June 27, 2020

BEST ACTION MOVIES OF ALL TIME

Babadeelastking_K

Jun 25, 2020 5:58 AM

The greatest action movies of all time span across generations. Of course, some of the current picks include the most recent Marvel and Mission: Impossible films and the Oscar-nominated Mad Max: Fury Road. But there's a ton of action-packed cinema to choose from, that overlaps with genres ranging from sci-fi to comedy to thriller to, unsurprisingly, martial arts. Sure, you've got go-tos like the Indiana Jones classic Raiders of the Lost Ark or Arnold Schwarzenegger's filmography, which somehow includes the Terminator franchise and Total Recall, but why not check out some of the other best action movies of all time? If you're into big-budget adventure, killer action sequences, and superhero movies, we've got just the list for you. These are the best action movies ever.

Director: George Miller
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Mad Max: Fury Road is a lot of things, but it is primarily a great action movie. Expect firey, loud car chases, explosions, actually scary villains, and high stakes. Set in a post-apocalyptic universe, it manages to be wildly violent without turning gratuitous. Of course there’s a lot of CGI, but it doesn’t overpower the movie, and feels like it belongs there. There are some legitimate climate change concerns in the background (a nuclear holocaust is unlikely, but water access is already a major concern, as are the wars being aged over oil). The film explores the intersection of a real crisis scenario and raw power—how far we’ll go to keep it, how strong oppositions can be, and just how important it is for any kind of civilization. Last but not least, it’s also feminist AF, which is rare in quality action movies, so it’s an all-around great watch, worthy of the 17,000 Oscars it was nominated for (it actually won six and was nominated for 10, including Best Picture).

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey, Denholm Elliot

Impressionable '70s babies kids learned a lot from Raiders—what "archaeology" means, how much fun whips can be, and that Nazis melt like a nice Gruyère. Above all, Indiana Jones taught us that swagger goes a long way.

Taken (2008)

Director: Pierre Morel
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Xander Berkeley, Katie Cassidy, Leland Orser

An ex-spy dusts off his mayhem and sadism skills so he can save his daughter from European human traffickers. Suburban high schools: incorporate this movie into your freshman-year curriculum at once.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout — Image via Paramount

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames

The Mission: Impossible series is practically synonymous with the phrase "best action movies." The sixth installment of the Tom Cruise-led franchise, Mission: Impossible — Fallout features all of the running, shooting, and jumping out of planes you'd expect, and fully lives up to the greatness of its predecessors. The film follows Ethan Hunt in a race against time as he struggles to retrieve the plutonium core from the reinvented Apostle organization. The summer blockbuster is a rousing rollercoaster ride, jam-packed with intense fight scenes, jaw-dropping explosions, and seamless rooftop jumps. Cruise makes it all look easy, and that's why it's so good.

The Matrix (1999)

Director: Larry and Andy Wachowski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano

The inspiration for countless camera tricks and slow-the-action-waaaaay-down shootouts, The Matrix managed to do what Speed and Point Break couldn't: make Keanu Reeves seem human (albeit only compared to a horde of intelligent computer programs, but still).

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle

You can love Captain America because it puts 12 Marvel characters all in one place. You can love it because it’s just not Batman v Superman. Those are all fine reasons, but you should also love it because of its masterful action scenes. It employs its heroes’ superpowers masterfully, celebrating each individual’s abilities and personalities instead of conflating them. The best example is the climactic fight scene at the airport when the superheroes fight each other: the Scarlet Witch directs magic to spice up the smaller fights, Black Panther is the fiercest competitor in hand to hand combat, Ant Man grows huge and throws around an airplane, Captain America is all brawn, Spider-Man is cheeky and throws webs in just the right places at just the right moments, while Iron Man is behind the explosions and witty one liners. There are cars flying from the sky and buildings collapsing all around them and it works because it still sets the heart racing. Commercially, it does what it needs to do: leave you craving for more Marvel.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Straithairn, Edgar Ramirez, Scott Glenn, Joan Allen, Albert Finney, Colin Stinton, Joey Ansah

The last of a trilogy that improved with each sequel, Ultimatum's relentless cat-and-mouse chase turns a train-station stroll into a pulse-quickening pursuit, a coffee-table book into a brutal weapon, and Matt Damon into the ultimate ass-kicking machine. That was a lot of hyphens, but you get the drift.

Enter The Dragon (1973)

Director: Robert Clouse
Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri, Shih Kien, Robert Wall

Purists can quibble and say that Bruce Lee was doper before he went big budget Hollywood, but Enter The Dragon had Jim Kelly, Bolo, and the Master taking on like 50 dudes in the penultimate scene. And no, Bruce Lee don't need no stinkin' "pause."

Bad Boys (1995)

Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Tea Leoni, Tcheky Karyo, Theresa Randle, Joe Pantoliano

Will Smith solidifies his star power alongside pre-breakdown Martin Lawrence in Bay's auspicious debut (at least for a career built on explosions). Two Miami drug detectives driving around in a Ferrari blowing shit up? Works every time. Thanks, Anthony Yerkovich!

Battle Royale (2000)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Kou Shibasaki, Masanobu Ando, Takeshi Kitano, Chiaka Kuriyama

A high school class gets dropped on an island, where they must hunt and kill each other until only one remains. So basically: regular high school, with maybe a little more crossbows and skull-cracking.

