Two for the show: The 20 best big-screen action duos
As Mario and Luigi leap into theaters, we look back at our favorite action movie tandems, including Travolta and Jackson, Davis and Sarandon, and Yeoh and Quan
Film Features Scream
Ever since the Garden of Eden when God said, “It is not good that man should be alone,” and transformed one of Adam’s ribs into Eve, the world has known the power of a dynamic duo. From historical pairings like Bonnie and Clyde and Lewis and Clark to fictional duos like Bert and Ernie and Jack and Jill, you can’t travel far without bumping into one famous twosome or another. In literature we have Romeo and Juliet, in comic books there’s Batman and Robin, and we can’t forget the musical stylings of Sonny and Cher.
Of course there is no more iconic duo in the land of video games than Mario and Luigi (sorry Donkey and Diddy), and our favorite Italian plumbers are getting the big screen treatment this week in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. By making their animated film debut (we can’t get into the terrifying 1993 live action movie), Mario and Luigi will be joining the pantheon of big screen action duos. So in honor of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, here’s our chronological roundup of 20 incredible kick-ass twosomes, in chronological order, from cinema’s past.
59 Comments
Tango and Cash!
First of all, it’s called a “canopy.” “Roof” sounds out of place in the context of a fighter jet. “Bubble” or even “window” would have worked better.Second, Murtaugh and Riggs weren’t investigating a prostitution ring, they were investigating a prostitute’s murder.It’s too bad Disney didn’t have the smarts to pair up Finn and Poe more in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. A buddy comedy Star Wars film could have been fun.And while we’re on the topic of LucasFilm, Drs. Henry and Indiana Jones really should have been included here.
I have to agree on all points. Mave even says “Watch the canopy!” just before they eject. It’s the last thing he says to Goose.
Well then clearly Goose screwed himself by failing to follow Maverick’s instructions. What is he, deaf? WATCH THE CANOPY!
Another example of the crackerjack writing in that one. As if Goose could do a damn thing to avoid getting jettisoned into the canopy. Had to make sure the audience understood what was happening, though.I love that movie but man so much of the dialogue is crap.
Nits have been picked! And don’t get me started on the MiG-28!
I know those pieces of shit won’t do a negative G pushover.
I too was surprised by the omission of the Doctors Jones. Maybe someone didn’t consider it an “action” film per se?
I don’t know why anyone would thing the Indiana Jones series aren’t action films. Hell, Raiders of the Lost Ark was the film featured in this (pre-Kinja) site’s “A History of Violence” series.
Turner & Hooch does not hold up. I watched it relatively recent because We Hate Movies did an episode about it and not very good. Worth watching if you want to see Reginald VelJohnson play another cop and Tom Hanks’ bulge in a pair of very tight underwear.
For whatever reason, that was a moment for ‘Detective has dog partner’ movies. I don’t know if K9 starring Jim Belushi and a German Shepherd holds up better, but I do know that German Shepherds are good looking dogs and French Mastiffs are ugly critters. So that right there is a point against T&H.
Yeah, but they make a better contrast for a neat freak like Turner.
Dr West & Dan
I know that Mel Gibson is a huge piece of shit and I have no interest in seeing him in new movies, but goddamn do the Lethal Weapon movies still do it for me.
While many of these are great duos, I wouldn’t consider a lot of these action movies.
Yeah, I am tempted to nominate Nick and Nora Charles . . . .
http://fiverr.com/share/DyBzyX
Came here for Angel and Butterman, would have been devastated not to see them.
Shame.[loads and cocks gun]
Why do people like Nick Angel so much? HE’S NOT EVEN FROM ROUND HERE!
Elijah Wood and Rudy?
Yeah, that’s the Keanu Reeves+Someone Else action movie paring that I would have picked.
Not Bill and Ted?
THANK YOU
Underrated, mostly forgotten about, and a seemingly absurd action duo, but Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton in “Where Eagles Dare” kicked the crap out of the Nazis.
What about John McClane and Sgt. Al Powell? Seems the most iconic pairing of all. The fact that McClane was in the building and Powell is outside and his role is mainly to provide support to McClane, a fellow cop on his own in an impossible situation, is what really hits home to me.
And the way Powell eventually gets in on the action is an all-time-great moment for the genre!
Absolutely. That whole sequence, with Godunov bursting out of the building like a demon, the gun, the smoke, the resolving focus to Powell’s face—perfect, especially given his backstory.
I’d be a little more tempted to nominate McClane and Zeus Carver. I like that Samuel L. Jackson played against his badass motherfucker type and was just a dude who really didn’t want to be there.
Blues Bros???Han and Chewy?
Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues is a massive miss. It’s a one-time duo, but so were others on the list.
