today's heroes.

Sylvester Stallone thinks he’s tougher than today’s action heroes.

The action movie of the 80s and 90s is rare in cinema today. Films like the Bourne Identity series are smarter and more unpredictable. The storyline is clever; scenes are cut together in sharp sequences; the director is a lot more creative with the film's concept of time. Non-Hollywood films like Run Lola Run were already doing this in the 90s, but now it’s mainstream practice. Today’s media consumer’s a lot savvier and old formulas don’t surprise them anymore.

The aesthetic of the action hero has also changed. In the past, they used to come charging into the fight scene, guns blazing and muscles rippling, causing havoc and battering the bad guys. These days they move across the screen like panthers, all sleek and sexy (not in the sex appeal sense, but in a “ooh that’s a sexy nokia phone” sense).

Plus, they don’t always get the girl.