Sometimes you just have to run. Stay and fight when you can, but sometimes you have to run to fight another day. With the upcoming release of The Happening on our minds, which follows a group of people running from a mysterious and deadly phenomenon, we decided to look at other classic on the run films.
Take a look at CraveOnline’s list of The Best On The Run Films.
Rambo: First Blood
Here’s where it all began. Ex-Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is introduced as a lonely Vietnam vet drifter, picked up and harassed by some local cops. Their provocations push him over the edge, and he proceeds to beat the entire force senseless before escaping into the mountains nearby. He fends off everything the law throws at him, while stepping into the halls of action hero fame.
The Fugitive
Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) escapes custody after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and sets out to find the true murderer. He’s pursued relentlessly by gung-ho U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones, who won an Oscar for his performance), who will stop at nothing to get his man.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
This classic nineties-cornerstone blockbuster was the first sequel in modern film to far outshine its predecessor. Director James Cameron delivers scene after scene of mind-blowing action thrills and big-bang cinematography. The Terminator we all knew and feared (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is enlisted this time as the hero, protecting John Connor (Edward Furlong, in his film debut) from a newer model of mechanized killer: the shape-shifting T-1000.
Mark Wahlberg is an expert marksman, coaxed out of isolation by government contacts who need his help in preventing a presidential assassination plot. But he comes to realize that he’s been framed, and he must elude the law long enough to find out the truth. Shooter is based on the political thriller by Stephen Hunter.
Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is a hitman in a race to save his own life in this rapid-fire chaser thriller. Chelios is ambushed and poisoned when a mob job goes wrong, and he can only elude death if he keeps his adrenaline pumping. Chelios rages through Los Angeles in a desperate effort to find an antidote – and get revenge.
The Bourne Supremacy
When a CIA sting in Berlin turns murderously wrong, the CIA’s main suspect quickly becomes rogue ex-government assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). As he works his secret agent magic to avoid his old employers, Bourne is pursued by a ruthless cartel bent on pinning the murder on him – after they kill him. Franka Potente returns as Marie Helena Kreutz alongside Joan Allen as Agent Helen Landy.
When New York City is attacked by an otherworldly creature a group of friends tries to escape the destruction of the city as the monster battles the military. On the run and on foot the group heads back in to the epicenter to rescue a friend trapped in a toppled hi rise building. The suspenseful and action packed thriller was produced by JJ Abrams of Lost and Alias fame and directed by Lost alumni Matt Reeves.
Pineapple Express
Friendly pothead Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) witnesses a murder involving a corrupt cop (Rosie Perez) and a drug kingpin (Gary Cole), and in his haste to get away he leaves behind evidence of a rare strain of his herb of choice, called Pineapple Express. On the run with his slit-eyed, bumbling dealer (James Franco) to escape the wrath of the high-profile murderers. David Gordon Green directs this stoner road comedy, written by Rogen and his Superbad co-writer, Evan Goldberg.
