Leigh Paatsch: Blockbuster movies to stream this week
NOTHING says action movie more than a hero going against a tribe of bad dudes inside the confines of a skyscraper. These big-buildings-and-big-danger blockbusters are ready to stream right away.
Leigh Paatsch
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THE release into cinemas of the new Dwayne Johnson thriller Skyscraper brings to mind these big-buildings-and-big-danger movies ready to stream right away.
DIE HARD (1988) ****
Google, iTunes
A prime dose of old-school Bruce Willis that still holds its own. Armed with not much more than a singlet and his own hair, Brucey goes solo against a tribe of bad dudes inside the confines of a skyscraper and somehow reduces it to a level playing field.
From the superb pacing through to the sarcastically sinister villainy of Alan Rickman, this remains a crucial template for the modern action film.
SKYSCRAPER GETS A LIFT FROM THE ROCK ON A ROLL
S KY’S THE LIMIT FOR NEVE CAMPBELL’S FIERY COMEBACK
THE RAID (2011) ****
Stan
This brutally basic, frighteningly exciting thriller from Indonesia will jolt you out of the jaded zone. A punchy plot centres on a police assault squad who get more than they bargained for when they storm a criminal-infested high-rise in downtown Jakarta.
The fight scenes are astonishing, the kill scenes are look-away-now lethal. The overall effect — often against the odds — is all adrenaline, all the time.
TOWER HEIST (2011) ***
Amazon
Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy (both in solid form here) spearhead a team of first-time crims looking to get square with the crooked tycoon that ripped them all off. The particulars of the smash’n’grab are so ridiculous — just how do you swipe a priceless car from a 50th floor apartment? — you just have to keep watching to see how they are going to pull it off.
ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011) ***1/2
Google, iTunes
A cheeky British alien-invasion thriller featuring latter-day Star Wars hero John Boyega. Some monsters from outer space could have landed anywhere they liked on Earth.
Their only mistake was to arrive at a slummy tenement complex, smack-bang in the roughest part of inner-city London.
The kind of place where the locals don’t take kindly to any new critters on their home turf.
WORLD TRADE CENTER (2006) ****
Foxtel Now
This punishing, awe-inspiring drama tackles its difficult objective by narrowing the story to the experiences of two Port Authority policemen trapped beneath the rubble of the Twin Towers after their collapse on September 11 2001.
Does justice to this significant event in modern history by resisting the urge to deliver a final verdict on how or why it happened. Stars Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena.
Timely take on Munich Olympics terrorist crisis
The edge-of-your-seat factual drama September 5 takes viewers behind the scenes in one of the Olympic Games’ darkest hours with a message that still resonates today.
Companion’s a terrifically twisting thriller best seen spoiler-free
Companion is the kind of original and inventive thriller that comes around all too rarely – but the top-level twists hit hardest by going in spoiler-free, writes Leigh Paatsch.