# Biggest Action Star in the movies today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679 "2012-08-26T03:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![HenryGale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@HenryGale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryGale)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/41 "2012-08-27T16:31:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > He’s in a new one, with the stupid title of _Premium Rush_, as a bike courier who [parkours](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn6ie1zCkZU) his way through a city to escape the bad guys. Definitely an action movie. Joseph Gordon Levitt also has an action/sci-fi movie called Looper that’s coming out in a few months. I gotta say, as unlikely an action star as he is, JGL is becoming a dark horse for this. Consider: [ul] [li]Inception[/li][li]Dark Knight Rises[/li][li]Premium Rush[/li][li]Looper[/li][/ul] That’s all within 2-3 years. Inception and DKR are in supporting roles, and Looper is co-starring with action fav Bruce Willis. If he can successfully headline an action flick or two, he’ll really break out, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/42 "2012-08-27T18:23:03Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Waaaaa? > John Wayne > Kirk Douglas > Burt Lancaster > Clint Eastwood > Do I really need to go on? A better example than any of those (except arguably Eastwood) is Steve McQueen, who was sort of the ur-action hero. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/43 "2012-08-27T21:04:24Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Nope. I don’t agree. “Westerns” and “war movies” are “action movies”. > > John Wayne’s name brought movie goers in. Quite a few of his Westerns didn’t have much plot. … Yeah, but they weren’t exactly loaded with action, either. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/44 "2012-08-27T21:16:46Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > See also Liam Neeson. Who would have thought it, but Liam is I think the best action star currently. I think Tom Cruise and Jason Statham are the biggest (although they are shorter 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/45 "2012-08-28T02:13:05Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > A better example than any of those (except arguably Eastwood) is Steve McQueen, who was sort of the ur-action hero. After becoming an Olympic medalist in the '20s, stuntman-turned-actor Buster Crabbe was Tarzan and Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon in the '30s before starring as a gunfighter in dozens of aptly-named westerns during the '40 – everything from THUNDERING GUNSLINGERS to BILLY THE KID’S SMOKING GUNS – and then spent the '50s as the go-to guy for hunting Nazis in PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS and making like an Air Force captain turned jungle adventurer in KING OF THE CONGO. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/46 "2012-08-28T03:46:03Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Yeah, but they weren’t exactly loaded with action, either. Nothing to do with the stars, it’s simply a matter of our ever increasing need for novelty and relentless stimulation that’s redefined action movies. As for names, I missed Harrison Ford if he was mentioned. The original Star Wars trilogy, Indy Jones, and the occasional one-off here and there. Good plots, writing and effects, but action and adventure movies in every sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/47 "2012-08-28T04:14:35Z")
> [@HenryGale](#): > > I gotta say, as unlikely an action star as he is, JGL is becoming a dark horse for this. Consider: > > [ul] > [li]Inception[/li][li]Dark Knight Rises[/li][li]Premium Rush[/li][li]Looper[/li][/ul] You forgot his breakout role in **GI Joe**. 😛 But seriously, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the first actor I thought of when I saw the thread title. Given that the idea of “action star” has changed a lot, I think he fits the bill really well. And he’s under 50, unlike most other stars mentioned here. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/48 "2012-08-28T04:24:27Z")
_Goes back and reads rest of the thread_ NVM, changing my vote to Jeremy Renner. I’m sure Joe wouldn’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679/49 "2012-08-28T11:39:20Z")
> [@Purd\_Werfect](#): > > As for names, I missed Harrison Ford if he was mentioned. The original Star Wars trilogy, Indy Jones, and the occasional one-off here and there. Good plots, writing and effects, but action and adventure movies in every sense of the word. When interviewed about his two-fisted Captain Kirk role, Chris Pine mentioned his respect for Ford in general – and, specifically, for the guy’s ability to take a punch. (At that, Pine followed up STAR TREK with profitable outings in UNSTOPPABLE and THIS MEANS WAR to soon become – what else? – the new Jack Ryan.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-action-star-in-the-movies-today/632679.md?page=2)