The revenge movie is a genre unto itself at this point. The coolest thing about them is that they don't all just involve some psychotic dad seeking revenge on his family's killer; or a crazed hockey mask wearing psycho looking to settle old scores with camp counselors. Some revenge flicks are a lot less...bloody. Hell, you could probably call The Sandlot a revenge movie in some fashion. I mean, they were seeking revenge against The Beast for stealing their baseball, weren't they? How about Heavyweights? Fat kids seek vengeance against their bullies? Whatever. My point is that you can have fun with the concept.
Not that I do that here. Pretty much all of my films here are violent and brutal, just the way I like 'em. I figured, since I'm doing this list in honor of the release of Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx's revenge actioner, Law Abiding Citizen, the least I can do is follow suit.
5. Hard To Kill(1990)
The late 80's and early 90's belonged to Steven Seagal. Don't act like you didn't dig him too. And pretty much every one of his films was a revenge movie in one way or another. Either a partner got killed, or his family got shot up, or somebody was spilling toxic waste...somethin'. Hard to Kill is the movie that did it for me, though. From the moment Seagal's Mason Storm rips out his feeding tubes literally moments after waking up from a coma, scoops up the super hot Kelly LeBrock and swears vengeance on the guys who murdered his wife, I was hooked. Totally implausible nonsense, but damn if it ain't a crapload of fun.
4. Man on Fire(2004)
If you're stupid enough to be a rich family with a young daughter and you move to the Kidnapping Capital of the World, Mexico City, you're too dumb to have a guy like John Creasy on your side. Ex-CIA agent Creasy(Denzel Washington) is a standoffish brute of a man, who's turned to alcohol and isolation to ease his troubled mind. But when he takes a job protecting a little girl, she breaks through his icy shell and teaches him how to care again. When she gets kidnapped, Creasy swears to kill everybody involved, and that's exactly what he does! That big ol' Creasy-Bear!
3. Oldboy(2003)
I could probably put all three installments of Korean director Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance Trilogy" on this list, but Oldboy is far and away the best. Imagine being kidnapped and imprisoned on your daughter's birthday; locked away in a hotel room for 15 years with no explanation and nothing but a TV set to keep you aware of the outside world. That's what happens to Dae-Su, and when he's suddenly released without explanation he immediately goes off on a violent, ultra-bloody quest for answers. There's a reason why this was voted one of the 10 best Asian films ever. Hell, it's one of the best films ever period.
2. Gladiator(2000)
A lot of people hate on this movie now, but for me it'll always go down as the first time I went to see any movie twice in the same day. That's how crazy I was for this film. I'm still in love with it and watch the DVD routinely. It's hard not to love any story where the lead literally destroys an empire in order to seek revenge for the brutal murder of his family. Russell Crowe's icy, rugged performance is one we're not likely to ever see again from him(he's too doughy for that now), and Joaquin Phoenix hams it up so bad I think his tongue was made out of bacon. A nearly flawless film.
1. Kill Bill Vol. 1&2(2003 & 2004)
Quentin Tarantino's blood drenched femme-revenge flick has a little something for everybody. You like kick ass kung fu catfights between hot chicks? Done. Amazing crane work that evokes memories of the finest Shaw Brothers films ever made? It's here. Cheesy B-Movie dialogue? It's here. Exploitation? Done. Uma Thurman smokes as The Bride, a former member of an elite merc squad who finds herself the victim of a headshot courtesy of her fellow friends. Her path to vegeance is an arduous one, and every encounter is more deadly than the last, but when she finally meets the man pulling the strings it's a true battle for the ages. Still my favorite of all Tarantino's movies.
