67 - The Last of the Mohicans
Firstly, I love the music for this film. Anyway, that's beside the point. Michael Mann's period epic is one of the few films to really represent Native American culture in a balanced and non-stereotypical way. Yes it does star Daniel Day-Lewis but he is an adopted son so it's kind of ok. Apparently Lewis spent days living off the land cradling his Pennsylvania long rifle and the dedication shows through. Lewis has animal grace as he hunts and fights his way through this film all the while tensions between the British and the settlers leads to a tragic climax. While the film shows its age it is still regarded as one of the finest American period epics. And without a cowboy in sight.
Best bit: The stunning mountainside fight, truly one of the best shot pieces of cinema in history.
66 - Face/Off
Again John Woo is gracing the pages of this list and again it is one of his American efforts. Perhaps someone said to Mr Woo that Hard Target was a silly film and that he should try harder because Face/Off is immeasurably sillier and that must have taken a mammoth effort. John Travolta's dumpy cop burrows Nicolas Cage's nasty criminal mastermind face to infiltrate a high tech prison and extort information from Cage's brother. But uh oh, Cage wakes up and doesn't have a face. Lucky for him a spare one happens to be lying around so he slaps it on and starts to reign havoc on Travolta's life. As Nicolas Cage is a man you wouldn't trust with your peach, let alone your daughter you can imagine that Travolta in Cage's face wants to sort this out in a speedy manor. Cue mayhem and slow-mo doves in equal quantity.
Best bit: This is a hard one but I'm tempted to say the boat chase.
65 - Zatoichi
Takeshi Kitano is a very odd man. You might recognise him from Takeshi's castle, the mindless and bonkers Japanese game show. Or you might recognise him from a string of super-violent Yakuza films. If you are really clued in to Japanese culture you may remember him as a stand up comic. He is all this as well as being a fine film maker. What a guy. Takeshi directed and starred in this reboot of the famous blind samurai Zatoichi andwhat an interesting film it is. Surreal, visceral, heart warming and funny all describe Zatoichi well and while you may be left not really knowing what to think, you will certainly remember the fantastic sword fights.
Best bit: Zatoichi out draws the local Ronin strong arm and casually says "it's to tight in here to drawn your sword like that"...what a legend.