Get Carter (1971) Director: Mike Hodges Starring: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne
From Alfie to Charlie Croker, much of Michael Caine's appeal as a movie star has been based on his irrepressible cheeky Cockney chappy charm. Yet his finest role strips all that away, to leave us with Jack Carter: a soulless, dead-eyed shark of a man, back on his old hunting ground of Newcastle, hellbent on avenging the rape and murder of his niece - and woe betide anybody who gets in his way. Especially if they're Alf Roberts. And yet Caine's performance as Carter is so powerful and charismatic that Carter, aided and abetted by a surfeit of quotable lines, becomes likeable, to an extent, and undeniably iconic.
Die Hard (1988) Director: John McTiernan Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia
Considering the kind of movies that blag themselves 12 ratings these days (including, it would seem, Die Hard 4.0…), it's surprising Die Hard remains in the 18 club when the likes of The Terminator no longer do. After all, it is a Christmas movie. And it's so obviously rooted in the '80s, it might as well be treated as a period piece. Still, it's not so much the violence that keeps this action-masterpiece 'adults only'. It's more in McClane's wry, cynical wisecracks, all borne out by Bruce Willis' deft handling of the black comedy and, most importantly, his artful delivery of the word "motherfucker". It's poetry in explosive motion…
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