Action has been a staple of cinema since the very beginning. In 1903, The Great Train Robbery was the first movie to utilize composite editing, on-location shooting, and a moving camera, which would all become integral to early action cinema.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s many films were made which further explored the use of action set pieces, often inspired by stage productions and using many of the same tropes. Swashbuckling movies, starring Errol Flynn in particular, were huge draws for audiences which marvelled at the ever-growing sense of wonder as colour and sound were added to productions. The rise of the Western genre saw ever bigger and more exciting landscapes brought to the screen, allowing for even bigger set pieces.
The Second World War changed action cinema forever. Movies were keen to depict the many battles fought by the brave returning soldiers. Movies such as The Guns of Navarone in 1961 inspired filmmakers to focus on resourceful individuals at the centre of the action, which in turn led to the spy genre seen throughout the ‘60s, typically the James Bond movies starring Sean Connery.
Each era has seen changes, new interpretations, and a host of new technologies. What remains constant is the desire for filmmakers to go bigger and better, delivering the ultimate forms of escapism.
After much debate, tears, tantrums, and arguing over which movies deserve to make the final cut, here are ScreenRant’s 25 Greatest Action Movies Ever Made.
25. John Wick - 2014
Most action movies are defined by their legacy. Many entries on this list have grown more popular over time due to their impact on the genre and the nostalgia they invoke. John Wick is the exception. It is one of those truly rare things: an instant classic. Drawing on classic revenge thrillers for inspiration, John Wick also pays homage to anime, martial arts movies, and John Woo-style Gun-Fu movies as well subtle nods to spaghetti westerns.
While the story follows many of the tropes seen in revenge thrillers, for instance, the lead character is grieving, has a high degree of skill as a one-man-army from a previous career etc., it also brings new life to the genre.
As much a love-letter to the revenge thrillers of the ‘60s and ‘70s, John Wick breathes new life into the action genre and stands out against the comic book franchises that a prevalent. With a much-anticipated sequel on the way, John Wick could be the next major action franchise.
24. Battle Royale - 2000
Battle Royale is a movie that very nearly didn’t get made. Huge efforts to ban the novel, and then the movie, ensured there was plenty of controversy surrounding Kinji Fukasaku’s masterpiece.
The very definition of a high-concept action movie, Battle Royale’s premise is brutal in the extreme: a class of teenagers are taken to a remote island, fitted with explosive collars, and forced to battle each other to the death until a solitary teen remains. (If it sounds familiar, The Hunger Games borrows heavily from Battle Royale, so much so that fans have been keen to point out the similarities for years.)
Battle Royale is insanely gory, but doesn’t simply use violence for its own sake. Rather, it uses violence to underpin its message about how far we are willing to go for the sake of entertainment, our acceptance of violence in society, and how modern Japan has changed in of entertainment.
23. Face/Off – 1997
While John Woo’s Hong Kong cinematic efforts remain classics in their own right, the high-point of his time in Hollywood remains Face/Off. Packed with all John Woo’s signature styles, slo-mo gunplay, heroes and villains leaping through the air while firing, and of course slo-mo doves, Face Off delivers a slick, if silly, Hong Kong-style action thriller for western audiences.
Originally pitched as a sci-fi movie with cigarette smoking monkeys, Face/Off was stripped down to its basic premise of two adversaries forced to assume each other’s identities as they play a deadly game of cat and mouse. Their intimate knowledge of each other’s lives allows them to fool even their closest friends as they each close the net around the other leading to the inevitable climax.
As silly, even nonsensical, as the premise is it works thanks to Nicholas Cage and John Travolta’s performances. Not just playing their own characters, but each-others too, they both chew through their lines and have probably the most fun of their careers.
22. Gladiator – 2000
Imagine the how amazing the pitch for this movie must have been! A genre (sword and sandal) that hadn’t been popular in decades, a director that was in a career slump (Ridley Scott), and a leading man that had some great performances under his belt (L.A Confidential) wasn’t a household name. Whatever was said in the studio executive’s office that day, whatever deal was struck, we’re so glad it happened!
Russell Crowe has never been better as the former General-turned-slave, Maximus Decimus Meridius. His family murdered by a political adversary, he becomes a gladiator and fights his way to Rome until he eventually manages to extract his revenge, albeit at the cost of his own life.
Not only did Gladiator win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), and Best Visual Effects, it ushered in a new era for movies. Star power, which had been the box office draw for the ‘80s and ‘90s, began to wane in favour of larger epics. It also breathed new life into the sword and sandal genre for a time with Troy, and Alexander both following after a few years.
21. Hard Boiled – 1992
While John Woo’s career tailed off after the ‘90s (Mission Impossible: 2 saw the beginning of a career slide he never came back from), his stylish Hong Kong flicks remain an impressive high-point for action cinema. While Woo spawned many classics in this era, Hard Boiled remains the best of an outstanding bunch.
While Hard Boiled does sacrifice character development when it comes to Chow Yun-Fat’s Tequila, it is the epitome of gun porn. Chow Yun-Fat has never been better as the one-man army of destruction as he smashes through walls, destroys tea-rooms, and even levels a hospital.
A must-watch for any action movie fan, Hard Boiled influenced everything from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Face/Off, and The Matrix. It also made international stars out of Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo. If you haven’t seen it, watch out for the scene where the cop has a shotgun in one arm, and a baby in the other. It's iconic for a reason.
