante pic.