# Best Action Movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009 "2006-08-16T21:03:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/1 "2006-08-16T21:03:22Z")
I’m in the mood for a good action movie. What are the best action movies you’ve seen? Off the top of my head: Die Hard Terminator 2 Saving Private Ryan (this one isn’t really action-packed) ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/2 "2006-08-16T21:35:41Z")
My favorite action movie of all time is **The Road Warrior**. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/3 "2006-08-16T21:46:05Z")
Die Hard Predator A personal fave- Tango and Cash. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/4 "2006-08-16T21:51:54Z")
**Alien** , **Léon** and **Mad Max**. I guess. This genre isn’t really my cup of tea, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/5 "2006-08-16T22:12:45Z")
**Aliens** , **Leon** , **Wasabi** , **La Femme Nikita** (or **L’Assassin** ). Can you guess that I tend to enjoy Luc Besson’s films? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/6 "2006-08-16T22:18:29Z")
Die Hard True Lies Above the Law Under Siege The Matrix Ronin ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/7 "2006-08-16T22:33:15Z")
I second **The Road Warrior** as a personal favorite. Also: **Speed The Fifth Element** **Supercop** (my favorite Jackie Chan movie–much better than his more recent movies) \*\*Hard-Boiled \*\* (Chow-Yun Fat in a Hong Kong crime-drama directed by John Woo) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/8 "2006-08-16T22:34:54Z")
Leon (The Professional in the USA) Ronin Hard Boiled ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/9 "2006-08-16T22:38:16Z")
_Die Hard_, in my opinion, redefined the action movie genre. Simply brilliant, on many levels. Another movie I’d recommend is _Equilibrium_. There’s not a lot of action- much of the movie is effectively a retelling of _1984_- but the action scenes, especially towards the end, are simply breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/10 "2006-08-16T22:41:17Z")
Action movies I own on DVD: Heat (Pacino and DeNiro) Sharky’s Machine True Romance Blade Runner The Godfather Collection (all three) Non-Western Eastwood actioners: The Gauntlet any of the Dirty Harry movies In The Line of Fire Absolute Power Where Eagles Dare Action Movies I’ll watch whenever they show up on cable: The Terminator (1 and 2) Die Hard The Professional (Leon) ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/11 "2006-08-17T03:31:26Z")
Die Hard (1 is sublime, 3 and 2 are still fun in that order) Lethal Weapon (1, 2, 4, 3 in that order) The Matrix (that movie that never had any sequels) Kill Bill Vols. 1-2 Sin City Hard Boiled The Killer Total Recall Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Drunken Master and Legend of Drunken Master Last Man Standing (one of my favorite movies ever) Iron Monkey Grosse Pointe Blank (mostly a comedy, with some awesome fight scenes toward the end) Pirates of the Caribbean Army of Darkness The Last Boy Scout The Long Kiss Goodnight Tombstone (awesome Western for people who love action movies but claim to hate Westerns) The Transporter (better than your friends would have you believe) Hard Target Aliens Leon/The Professional Terminator (2 and 1 in that order, they never made a third one) The Rundown (surprisingly great buddy adventure movie) Payback Desperado Equilibrium ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/12 "2006-08-17T06:25:54Z")
A lot of these I wouldn’t classify as action movies. The Professional (Leon) in particular. I love it, but when I think of action movies, I think of explosions and chase scenes. The Professional was pretty much straightforward drama. My first thought was True Romance, but I wouldn’t call that an action movie either. A fun, up-tempo romp with lots of gunplay, but is gunplay actually action? They’re all standing in a single room, which seems to go against the action-movie premise. There’s a good fight scene, but that’s pretty much it. Not only does nothing explode, the only fire in the whole movie is from cigarette lighters. The Die Hard movies were action flicks. So was the Matrix trilogy, though the last two sucked donkey balls. As far as _good_ action flicks go, I’d offer and/or second: Raiders of the Lost Ark Aliens (not the first one; that one was suspense more than action) Jurassic Park Last of the Mohicans Gladiator Die Hard True Lies The Peacemaker Men in Black Pirates of the Caribbean The Matrix Kill Bill Spiderman X-Men Terminator War of the Worlds Ghostbusters Blues Brothers ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/13 "2006-08-17T06:27:04Z")
Oh yeah, I forgot Braveheart. ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/14 "2006-08-17T20:55:09Z")
The Bourne Identity is one of my favorite action movies. I’ve watched it several times and still enjoy it. I also join in the recommendations for Heat, Ronin, Terminator 2, X-Men 1 and 2, and, in the unlikely event you haven’t seen it, The Matrix. ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/15 "2006-08-17T21:35:54Z")
Rocky First Blood Cliffhanger Conan the Barbarian Conan the Destroyer Predator Total Recall Eraser The Fifth Element Gladiator Master & Commander Road Warrior Mad Max Lethal Weapon ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/16 "2006-08-17T22:10:32Z")
Fine, I’ll be the only one to complete admit to adoring **The Transporter** ( 1 and 2) because of Jason Statham and the fight scenes. I’m not sure if it would be considered Action or more Adventure: \*\*Indiana Jones \*\* **Lethal Weapon** **The Fugitive** ( But not the sequel.) **XMen 2** (first was not bad. Second very good. Haven’t seen the third.) Some of the James Bond flicks certainly qualify as all action, the only one that was really good ( except for Charlie Sheen’s ex wife ruining it) was The World is Not Enough. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/17 "2006-08-18T01:06:22Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] **XMen 2** (first was not bad. Second very good. Haven’t seen the third.) [/QUOTE] Third was very good. Some dumb “why are they doing it this way?” moments, but great action. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-action-movies/369009/18 "2006-08-18T01:11:30Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Fine, I’ll be the only one to complete admit to adoring **The Transporter** ( 1 and 2) because of Jason Statham and the fight scenes. [/QUOTE] Recheck my list. I LOVE the first Transporter movie, even though I thought the second one was pretty ridiculous, even by my standards. I think Jason Statham is an awesome actor, especially in action movies, but awesome in general. He and The Rock are my picks for breakthrough A-list actors in the next five years.