The 411 Top 5 12.05.08: Week 142 - The Top 5 Revenge Movies!

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 12.05.2008

In the latest edition of the 411 Movies Top 5, revenge movies are on the mind. From Kill Bill and The Crow to Punisher and Mad Max! Check out the full column to see which movies staffers select as their Top 5 Revenge Movies!

Let's talk about Punisher: War Zone for a moment, shall we? As many of you already know, the film opens today, and judging from everything I've seen and heard, it's probably gonna be a large piece of suck. Now, that's not terribly surprising. Despite the recent surge in good comic-book movies, I think most of us would agree that there are more underwhelming comic-based movies than there are great ones. But what is notable about this one is that it will be the third straight crappy Punisher movie, following the forgettable Dolph Lundgren and uneven Thomas Jane versions.

This is particularly frustrating because, in terms of comic-book characters, The Punisher should be one of the easiest to get right on film. It's something of a no-brainer, really, and yet they just keep screwing it up. At least one person did have the right idea for the franchise, though. Before walking away from the new movie over disagreements with Lionsgate over the direction they wanted to go in, former Punisher star Thomas Jane (who, for all that movie's faults, was actually quite good in the role) made it known that he wanted to see the series go for more of an old-school, 70's-era revenge movie vibe. As a Punisher fan, that sounded great to me, but Lionsgate, in all their wisdom, decided they'd rather go with the over-the-top day-glo kitsch of Punisher: War Zone.

Well, what's done is done, but if War Zone tanks like I think it will, there's always the possibility of another Punisher reboot somewhere down the line. And maybe then they'll finally get it right. So this week, I'd like to perform a little public service by following Tom Jane's lead, and giving whoever makes the next Punisher movie a list of films to study up on, with our look at:

THE TOP 5 REVENGE MOVIES



Trevor Snyder

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I Spit on Your Grave - This grindhouse classic about a woman getting revenge on the hillbillies who brutally raped her is more controversial than it is good, and can be a rather tough watch (the rape sequence seems to go on forever). But, if you can stomach it, it's probably worth seeing once for its infamous nature alone.

Kill Bill - Quentin Tarantino's revenge epic (which I'm considering as one film here) may primarily be a pastiche of some of his favorite movies and genres, but it's still one hell of a movie in its own right.

The Crow - This clut-classic tale of revenge from beyond the grave proves that, despite what the Punisher movies might have you believe, sometimes comic-book revenge movies do get it right

THE TOP 5

5. Changing Lanes

A completely different kind of revenge movie, perhaps, but one still worth noting here, if only to remind us all that revenge doesn't always have to only follow rape or murder. In this case, it's a simple matter of a traffic accident which causes an insurance salesman (Samuel L. Jackson) to miss an important custody hearing and an attorney to misplace crucial legal papers he was on his way to file. The day-long feud between the two that follows is intense and immensely entertaining. It's helped by the fact that it never gets too over-the-top, and also benefits from strong performances from both actors (those who say Affleck has no chops should check this one out in addition to Hollywoodland). A great under-appreciated gem.

4. Man on Fire

Man on Fire takes a looong time to actually get to the revenge portion of its story, and it's a testament to the work of stars Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning and director Tony Scott that you're never bored even while it seems like it might just be nothing more than the story of a former mercenary now babysitting a rich little girl. But then Fanning's character is kidnapped, Washington's character opts for vengeance, and the shit hits the fan. You want to talk cold-blooded revenge? I've been angry with quite a few people in my life, but never so much that I would consider actually shoving a bomb up someone's ass. Damn.

3. Mad Max

Great sci-fi, post-apocalyptic movie? Check. Great car-crash, stunt-filled movie? Sure. Great revenge movie? You're damn right. Not only does Mel Gibson's police officer Max Rockatansky lose his partner to an evil motorcycle gang, but then his wife and infant child as well. What follows is one of the best ever cinematic portrayals of revenge completely consuming a person and essentially turning them into a different person altogether. The Max in the final scene of the film is in no way the Max from the beginning of the movie…and thank heavens for that, or we wouldn't have been treated to one excellent and another pretty decent sequel.

