I have a confession to make: I love macho movies.
That means pretty much anything with explosions, zombies or mindless violence will do it for me. I don't think I'm alone in this, however most of these films aren’t really marketed to girls and therefore get overlooked.
Here's a short introduction to some classic macho flicks...
The Evil Dead movies will always have a special place in my heart. They were my introduction to gory C-horror films and since then my love for anything with zombies has only grown stronger. They were directed by a young and nerdy Sam Raimi, who later went on to greater things (the Spiderman films).
Evil Dead represent everything that's great about this genre, abandoned cabins in the middle of a dark forest, stupid teenagers, H.P. Lovecraft references, chainsaws, demons and possessed hands. The first two film were made on a shoe-string budget and are the real deal, the guys making them really loved their genre and it shows.
Clint Eastwood, revolvers, the wild west and endless scenes where no one talks... it can hardly get any manlier than that. Not everyone appreciates the awesomeness of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly because the film is an ungodly three hours long. And during a lot of that time not much happens.
The beauty of this film lies in the details, in the fabulous way Clint smokes (which has probably inspired many generations of teenage boys). The combination of Sergio Leone's unique style (wide angles, closeups, closeups!) and Ennio Morricone's music is unbeatable. It’s simply a very beautiful film and you can always use the skip button if it gets boring.
A classic and in my opinion better than its prequel. California's current governator does some of the “best acting” in his whole career (relying on black sunglasses and one-liners goes a long way). There's a fair share of girl power as well thanks to Linda Hamilton! More than ten years after it was made it’s still the ultimate date movie, trashy, entertaining and not too complicated. Just make sure you don't watch the sequels.
A truly classic guy flick. Most girls would probably turn up their noses at movies about boxing. And boxing movies written by Sylvester Stallone who also happens to play the main character isn't really everyone's cup of tea. But don’t let that stop you. If you ignore the fact that there are 80257390249 Rocky films and that they all deal with very manly subjects (boxing, sweating, beating up frozen meat in basements and winning), Rocky will really grow on you. It's kind of like Amelie for guys, feel-good but slightly naive and definitely worth watching.
This gem of a Japanese movie is definitely something different. The Asian movie industry is awesome because it dares to go places Hollywood can’t, like making a film about teenage school-kids being shipped out to an island and forced to kill each other. Be prepared for violence, clichés and a surprisingly sociologically intelligent plot. It’s one of those movies that will leave you feeling entertained for hours after you’ve watched it. Might be because of the adrenaline rush though.
Of course there are chick flicks that guys enjoy as well (I've heard rumours about The Notebook being pretty high up on the list). But then again talking about macho movies and chick flicks actually makes me a bit confused.
What if more action film were made without focusing so much on a teenage male audience? Would that make the movies crappier? Or would it just edit out a couple of random shots of tits? I think women are just as capable as men of liking violent films and guys probably appreciate weepy chick flicks more than we think.
Image via Felix42