Blade (1998)

Director: Stephen Norrington
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue

The first non-embarrassing black superhero movie (we see you, Steel!) has the half-human, half-vampire on a mission to exterminate every last bloodsucker on Earth with an arsenal of bitchin' weaponry—all while keeping his fade tight. Shape up and rent it.

Casino Royale (2006)

Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright

James Bond (Daniel Craig) faces off against businessmen with terrorist ties in this gritty franchise reboot. After 20 cheeky movies, the 007 series finally gets real—apparently, killing for a living and heartlessly (digging and) dogging out women makes a man kind of a dick. Who knew?

Con Air (1997)

best-bad-movies-con-air — Image via Getty/Touchstone Pictures

Director: Simon West
Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Monica Potter, Ving Rhames, Mykelti Williamson, Nick Chinlund, Rachel Ticotin, Steve Buscemi

Poor, wrongly imprisoned Nic Cage gets released, then has the gosh-forsaken luck to be on a prisoner transport plane full of insane killers and Dave Chappelle—who then of course take over the plane. You name the creepy movie badass—John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo—and they're in it. A classic ensemble murderfest.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Heath Ledger in 'Dark Knight' — Image via Warner Bros.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts

Heath Ledger's final opus, directed by the dude who made Memento, all with Christian Bale's hilarious gravel voice and some of the greatest psychosis/blowing things up in the greatest city of all time. The final result: A superhero epic that's well worth the two-and-a-half-hour sit-down.

Die Hard (1988)

Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Godunov

It's Christmas Eve, and John McClane (Bruce Willis) has to go rescue his wife's douchebaggy new employers. So what if McClane peppers his destruction with self-pity? You would too if you were gunning for the world's only terrorist with feet smaller than your sister's.

Face/Off (1997)

Director: John Woo
Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Gina Gershon, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola, Dominique Swain, Nick Cassavettes

Dicey surgery allows a goody-two-shoes cop (John Travolta) to swap faces with a crime boss (Nicolas Cage). Hilarity ensues. But John Woo orchestrates some great scenes: sweeping pans, slow-motion gun battles—oh, and doves. Lots of doves.

Gladiator (2000)

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Ralf Moller, Richard Harris

In which Russell Crowe goes from respected general to tiger-slaying slave to redemption. Like the ancient Roman version of Coming to America! Only with more (pre-rap) Joaquin Phoenix and less Soul Glo.

Independence Day (1996)

best-adventure-movies-independence-day — Image via YouTube/20th Century Fox

Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox, Margaret Colin, Judd Hirsch, Mary McDonnell, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid, James Rebhorn

Before his steady decline into thetan-purging and benevolent douchebaggery, Will Smith took on a technologically superior alien race hellbent on blowing up iconic cities in an awesome display of CGI bloat. Oh, and Jeff Goldblum. A Sunday afternoon cable classic.

Director: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch
Starring: Keanu Reeves

John Wick wanted to stop killing people. He married the love of his life, moved into a lovely house, and devoted himself to his car. But then, after his wife dies tragically young, a punk-ass son of a Russian mobster steals John’s car and kills his puppy—the final gift Wick ever got from his spouse. At that point, Keanu hits perhaps the best, oh-somebody-gonna-get-their-ass-kicked face in cinema history before checking into an assassins-only hotel and following through on the promise communicated in his expression. The barebones plot gives just enough emotion to make the unending series of intricately choreographed fight scenes cathartic—as opposed to just purposeless killing, which Wick clearly did often before his mid-life pivot.

Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003)

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus, Sonny Chiba, Michael Parks

The first volume of Quentin Tarantino's fantastically twisted samurai epic has better (and bloodier) action than your favorite male lead action flick. Every character is memorable, each death scene is awesome, and the dialogue is… Well, it's Tarantino.

La Femme Nikita (1990)

Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Anne Parilaud, Jean-Hughes Anglade, Tcheky Karyo

Just your average "teenaged French girl gets strung out, shoots a cop, goes to jail, gets drugged, has her death faked, and is trained to become a super-assassin" movie. Except even better than it sounds. Sorry, Bridget Fonda, but the U.S. remake ( Point Of No Return) doesn't compare.

Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello

Historically speaking, The Professional (also known as Léon: The Professional) has remained in film circle discussions due to its previously unknown, at the time young star, Natalie Portman. Playing the enormously complicated and resilient Mathilda, Portman injected a 12-year-old character with the heart, soul, and toughness of a woman four times her age.

And while we totally cosign the future Academy Award winner's performance, The Professional's biggest hook, at least in our eyes, is writer-director Luc Besson's assured skills at staging livewire gun-fights and action set-pieces. Just as much of an art-house picture as it is a popcorn thrill ride, The Professional hits all of its targets head-on.

Oldboy (2003)

Director: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong

The Korean filmmaker's third revenge saga has so many mindfuck moments that to call it "intense" is an understatement—and that's not even counting the illest plot twist possibly in film history. You have to see it to believe it.

Predator (1987)

Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo

OK, let's get this straight. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura (that's two governors right there), and Apollo fucking Creed (Carl Weathers) get stalked by a dreadlocked alien who's armed with a nuclear device? Two words: Fuck and yes

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