13 Action Movies That Are Perfect From Start to Finish (original) (raw)
Updated May 27, 2024, 2:04 PM EDT
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From early cinematic works like 1903's The Great Train Robbery and Douglas Fairbanks silents like**Robin Hood** and The Mark of Zorro, it's been abundantly clear that action films have a singular ability to excite, even to raise the pulse. Swashbuckling films of classical Hollywood, grindhouse films of the '60s and 70s and more modern landmarks like John Wick and The Raid are all essentials for fans of the action genre.
Many of the greatest and most respected films in this genre use action the way some movies use dialogue: character-defining choices are made, some people grow and others regress. Some live, and some die. There are only so many perfect movies out there, but some exceptional films in the action genre have truly achieved this status. These are essential, heart-pounding action films that are truly without flaw.
13 'Predator' (1987)
Directed by John McTiernan
The Predator holds Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch by the throat in Predator (1987).
Image via 20th Century Studios
When one thinks of Predator, it's perfectly likely one immediately thinks of some fairly corny machismo iconography (the infamous handshake between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers, "Get to zee choppah"). These are good things that add to the charm, but Predator has always been so much smarter than it generally gets credit for. It's an uncommonly intelligent and confident work of genre alchemy, with much of the action and the storytelling playing out silently, especially in the third act. The movie is a little like Commando at first, until director John McTiernan takes a left turn into the fantastical.
Schwarzenegger plays military specialist Dutch, whose rag-tag team are picked off mysteriously in a Central American operation gone wrong before we witness the titular villain in all his practical Stan Winston effects glory. Predator doesn't hand-hold or coddle the viewer; we learn about the mysterious alien trophy hunter and its complex code of honor just as gradually as Dutch does. Predator works as pure entertainment, but it's a layered accomplishment that only gets better the longer you look at it.
Release Date
June 12, 1987
Runtime
107 minutes
Director
Writers
Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Cast
Main Genre
Tagline
If it bleeds, we can kill it...
12 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' (2003)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
When seen together, the two-part, slightly tweaked Whole Bloody Affair just might be Quentin Tarantino's most impressive movie. The cinephiles' holy grail (it exists, it just hasn't screened very much) unites Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and runs just over four hours with a few notable alterations that up the already palpable drama in the genre-blending revenge saga of Uma Thurman's TheBride. As they stand in the widely available mainstream, both halves are pretty much perfect, with the first being the more action-heavy of the two. The climactic showdown at the House of Blue Leaves, soaked in blood and livened with the wire work of Yuen Woo-ping, is as good as this kind of thing gets.
One day maybe society will get a 4K disc release of The Whole Bloody Affair (please, Quentin), and all fans can appreciate that this most iconic of revenge films was never just a revenge film. Until that day, it's still altogether brilliant, drunk on cinema in the best kind of way. Thurman's physical, emotionally complex performance here is one of the worst Oscars omissions in modern history.
After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.
11 'Speed' (1994)
Directed by Jan de Bont
Keanu Reeves looks worried as Sandra Bullock drives a large bus in Speed.
Image via 20th Century Studios
Pop quiz, hot shot. What is the greatest Keanu Reeves action movie of the '90s? Well, that's The Matrix. What's the second-greatest Keanu Reeves action movie of the '90s, though? Well, that's Jan de Bont's blockbuster smash Speed. The action thriller about a bomb on a Los Angeles County bus remains a towering genre masterpiece three decades later. It's cleverly divided into three acts, on three vehicles, actually: first an elevator, then the bus, then a subway, all hijacked by Dennis Hopper's cop-gone-terrorist Howard Payne. The majority of the action takes place on the bus, giving us time to connect with the characters at risk.
Speed lives up to its name in never relenting. It's also very well acted by everybody in it, and full of genuinely hilarious blue humor. The romantic, comedic chemistry between Reeves and then-star-on-the-rise Sandra Bullock is the film's secret weapon. They make more than one daring escape from vehicular mayhem. It's impossible not to care deeply about them all the while.
Release Date
June 10, 1994
Runtime
116 minutes
Director
Jan de Bont
Cast
Dennis Hopper
Howard Payne
A high-octane thriller featuring Jack Traven, a Los Angeles police officer who must deal with a terrifying hostage situation on a city bus. The bus is wired to explode if it drops below 50 mph, forcing Jack to work with the passengers, including the resourceful Annie Porter, to keep the vehicle moving and avoid disaster. The film is a gripping blend of action and suspense, with Jack and Annie facing numerous obstacles and the cunning schemes of the bomber, Howard Payne. It explores themes of heroism and resilience under pressure, delivering relentless excitement and tension.
