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There’s few things better than settling in to watch an incredible action movie. Knowing you’re about to have your heart rate and adrenaline spike due to some quality filmmaking is a pleasure like no other, and while we’ve all got our own personal favourites, we thought it was time to bring together the best of the best.
We’ve taken a bunch of the greatest action movies ever made, recorded their ratings across a number of well-respected film databases, and averaged out the scores to come up with a ‘ranked’ list of the best action movies of all time. Now, you might get salty that your favourite falls below another movie, but keep in mind that all scores are subjective, and there’s really only a few points between each film.
So, without further ado, grab your popcorn and put your feet up—here’s the 50 best action movies of all time.
50. The Rock
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 97 | 85 | 74 | 58 | 74 | 77.6 |
- Release Date: 7 June, 1996
- Runtime: 2h 16m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Michael Bay
- Starring: Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, William Forsythe
One of Michael Bay’s early hits, The Rock delivers a truly tense set up: a rogue group of marines take over Alcatraz Island a day after stealing a set of catastrophic rockets. They have one demand: $100 million (which was a lot of money back then), or they’ll launch the rockets at San Francisco.
What follows is a tense infiltration into Alcatraz Island by a group of Navy SEALs, along with a chemical weapon specialist, in an effort to neutralise the marines and stop a mass casualty event. Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage steal the show here, as they always do.
49. John Wick
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 86 | 82 | 75 | 68 | 78 | 77.8 |
- Release Date: 24 October, 2014
- Runtime: 1h 41m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Chad Stahelski
- Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, John Leguizamo, Willem Dafoe
One of the best Gun-Fu movies ever made, John Wick is both a dive into a strange, deadly world of assassins, hired hitmen, and mobsters, and a story of the lengths a man will go to to avenge his dog—provided that dog represents the last touch point he had to his civilian life.
Reeves plays Wick, a retired hitman that is feared and respected in equal measure by anyone in the underworld who knows who he is. Unfortunately, not everyone remembers him, and a mob-boss’ son makes the mistake of pushing Wick over the edge. What follows is an incredibly well-choreographed and inventive set of action sequences, showered in blood and gunpowder, and delivered with the deadpan intensity we all know Reeves for.
48. Black Panther
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 86 | 79 | 73 | 88 | 63 | 77.8 |
- Release Date: 16 February, 2018
- Runtime: 2h 14m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Ryan Coogler
- Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman
One of the best received of all Marvel’s films, Black Panther launched to critical and commercial acclaim, was the second-highest grossing movie of 2018 (beaten only by Avengers: Infinity War) and is the highest-grossing movie by a Black filmmaker. All that aside, it’s also just a good movie.
Black Panther follows the story of T’Challa, prince of Wakanda and the current Black Panther, as he attempts to assume the throne following his father’s death. Unfortunately, an arms dealer has designs to steal the Wakandan metal, vibranium, and is working with a former Navy Seal, Killmonger, to get it. In typical superhero movie fashion, there’s a lot of spectacle and a lot of fighting.
47. Nobody
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 84 | 94 | 74 | 64 | 75 | 78.2 |
- Release Date: 26 March, 2021
- Runtime: 1h 32m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Ilya Naishuller
- Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA, Christopher Lloyd
Another film in the ‘guy living a mundane life is secretly a killing machine’ genre, Nobody puts Better Call Saul‘s Bob Odenkirk in the driving seat as Hutch Mansell—a former government-backed assassin, now trying to live a peaceful life. When he inadvertently pisses off a Russian gang after an altercation on the bus, Mansell has to dip back into his secret skillset to keep his family alive.
While the film features sometimes absurdly violent beatings, it also walks the line between action and comedy deftly, owing to Odenkirk’s background as a comedic actor. If you like watching nameless goons get their asses absolutely handed to them, Nobody is the movie for you.
46. Snowpiercer
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 72 | 71 | 84 | 71 | 78.4 |
- Release Date: 29 July 2013
- Runtime: 2h 6m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Bong Joon Ho
- Starring: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris
Based on a French graphic novel, Snowpiercer serves as the English directorial debut of Parasite’s Bong Joon Ho, set in a futuristic 2014—where a new ice age has rendered most of the earth uninhabitable. Those who have survived now live and work on a state-of-the-art train, the titular Snowpiercer, which circumnavigates the globe and shelters its inhabitants from the cold.
