Paramount Pictures
The 1990s produced some excellent action movies, didn’t it? This glorious decade gave us “Con-Air,” “Speed,” “Bad Boys,” “The Matrix,” “Hard Boiled,” “Heat,” “Total Recall,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “The Fugitive,” “Starship Troopers,” and other great movies we could spend all day listing. That said, some of the best action flicks of that golden age flew under the radar and are rarely discussed these days. It’s time to put some respect on their name.
This list contains films by genre heavyweights you are more than familiar with, but these particular stories involving biker gangs, militia groups, and street hoodlums failed to capture a widespread audience. Some of these movies received theatrical releases, while others are direct-to-video gems that you might recall seeing in the shelves of Blockbuster back in the day. Either way, they’re all worth seeking out if you enjoy cinema of the gung-ho variety. Let’s dig in.
Stone Cold (1991)
Columbia Pictures
Joe Huff (Brian Bosworth) is a tough cop with a mullet who marches to the beat of his own drum. His speciality is infiltrating biker gangs, so naturally the FBI blackmails our hero to take down a villainous brotherhood in Mississippi after he goes full-on Dirty Harry with some perps while serving a suspension.
Still, that description doesn’t encapsulate the insanity that is Craig R. Baxley’s “Stone Cold.” The opening moments see Joe gun down a group of psychopaths who shoot through all of the Ritz crackers in a grocery store to make a point. One baddie slips while running down the aisle and goes flying into a display. Moments later, we see a biker enter a church and blast a priest through a window following a baptism. Why, you ask? Because this gang shoots priests in front of babies for fun.
“Stone Cold” essentially moves from one unhinged set-piece to the next, and it’s awesome. Lance Henriksen also stars as one of the villains, chewing more scenery than Galactus every time he consumes a planet. Add this to the list of the best so-bad-it’s-good films, even though I’d argue “Stone Cold” is a bona fide masterpiece of disreputable cinema.
Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991)
Warner Bros.
Picture this: You are about to enter a gunfight, and your best friend compliments you by praising the size of your genitalia. This is the barometer we should all set for our friendships, and it’s a scene from Mark L. Lester’s “Showdown In Little Tokyo,” a buddy actioner starring Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee.
The story here is simple: Lundgren and Lee’s characters are cops tasked with protecting a witness from the yakuza. These are the kind of cops who play by their own rules — a common trope in ’90s action flicks — and they know martial arts. Of course, the Japanese gangsters they come up against are no strangers to fighting either. As you can imagine, all hell breaks loose.
“Showdown In Little Tokyo” is a funny, action-packed delight that boasts tremendous chemistry between Lee and Lundgren, who make for a great strange-bedfellows pairing. Martial arts? Gun fights? Buff heroes complimenting each other’s nether regions? “Showdown In Little Tokyo” should have won an Academy Award for Best Picture.
Drop Zone (1994)
Paramount Pictures
Several of Wesley Snipes’ best movies were released in the ’90s, with “Blade” and “Demolition Man” (understandably) receiving most of the attention to this day. Less is said about John Badham’s “Drop Zone,” a “Point Break” knock-off that swaps surfing for skydiving. That, however, is not a bad thing.
In this one, Snipes plays a federal agent who must infiltrate a group of skydiving computer hackers led by Gary Busey’s Ty Moncrief. Their plan? To screw over the government and expose the names of undercover agents to the criminal elite. The stakes are high — literally, because, you know, skydiving.
The plot isn’t really important, though. The main appeal of “Drop Zone” is watching people jump out of planes and Snipes showing off his sublime fighting skills. Busey, meanwhile, gives the type of over-the-top, utterly bonkers performance he’s known for. I recommend pairing this one with “Passenger 57” for a double blast of awesome airborne actioners starring Snipes. Now, if you want to make it a triple bill that goes sky high, throw in Charlie Sheen’s “Terminal Velocity,” and prepare to have your mind blown to smithereens.
Rage (1995)
PM Entertainment Group
Gary Daniels doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He is part of the pantheon of great B-movie action stars that includes Mark Dacascos and Scott Adkins, but without the occasional mainstream recognition (unless you count 2009’s ill-fated “Tekken” movie). Still, action fans can’t go wrong with a Daniels flick, which brings us to the Joseph Merhi-directed “Rage” — a movie that lives up to its title.
“Rage” sees Daniels play a school teacher-turned-fugitive who gets targeted by a militia, who view him as the perfect candidate to inject with a serum that turns people into bionic soldiers. The experiment works, but this hero has no interest in joining their cause. Thus begins a rollicking adventure that sees Daniels’ one-man army get caught up in high-speed chases and hang out of helicopters because that’s just how action flicks rolled in the ’90s.
Merhi’s movie also comes courtesy of PM Entertainment, a company renowned for producing and distributing low-budget genre films that embraced carnage. “Rage” is a perfect introduction to its library, and I highly recommend checking it out if you feel like “Universal Soldier” could have used more insanity.
Original Gangstas (1996)
Orion Pictures
Most of the Blaxploitation movies that defined the genre came out in the ’70s, but the ’90s gave us gems like “Jackie Brown” and the lesser-seen “Original Gangstas.” Co-directed by genre vets Fred Williamson and Larry Cohen, this one is a vigilante tale about some fed-up citizens cleaning dirtbags out of their neighborhood. Think “Death Wish” and “Vigilante,” but with a hip-hop soundtrack and an ensemble made up of Blaxploitation royalty.
“Original Gangstas” brings together Williamson (“Black Caesar”), Pam Grief (“Coffy), Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”), Jim Brown (“The Running Man”), and other familiar faces for a throwback to the movies that made them famous. Expect lots of shooting and Williamson busting out a few karate moves. What’s not to love about that?
If you are a fan of Blaxploitation flicks, you will find this one utterly charming, as the legendary actors who defined the genre during its heyday are having a blast. What’s more, it’s a great action movie about aging heroes — a trend that’s still going strong thanks to movies like the “Nobody” franchise.