Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies Book Review

Mine’s Bigger Thank Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies Book Review

Written by Christopher Lombardo and Jeff Kirschner

Published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.

240 pages

Released November 17th, 2020

Buy the book here

http://reallyawfulmovies.blubrry.com/

Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies, the second book from Really Awful Movies Podcast mavens Christopher Lombardo and Jeff Kirschner (their first book was the terrific Death by Umbrella!: The 100 Weirdest Horror Movie Weapons), is an awesome celebration of some of the most batshit insane action movies from around the world. Featuring a good mix of low and big budget movies, Mine’s Bigger Than Yours showcases movies from big deal action stars like Ahnold Schwarzenegger (Commando, Steven Seagal (Out for Justice), and Charles “Big Chuck” Bronson (Death Wish 3), cult ninja movies like American Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination, and big budget garbage like Batman and Robin. The book also looks at fairly obscure movies like Geteven/Road to Revenge, Dangerous Men, and Shotgun.

Now, Mine’s Bigger Than Yours isn’t a reference book chock full of production details and whatnot on the movies Lombardo and Kirschner talk about. Instead, it’s a series of two page reviews where Lombardo and Kirschner explain why a movie they’ve picked is on the list. Some of the reviews are less than positive, but it’s obvious that, even when they decide to trash a movie, they still kind of like the movie in a way. They likely wouldn’t have included the movie on their “Top 100” list if they didn’t enjoy it in some way.

What Mine’s Bigger Than Yours does exceptionally well is foment discussion and arguments about the movies Lombardo and Kirschner decide to include. The great Reb Brown appears multiple times in the book, with reviews of Brown flicks like Strike Commando, Space Mutiny, Cage, Mercenary Fighters (he’s part of an ensemble in that movie), and Captain America II: Death Too Soon. I’ll agree with the inclusion of Space Mutiny, Strike Commando, and the Captain America sequel, but Cage? To me, that’s outrageous, especially when the sequel to Cage, Cage II, is way wackier and ridiculous. But I can’t fault their reasoning for including Cage on the list. The same goes for their takedown of Death Wish 3. It’s always refreshing to read a different view on a movie that you deeply love.

Mine’s Bigger Than Yours also exposes people to movies that they maybe have never heard of and had no idea existed (that’s what happened to me, anyway). Geteven/Road to Revenge, the vanity project of John DeHart? Until I read the review in the book I was totally unaware of the movie. Now that I have read about it (and subsequently checked out the movie’s trailer on YouTube), I have to see it. The same goes for something like the Turkish action flick Death Warrior, which is one of the greatest and most generic action movie titles in the history of action movie titles. Even when you think you’ve seen it all, the reality is you probably haven’t. There are always new things to see.

The book is organized into nine chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of the wacky action movie world. The first chapter is all about weird beard martial arts movies like Miami Connection, Gymkata, and Mission: Killfast, and the final chapter is all about “covert operators,” with reviews of movies like Invasion U.S.A., Crackerjack 3 (the only Olivier Gruner movie on the list), and the Brian Bosworth classic Stone Cold. There are also chapters about post-apocalyptic stories, badass women, and revenge flicks. It’s a nice cross section of the kinds of movies that exist in the action movie world. There’s also a wonderful forward by director Brian Trenchard-Smith (the book also takes a look at BTS’s Stunt Rock).

My only real complaint about the book? I wish that each review included some basic information about the movie, like director, writer, when the movie came out, like in a little box either at the start of each review or at the very end. Doing that would have made it easier for readers to do their own “further research” on the movie in question, but maybe doing that would have screwed up the overall layout of the book. It isn’t a big deal, it doesn’t ruin the book, but it is something I would have liked to see.

But then the book does have Reb Brown in Strike Commando on its cover. That, ultimately, mitigates whatever complaint I have about the book. I mean, really, how often do you see a book with Reb fucking Brown on the cover? That fact alone makes Mine’s Bigger Than Yours an absolute must buy.

It really is. It’s something that, if you’re an action movie fan, a B-movie fan, a movie book fan, and or a fan of damn good and fascinating movie criticism, you should make an effort to track down, own, and read. You won’t regret it one bit.

Read Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies. Read it, read it, read it!

10.0

The final score: review Virtually Perfect

The 411

Mine’s Bigger Than Yours, the latest book from Really Awful Movies Podcast hosts Christopher Lombardo and Jeff Kirschner is all about wacky action movies from all over the world. Organized into nine chapters featuring some of the various subgenres in the action movie world, the book is a love letter to action movie insanity. Even when Lombardo and Kirschner dunk on a movie you can tell that, deep down, they really do kind of like it in a weird way, which makes the book fun to read. You’re also likely to read about movies that you’ve never heard of, which is always great, especially when, after reading about the “new to you” movie, you want to track the movie down and see it for yourself. If you’re an action movie fan, a B-movie fan, a movie book fan, and a fan of damn good and fascinating movie criticism, Mine’s Bigger Than Yours is a must read and a must own. So what the heck are you waiting for? Read Mine’s Bigger Than Yours: The 100 Wackiest Action Movies! Read it, read it, read it!