However, the train is made up of several castes, with the wealthy and powerful living at the front of the train in opulence, while the poor live in the back of the train, monitored by armed guards. Curtis Everett (Evans) stages a rebellion, passing through each caste of the train as the revolution makes its way toward its oppressors. It’s both a great action movie, and a poignant reflection of class struggle.
45. Creed III
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 89 | 95 | 67 | 73 | 68 | 78.4 |
- Release Date: 9 February, 2023
- Runtime: 1h 56m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Michael B. Jordan
- Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Wood Harris
The first ‘Rockyverse’ movie not to feature Sylvester Stallone’s titular boxer, Creed III instead continues to story of Adonis Creed: the illegitimate son of the former world champion Apollo Creed. Adonis, played by Michael B. Jordan, has hung up the gloves and retired into the life of a family man. But when an old acquaintance, freshly released from prison, turns up at his door, Creed’s time out of the spotlight comes to an end.
As with most sports-focused films, Creed III often skirts the line between action-packed entertainment and a dramatic story of human resilience, but it’s done so well here that you’ll barely notice. It’s a well-deserved send off for Creed, both the character and the franchise, and a fitting follow-up to Rocky.
44. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 82 | 94 | 79 | 64 | 80 | 79.8 |
- Release Date: 5 May, 2023
- Runtime: 2h 30m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: James Gunn
- Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper
The supposedly final outing for the popular Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3 was marred by scandal before it even finished filming, and launched to pretty mixed reviews. However, time has proven that it’s another solid film in the Marvel lineup, delivering a powerful send-off to several of the MCU’s most beloved characters.
When Rocket Racoon is mortally wounded, the Guardians set off on a journey to save his life—one that will uncover his past as a lab-created ‘humanimal’, and the events that led up to him becoming an outlaw. In typical Marvel fashion, there’ll be a lot of explosions, wise cracks, and extra-dimensional sillyness here, so bring your popcorn.
43. Kill Bill: Volume 1
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 85 | 81 | 82 | 69 | 83 | 80 |
- Release Date: 10 October, 2003
- Runtime: 1h 51m
- Rating: R18+
- Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
- Starring: Uma Therman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine
One of the most stylish action movies ever made, Kill Bill: Volume 1 fuses martial arts and crime fiction with the trappings of a samurai revenge tale. The first of several Tarantino movies on this list, Kill Bill tells the story of The Bride (Therman), a woman shot and left for dead on her wedding day. She miraculously survives and swears revenge on her attackers. The thing is, everyone involved is a world-class assassin.
In this volume, The Bridge tracks down the first two targets on her list, a suburban mum formerly known as Copperhead, and the head of the Tokyo Yakuza, known as Cottonmouth. Every fight scene is shot and executed perfectly, with the battle between The Bride and the Crazy 88 being a particular highlight.
42. Spider-Man: Far From Home
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 91 | 95 | 74 | 69 | 73 | 80.4 |
- Release Date: 2 July, 2019
- Runtime: 2h 9m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Jon Watts
- Starring: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jake Gyllenhaal
The second film in the MCU-approved Spider-Man franchise, Far From Home sees Tom Holland don the skin-tight suit again as Peter Parker—this time fighting alongside the mysterious Quentin Beck, a super-powered man who has been fighting off a group of strange elemental creatures. All isn’t right, though, and Parker will need to figure out the truth before its too late.
Spider-Man has long been one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes, and it stands to reason that any movie with the webslinger in it will be popular. Even so, Far From Home was a rousing success, was the first Spider-Man film to gross over US$1 billion, and features some of the series’ best action set pieces.
41. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 91 | 92 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 80.4 |
- Release Date: 30 March, 2023
- Runtime: 2h 14m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
- Starring: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant
Honor Among Thieves goes about a smoothly as a typical session of Dungeons & Dragons: the job goes poorly, everyone ends up in prison, and eventually you have to dispose a tyrannical lord with ties to a magic cabal. You know, normal tabletop stuff.
Honestly, it’s actually a remarkably faithful adaptation of the game, with Red Wizards, transforming Druids, Wild Sorcerers, and charismatic Bards largely serving as the face of a party of adventurers. It’s a shame the film ended up being considered a flop, as we’d have loved more fun in Faerûn.
