Action movies rule; it’s a simple and definitive statement that can’t be contradicted or disputed. No matter how much real-life violence and destruction we’re exposed to, there’s no denying that watching bullets, bombs and bloodshed on-screen remains incredibly entertaining. We simply can’t get enough of the action stuff, and there are many movies of the explosive persuasion to satiate us. There are so many of them, in fact, that a fair few have fallen by the wayside over the years.
For every iconic film in the genre, like The Matrix or Die Hard, other equally compelling films haven’t been given the same attention, cult films, mainstream hits, or box office bombs that somehow haven’t endured in our pop culture consciousness despite their undeniable entertainment value. The action genre is simply too jam-packed with greatness for these films to get proper recognition on any reasonable list of essential action movies, but here they reign supreme. It’s high time that these ten action movies got the respect they deserve for being some of the most perfect examples the genre has to offer.
‘The Train’ (1964)
A gripping, action-packed World War II thriller loosely inspired by real events, John Frankenheimer‘s The Train was critically acclaimed when it was released and even received an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay. Frankenheimer is one of the most consistently underrated filmmakers of his generation, having shown an adeptness at crossing over genres, from psychological thrillers like Seconds to gripping dramas like Birdman of Alcatraz to action classics like Ronin, and The Train is one of his best.
In 1944, the Nazis loaded a train with stolen works of art to be taken into Germany. Attempting to prevent this theft is a member of the French Resistance, played by Burt Lancaster, whose methods include deception and destruction. It’s a nail-biter premise made palpably tense by Frankenheimer’s direction and the stark black and white cinematography. While the real-life looting of artworks by the Nazis and subsequent prevention of their smuggling on a train was far less bombastic than the events portrayed in the film, The Train still has some emotional weight to it, particularly in the juxtaposition of the care and effort paid to the works of art with the callous treatment of human lives.
‘Last Hurrah for Chivalry’ (1979)
As a premier action director, John Woo is probably best known for his balletic, bullet-riddled Heroic Bloodshed films like The Killer and Hard Boiled, or his cult classic Hollywood actioners Hard Target and Face/Off. Less celebrated is his classic wuxia action film Last Hurrah for Chivalry, which is an essential film in the director’s career and presages many of the themes that would recur in his more famous efforts. It’s a vibrant tale of vengeance, honor and deception that features blood-soaked swordplay and stylish action.
When a wealthy nobleman is betrayed on his wedding day, he turns to two mercenary swordsmen to help him reclaim his estate. A series of bloody battles, deceptive double crosses and a bounty of banter follows as Woo pays homage to his filmmaking mentor Chang Chen and lays the groundwork for the honor-bound action heroes that would populate his later films. In the context of Woo’s career, Last Hurrah for Chivalry is a vital film, but even removed from that context, it is a spectacular action classic.
‘Runaway Train’ (1985)
Cannon Films were known for their over-the-top B movies that defined the outrageous excess of ’80s cinema, such as the Death Wish sequels and the Missing in Action franchise. Between those glorious nuggets of cheese, they also produced one of the finest yet forgotten action-suspense movies of the era, Runaway Train. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the film was based on an unproduced screenplay by Akira Kurosawa and shot using real locomotives on the Alaska Railroad. It’s an astonishing action feature with breathless pacing that also managed to get Academy Award nominations, not only for its editing by Henry Richardson, but also for the performances of actors Jon Voight and Eric Roberts.
Voight plays a seasoned criminal incarcerated in a fictional Alaskan prison, who stages a daring escape with a younger, wilder convict, played by Roberts. Their attempt to hightail it out of town on a train goes south when said train’s brakes fail, and it becomes an unstoppable juggernaut. Runaway Train is often regarded as the greatest film Cannon ever produced, and its influence can be felt in later action classics like Speed and Unstoppable. Despite its acclaim and influence, though, it hardly ever gets mentioned in the same breath as the other greatest action movies of the ’80s, which it absolutely should be counted amongst.
‘Trespass’ (1992)
Walter Hill has several action classics to his name, including The Warriors and 48 Hrs. He also directed a number of the most underrated films within the genre that are deserving of more recognition. The Driver is a laconically cool film that’s had a lasting impact, Streets of Fire is a wild, rockabilly action anthem, and Extreme Prejudice is a blistering neo-Western. Best of all, and perhaps least well known, is the early ’90s down-and-dirty heist thriller meets gangland shootout Trespass, an efficient action movie that cuts to the bone and gets to the point, with incredible tension and a stacked cast.
Based on an early script written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the film follows two firemen, played by Bill Paxton and William Sadler, who discover a map to a hidden fortune in an abandoned building. Their search for that fortune leads them to inadvertently witness a murder committed by a dangerous gang, led by then-rising rap stars Ice-T and Ice Cube. A stand-off follows between the men and the gang that leads to escalating violence and increasingly blurred lines of morality. Trespass is a non-pretentious thrill ride that moves fast and hits hard.
Filmmakers from Hong Kong helped to redefine the action genre through the ’80s and into the ’90s. Marquee names like Jackie Chan and John Woo became genres unto themselves, while filmmakers like Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam made equal contributions even if their names weren’t as well known to American audiences. Lam, in particular, delivered some of the grittiest thrillers that had a major influence over American filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino. His film City on Fire was a notable inspiration for Reservoir Dogs. It’s his balls-to-the-wall action film Full Contact that has gone underappreciated for its slick, sleazy approach to the action genre.