2. Death Wish

Most would probably consider this the definitive revenge movie, and although I'm putting it at #2 I can certainly see why. This one essentially birthed the typical revenge formula that an overwhelming slew of knock-offs and imitators would follow. Although I've never been as into Charles Bronson as many others, I can't deny the power of his performance as Paul Kersey, whose life is forever changed after his wife is killed and his daughter raped. Interestingly enough, Kersey never gets to kill the criminals responsible for that act, but he sure does get to kill a lot of others. This is pretty much the movie a Punisher film should be, and while I'm not sure it needed the four lame sequels that followed, it's still a textbook example of classic revenge cinema.

1. Oldboy

Easily the finest film of Park Chan-Wook's revenge trilogy, and many have even declared it one of the finest Korean films ever made. I haven't seen nearly enough Korean movies to make that declaration, but I do know this is one hell of an amazing film. The concept alone should be enough to make anyone curious – a man is mysteriously imprisoned inside a room for fifteen years, and after being inexplicably let out decides to find and get revenge on whoever was responsible – but the twist-and-turns the story then takes (not to mention the technical wizardry of the filmmaking) is what makes it a classic. At the risk of sounding goofy and clichéd, the movie's final twist revelation will stay with you for days.



Shawn S. Lealos

HONORABLE MENTION:

Desperado, Memento, & Payback

THE TOP 5

5. The Count of Monte Cristo

This movie is just complete fun. Jim Caviezel plays Edmond, the Count of Monte Cristo, a title he created to seek revenge against his former best friend, a man who betrayed him and had him imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Guy Pierce plays that friend with the right amount of sleaze, a man who stole everything Edmond held dear including his fiancée. When Edmond eventually breaks out of prison he joins a band of pirates and finds enough treasure to turn him into the esteemed count, he sets out not to simply kill the man who betrayed him, but to destroy his entire life. He systematically breaks down his rival until the man has no recourse left but to face Edmond and seal his fate. It was a surprise hit for me and a movie that I still count today as one of my favorite revenge flicks.

4. The Crow

I absolutely love this movie. Brandon Lee was great in this, his tragic final cinematic role. It is also Alex Proyas' masterpiece, a gothic mix of a nihilistic society, a dark thriller and a supernatural mind fuck. A group of thugs is sent to scare tenants out of their homes so a kingpin can buy up land. During the raids, they kill a young couple engaged to be married. The murdered man, Eric Draven, is brought back by a crow to seek vengeance on those who wronged him. He proceeds to massacre everyone involved from the lowest lackey to the man in charge, a brilliant creation played to perfection by Michael Wincott. The soundtrack is fantastic and the look of the film is just gorgeous. It remains one of the best comic book adaptations made in the 90s.

3. Kill Bill

Quentin Tarantino took the revenge flick and cranked up the adrenaline to manic levels. We start the first movie with The Bride being shot and left for dead. Unfortunately for everyone involved, she is far from dead. She brings herself back from the brink of death and immediately seeks revenge against a scumbag nurse who raped her while she was in her coma. That is just the start. A natural badass, The Bride uses her natural skills as an assassin to search out each person responsible for her betrayal one-by-one and systematically kills them all. She also kills a shitload more people along the way including an entire gang in a restaurant. All this leads to her eventual confrontation with Bill and the title of the movie tells you what happens next. It is the perfect revenge flick and is full of great moments. It's the most entertaining movie on my list by a long shot.

2. Mad Max

Max Rockatansky's partner is attacked, burned to a crisp and left for dead. It is enough to make him hang up his badge. Too bad he can't stay away from trouble. While on holiday with his family, his wife and infant child are killed by the same gang that took out his partner. The sight of his baby being run over by the biker gang is a taboo not often crossed and a startling incident that makes the viewer want to see the bad guys killed in the worst way possible. Max does not disappoint as he seeks out each man responsible for the crime killing them one-by-one with no remorse. It stars a baby faced Mel Gibson and to see him go from golden boy police officer to stone cold killer makes this one of the best revenge thrillers ever made.