40. Speed
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 95 | 77 | 73 | 78 | 80 | 80.6 |
- Release Date: 10 June, 1994
- Runtime: 1h 56m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Jan de Bont
- Starring: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels
Also known as ‘The Bus that Couldn’t Slow Down’, or ‘Die Hard on a Bus’, Speed is a fantastic, action-packed movie that had a terrible sequel. The premise is simple: a bomb has been planted on a city bus that will go off if the bus slows below 50mph—killing everyone in the vehicle.
LAPD SWAT bomb disposal officer Jack Traven makes his way onto the bus and does everything he can to both keep the bus moving, keep everyone safe, and somehow figure out how to track down the bomber before he can do more damage. It’s a classic for a reason, and is well worth a watch.
38. The Bourne Identity
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 84 | 93 | 78 | 68 | 80 | 80.6 |
- Release Date: 14 June, 2002
- Runtime: 1h 59m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Doug Liman
- Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
When a man is found drifting in the Mediterranean sea with two gunshot wounds and amnesia, you know you’re in for a good time. Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, a highly-trained killer who, while trying to piece together his identity, is actively being hunted by the CIA. What follows is a highly entertaining action flick bringing together spy-craft, mystery, and a tonne of fantastic fight choreography.
The Bourne Identity was based on a 1980’s novel of the same name, written by Robert Ludlum, which means that if you decide you want more Bourne after watching this film’s three sequels, theres a whole paperback trilogy waiting for you.
38. The Raid
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 87 | 87 | 76 | 73 | 82 | 81 |
- Release Date: 8 September, 2011
- Runtime: 1h 41m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Gareth Evans
- Starring: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian
Also known as The Raid: Redemption, this film tells the story of an Indonesian National Police tactical squad that enters an apartment block owned and operated by a local drug lord, only for things to get out of control when they release they are surrounded by criminals. The police squad need to fight their way out, and while the situation sounds horrible it makes for an incredibly tense and entertaining watch.
Compared to a lot of higher-budget films on this list, The Raid is shot using a handheld camera in an effort to make the action appear more realistic, and make the characters, and stakes, feel more real.
37. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 92 | 98 | 73 | 71 | 71 | 81 |
- Release Date: 3 September, 2021
- Runtime: 2h 12m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Destin Daniel Cretton
- Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh
There’s a lot of Marvel films on this list—superheroes and action do go hand in hand—but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is pretty different than the Disney-owned company’s other films. For one, it almost entirely features actors of Asian descent, and prominently highlights Asian culture, marking it as a unique take on the otherwise standard Marvel formula. Here, we follow Shaun, a parking valet in San Francisco who also happens to be the son of the infamous Wenwu: leader of the Ten Rings organisation.
When that organisation steals Shaun’s heirloom necklace, he knows something bad is afoot and begins a journey to warn his sister of his father’s plan, while also standing up to the Ten Rings Organisation’s plan to infiltrate and destroy the mysterious realm of Ta Lo. If you love the Marvel movies but are looking for something a bit fresh, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is about as fresh as it gets.
36. RoboCop
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 92 | 84 | 76 | 70 | 83 | 81 |
- Release Date: 17 September, 1987
- Runtime: 1h 42m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Paul Verhoeven
- Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox
One of the all-time action classics, RoboCop should need no introduction. In near-dystopian Detroit, police officer Alex Murphy is killed in the line of duty, but rather than being buried he is transformed into a cybernetically-enhanced warrior of justice: the titular RoboCop. While he largely forgets his past as Murphy, RoboCop takes to the streets to rid the city of crime: and unfortunately for his creators, they may just end up on the wrong end of his pistol.
An incredibly brutal and graphic movie, RoboCop skirts the line between hardcore action and hyper-violent (and unintentional) comedy.
35. Gladiator
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 80 | 87 | 85 | 67 | 87 | 81.2 |
- Release Date: 1 May, 2000
- Runtime: 2h 35m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Ridley Scott
- Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
One of the most influential films in action-movie history, Gladiator tells the story of Maximus Decimus Meridius—a Roman general betrayed by the new emperor, Commodus, who sentences Maximus and his family to death. While Maximus is able to escape with his life, his family is killed, and he is sold into slavery.
With only revenge on his mind, Maximus begins fighting as a gladiator to secure his freedom—unknowingly starting a chain of events that will give him the opportunity to come face-to-face with Emperor Commodus once again. A sequel launched in 2024, which in our opinion lacked a lot of the gravity of the original.