20. The Wild Bunch – 1969
While director Sam Peckinpah was known for a variety of great movies, The Wild Bunch remains his magnum opus. Famed for its revisionist approach to the western genre as well as its graphic depiction of action and violence, The Wild Bunch also deals with the conflict between the values and ideals, as well as the corruption in human society. The “Bunch” themselves are men out of time, left behind as the march of progress in the old west leaves them behind. Considering the rapid social and technological changes in contemporary society, The Wild Bunch is as relevant to modern audiences as it was in 1969.
The Wild Bunch is unrelenting action starting with a botched robbery, then onto stealing rifles for a Mexican warlord, then climaxing with a bloody last stand at a Mexican hacienda. The violence emphasizes the bloody and brutal nature of the wild west far more than the other legend of the genre, John Ford, ever seemed to do but it also added a sentimental element to the era alongside its nihilistic nature.
19. Conan The Barbarian – 1982
Given the mythical nature of Conan The Barbarian it’s somehow fitting that the movie itself has developed some mythology of its own. From the story of how Mattel were going to make toys of Conan to sell to kids, but then discovered the movie was excessively bloody so re-tooled them to make the He-Man franchise, to the story of how producer Dino De Laurentis initially wanted to cast Schwarzenegger as Flash Gordon, but discovering his Austrian accent chose to make him Conan instead.
Despite the technical limitations of the day, indeed the giant snake looked fake even in the pre-CGI era, director John Milius took the entire production very seriously. From the quote by Nietzche at the beginning to the sober tone, right through to the epic soundtrack, the movie strove to be more than its own pulp origins. While Milius failed in his efforts to make the sword and sorcery equivalent of Star Wars, as he had hoped, he did manage to create a revenge-driven action epic that is often put into the same lists as Ben-Hur (1959) or El Cid (1961) when it comes to action epics.
While Schwarzenegger himself may never win an Oscar, he so perfectly suited the role of Conan that it is hard to imagine anyone ever owning the role so completely. As a larger-than-life barbarian wielding a massive blade, he’s rarely been better. But we’ll get to that, because as he says, he’ll be back…
18. The Raid 2 – 2014
While The Raid seemingly burst out of nowhere with its simple storytelling, yet mind-blowing action, The Raid 2 managed a rare feat for an action sequel, it sured the original and yet managed to still be respectful to it. The extreme violence of the franchise is the selling point but it’s not just mindless violence. The violence itself tells a story, if you’re smart enough to see it.
A lazy writer/director would have taken the success of The Raid and simply applied the Die Hard 2 formula, make the same s*** happen to the same guy twice. But Welshman Gareth Evans, creator of The Raid didn’t simply make The Raid 2: Raid Harder. He goes out of his way to expand on the universe he’s created and takes it beyond the cramped setting of the original. The Raid 2 takes place over years, and not a single day, it explores the gritty Indonesian underworld. It takes many elements from The Godfather Part 2, such as the ever-shifting allegiances of the criminal underworld. But, if you’re going to borrow from a movie, The Godfather Part 2 is pretty much the best place to look for inspiration.
While less action-heavy than its predecessor, The Raid 2 is a cerebral action-thriller which, while slow to tell the story at times, does manage to deliver some exceptional set-pieces. As different as Aliens is to Alien, The Raid 2 tells its own story and like Aliens showcases a director with talent to spare.
17. The Adventures of Robin Hood – 1938
Dated by today’s standards, for sure, but The Adventures of Robin Hood was a marvel of the Technicolour era. Not only does the movie set a standard for action that would not be sured for at least a decade, it also sets up many tropes of action cinema that are used to this day, particularly the Marvel movies. While the movie appears to be a jolly romp across the countryside interjected with thigh-slapping and trading quips, Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood has a cinematic steel edge that is often missed by contemporary audiences. As a romantic lead and rebel leader, few action characters can sur him.
The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of the last great movies of the pre-war era and the last to glamorize violence as having little consequence. The dastardly Guy of Gisborne (Basil Rathbone) is menacing, but not truly terrifying. When audiences returned from the Second World War, action cinema changed to reflect their experiences, making this movie the crowning achievement of its era.
Robin himself has been re-imagined many times since, most famously by Kevin Costner, but he’s never been more dashing and has never clashed a foil with quite as much gusto.
16. First Blood – 1982
Unlike the ridiculous one-man-army approach taken by the Rambo franchise as it progressed, First Blood is actually an intelligent drama that was one of the first to explore PTSD in soldiers returning from the horrors of the Vietnam War. Driven over the edge by a small-minded and petty small-town sheriff, John Rambo escapes into the woods and becomes the living weapon he had been trained to be.
Proving that he’s a far better actor than most of his critics would suggest, Sylvester Stallone is utterly believable as the soldier haunted by his actions and all he had seen in the horrific theatre of war. Unlike many action films the protagonist is that ever-elusive and crucial thing, believable.
The only thing that keeps First Blood from reaching a higher place on this list is the ending. Unlike the novel from which it is adapted, Rambo survives. This gives a slightly happier ending than the rest of the movie naturally leads to. Had it ended with tragedy, it would have been a far more devastating journey for the audience.