1. Death Wish

Death Wish is a unique revenge thriller because it does not involve a man seeking revenge against the people who wronged him. Instead he seeks vengeance against everyone on the streets who dares to commit a crime. Charles Bronson is Paul Kersey, a peaceful man who finds his world shattered when his wife is killed and daughter raped by a gang of hooligans (including a young Jeff Goldblum). We don't see these killers again because the movie focuses on Kersey becoming a vigilante set out to rid the streets of killers, thieves and rapists. The police want him off the streets but know they need to make the public still feel safe. This places them in a strange predicament where they want to stop him, but do it privately and just get him out of town. Bronson would go on to make a number of sequels, none as good as this original. He was pitch perfect in this movie and set the template for what a revenge thriller should look like. It is arguable the greatest vigilante flick ever made.



Owain J. Brimfield

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Crow (1994) - perhaps not as good as its reputation would suggest, but a cult classic nonetheless.

Death Wish (1974) - although I'm not a big fan of Bronson, some might say this is the definitive revenge movie.

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) - the classic tale updated with a great pairing of Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce.


THE TOP 5

5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

That's right, I went there. The second Star Trek movie isn't exactly the first title off people's lips when you ask them to name a revenge flick, revenge is certainly at the heart of epic villain Khan's plots to deal with one James T. Kirk. One of the great undersung sci-fi movies, the finest outing for Trek on the big screen deftly weaves together a number of plot threads along with Khan's superb bad guy-ing, and Shatner's legendary "Khaaaaaan!" has been spoofed to kingdom come. Throw in the Genesis device and the death of Spock (spoiler?), and Star Trek 2 is certainly worthy of inclusion on this list.

4. Elephant (2004)

Perhaps a left-field choice, but it certainly qualifies as a revenge movie. Van Sant's best film (some would argue that doesn't amount to much - to those people I say "tosh and piffle") is a highly stylised quasi-fictional tale of a high school gun massacre the likes of which seem to plague small-town America. Of course, it's not revenge in the old-school cinematic sense of one man against the rest of the world, but it certainly makes for terrifying cinema. While some are, understandably, off-put by the laconic manner in which Van Sant shoots the action, it's hard to remain unperturbed by the film's relentless lack of judgement, and the final twenty minutes or so are as shocking and compelling as anything in recent memory.

3. Man on Fire (2004)

Tony Scott, it could be said, is not a director for whom "subtlety" is an oft-utilised concept. Man on Fire is an utter rampage of stylistic destruction as Denzel Washington's sort-of-antihero John W. Creasy takes on the Mexican gang responsible for kidnapping darling little Dakota Fanning (the swines!). Although the film begins slowly, it's hard to keep from smiling when it ramps up the speed to overdrive about forty minutes in and Denzel becomes the baddest motherfucker since Jules Winnfield. Creasy's methods of murderization become ever more spectacular (the "back door bomb" scene is especially memorable), and it's capped off with a surprisingly low-key ending that works wonders. All that and a soundtrack that mixes Clint Mansell and Nine Inch Nails. Superb.

2. Oldboy (2003)

Call me ill-informed when it comes to Korean cinema, but the first and last episodes of Park Chan-Wook's revenge trilogy leave me fairly cold. Thankfully, what Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance fail to do for me, Oldboy makes up for in spades. A brutal tale of imprisonment, torture and dark secrets sees the wonderfully coiffured Oh Dae-Su locked in a room for fifteen years and then given the chance to exact revenge on his captor. Viscerally satisfying and blackly humourous (the scene with the toothless subtitles gets me every time), with moments of cinematic genius along the way - the one-take corridor fight is a technical wonder - Oldboy is one of the finest films to come out of the East in years, and if the Spielberg/Smith remake captures even half its brilliance it'll be worth seeing.

1. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

Arguably the most obscure film on this list, but Dead Man's Shoes is one of the most powerful films you'll ever see about a British ex-soldier and his mentally disabled younger brother. If that doesn't sound like a hearty recommendation, how about this - it's fucking great. From the moment Paddy Considine sounds the alarm bells of a barnstorming performance with his introduction to the first of a gang of thugs in a quiet northern pub, the film takes off on of the most original and haunting revenge dramas I've ever clapped eyes on. Of course, the glorious "who the fuck are you looking at?" scene is probably the moment that will stick in your mind the most, but stay with it for a rollicking ride and a denouement that turns absolutely everything on his head. This is what modern British cinema should be all about.



