M.L. Buchman | Top 5 Action Flicks

Most of my picks are actually series, not single movies because not only do I write in series (The Night Stalkers, Firehawks, and the upcoming Delta Force among many others). I also watch in series, read in series, and on the rare occasions when I watch TV, I binge in series. I’m just a series kind of guy.

5. I love the first three Bourne movies. The grounding of action so deeply in character motivation is endlessly fascinating. No character but Jason Bourne could be so when driven by such a simple, elemental question: Who am I? It is the question that drives us all in the world. And that he answers it from a place of complete, unquestionable integrity is simply an incredible character study.

4. Die Hard. Not all of the later ones, but absolutely Number One. It is the perfect thriller. The unwilling hero. The family at risk. Humor. Tension that never, ever, ever stops. And a thoroughly villainous villain. I’ve watched it a dozen times and expect to watch it many more times.

3. Le Femme Nikita, the French original with subtitles (though Bridgett Fonda in Point of No Return was a very satisfying remake). This is a movie about a woman who finds towering strength within herself, in a way that no one expects, least of all herself. She is the kickass heroine, not because she goes from garbage to being a top assassin, but because in the end she impossibly transitions from being an assassin to being herself.

2. There are so many series I want to place here in the Number Two spot: Indiana Jones (the first and third), Terminator Two (in which one of my favorite actresses, Linda Hamilton, with a single movie completely changed how we view women heroines), The Last Samurai (along with its companions of The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven), or, I’ll admit it’s totally silly, but… Kill Bill 1&2 (Uma Thurman with a sword, enough said there. I may write romance, but I am a guy after all).

However, I’m going to have to go with the Dark Knight trilogy. I’m not a huge Batman fan, though he’s cool. I thought movie one and two were good, interesting, and well done. The Dark Knight Rises set off to continue down the same worn trail of The Dark Knight. I knew it was going there, the director wanted me to know it was going there… and then it went somewhere else entirely. It is a fascinating journey of setting reader’s expectations diametrically opposite to their hopes—then delivering on the latter. Simply a magnificent piece of writing, direction, and acting.

1. My absolute most favorite movie series isn’t really a series, it’s a sub-genre: the apocalyptic SF movie. I just can’t get enough of: Armageddon, Deep Impact, Meteor, 2012, Interstellar, Gravity, Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Collide and (well, I’ve got a library of them). “Why?” is the interesting puzzle. When I think about them, it always comes down to an individual or a very small group, struggling against impossible odds to save everyone and everything. The reason Gravity slipped in there is that one of my theories on why we’ve never had contact with aliens is that they are each trapped behind the whirling debris of their own space junk. (And it stars Sandra Bullock. So, like Uma with her sword…)

My list has:
character
thriller pacing
astonishing heroines
addressing reader expectations
triumph of the human spirit

GIVEAWAY

So help me out here: What movies have I missed? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a copy of HOT POINT.

About M. L. Buchman

M. L. Buchman has over 35 novels and an ever-expanding flock of short stories in print. His military romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the year,” Booklist “Top 10 of the Year,” and RT “Top 10 Romantic Suspense of the Year.” In addition to romantic suspense, he also writes contemporaries, thrillers, and fantasy and science fiction.

In among his career as a corporate project manager he has: rebuilt and single-handed a fifty-foot sailboat, both flown and jumped out of airplanes, designed and built two houses, and bicycled solo around the world.

He is now a full-time writer, living on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife. He is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing at www.mlbuchman.com.

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About HOT POINT

THESE AIRBORNE HEROES BATTLE MORE THAN FLAMES The elite firefighters of Mount Hood Aviation fly into places even the CIA can't penetrate.

FROM WILDFIRE TO GUNFIRE Master mechanic Denise Conroy-with a reputation for being as steel- clad as the aircraft she keeps aloft-shuns useless flyboys who don't know one end of a wrench from the other.

Firehawk pilot Vern Taylor-known for unstoppable charm and a complete lack of mechanical skills-proves his talent for out-of-the-box thinking with every flight. He's a survivor and a natural-born heli-aviation firefighter.

When Denise and Vern crash together in the Central American jungle with wildfire on one side and a full-fledged military coup on the other, their newly forged partnership is tested to the max. They have each other, but not even their formidable skills combined can protect Denise and Vern from the conflagration sweeping the jungle...and their hearts.