Chow Yun-fat and Simon Yam play best friends who cross a dangerous loan shark, which forces them into a dangerous heist. Car chases, gun battles and revenge plots ensue, with Lam staging some of the most kinetic and over-the-top action of his career. Full Contact is style over substance in the best way possible, taking the gun-fu subgenre to its maximalist zenith. Lam, like Chan, Woo, and Hark, would eventually be beckoned to Hollywood to bring his talents to their action cinema, but like his contemporaries, they all paled in comparison to his Hong Kong classics, of which Full Contact is the most brazenly badass.
‘Executive Decision’ (1996)
When it comes to the films that followed in the footsteps of Die Hard, the ones most commonly recommended are the likes of Speed, Under Siege or Cliffhanger. When it comes to Die Hard on a plane, the film that is almost always referenced is Air Force One, but there’s another film with the same distinction that’s rarely included in the highest ranks that is just as good, if not better. Executive Decision is a taut action thriller directed by former editor Stuart Baird, featuring a team of specialists taking on a group of terrorists who have hijacked a passenger jet. It’s perfectly executed and features a terrific cast led by Kurt Russell.
One of the most brilliant conceits of Executive Decision is how it positions Russell’s analyst character as ill-equipped for the mission, with Steven Seagal featuring as the more typical action lead until he is unceremoniously killed off in the second act, leaving Russell to lead the team. Russell always had a more chameleonic ability that his fellow action stars lacked in their performances. He was able to play stoic characters like Snake Plissken or blowhards like Jack Burton with as much ease as he could a mild-mannered paper pusher forced into action, as he does here. Executive Decision is a disciple of Die Hard in all the best ways.
‘Breakdown’ (1997)
Another prime example of Russell being utilized as an everyman put into extraordinary circumstances, the road thriller Breakdown is the kind of lean, mean action machine that quietly defined the genre in the ’90s, even while more bombastic blockbusters got all the attention. Directed by Jonathan Mostow, who would later helm the ridiculous but fun Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the film is a perfectly paced race against time that would make a terrific triple feature with the similarly pulse-pounding Duel and The Hitcher.
On a cross-country drive towards a new job, Russell and his wife, played by Kathleen Quinlan, suffer a breakdown. Quinlan is picked up by a kindly truck driver, played by consummate character actor J.T. Walsh, who promises to take her to the next rest stop to make a phone call while Russell stays with their vehicle. If you’ve ever seen a thriller before, you know Quinlan isn’t coming back, and Russell goes on the offensive to find her as the plot makes a number of hairpin turns, all while barreling towards its climax. Breakdown isn’t a bold reinvention of its classic premise, but a thrilling distillation of its most effective elements.
‘The Way of the Gun’ (2000)
Long before he became the steward of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Christopher McQuarrie made his directorial debut with The Way of the Gun, a neo-Western action thriller filled with pulpy dialogue, plot twists and plenty of gunplay. Coming at a transitional time for the action genre, its throwback thrills failed to make much of an impact on audiences or critics at the time, but now it stands out for its intense action scenes and deliberately sleazy characters and plotline.
Benicio del Toro and Ryan Phillippe play two low-lifes who want to make a big score. They see their window of opportunity in a young surrogate mother, who they kidnap for ransom, but end up in much hotter water than they intended when it turns out the expecting father she is carrying looms large in the criminal underworld. The Way of the Gun is underappreciated both in the context of the action films it released alongside and those that McQuarrie would become synonymous with in his later directorial career, but it’s as action-packed and entertaining as the best of them.
‘Zatoichi’ (2003)
The character of Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, looms large in Japanese action cinema. Originally created by novelist Kan Shimozawa, the character became an icon of cinema, featuring in twenty-six films and a television series starring Shintaro Katsu, as well as several remakes and reboots. The most notable of those is the 2003 film directed by and starring the legendary Takeshi Kitano, best known to American action fans for his Yakuza films and pivotal role in Battle Royale. His revival of the character blends elements of action, samurai cinema, comedy, and musical for one of the most downright entertaining films the lauded filmmaker has ever made.
As the titular swordsman, Kitano enters a small village, where he becomes embroiled in a gang war and the defense of several disparate locals. The action is stylish, with Kitano being an early adopter of digital blood effects, which have such a cartoonish appearance here that they give the film an anime-like level of heightened reality. Zatoichi is the continuation of a long lineage of action classics, and it does its character proud with a singular film made by one of Japan’s best modern auteurs.
‘The Man from Nowhere’ (2010)
The new brutality movement of action films in the 2010s, best exemplified by the John Wick and The Raid franchises, can trace its origins to films like Park Chan-wook‘s Vengeance Trilogy and the rise of stars like Tony Jaa. Rarely mentioned in kicking off the trend in earnest, however, are the South Korean action thrillers The Yellow Sea and The Man from Nowhere, both of which were released in 2010 and feature all the hallmarks of those more famous films that would follow them. The Man from Nowhere, in particular, was a direct influence on John Wick, with its plot of a quiet man with a violent past pulled back into action by criminals.
Won Bin, in his final acting role to date, plays Cha Tae-sik, a seemingly mild-mannered man who runs a pawn shop, and whose only companion is a young adolescent girl who lives next door. When the young girl is kidnapped by a drug lord in search of his opium, Tae-sik begins waging a one-man war against them, using his skills from his former life as an assassin to do so. The Man from Nowhere is the fulcrum point between classic action films like The Professional and their modern blood-soaked counterparts, and it deserves just as much praise and attention.