James Craig

HONORABLE MENTION:

Payback, The Punisher

THE TOP 5

5. Man on Fire:

This isn't going to be the only film by one of the Scott brothers to make my list, but it certainly was on of the easiest titles to think of at a moment's notice. While a film like The Punisher give you the ramped up violence you'd expect from this sort of film the acting left a lot to be desired. Man on Fire was paced beautifully by tony Scott and Denzel Washington was more then up to the task of giving us a very flawed, yet heroic Creasy who you can't help but cheer on as he begins a one man war to rescue the little girl his was charged to protect while giving out the revenge on all those involved. While there are many memorable scenes, it is a line from Creasy's friend Rayburn, played by the always great Christopher Walken that will always be the best way to sum up the film. A man can be an artist at anything, food or whatever if you're good enough at it. Creasy's art is death, and he's about to paint his masterpiece.

4. The Crow:

The tragic death of Brandon Lee while filming this film will more than likely be what the film will forever be remembered for. What is forgotten is that the film is a powerful story of love and revenge when that love is taken away. Lee was able to capture the character of Eric Draven in both terms of being the crow as well as the human side, pained and angry over the way in which not only his life but that of his fiancee are violently taken. As a viewer you are compelled by what you have seen and feel that the actions taken by Draven in the Crow persona are totally justified.

3. Gladiator:

The second film from the Scott brothers comes in for my at number 3. As with all the films that will make it to the list of any sort of revenge film, your hero here has suffered greatly at the hands of the antagonist. While some may find the film to be over-rated, I think the Gladiator can be seen at its' very core, a film the outlines the trials a loyal soldier, father and husband may be willing go through in order to right a grievous wrong. This is the film that put Russell Crow on the map as he brought the hero Maximus to life with both a fierce roar and at time a gentle touch. While he had made a name for himself with his great performance in The Insider, it is Gladiator that made him a household name. The final show down is as epic and showy. The ending ties the entire film together and offers a satisfying and yet not completely happy closure to the film.

2. Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2:

These two films need to be put together as one. There are different schools of though tout there as to whether of not Kill Bill is Tarantino's greatest accomplishment thus far or not. The fact that cannot be disputed is that Tarantino has given one of film's best, most stylish and compelling revenge stories in quite some time. While the first half features The Bride (Uma Thurman) beginning her bloody rampage and helps draw you into the film, you can't help but be drawn into the much more personal side of the character that is revealed in the second act of the film. All the while the film is blessed with an over abundance of great performances by the likes of David Carradine and Michael Madsen that help push this film in to the "masterpiece" realm. Much like with Gladiator we get to see just what happens when a mother and wife has to deal with great tragedy and the lengths she would go to in order to right the wrongs. Of course The Bride also happens to be a highly trained assassin, so that only helps to bring the movie along. Madsen's Budd put it best in terms this movie, "That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die."

1. Once Upon a Time in the West:

This may not be the Charles Bronson film many had in mind for the greatest revenge film, but I think that this film surpasses not only other "revenge" films but is also one of if not the best western film ever made as well as one of my all time favorites. Bronson's Harmonica character is the embodiment of what this list is all about. As with all the other films, he is of a singular mentality, that his mission will not be over until the man who made him suffer is made to pay for his sins. The man in this case is Henry Fonda playing Frank. The contrast between the two actors as well as their characters is one of good vs. evil. Sergio Leone captured intensity like no other director, and this film is no different as we are treated to his trademark close ups of each man's face and eyes. Franks, cold blue eyes, offering only a glimpse of blackness and evil. Harmonica with his warm, thinking eyes, set fully and unblinkingly upon his foe. Frank was, as cliche as it might be, the villain dressed in black, going to any length to achieve his own self serving means, with murder being his primary and most trusted tool. Harmonica, seeking revenge for his lost brother, killed by Frank, as he was perched on Harmonica's shoulders with a noose around his neck. Once Upon a Time in the West is as personal as any of the stories in any of the other films I listed, but Leone is able to capture not only the revenge element but masterfully weaves it into a much more complex 'bigger picture". this film is as visually stunning as any you will see and the scene introducing Harmonica to the film is one of film's best. This is the best revenge film, for me anyway, by a long shot.