Writers
Graham Yost
Sequel(s)
Speed 2: Cruise Control
Main Genre
Budget
$30 million
Studio(s)
20th Century
Distributor(s)
20th Century
10 'Minority Report' (2002)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Tom Cruise in Minority Report (2002).
Image via 20th Century Studios
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise have long been kings of the action genre, and Minority Report is frankly as good as any film in either career. Based on the work of Philip K. Dick, the action/sci-fi/thriller crime movie hybrid follows a lawman of the future as he's accused of future murder by the potentially flawed system he's long defended. Comparisons must be made to some of the greatest films of Alfred Hitchcock, the "wrong man" trope made famous in films like The 39 Steps, North by Northwest and, well, The Wrong Man.
Genres collide seamlessly in Minority Report, a film that Roger Ebert rather famously christened as the best of its year. The grieving John Anderton remains deeply sympathetic as he's faced with overwhelming authoritarian odds and a mystery that twists with the best of them. The action sequences are staged with the kind of wall-to-wall invention that made Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark so instantly iconic. All in service of enhancing a story that would grip us well enough even without them.
Release Date
June 21, 2002
Runtime
145 minutes
Director
Writers
Scott Frank, Jon Cohen
9 'The Terminator' (1984)
Directed by James Cameron
The Terminator cyborg walks through fire in 'The Terminator' (1984).
Image via Orion Pictures
It isn't breaking news or edgy to come out and say James Cameron has made many of the best and most influential action pictures of all time. While history generally remembers Terminator 2: Judgment day, winner of four Oscars across technical categories, as a superior sequel (and there's nothing wrong with doing so), it's really important to remember the scrappier, red-blooded yet big-hearted original is also just flat-out perfect.
In the original film, international superstar-on-the-rise Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the T-800, an automaton of few words who's traveled across time to murder Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother of humanity's leader against an apocalyptic AI uprising. The Terminator preceded the CGI effects that played a critical part in T2 becoming an instant classic, a milestone—but Stan Winston's model work and the convincing miniatures still look terrific. And the streamlined, simple but thought-provoking story, not to mention the oft-underrated, paradoxical romance between Sarah and Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), never fails to work. All of it works.
Release Date
October 26, 1984
Runtime
108 minutes
Director
James Cameron
A relentless cyborg assassin is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead the human resistance against machines. Protected by a soldier also sent from the future, Sarah must navigate a deadly game of cat and mouse to ensure her survival and humanity's future.
Writers
James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, William Wisher
Main Genre
8 'Goldfinger' (1964)
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Image via MGM
Well over six decades in, Sean Connery's third outing as agent 007 remains the high point of cinema's greatest and most celebrated franchise. In Goldfinger, James Bond must face his most cunning foe yet in Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), who intends to break into Fort Knox, just not to rob it. In more ways than that, Goldfinger is a smartly adapted improvement upon one of Ian Fleming's better books; every change to the text is made to up the excitement.
Goldfinger is one of the shortest Bond films, perfectly paced at 110 minutes. It also represents Connery at his best, cool and collected while visibly, progressively getting more and more resentful of Goldfinger's murderous and despicable antics (in the book, Bond just snaps and murders Auric with his bare hands). It's also important to credit Honor Blackman's humorously named but straight-up badass Pussy Galore, Judo expert and Auric's personal pilot who's ultimately the hero of the film, saving thousands of lives by alerting the U.S. government of operation "Grand Slam." Director Guy Hamilton's entire enterprise, alternately straight-faced and outlandish in just the right balance, remains absurdly entertaining to this day.
Release Date
September 20, 1964
Runtime
110 minutes
Director
Guy Hamilton
Cast
Gert Fröbe
Auric Goldfinger
Writers
Paul Dehn, Ian Fleming, Richard Maibaum, Berkely Mather
Main Genre
7 'RoboCop' (1987)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
RoboCop (Peter Weller) stepping out of a car in RoboCop
Image via Orion Pictures
Paul Verhoeven has an international and Hollywood career like no other. He made notorious critical dud Showgirls, one of the highest-grossing erotic films ever made (Basic Instinct), several underrated films across various languages like Elle and Black Book... and he's responsible for some of the best action cinema, ever. Along with 1990's equally magnificent Total Recall, RoboCop stands tall as an undisputed classic.
