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1. Kill Bill: Vol. 1. 2003 1h 51m R. 8.2 (1.2M) Rate. 69 Metascore. After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her. Director Quentin Tarantino Stars Uma Thurman David Carradine Daryl Hannah.
- 55 'Point Break'
- 54 'House of Flying Daggers'
- 53 'Shaft'
- 52 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'
- 51 'Samurai Rebellion'
- 50 'Coffy'
- 49 'Sorcerer'
- 48 'Goldfinger'
- 47 'North by Northwest'
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Without a doubt, Kathryn Bigelow knows how to craft great action/thriller movies, with Point Break exemplifying this well. It’s also a noteworthy film for Keanu Reeves, given it was one of his first opportunities to show off his capabilities as an action movie star, with such abilities being further realized through The Matrix and John Wickfilms later in his career. Patrick Swayze also gives one of his most iconic performances here, playing the leader of a gang of bank robbers, with Reeves pl...
Directed by Zhang Yimou
House of Flying Daggersis more than just an action/martial arts movie, as there are strong drama/romance elements spread throughout, but it’s all very well-balanced in the end. The film’s story takes place more than 1000 years ago, and involves several people who are wrapped up in an extended conflict between corrupt government forces and an army of rebel warriors. Coming out at a time when martial arts cinema seemed to be having a brief resurgence in popularity, House of Flying Daggers reall...
Directed by Gordon Parks
A classic action/crime film that pushed boundaries for its time, Shaft is well-recognizedas a distinctive 1970s classic, not to mention an influential one that also happened to have a pair of follow-ups in the 21st century, not to mention two direct sequels in the years following its release. The plot’s pretty simple, following the title character (first name John) as he undertakes a mission to retrieve the kidnapped daughter of a powerful criminal. The story might not be anything too out-the...
Directed by George Miller
Some might say Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a tad too recent to be called one of the all-time greatest action movies, but the spectacle and creativity on offer is just too immense to resist. It serves as a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and does contain more of an emphasis on story, character, and world-building, all the while having similarly entertaining bursts of action. Though Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is long and not as consistently action-packed, the runtime does still allow for plen...
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Masaki Kobayashi made plenty of films that dealt with violent conflict, though his movies classifiable as action films are a good deal more patient and sparing with their action sequences than most. Samurai Rebellionis an example of this, as it’s mostly a drama with some brief spurts of intense action here and there, though the build-up to physical conflict taking part proves to be supremely tense in its own way. The story takes a critical look at feudalism and the samurai way of life, with a...
Directed by Jack Hill
Few actors or actresses have ever been quite as cool as Pam Grier, especially when she was at the height of her popularity in the 1970s (though she had a great comeback in the 1990s, partly thanks to Jackie Brown). Of her early films, Coffy and Foxy Brown are likely Grier's most iconic, with the former being the slightly stronger one overall, particularly for those after a satisfying crime/action movie. Coffy sees a nurse taking matters into her own hands when the drugs and crime that surroun...
Directed by William Friedkin
It's always hard to top a film that’s already seen as a classic when it comes to doing a reboot/remake, and William Friedkin therefore had a difficult task ahead of him when it came to making Sorcerer. This 1977 film is a reimagining of The Wages of Fear, which is one of the best movies of the 1950s. Both films are white-knuckle thriller/adventure films, following individuals tasked with transporting highly explosive material across rough terrain. It's hard to say which is better between The...
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Though it feels like the James Bond movies have been around forever, back in 1964, the film series was relatively new. In fact, Goldfinger was only the third of the bunch, but to this date, it’s still usually considered up there as one of the greatest movies featuring 007, and includes perhaps Sean Connery’s greatest single performance in the lead roleout of all of them. Narratively, Goldfingeris typical spy/adventure/action stuff, with the main villain having an ambitious plan that involves...
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Though he made many great movies throughout his time, few Alfred Hitchcock films can strictly be labeled as action movies. Most of the time, Hitchcock was focused on suspense, favoring the build-up to an explosion more than showing the explosion itself, for example. But then came North by Northwest, which was one of his most action-packed efforts and showed the filmmaker was more than capable of tackling that broadest and most wide-appealing of genres. North by Northwest is also a thriller, a...
- Jeremy Urquhart
- 18
- 2 min
Nov 26, 2023 · From terminators to terrorists to lone heroes to lethal weapons, here are our picks for the 25 best action movies ever made.
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) James Bond had been in a slump since 1974’s lackluster “The Man With the Golden Gun.” But Roger Moore’s third time as the secret agent ended up being one of 007’s biggest crowd-pleasers, as “You Only Live Twice” director Lewis Gilbert returned to the franchise, pairing the secret agent with Russian counterpart XXX, aka Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), who was the perfect foil for Moore’s debonair spy.
- Top Gun: Maverick (2022) Tom Cruise had long since established himself as willing guinea pig for any and all death-defying physical stunts when time came to follow up his first blockbuster, “Top Gun” — so why wouldn’t he fly the actual Navy vessels that the characters pilot in “Maverick”?
- The Fugitive (1993) This update of the classic ’60s TV series leaps from the original premise into a game of cat-and-mouse between grumpy old men Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.
- Vanishing Point (1971) This dusty, greasy classic follows the revved-up adventures of Kowalski (Barry Newman), a delivery driver amped on speed, racing the police and everyone else on the road to get a Dodge Challenger from Colorado to San Francisco in record time.
- 'The Dark Knight' (2008) IMDb Rating: 9.0/10. Nolan’s second installment in the titular trilogy, The Dark Knight, is still among the best live-action portrayals of Batman.
- 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003) IMDb Rating: 9.0/10. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s eponymous 1955 novel, director Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King masterfully weaves together the major storylines depicted in the first two movies of the trilogy.
- 'Inception' (2010) IMDb Rating: 8.8/10. Often cited alongside the best sci-fi movies of all time, director Christopher Nolan’s Inception follows a group of professional thieves led by Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio).
- 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001) IMDb Rating: 8.8/10. The film that first transported countless fans to Middle-earth, The Fellowship of the Ring depicts the fantastical story of Frodo, whose fate becomes intertwined with the One Ring.
Aug 11, 2021 · Rolling Stone ranks 50 best action movies ever — from James Bond to John Wick, 'Black Panther' to 'Mad Max: Fury Road.'
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The Top 250 Greatest Action Movies of All-Time. by Eric-Scissorhands • Created 12 years ago • Modified 6 years ago. Lights, Camera, & ACTION! These are what make going to the cinema fun, exciting, and thrilling.