Bryan Kristopowitz

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Payback (1999): Mel Gibson just wants the $70,000 he's owed. But no one seems to be willing to give it to him. Not to mention, his wife and best friend shot him and left him for dead. He wants them to go down, too. If they just gave him his $70,000 at the beginning, Kris Kristofferson would still be alive.

The Crow (1994): Brandon Lee gets all ghostly bad ass avenging his murder and the murder of his girlfriend at the hands of scumbag gang members and Tony Todd. Movie would have been better without the whole "Brandon Lee's Eric Draven is a rock musician" thing. It brings down his bad ass quotient.

Collateral Damage (2002): Ahnold Schwarzeneger is a firefighter out for revenge, looking for The Wolf, a Colmbian terrorist who killed his wife and young son in a bombing. Ahnold only gets to kill one guy, the Wolf, but then he kills him by throwing an axe into his chest. That's pretty cool.

THE TOP 5

5. Friday the 13th (1980)

This slasher flick is sort of a revenge movie in reverse. Usually, we know who the person seeking revenge is right at the beginning and then we get to watch that person seek said revenge. In "Friday the 13th," we don't know who is exacting revenge on the young Crystal Lake camp counselors. Heck, we don't know for sure anyone is exacting revenge until close to the end of the movie, when we find out that Pamela Voorhies (Betsy Palmer) wants revenge for her dead, drowned son Jason (as we surely know, Pamela blames the counselors as they were all having sex and not paying attention to her drowning son), and is slaughtering hip and edgy young people and Kevin Bacon to get that revenge. Good ol' Pamela gets as many of the fornicators as she can before she is gloriously decapitated by Alice, the final girl.

4. Army of One (1993)

Also known as Johsua Tree. Dolph Lundgren stars as Wellman Santee, a former race car driver turned exotic car smuggler who is railroaded into jail by the corrupt cop (played by George Segal) ) he worked for. Segal's Lt. Severence, along with fellow corrupt cop and pseudo henchman Rudy (Beau Starr), kill a highway patrolman and Santee's best buddy, Eddie (Ken Foree) and blame Santee for it all. After getting patched up in a prison infirmary, Santee escapes jail, kidnaps a female cop (Kristian Alfonso), picks up a sawed off shotgun (which is what Dolph does in pretty much every movie he appears in with a gun), and goes looking for Severence and Rudy. Along the way, Santee drives a sports car through the desert, kills about twenty guys in a garage (great scene), has creepy sex with Kristian Alfonso, and, well, eventually exacts revenge. This is one of Dolph's best efforts, mostly because of the plentiful action scenes (because you can't have a great revenge movie without plenty of great action scenes) and the quiet, contemplative moments where Dolph is riding around the desert. Dolph is really pissed off about his life and what's happened to him and he can't wait to "get" Severence. And Severence is a total scumbag, so he deserves to be destroyed. Rudy, too.

3. Kill Bill vol. 1 (2003)

You know the story. The Bride, Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman), wakes up in the hospital after being in a coma and wants revenge against the people who put her there (these people also killed her boyfriend, a bunch of other people, including Bo Svenson and Samuel L. Jackson, and they stole her baby from her womb). In the first flick, we see the Bride wake up, go after the first two people on her list of death (Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishi, as played by Vivica A. Fox and Lucy Lui), and make plans for the other three (there were, of course, five people who The Bride feels need to die). Along the way, especially in the House of Blue Leaves in Japan, she kills a bunch of people who get in the way of her killing the five people on her list. While I like Kill Bill vol.2, I think vol.1 better embodies the whole "revenge" idea because we actually get to see the Bride exact revenge. We see what she's willing to do to eventually get to Bill (David Carradine), the final name on her list. When she finally does get to Bill, it's a bit of a letdown because, and this has something that has bothered me ever since seeing vol.2, we never really get to see Bill in action. I don't think he's as dangerous as the other four on the list. He's obviously charismatic, so that does count for something, but then again lots of bad guys are charismatic. Because we don't get to see Bill "doing stuff," you just know that he's really not that much of threat anyway. Still a good movie, though. But, again, vol.1 is the better of the two.

