Thursday Movie Picks: A Siege

If you have trouble understanding the actual word a little, in this case “siege”, you probably ask Google for help. So I did, and in this case, I decided to recommend three movies I wouldn’t probably recommend otherwise. In other words, here are three films I don’t remember that much involving a siege of some sorts.

1. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002)

It’s my least favourite Lord of the Rings movie from the trilogy. All I remember is that it’s mostly a battle sequence after battle sequence. But that isn’t to say it isn’t well made. I think it speaks for itself, the CGI, the fantasy elements – this trilogy is among the strongest of film series out there. It reminds me that I haven’t watched this trilogy in ages, I really should, considering I’m a huge high fantasy fan.

2. DREDD (2012)

At some point, I need to rewatch Dredd because I really don’t remember much. I do remember that there are drugs involved, and Judge Dredd has to get into a building where the criminals are hiding. It is a remake, of course, but it’s one of those remakes that improves the 90’s version. I haven’t seen the latter, but I’m pretty sure it’s not as good as its newer version.

3. DIE HARD (1988)

I mean, I could mention a few other siege movies Google recommended me, but I wanted to briefly talk about Die Hard. This 80’s movie is a cult classic, it’s famous for many reasons. It’s also the film that put Alan Rickman onto the map, and good thing too, because he had a remarkable career afterwards. It’s a Christmas favourite and I bet many will mention it with this theme!

THIS SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES

mettelray

August 9, 2018

Thursday Movie Picks

6 responses to “Thursday Movie Picks: A Siege”

Sofia da Costa

August 10, 2018 at 2:16 pm

lol yeah I had to google that 😂 I really need to watch LOTR again too, it’s been far too many years!! Die Hard is awesome, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dredd, never even heard of it!

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1. MettelRay
  
  August 10, 2018 at 5:13 pm
  
  Same here, I think I will watch it again soon if I have more time. I’m currently trying to catch up with a weeks worth of writing and commenting. 😀
  
  Dredd’s okay, I don’t really remember it, but as a sci-fi fan, I can remember appreciating it. 🙂
  
  Reply
Joel

August 11, 2018 at 10:41 pm

I feel wildly different about the two choices of yours that I’ve seen.

I hated all the LOTR movies completely, than why did I see them all you ask? Well once I saw the first I had to know how it ended feeling (wrongly) that they would improve as they went along. This was the one I hated most of all because as you referenced it was really just one endless siege with no beginning nor end. I actually took a 20 minute break in the middle of it when I went to see it with friends. They were loving it and I couldn’t have been more bored so I sat in the lobby until I felt I had to go back in. It made the experience less painful but didn’t make the film any better!

Conversely I LOVE Die Hard! What a great lean intelligent thrill ride it is and perfectly cast. Not just Willis and Rickman though neither could be better but Bonnie Bedelia is great as Holly. No shrinking violet she so she and Willis really seem like a couple who would be together yet have a hard time staying together. Really all the important roles are just spot on and that sucker MOVES!

Haven’t seen Dredd.

I had hoped to do three films with siege in the title but it turns out I’d only seen two and the others with that word in the title proved illusive. So I settled for one with lots of star power.

55 Days at Peking (1963)-In 1900 during China’s Boxer Rebellion Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi (Flora Robson) orders The Boxers, a group of Chinese secret societies to massacre foreigners within China. In the diplomatic compound a group of ambassadors, their families and staff hole up to resist the siege. Marine Corps Major Matt Lewis (Charlton Heston) aided by British Consul Sir Arthur Robertson (David Niven), devise a strategy to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force arrives while Lewis romances Russian baroness Natalie Ivanoff (Ava Gardner). A bit inflated but told on an epic scale.

Under Siege (1992)-Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A man of action (Steven Seagal) finds himself trapped in an enclosed space-in this case a nuclear battleship-when terrorists (Tommy Lee Jones & Gary Busey) take the vessel hostage and it’s up to him and an innocent bystander (Erika Eleniak) to save the day! That’s right it’s Die Hard on the open seas!! The thing that separates this from the dozens and dozens of rip-offs that followed the release of the first classic is that it’s genuinely entertaining because director Andrew Davis knows how to shoot action and make it compelling for the audience.

The Siege (1998)-After the US military abduction of an Islamic religious leader New York City becomes the target of escalating terrorist attacks. The FBI’s Counter-Terrorism Task Force chief Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) teams up with CIA operative Elise Kraft (Annette Bening) to hunt down the terrorist cells responsible for the attacks. As the bombings continue the government declares martial law sending troops, led by Gen. Devereaux (a deeply nuts Bruce Willis), into the streets of New York City where he starts rounding up Arab-Americans into detention centers. Appalled Hubbard & Kraft race the clock to defuse the situation as it escalates to a fever pitch.

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Alex Withrow

August 14, 2018 at 5:42 pm

Die Hard is a great choice for this list. That is a siege film in many ways. Rickman… God I love Rickman in that.

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Birgit

August 15, 2018 at 6:23 am

I love LOTR and I did enjoy the 2nd film very much. Judge Dredd..I think I saw the Stallone flick but not sure. Die Hard is ok but not my favourite except I love Alan Rickman

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Wandering through the Shelves

August 16, 2018 at 11:14 pm

Actually in Dredd, Dredd and his partner are trying to get out of the building that the drug queen has shut them in.

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