The dawn of computer-generated effects spelled bad news for action cinema at the turn of the 21st century. James Bond surfed on a CG tidal wave in Die Another Day, while John McClane jumped a CG police car into a CG helicopter to create a CG explosion in Live Free or Die Hard. But the action movies of the last two decades haven’t been all bad.
In fact, in the past few years, action fans have been treated to some of the genre’s all-time greatest entries. Directors like George Miller and Gareth Evans have pioneered a new kind of action movie that’s basically a feature-length action sequence.
10 Taken (2008)
When Liam Neeson shot Taken, he expected it to go straight to DVD. He only took the job for a vacation in Paris. But Pierre Morel’s thriller ended up reinventing Neeson’s whole career, turning him from a respected dramatic actor to the first star of the “geriaction” movement.
There’s something universally relatable about a father’s desperate search for his kidnapped daughter, while Neeson’s particularly skilled ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills is a compelling lead.
9 Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
After scaling the facade of the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol and hanging off the side of a plane mid-takeoff in Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise went all-out for the sixth Mission: Impossible movie, Fallout, by doing one of those insane stunts in pretty much every scene.
Returning director Christopher McQuarrie brought some of the most explosive, dazzling set pieces in recent memory to life across Fallout’s densely packed runtime.
8 Brawl In Cell Block 99 (2017)
S. Craig Zahler’s sophomore directorial effort, ultraviolent neo-noir Brawl in Cell Block 99, tells a deceptively simple story that keeps raising the stakes. Vince Vaughn stars as an ex-convict, Bradley Thomas, who’s struggling to hold down a job outside of prison and returns to a life of crime.
When Bradley gets caught, he’s sent to prison, where a crime boss threatens to kill his wife and unborn child if he doesn’t get himself transferred to another prison and kill a bunch of his gangland rivals. It’s a nail-biter full of brutal violence.
7 Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Quentin Tarantino quickly made a name for himself with a string of crime movies in the ‘90s – Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown – before trying his hand at an action movie with Kill Bill, a blood-spattered two-parter that blends martial arts movies, spaghetti westerns, and blaxploitation films.
The first part of Kill Bill is easily the most action-packed. It opens with a visceral fight scene between the Bride and Vernita Green and culminates in the iconic House of Blue Leaves massacre.
6 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
After Doug Liman got the franchise off to a promising start with The Bourne Identity and Paul Greengrass defined its unique visual style with shaky camerawork and doc-style cross-cutting in The Bourne Supremacy, Greengrass finally gave the franchise its greatest installment with the trilogy-closing The Bourne Ultimatum.
It’s rare that a threequel satisfies as both a follow-up to the previous two movies and a conclusion to the trilogy, but The Bourne Ultimatum blows the last two movies out of the water and wraps up its story in a neat bow. Unfortunately, Universal couldn’t leave it alone and there have since been two additional Bourne movies.
5 The Dark Knight (2008)
Christopher Nolan gave the Caped Crusader a serviceable origin story in Batman Begins, However, that was nothing compared to the sequel, The Dark Knight, one of the greatest movies ever made.
With breathtaking action sequences shot on IMAX cameras and a palpable reign of terror courtesy of Heath Ledger’s quintessential incarnation of the Joker (which won the late, great actor a posthumous Academy Award), The Dark Knight is one heck of a thrill-ride.
4 Battle Royale (2000)
Although The Hunger Games used a similar premise and became more financially successful with it, Battle Royale is still the definitive tale of teenagers pitted against each other in a fight to the death.
As both a satire of the coming-of-age experience and an action-packed thrill-ride, Battle Royale is a true masterpiece filled with tension and melodrama. Certain moments can be difficult to watch, and that is the point.
3 John Wick (2014)
Harking back to French crime movies, Hong Kong action thrillers, Italian spaghetti westerns, and American film noirs, John Wick is one of the most visually interesting action movies in recent memory. In addition to dazzling fight choreography and “gun fu,” the use of lighting and color is gorgeous and cinematic.
Keanu Reeves made the title character his most iconic role by far, spawning a lucrative franchise and revitalizing his career. He brought his all to the physicality of the role, breathing life into every action scene.
2 The Raid (2011)
Following a tactical police squad’s infiltration of a gang-controlled high-rise, Gareth Evans’ The Raid is an intense, action-packed ride from start to finish.
The movie stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, two of the world’s greatest martial artists, so they spearheaded the fight choreography for the movie themselves. Where most action films are clunkily cut around stunt doubles, in The Raid, the actors are their own stunt doubles.
1 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
When George Miller finally got the fourth Mad Max movie out of development hell, he cast Tom Hardy in Mel Gibson’s place in the title role. He also used a storyboard instead of a traditional screenplay to ensure that the story would be told as visually as possible.
Essentially a feature-length car chase across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Fury Road keeps the thrills coming with mind-boggling practical stunt work.