Action Flicks for Chicks - Girls like movies where things blow up, too!

This isn't so much a movie where things blow up as one where there is a true cobweb of mind games. Who's playing who? If you watch it 20 or 30 times, like I have, you continue to pick up on little things that aren't totally explained until the end, which makes it all the more intriguing.

Based on Tom Clancy's killer novel - an awesome movie that puts Ford's whole family in danger after he saves the Royal Family from an assasination attempt.

Things blow up? A few great explosions and car crashes.
Gunfire scenes? Several great scenes.
Gore? Not much gore, but a few characters you like will get hurt.

Another movie with a HOT HOT HOT leading couple, lots of explosions, gunfights, and other general husband vs. wife nitpicking. Hilarious as it is hot, and one action scene after another.

Things blow up? Boy do they ever.
Gunfire scenes? Too many to mention.
Gore? Barely gory. General blood and cuts.

As a firefighter, of course I loved Ladder 49. Lots of great scenes that portray more realistic (although still not perfect) portrayals of fires, rescues, and brotherhood.

Things blow up? Absolutely! Fire and flashovers galore.
Gunfire scenes? Not a violent movie.
Gore? Limited but purposeful gore.

Most hostage and ransom movies and books are pretty predictable, but this one had a solution for everything Ford tried. Intriguing new edge on a tired plot.


Things blow up? I actually do not recall anything blowing up.
Gunfire scenes? Basic necessary violence.
Gore? Not physical gore as much as emotional violence.

In a sci-fi thriller, Cage and Travolta change faces and identities as one chases the other through a mess of drug lords, psychos, and bombs.

Things blow up? A few...mostly it's a good game of cat and mouse.
Gunfire scenes? Reasonable.
Gore? A few characters you like get hurt, and a few heads get split.

While it does contain a cute love story, Armageddon also had some awesome sci-fi nature-vs-man scenes as the asteroid decides it's not happy about the crews' drilling progress.


Things blow up? Can't get any better than oil rig explosions and asteroid heartburn.
Gunfire scenes? "Get off the nuclear warhead..."
Gore? One very mild death scene.

Keanu Reeves saves the world (as we know it) with the help of Carrie Anne Moss. Interesting sci-fi flick with plenty of weaponry action and intellectual issues.

Things blow up? Not so much on fireballs and big explosions.
Fight scenes? LOTS of martial arts-oid scenes. The one in Reloaded lasts WAY TOO LONG.
Gore? A few characters die but not nearly gory enough.

In this sci-fi action flick, Will Smith battles aliens that threaten to take over mankind, starting with the government. (And yes, it's a bad thing.)


Things blow up? Skyscrapers, the White House, and alien fighter planes...things.
Fight scenes? Will Smith punches an alien.
Gore? Minor alien slime.

Starts with an elevator explosion, then a control room, then a bus - and that's only ten minutes into the movie!

Things blow up? Lots of great explosions, including an airplane in the end.
Fight scenes? Not so much fighting as mind games
Gore? Mild gore. Blah.

MI1 and MI2 were good, but MI3 was the best of them all! It won't be out until November 2006, but in the meantime you can enjoy 1 and 2. Great movies that combine violence with mind games.

Things blow up? Yes yes yes!
Fight scenes? Quite a few, hand to hand combat and gunfire.
Gore? So-so. Much more so in MI3 than the rest.

The most creative action flick of 2005 - Bruce Willis saves a family held hostage by teenagers, and finds out how the father is involved.

Things blow up? Things get set on fire in the end.
Gunfire scenes? No hand-to-hand combat but a few sprinkles of violence.
Gore? Good gore, more than most, especially towards the end.

I finally saw this 8 years after it came out and it's one of my favs! Full of great humor and wit, Cage gets stuck on a hijacked plane on his way out of prison.

Things blow up? Airplanes, jail cells, and Las Vegas hotels.
Fight scenes? When you're in the sky there's no where to go.
Gore? Most of the would-be gore scenes were humorized.

If you like gore, humor, and more gore, Final Destination is your kind of trillogy. Each of the three shows more freakish ways to die than one person should be able to sanely imagine.

Things blow up? Do planes exploding in mid-air do it for you?
Gunfire scenes? All the violence in these movies is nature-vs-man.
Gore? TONS of awesome gore. Weird gore, graphic gore, I-can't-look-away gore.

In a Jack Ryan "beginner" film, Affleck joins Freeman on a trip to Russia where they try to avoid a nuclear war.


Things blow up? A few things blow up.
Gunfire scenes? Several edgy gun scenes.
Gore? Limited gore.

When production of The Hot Zone by Richard Preston fell through, Hollywood created this second-best flick. Loaded with stars, this biological thriller will have your skin crawling with creepy, unseen things.

Things blow up? Yes, thanks to the government.
Gunfire scenes? A helicopter chase concludes the violence.
Gore? Pretty great gore - lots of accurate, feverish Motaba virus patients.

In a movie as great as the book, a boy who witnesses a suicide has to help find the Mafia before his family is killed off.

Things blow up? I think a few things do.
Gunfire scenes? The good guys snoop around a boathouse and engage in some interesting violence.
Gore? Not gory.

Besides the fact that Nic and Angelina are both totally hot, this movie has some great action. Oh, and some cars get stolen too. As witty as it is illegal.

Things blow up? Heck yah! Lots of cars and other fueled things.
Gunfire scenes? A good chase at the end when the bad guys come looking for payback.
Gore? Not gory.

Cage and Connery are witty and cocky in this chemical-threat thriller that takes place on Alcatraz.

Things blow up? Yes! Cool stuff.
Gunfire scenes? Quick and painless.
Gore? Mild blood scenes, needles, neato chemical burn scenes.

For a modern spin on crime solving, find out why the government would hire Diesel to do their recon. If nothing else, Diesel provides some great eye candy.

Things blow up? Things always seem to blow up in Russia.
Gunfire scenes? Plenty, plus car chases, air planes, and submarines.
Gore? Mild gore.

Gotta love Nic Cage! In this Atlantic City flick, Cage has to figure out who shot the Secretary of Defense...and why.


Things blow up? Not really...more of a laid back whodunnit.
Fight scenes? A few, but mostly an intellectual movie.
Gore? Minor gunshot gore.