Peter Weller stars as the titular half-man half-machine (all cop) who's the murdered, psychologically fractured officer Murphy underneath. RoboCop is tasked with protecting an apocalyptic Detroit of the future. The screenplay by Verhoeven, Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner is one of the best of any of the many genres it weaves together. This is pure pleasure and brain candy, a perfect laugh-out-loud satire that's so violent it was originally slapped with an X rating.
Release Date
July 17, 1987
Runtime
102 minutes
Director
Paul Verhoeven
Cast
Officer Alex J. Murphy / RoboCop
Nancy Allen
Officer Anne Lewis
In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Directed by Ang Lee
The cinematography of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
The best action movies exhilarate like nothing else: when Ang Lee's wuxia romance Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon first screened at Cannes, at 8:30 in the morning, no less, the early scenes of wire work, where principal characters fly across rooftops with precision and grace, reportedly inspired applause and cheers from festival critics (an infamously chilly lot to impress). Roger Ebert called Crouching Tiger the most exhilarating martial arts movie he'd ever seen, and it would become the highest-grossing international release in North America at the time.
As much as the action scenes work, Crouching Tiger is expertly acted across the board, and ultimately all about the women, played by Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Zi-Yi. The best and most intense of numerous fights is a duel between Shu Lien and Jen, where neither of them really wants to kill the other. It's breathtaking melodrama. There have been many pointless movie sequels across all genres; one of the absolute least essential among these is 2016 Netflix movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. Ignore it.
Release Date
December 8, 2000
Runtime
120 Minutes
Director
A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
Writers
Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, Tsai Kuo-jung
Main Genre
Budget
$17 Million
Studio(s)
Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Good Machine International, Edko Films, Zoom Hunt Productions
Distributor(s)
Sony Pictures Classics
5 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)
Directed by James Cameron
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor aiming a rifle in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Image via TriStar Pictures
The 1991 follow-up to The Terminator is, undeniably, one of the greatest sequels ever made. As Cameron had previously done in following up the small-scale horror film Alien, T2 takes everything that worked about the original film and simply makes a more confident film through a bigger budget and more resources. In Terminator 2, Schwarzenegger returned as the T-800, only this time he's programmed to protect young John Connor (Edward Furlong) from the CGI wonder that is Robert Patrick's liquid-metal, ultra-menacing T-1000.
Perhaps the most compelling element of the altogether extraordinary T2 is Hamilton. So many action heroines in her wake have come off as poorly written, sometimes even narcissistic men (almost always written without much care or ingenuity by men who aren't as talented as Cameron). Hamilton is hardened since the events of the first film, but she's still very much a woman, and now a mother, who will stop at nothing to protect her son and Earth's future. Of course she's cool as hell, but the actress gives a fully formed and often quite emotional performance that fans and audiences have revered for over three decades.
Release Date
July 3, 1991
Runtime
137 minutes
Director
James Cameron
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Writers
James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, William Wisher
Main Genre
Sci-Fi
4 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (2015)
Directed by George Miller
Max and Furiosa pointing guns in opposite directions in the 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Poster.
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
George Miller's dystopian Mad Max saga began in 1979, then peaked for a long time with 1981's far more spectacular Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior prior to campy but generally well regarded Beyond Thunderdome. In this long-belated fourquel, Tom Hardy takes over for Mel Gibson in a film that's actually all about Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa, and her warrior's plight to deliver a despot's enslaved wives to safety across the desert Wasteland.
On its surface and taken at face value, Mad Max: Fury Road is about monster trucks pursuing each other one way, then turning around and going back the other way. Things go bang, and also things do go boom. But Fury Road is an all-timer because on top of the unprecedented action craft, it's about the very fabric of civilization and the frailties of human society: tyranny, inequality, the patriarchy. Miller does this all in a way that's not as politically charged as it could have been, and didn't need to be. Like so many of the best genre filmmakers he's most interested in compelling and entertaining over making a statement. This is as heart-pounding and as artful as movies get, and it remains the greatest film released by a major Hollywood studio so far this century.
Release Date
May 15, 2015
Runtime
121 minutes
Director
George Miller
Writers
Brendan McCarthy, George Miller, Nico Lathouris