The Buddy Duo Action Movie!

[Hunter Rider]

The bonkers trailer for Hobbs & Shaw trailer that dropped yesterday got me thinking about this sub-genre of the action movie that became popular in the 80's, kinda retooling the Laurel & Hardy or Bob Hope & Bing Crosby dynamics into the action movies.

This year sees the 30th anniversary of Tango & Cash which Hobbs & Shaw feels like a cinematic relative of and the concept still has a place even to this day with the aforementioned Hobbs & Shaw due later this year and Bad Boys III out next year.

48 Hours is arguably the first really big movie in this action sub-genre, although there may be other, smaller examples that pre-date it, and I think many would say the Lethal Weapon franchise is the pinnacle, but I am just interested to hear other fans thoughts on the movies and the duos they like in this niche of the action genre.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Freebie and the Bean (1974). One of my all time favourites, with both Caan and Arkin on blazing form!

 

[Hunter Rider]

Freebie and the Bean (1974). One of my all time favourites, with both Caan and Arkin on blazing form!

I hadn't actually heard of this movie so I looked it up, I don't think I've ever seen Arkin looking so young lol. It looks like it's got a couple of big chase scenes in it.

 

[StarLord]

The Last Boy Scout was one I used to rent a lot back in the VHS days.

An unorthodox pick would be Midnight Run. De Niro and Grodin are gold together.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Tango & Cash will always be my 'go-to' of this sub-genre, I adore Russell in anything, he's just gold plus Stallone is a far superior actor to that to which he gets credit for, unlike his other actioneers, he's always willing to subvert the audience expectation and take the mick out of himself.

 

[Breogan]

Random^

Although my definitive buddy movie, i guess I prefer the guys on the run from the cops!

As far as comics Cap & Falcon was my jam...

Although inevitably supplanted by ...

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I hadn't actually heard of this movie so I looked it up, I don't think I've ever seen Arkin looking so young lol. It looks like it's got a couple of big chase scenes in it.

It's a really good action-comedy. I saw it in the local cinema when it first came out. Some friends and I had a free afternoon so took a chance on it. Absolutely loved it. Caan and Arkin play off each other fantastically in one of those love-hate partnerships. They tried a TV spin-off (with Hector Elizondo in the Arkin part) but it wasn't a patch on the movie. I really recommend the movie if you get a chance to see it.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The Last Boy Scout was one I used to rent a lot back in the VHS days.

An unorthodox pick would be Midnight Run. De Niro and Grodin are gold together.

Midnight Run was one I didn't see until long after it was released, might have been 15 years or more, but my Uncle loved it and he recommended it to me, it's a real odd couple movie, the dynamic is a bit different to the other buddy duos but it works and there's a decent chase in there.

 

[Hunter Rider]

It's a really good action-comedy. I saw it in the local cinema when it first came out. Some friends and I had a free afternoon so took a chance on it. Absolutely loved it. Caan and Arkin play off each other fantastically in one of those love-hate partnerships. They tried a TV spin-off (with Hector Elizondo in the Arkin part) but it wasn't a patch on the movie. I really recommend the movie if you get a chance to see it.

Cheers, I'll find a copy and give it a try, Caan is ideal for this genre as his personality is naturally spikey and antagonistic, so if you find the right counterpart it should work.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Tango & Cash will always be my 'go-to' of this sub-genre, I adore Russell in anything, he's just gold plus Stallone is a far superior actor to that to which he gets credit for, unlike his other actioneers, he's always willing to subvert the audience expectation and take the mick out of himself.

I remember renting Tango & Cash as I was too young to see it at the cinema, it was back in the day before we even had a Blockbusters in our area, so when the big releases came out the local video store only had 2 copies at most, so you had to book in a rental, and we got in early to get it on it's day of release on VHS lol. It's a film I've always felt feels like it was interfered with, like there's a longer cut out there that fleshes it out a bit more, it seems to rush towards the end.

 

[Schlosser85]

Lethal Weapon, especially the first two installments, is pretty much the gold standard for the buddy duo action movie, to me.

 

[StarLord]

Another unorthodox pick (sorry, I'm trying to stay away from the obvious choices) and a favourite of mine is Die Hard with a Vengeance.

 

[Mandon Knight]

As far as TV goes, Starsky & Hutch and Miami Vice are both ground-breakers and stand up pretty well all these years later. The film versions for both are also pretty good, but the MV film version, given Mann directed it himself, feels muted in it's execution, distilled for some reason, I thought the casting was 'off' from the start to be honest as soon as the leads were announced but even so, the 'heart' isn't there which is strange as I say, given it's Mann's 'baby' and his first 'love' as such in terms of global success as the TV show was amazing back in the day, and staying up 'late' to watch it was always a weekly highlight for me.

 

[Schlosser85]

Another unorthodox pick (sorry, I'm trying to stay away from the obvious choices) and a favourite of mine is Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Willis and Jackson went good together.

So do Downey and Jude Law in Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Lethal Weapon, especially the first two installments, is pretty much the gold standard for the buddy duo action movie, to me.

I agree, they are the pinnacle of the genre, in some ways Lethal Weapon 2 is perhaps the most influential movie in the genre.

Another unorthodox pick (sorry, I'm trying to stay away from the obvious choices) and a favourite of mine is Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Good call, they changed the format in the 3rd movie and bit into the formula that drove the oither big action franchise of the late 80's.