Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai welcome John Rocha to break down 1998’s Armageddon!

Armageddon is a 1998 American science fiction disaster film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film follows a group of blue-collardeep-core drillers sent by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It features an ensemble cast including Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, William Fichtner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Keith David, and Steve Buscemi.

Armageddon opened in theaters only two and a half months after the similar asteroid impact-based film Deep Impact, which starred Robert Duvall and Morgan Freeman. Armageddon fared better at the box office, while astronomers described Deep Impact as being more scientifically accurate. Armageddon was an international box-office success despite generally negative reviews from critics, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 1998’s Blade!

Blade is a 1998 American vampire superhero film starring Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Snipes plays Blade, a human with vampire traits who protects humans from vampires. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer.

Released on August 21, 1998, Blade became a commercial success by grossing $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide. Despite mixed reviews from film critics, the film received a positive reception from audiences and has since garnered a cult following. It was followed by two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity, both written by Goyer who also directed the latter.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 2008’s The Dark Knight!

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, starring an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), James Gordon (Oldman) and Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organised crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman’s influence and create chaos.

Nolan’s inspiration for the film was the Joker’s comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face’s origin. The nickname “the Dark Knight” was first applied to Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story written by Bill Finger.[4][5] The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras to film some sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance in the film. The film is dedicated to the memory of Ledger, who died on January 22, 2008, some months after the completed filming and six months before the film’s release, from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and movie-going public. Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker.

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Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 2007’s Shooter!

A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the President. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, he goes on the run to find the real killer and the reason he was set up.

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Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 1995’s Die Hard With A Vengeance!

Die Hard with a Vengeance is a 1995 American action film and the third in the Die Hard film series. It was produced and directed by John McTiernan (who directed Die Hard), written by Jonathan Hensleigh, and stars Bruce Willis as New York City Police Department Lieutenant John McClane, Samuel L. Jackson as McClane’s reluctant partner Zeus Carver, and Jeremy Irons as Simon Peter Gruber. It was released on May 19, 1995, five years after Die Hard 2, becoming the highest-grossing film at the worldwide box-office that year, but received mixed reviews. It was followed by Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard in 2007 and 2013, respectively.

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Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 1989’s Road House!

Road House is a 1989 American action film directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a newly refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Sam Elliott also plays a bouncer, the mentor, friend and foil of Swayze’s character. The cast also includes Kelly Lynch as Swayze’s love interest, and Ben Gazzara as the main antagonist.

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Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!

The Lord of the Rings (also promoted as The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy) is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. They are based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). They were distributed by New Line Cinema.

Considered to be one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with an overall budget of $281 million (some sources say $310-$330 million), the entire project took eight years, with the filming for all three films done simultaneously and entirely in New Zealand, Jackson’s native country. Each film in the series also had special extended editions released on DVD a year after their respective theatrical releases. While the films follow the book’s general storyline, they do omit some of the novel’s plot elements and include some additions to and deviations from the source material.

Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as he and a Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker). The Fellowship becomes divided and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam (Sean Astin) and the treacherous Gollum(Andy Serkis). Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) unite and rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 2010’s Inception!

Inception is a 2010 science fiction heist thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan, and co-produced by Emma Thomas. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious, and is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for a task seemingly-impossible: “inception”, the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious. The ensemble cast additionally includes Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine.

After the 2002 completion of Insomnia, Nolan presented to Warner Bros. a written 80-page treatment about a horror film envisioning “dream stealers” based on lucid dreaming. Emphasizing on professional-scale experience, Nolan retired the project and instead worked on 2005’s Batman Begins, 2006’s The Prestige, and The Dark Knight in 2008. The treatment was revised over 6 months and was purchased by Warner in February 2009. Inception was filmed in six countries, beginning in Tokyo in June 19 and ending in Canada in November 22. Its official budget was US$160 million, split between Warner Bros and Legendary. Nolan’s reputation and success with The Dark Knight helped secure the film’s $100 million in advertising expenditure.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 1998’s Ronin!

Ronin is a 1998 American spy action-thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce. Written by David Mamet (under the pseudonym Richard Weisz) from a screenplay by first-time writer John David Zeik, the film centers on a team of hired ex-special operatives trying to steal a mysterious and heavily-guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties and alliances. The film is noted for its realistic car chases through Nice and Paris and its convoluted plot involving the briefcase as a MacGuffin.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down 2011’s The Mechanic!

The Mechanic is a 2011 American action thriller film starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster. Directed by Simon West, it is a remake of the 1972 film of the same name, directed by Michael Winner, starring Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent. Statham stars as Arthur Bishop, a professional assassin who specializes in making his hits look like accidents, suicides or the acts of petty criminals. It was released in the United States and Canada on January 28, 2011. A sequel is due for release on August 26, 2016.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai welcome the hosts of Six Degrees of Feature Film Miss Movies and Stacy Howard break down Cliffhanger!

Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action adventure film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner, and John Lithgow. Based on a concept by climber John Long, the film follows Gabe (Stallone; who co-wrote the screenplay) a mountain climber who becomes embroiled in the failed heist of a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains. The film earned $255 million worldwide.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down Star Trek!

Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction adventure film directed by J. J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the 11th film of the Star Trek film franchise and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series, portrayed by a new cast and the first in the reboot series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard the USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The story takes place in an alternate reality because of time travel by both Nero and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate timeline was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down The Bourne Supremacy!

The Bourne Supremacy is a 2004 American-German action spythriller film starring Robert Ludlum‘s Jason Bourne character. Though it takes the name of the second Bourne novel, its plot is entirely different. The film was directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay by Tony Gilroy. Universal Pictures released the film to theaters in the United States on July 23, 2004. It is the second in theBourne film series. It is preceded by The Bourne Identity (2002) and followed by The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Legacy(2012), and Jason Bourne (2016).

The Bourne Supremacy continues the story of Jason Bourne, a former CIA assassin suffering from psychogenic amnesia. Bourne is portrayed by Matt Damon. The film focuses on his attempt to learn more of his past as he is once more enveloped in a conspiracy involving the CIA and Operation Treadstone. The film also stars Brian Cox as Ward Abbott, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy and Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down Déjà Vu!

Déjà Vu is a 2006 American science fiction action film starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott. The film co-stars Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel, Val Kilmer, Adam Goldberg and Bruce Greenwood. Déjà Vu involves ATF agent Douglas Carlin, who travels back in time in attempts to prevent a domestic terrorist attack that takes place in New Orleans and to save a woman with whom he falls in love, Claire Kuchever. Filming took place in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.

Action Movie Anatomy hosts Ben Bateman and Andrew Ghai break down Commando!

Commando is a 1985 American action comedy film directed by Mark L. Lester, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong. The film was released in the United States on October 4, 1985. The film was shot in Los Angeles.

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects but lost to Back to the Future. The film’s score was provided by James Horner. A critical success and commercial hit, Commando was the 7th highest-grossing R-rated movie of 1985 worldwide, and the 25th highest-grossing overall.