2. Out for Justice (1991)

This Steven Seagal flick finds Seagal's NYPD detective Gino Felino hot on the trail of Richie Madano (William Forsythe), the coked up fat scumbag hoodlum who murders his partner Bobby right in front of his family. Gino is obviously quite pissed about all of this, and decides to do whatever it takes to track Richie down and destroy him. Gino gets help from his captain, the local mafia people, really anyone willing to "lend a hand" (Richie isn't exactly the world's most popular person). Those who aren't willing to lend a hand get said hand broken, as Gino pretty much beats the crap out of anyone who is "uncooperative." There's a certain level of inevitability here with both the Gino character and the Richie character. You just know that Richie is eventually going down and going down in a bad way. You just don't know when that's going to happen. But you sure do enjoy the ride there. You can't wait to see Richie go down. And you can't wait to see how Gino does it. An epic beatdown ensues, and finishes with a corkscrew to the forehead. That's pretty damn vicious.

1. Death Wish series (1974, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1994)

As a fan of the Death Wish series and of the total performance of the series star Charles Bronson, I don't think you can really talk about one Death Wish movie without talking about the others.

Obviously, in the first flick, Death Wish, we see what happens to Bronson's Paul Kersey and his family. His wife is raped and murdered, and his daughter is raped and severely traumatized. So Kersey (notice the name) gets a gun and starts looking for the assailants. He never finds them, but he does kill a bunch of mugger scumbags along the way. The second flick, Death Wish II, moves the story from New York City to Los Angeles, where Kersey has attempted to restart his life. His daughter is still traumatized but she's alive, and Kersey has a girlfriend. Eventually, Kersey gets mugged on the street, his maid and, once again, his daughter are brutally raped. His daughter commits suicide, Kersey goes batshit and decides to "go to work" again. This time he gets the killers, but in the end he's got nothing left but rage and revenge, as his girlfriend (played by Bronson's real life wife at the time, Jill Ireland) leaves him.

Then in Death Wish 3, Kersey travels back to New York City to hang out with an old Korean War buddy, only to get caught up in the local gang problem. Kersey is arrested and forced by Ed Lauter to go back into business (at the end of the first flick city officals told Kersey that if he left the city and vowed never to come back they wouldn't prosecute him. Kersey's vigilante antics were popular with the public, but the cops couldn't allow a vigilante on the streets, so this was their big compromise. Kersey agreed, went to LA, etc). Kersey then hangs out with Martin Balsam, kills a bunch of gang members, buys a black kid an ice cream, has sex with his defense attorney, watches his defense attorney die in a fiery car "accident," then grabs a Browning .30 caliber machine gun and rocket launcher and starts killing gang members by the dozens. By the end of the movie, the neighborhood is in ruins, but the gang is gone. Kersey leaves town exactly the way he came in. Alone.

The fourth flick, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, finds Kersey once again back in LA, where he is blackmailed into becoming a kind of hitman for a local drug kingpin who uses Kersey to eliminate the competition. Kersey is pissed about being used and blows the guy up with an M203 grenade (Kersey also lost his girlfriend and her daughter in the process). In the fifth flick, Death Wish V: The Face of Death, Kersey finds his fashion designer girlfriend entangled with the local mafia. The mob guys kill Kersey's girlfriend, which causes Kersey to, guess what, get some guns and bombs and kill them all. The flick ends pretty much the same way as the third flick, with Kersey walking away alone.

So what's the point of the series? Paul Kersey is "cursed" to both constantly exact revenge and suffer the pain of loss. Everyone he comes into contact with is either dead or horribly scarred, especially the women in his life. He'll always be alone. That's the series message, that's what sets is above most of the other revenge movies out there. Revenge is messy stuff. Revenge is only fun until the end, when there's nothing left but you and dead bodies. Seeking revenge is no way to live.

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