34. Transformers One
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 89 | 97 | 76 | 65 | 81 | 81.6 |
- Release Date: 11 September, 2024
- Runtime: 1h 44m
- Rating: PG
- Directed By: Josh Cooley
- Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Kay, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne
An origin story for the classic Transformers story, we see the events that caused the Cybertron civil war to break out between the forces that become the Autobots and Decepticons. Transformers One was hailed as a return to form for the franchise, and is modelled closely on the Transformers cartoon that aired in the 80’s and 90’s, rather than the more recent blockbuster film series.
While more lighthearted, and a bit sanitised, the film was received incredibly well by critics but ultimately struggled to recoup its production budget, leaving it unlikely we’ll get a follow-up anytime soon. Still, if you want some alien truck-on-jet action, this is a pretty stellar place to get it. Plus, it’s PG, so you can enjoy it with your kids!
33. Drive
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 93 | 79 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81.8 |
- Release Date: 16 September, 2011
- Runtime: 1h 40m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Nicholas Winding Refn
- Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Issac
Drive is one of the most movies that is better seen and experienced than being told about: I purposefully put the opening scene as the video above, rather than a full trailer, as I really don’t want to spoil too much. All you really need to is that Ryan Gosling plays a getaway driver who, after taking on the wrong job, gets embroiled in an increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse with members of the criminal underworld.
I’m really not going to say anything else: if you haven’t seen the movie, just go watch it. It’s fantastic.
32. Enter the Dragon
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 88 | 97 | 76 | 83 | 73 | 82.2 |
- Release Date: 19 August, 1973
- Runtime: 1h 42m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Robert Clause
- Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capir, Bob Wall
One of the most influential action movies ever made, Enter the Dragon proved that martial arts-focused films were an emerging genre within films, and was Bruce Lee’s final completed movie before his passing in 1973. Even today, it’s still regarded as one of the best martial arts movies of all time, and paved the way for many of the films on this list.
In Enter the Dragon, Lee is a martial artist working with British Intelligence to undercover a fellow Shaolin student’s crime syndicate. The only way to do so is to enter a martial arts tournament on the crime lord’s private island, of course, and search for evidence between bouts.
31. The Bourne Ultimatum
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 82 | 81 | 80 | 85 | 83 | 82.2 |
- Release Date: 3 August, 2007
- Runtime: 1h 55m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Paul Greengrass
- Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, Paddy Considine
The final film in the original Bourne trilogy, Ultimatum serves as the culmination of the titular amnesiac’s crusade against the CIA and people who made him who he is. Masterfully played by Damon, Bourne continues to evade capture while simultaneously getting closer to the truth.
It’s also worth noting that while this film shares a name with the final Bourne novel, the story is entirely different and sets up the potential for more Bourne goodness. There are technically two movies that follow Ultimatum—one with Damon and one without—but you can probably skip them, in all honesty.
30. Skyfall
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 92 | 86 | 78 | 81 | 76 | 82.6 |
- Release Date: 23 October, 2012
- Runtime: 2h 23m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Sam Mendes
- Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Bérénice Marlohe, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench
The third in Daniel Craig’s run as everyone’s favourite MI6 agent, James Bond, Skyfall put the Bond franchise back on top: becoming the highest-grossing Bond film of all time. Thankfully, it didn’t just do well commercially, and Skyfall is a fantastic addition to the series.
Here, Bond is presumed dead after having been hit during a mission, but took the opportunity to ‘retire’. It doesn’t last long, as you can imagine, and soon Bond is back on the job, searching for a cybercriminal that hacked MI6’s servers and stole sensitive data detailing the identity of every undercover agent. The stakes are high, but Bond always delivers.
29. Inglorious Basterds
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 89 | 88 | 84 | 69 | 83 | 82.6 |
- Release Date: 21 August, 2009
- Runtime: 2h 33m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
- Starring: Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers
Inglorious Basterds feels like a one-of-a-kind film. It’s one of those movies that doesn’t feel like it could have been made by anyone by Quentin Tarantino, and couldn’t have starred anyone but Brad Pitt and Christopher Waltz. It took Tarantino more than a decade to get the film’s script completed, but the final result is one of the best movies ever made.