The bodega proprietor was the best part of Bad Boys
What about the original Dynamic Duo?
I’m not sure I understand the rules of this list, but it seems to have omitted the combination romantic/action duos.Like personally, Rick and Evelyn from The Mummy are easily one of my favorite action duos of all time just for their sheer chemistry (and I think it is a generally fun if light movie). I’d give a similar nod to Jack and Joan from Romancing the Stone, and maybe Jack and Annie in Speed. I wasn’t a huge fan, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith had its fans.In terms of more “serious” movies, I think Yu Shu Lien and Li Mu Bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would have to be considered for a placement VERY high on this list, no?Which leads me to an even more obvious one—Bonnie and Clyde!There are many more one could name. It just seemed odd to me this entire subgenre was apparently excluded.
Oh, and Indiana Jones and Marion. Indy obviously went on to continued stardom with other co-leads. Still, Raiders of the Lost Ark is such a towering (and influential) movie in the action/adventure genre, and that was another high-chemistry duo, so they also seem like a strong candidate for inclusion.
Let’s go for a trio with Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton in Beverly Hills Cop(s). Need a so bad it’s good version as well. I’ll go Tango and Cash.
No Bonnie and Clyde?John Wayne and Kim Darby in True Grit?Clint Eastwood and Clyde??? :>
Michelle Yoeh and Jackie Chan in Supercop. The motrcycle jump onto the train and the helicopter scene make it an easy #1 considering they performed their own stunts.
I’m kind of torn on this, because Supercop was just absolutely mind-blowing with regards to the stunt work but I can’t really remember any part of that movie apart from that. Chan and Yeoh pulled off stuff that they’ve still gotta be looking back at and thinking “You know, I really should have died right then”, but apart from that it’s not like I can recall the characters really playing off of each other.
Still better than “Turner and Hooch”!
I was thinking this one as well.
Connery and Cage in the Rock is one of the best duos of the 90’s. It’s such a classic. I like the fan theory that Connery is playing a retired Bond and Mason is his code name. It’s never been proven and I doubt it’s real, but I have a feeling Bay set his sights on Connery because of his Bond catalog, and that’s more than likely his inspiration for the character.
After each starring solo in a sequel, the pair reunited for films four through seven until Paul Walker’s untimely death. While Brian is still alive and well within the film’s world, seeing Dom without Brian racing alongside him will forever bring a jolt of melancholy.*Pushes glasses up to face*
Technically, unless you count Vin Diesel’s short ending scene in Tokyo drift (which hardly counts as starring), Paul Walker was in all of the Fast and Furious films that Vin was in up to his death. Also side note, Paul Walker shouldn’t be as beloved as he is due to his personal history with underage girls.
Nice that you got the RRR guys in there. That’s an amazing movie. And I’d have put Newman and Redford in The Sting on the list too. [Decades ago, at an SF convention, Fritz Leiber opined that Newman and Redford would make a great cinematic Fafrhd and the Gray Mouser. I think he was just talking about chemistry, not actually casting them. But holy moley, that would have been interesting. (And why no one has made those stories into a show is a complete mystery to me. There’s no actors in Hollywood who can play a barbarian and a diminutive thief?)]
Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, Running Scared.
Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, Running Scared. Oh, good, good call! I have an inordinate fondness for that movie. It’s a predictable affair, yes, but the chemistry between Hines and Crystal is absolutely superb. Oddly (or not, I mean it’s acting) the guys make convincing cops. And the movie is funny as hell.
You nailed it, their chemistry is great. The cast is great too.
It was so sad when Hines died. Billy Crystal has said that he occasionally puts on Running Scared “as a way of visiting Greg”. Good a way as any I guess. And really, rereading this whole list? To me it’s only Newman and Redford whose chemistry rivals the Hines/Crystal team.
It has one of the greatest car chases of all time.
Now it looks like a taxi.Hey father you and your wife owe me $28.50.
Yes! I came down here to say this, probably my favorite buddy cop movie. Hey, I love Lethal Weapon, but Danny and Ray were already buddies in this, and it was just so much fun.
It’s been my theory for a long time that Marvel’s Secret Invasion TV show will bring Black Widow back to life, revealing the one that died in Endgame was a Skrull. The Secret Invasion comic event undid a few deaths, and it seems like bringing back ScarJo seems the best twist they could manage for the TV show, so you may get your wish of more of ScarJo/FloPugh.
As with most Tarantino films, this one is drenched in gore and a pop of humor.
Yes, Pulp Fiction is positively drenched in a pop of humor. In fact, Drenched in a Pop of Humor was its original title.
How could you possibly miss the greatest of them all?
So where are my boys Legolas and Gimli?
(Spoilery – watch the movie if you haven’t yet)The scene where they put it all together: rival enemies become solid partners.