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Posted: 4 years ago by Simon West
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Ultimate tough guy movie moments

Predator

There isn’t a guy around who hasn’t been completely inspired or in awe of a particular movie scene. The action genre has supplied countless hours of tough guy moments that make you sit, smile, nod your head and think “man, that’s cool”.

You know the ones I’m talking about. Whether it’s John McLane pulling glass from his feet in Die Hard, a stoic Billy slicing his chest with a machete in Predator, or Chong Li pointing out Frank Dux and saying “you are next!” after brutally defeating an opponent in Bloodsport, we all have a few we love.

Tony Montana introducing his “little friend” in Scarface’s climax has long been a movie-goer and wannabe gangster’s favourite. But, it's generally the films featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood or Chuck Norris that are littered with these scenes and are made purely to highlight the imposing nature of their leading man.

Lock Up Personally I find it hard to look past the American Football scene in Sylvester Stallone’s macho prison film, Lock Up. Watching this is the ultimate pump-up. Think about it — is there anything more intimidating than a bunch of hardened crims smashing the lights out of each other on a mud soaked football field? From the moment Frank Leone accepts Chink Weber’s challenge and decides to play we know something’s coming, and we can’t keep our eyes off the screen.

Of course, a film can take it too far and evoke a cringe-like response from its viewers.

Hard Target I can think of a few, but my favourite example is from Hard Target when Jean Claude Van Damme’s character, Chance Boudreaux, bites the end off a live rattlesnake (because hey, why not?) and uses it for a booby trap. This insane piece of film had me shaking my head in bemusement. Then again, I was already doing this from the moment I saw Van Damme’s greasy hair and denim-on-denim outfit, but that’s a whole other blog.

It’s hard to list all the best scenes in order and it’s undoubtedly a subjective thing, so I won’t do that. It is possible, however, to share a few that really get us pumped.

What are your favourite tough guy moments? How about ones that make you cringe? Have your say below.

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What you said:
Terry in NZ said:
How tough is Tom Beringer in Platoon? That whole 'take the pain!' scene gets me going every time. There's a pile of war movies and characters worth mentioning, but this guy stands out.
HAVE YOUR SAY
User comments
Come on, Clint Eastwood, he's the man. 'Every Which Way' The Dollar films. No contest.
Paradise Alley with Stallone is my hip macho movie with hulking men crarrying ice blocks the size of mini minors up staircases to satisfy the insatiable appetitie coolers and backstreet brawls in the twisted jungle of a urban sprawl. Yeah..
Personally Rambo and all of arnies films have got to be top notch action films!! I would have loved to have seen a movie where chuck, arnie, Sylvester and jean claude na dam were all in a movie together.
If you're going to mention Van Damme movies then you have to throw Universal Soldier in the mix. I'm not a fan of his, but Dolph Lungdren was awesome in that. He's superhuman so maybe that doesn't count, but he's got some good lines and dishes out the punishment.... How about that necklace of ears? "They're everywhere!"
How tough is Tom Beringer in Platoon? That whole 'take the pain!' scene gets me going every time. There's a pile of war movies and characters worth mentioning, but this guy stands out.
Joe Pesci - Goodfellas & Casino - both playing a sociopath. Not necessarily an action type character but still the man. Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men. Goes on a killing spree with the craziest hair-do in history. Brad Pitt-Ed Norton - Fight Club - self explainatory. Especially beating himself up in front of the boss to get it his way. And obviously Tony Montana aka Al Pacino aka Scarface - performance matters. Montana's two scenes in Frank office - 1. Explaining himself why he had picked up a multimillion dollar deal with Sosa and 2. Finding out Frank set up the hit on him.
Brad Pitt in Fight club -wins hands down
The Drill Seargent from Full Metal Jacket has got to be one of the hardest men of all time. Too many quotes to name, and when he finds a jelly doughnut in Pyles foot locker is a classic!
Anything Arnie is in makes for an incredibly tough movie.... I think Commando is my favourite though. Who else can beat up a pile of mall security and policemen before taking on a small army on an island? Crazy stuff. The toughest moment is when he's carrying his girl, looking ripped in camo and says "no chance!" when asked to return to the forces... Matrix forever!
great article...well 2 scenes come to mind. 1.Red Heat when Arnold Schwarzenegger's character Ivan Danko is initiated with a hot coal placed in his hand, he fully absorbs it while staring directly at the bad guy, he then clenches his fist with the hot coal in it and punches the guy out the window. classic tough cinema. 2. However i dont think you can go past the start of the movie Predator where Arnold and Carl Weathers greet each other with a crisp hand slap followed by a standing arm wrestle. The scene finishes with Carl Weathers submitting to Arnolds dominance and superior strength, an all time classic tough moment.

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