It tells the story of a Nazi-hunting group of allied soldiers, known colloquially as The Basterds, that are active in France during World War II and are given the opportunity to stage a massacre of the Nazi high command.
28. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 93 | 86 | 76 | 77 | 82 | 82.8 |
- Release Date: 24 December, 1981
- Runtime: 1h 36m
- Rating: R18+
- Directed By: George Miller
- Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence
While the original Mad Max put Mel Gibson on the map, its sequel, The Road Warrior, turned Mad Max into a cultural icon. It was actually the first of the series to be released outside of Australia, so goes by two names: Mad Max 2, and The Road Warrior.
Set in a post-apocalyptic outback Australia, Max and his dog travel the roads, siphoning fuel from broken down vehicles and scavenging what they can. When Max comes across a compound of settlers being harassed by marauders, he ends up part of the settlements plan to escape the daily attacks from ‘Lord Humungus’ and his men.
27. The Matrix
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 83 | 85 | 87 | 73 | 89 | 83.4 |
- Release Date: 31 March, 1999
- Runtime: 2h 16m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
- Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano
What is The Matrix? That was the question on everybody’s mind when this movie was first announced, and the answer was: one of the best Sci-Fi action movies ever made. Thomas Anderson is a computer programmer that moonlights as hacker, who just has a feeling that things aren’t right in the world. Once he comes in contact with a legendary figure in the hacking world, Trinity, his world changes, and he is drawn into a secret war over the entirety of humanity.
There’s a lot to The Matrix, and while there’s a few sequels at this point—three, in fact—the original is still the best, bringing what was stunning, industry-leading special effects together with a incredible fight choreography.
26. Baby Driver
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 92 | 86 | 75 | 86 | 78 | 83.4 |
- Release Date: 28 June, 2017
- Runtime: 1h 53m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Edgar Wright
- Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx
Baby Driver features some of the best car chases, and car stunts, of any movie on the list—and thanks to director Edgar Wright’s focus on practical effects, its almost all entirely real. Ansel Elgort plays the titular Baby, a hired getaway driver who is in the midst of paying off a debt to underworld kingpin Doc (Spacey). When he agrees to ‘one more job’, with Jon Hamm’s Buddy, Eiza González’s Darling, Jamie Foxx’s Bats, and Jon Bernthal’s Griff serving as his crew, Baby finds himself in the midst of a quickly unraveling situation.
What sets Baby Driver apart from other driver-focused crime flicks is Baby’s love of music. The character suffers from tinnitus, much like Wright himself, and drowns it out by almost always listening to music: providing the film a fantastic soundtrack.
25. Kill Bill: Volume 2
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 84 | 89 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 83.6 |
- Release Date: 16 April, 2004
- Runtime: 2h 18m
- Rating: R18+
- Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
- Starring: Uma Therman, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madssen, David Carradine
Filmed at the same time as Volume 1, and released six months later Kill Bill: Volume 2 takes everything the first film started and pushes it to 11. The Bride continues her hunt for Bill, along the way running into the remaining Deadly Vipers, California Mountain Snake and Sidewinder.
The film also dives deeper into the history of The Bride, her training with legendary martial arts master Pai Mei, and her relationship with Bill. It’s a worthy sequel to one of the best action movies of all time, and cemented Kill Bill as a premier modern revenge tale.
24. Heat
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 83 | 94 | 83 | 76 | 84 | 84 |
- Release Date: 15 December, 1995
- Runtime: 2h 50m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Michael Mann
- Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Jon Voight, Val Kilmer
The quintessential action-crime-thriller, Heat brings together several of the greatest actors of all time, at their prime, in Al Pacino and Robert Di Niro. Based on actual crimes committed in the 60’s, Heat follows career criminal Neil McCauley (De Niro) across several heists, as well as LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Pacino) in his quet to track the criminal down.
Split between both the cat and mouse, Heat doesn’t really tell you which of the pair are the protagonist of the movie. Rather, it’s a film about crime, justice, and the impact on the people who administer both.
23. John Wick: Chapter 4
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 93 | 76 | 78 | 80 | 84.2 |
- Release Date: 24 March, 2023
- Runtime: 2h 49m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Chad Stahelski
- Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lance Reddick
The Boogeyman returns, heading on a globe-spanning mission to finally end the High Table following the events of John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum. With the High Table having hired assassins to hunt Wick down, the legendary hitman has few friends left in the underworld, and, thanks to his old ally Winston, discovers a way to even the playing field.
22. Oldboy
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 82 | 94 | 83 | 78 | 86 | 84.6 |
- Release Date: 21 November, 2003
- Runtime: 2h
- Rating: R18+
- Directed By: Park Chan-wook
- Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung
Fair warning: Oldboy deals in some pretty taboo topics, and isn’t your typical heroic-action film. It’s more like a mystery box that is slowly opened as the movie continues, with each layer is more confusing and unsettling than the last, featuring some pretty brutal fight scenes interspersed.
After being kidnapped and held hostage for 15 years, Dae-su (Min-sik) is released by his captors and told that he has to find the man responsible for his captivity within five days. Along the way he meets a sushi chef named Mi-do (Hye-jung), and discovers the intricate web of dealings that caused his incarceration.
21. Hero
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 87 | 79 | 85 | 79 | 84.8 |
- Release Date: 24 October, 2002
- Runtime:1h 39m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Zhang Yimou
- Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Daoming
A classic Wuxia film, Hero casts Jet-Li as a nameless warrior during the Warring States Period of Ancient China, when the country was split into seven states, and assassins were sent to murder the King of Qin. Nameless approaches the king, stating to have defeated all assassins after his head, and is granted audience.
From there, Nameless shares the story of his journey, facing off against a number of warriors and assassins, though the King has doubts his story is true. Watch it if you love movies in the vein of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or just really love Jet Li.
20. Dirty Harry
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 89 | 90 | 77 | 87 | 82 | 85 |
- Release Date: 23 December, 1971
- Runtime: 1h 42m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Don Siegel
- Starring: Clint Easywood, Harry Guardino, Reni Satoni, Andy Robinson, John Larch, John Vernon
“I know what you’re thinking: ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do you, punk?”
It’s Clint Eastwood with a .44 Magnum tracking down a serial murderer inspired by the Zodiac Killer. What else do you need to hear?
19. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning—Part One
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 96 | 94 | 76 | 81 | 79 | 85.2 |
- Release Date: 12 July, 2023
- Runtime: 2h 23m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie
- Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Aywell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson
The latest in the long-running Mission Impossible franchise, Dead Reckoning—Part One is the precursor to 2025’s Final Reckoning and sends the heroic Ethan Hunt on a journey to track down the missing Sevastopol submarine. The submarine housed an experimental AI that, for whatever reason, sunk the sub and killed everyone aboard.
Now, Hunt and his band of IMF agents need to track down keys to access the AI, and find a way to reach it at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. While all the answers aren’t yet revealed, you’ll absolutely bear witness to some of Tom Cruise’s most daring stunt work here.
18. Dunkirk
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 92 | 81 | 78 | 94 | 82 | 85.4 |
- Release Date: 21 July, 2017
- Runtime: 1h 46m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Christopher Nolan
- Starring: Harry Styles, Barry Keoghan, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead
Nolan’s Wartime masterpiece, Dunkirk brings the horrors faced by Allied soldiers during World War II to the big screen. Or the small screen, but we’d recommend finding the biggest one you have for this film. The movie follows a number of soldiers as the British attempt a mass evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
The movie is told from three vantage points—land, sky, and sea—and showcases the impact each of these approaches had on the war through the eyes of the soldiers involved. While the plot is fairly simple, the cinematography is anything but, and the scale of the action scenes are truly breathtaking.
17. Spider-Man: No Way Home
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 83 | 97 | 82 | 71 | 85 | 85.6 |
- Release Date: 17 December, 2021
- Runtime: 2h 28m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Jon Watts
- Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Benedict Cumberbatch
In a genre known for cross-over films, it’s kind of fun to have the same character cross-over with themselves. When Peter Parker and Doctor Strange botch a spell, the Marvel multiverse starts breaking down, slinging villains from previous Spider-Man movies into the modern MCU: Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Afred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, and Jamie Foxx’s Electro among them.
Parker and his friends are tasked with tracking down each villain and capturing them in an effort to return them to their own world, but things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. It’s one of the better modern Marvel movies, and tugs at 2000’s nostalgia in a way that other super hero movies struggle to.
16. Casino Royale
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 90 | 80 | 80 | 84 | 85.6 |
- Release Date: 14 November, 2006
- Runtime: 2h 24m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Martin Campbell
- Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench
The first of the ‘modern’ Bond movies, and the film that shot Daniel Craig into the international limelight. Casino Royale is both a reinterpretation of Ian Flemming’s original Bond book, and of what a Bond movie could be. The previous series, starring Pierce Brosnan, thrived in a more ‘camp’ direction, and Casino Royale took the character into a grittier, more grounded direction.
The movie also features far more practical stuntwork and effects, compared to some of the CGI seen previously, and delivered a younger, less-experienced Bond. Craig, for his part, absolutely nails this ‘blunt’ Bond, and went on to star in a whole bunch of sequels before deciding that the Bond was behind him.
15. Die Hard
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 94 | 82 | 72 | 87 | 85.8 |
- Release Date: 15 July, 1988
- Runtime: 2h 12m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: John McTiernan
- Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia
Everyone’s favourite Christmas movie, Die Hard tells the story of NYPD Detective John McClane (Willis), who has journeyed to Los Angeles to visit his estranged wife, Holly, at her job’s holiday party in Nakatomi Plaza. Unfortunately, the building is taken over by a group of terrorists, and McClane alone must thwart the group’s designs.
It’s a classic action movie, and redefined what an action hero was: McClane isn’t a muscle-bound superhero, he’s just a very, very stubborn man, with all the failings that entails. While there are a bunch more Die Hard movies, we’d recommend stopping at Die Hard with a Vengeance.
14. Django Unchained
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 87 | 92 | 85 | 81 | 86 | 86.2 |
- Release Date: 25 December, 2012
- Runtime: 2h 45m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
- Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christopher Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson
Django Unchained is Tarantino’s attempt to make a movie diving into the United States’ horrible history without making a ‘big issue’ movie. Instead, he themed it like a Spaghetti Western, and we were graced with one of his best works.
The film tells the story of Django, a black slave released from captivity by bounty hunter Dr. Schultz in the hopes he can identify some outlaws. The pair team up to track down Schultz’s targets with the understanding that they will eventually track down and rescue Django’s wife, who had been sold to a separate owner. Django takes Tarantino’s penchant for mixing personal stories with hyper violence, and injecting very serious scenes with a playfulness that never feels off.
13. Mission Impossible: Fallout
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 98 | 88 | 77 | 87 | 82 | 86.4 |
- Release Date: 12 July, 2018
- Runtime: 2h 27m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie
- Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson
The film that brought you ‘Henry Cavill reloading his arms’, Mission Impossible: Fallout is also the most successful film in the Mission Impossible franchise, bringing in US$791.7 million. It also pushed Cruise’s stunts to the next level, with the mad man performing a HALO jump into Paris as well as climbing into and then piloting a flying helicopter. Insane.
After Agent Hunt decides to prioritise the life of his team mate, Luther Stickell, over the objective, a terrorist group known as the Apostles take off with plutonium cores. Now, with the prospect of nuclear war hanging over his head, Hunt must track the cores down and diffuse the situation before he is held responsible.
12. Sinners
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 98 | 97 | 81 | 84 | 77 | 87.4 |
- Release Date: 7 March, 2025
- Runtime: 2h 18m
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: Ryan Coogler
- Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell
Something of a unique blend of action and horror, Sinners is a masterclass in storytelling. We don’t want to spoil anything major, since the movie is still in cinemas as of the time of writing, but for a film to have come out this year and have made it on this list should really tell you all you need to know.
Michael B. Jordan’s twin performance as Smoke and Stack are to be praised, as is Ryan Coogler’s continually improving direction.
11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 98 | 86 | 79 | 94 | 81 | 87.6 |
- Release Date: 7 July, 2000
- Runtime: 2h
- Rating: PG
- Directed By: Ang Lee
- Starring: Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen
One of the all-time greats of Chinese cinema, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is still regarded today as one of the best wuxia films ever made, and introduced a generation of budding weebs (see: millennials) to the genre. It was the first non-English language movie to break US$100 million in the US, and won over 40 awards in its run.
Based on a 1942 novel of the same name, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tells the story of Li Mu Bai (Yun-fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Yeoh), two warriors in Qing dynasty China who have long held feelings for one another, but are bound to secrecy. When Mu Bai’s scared blade is stolen in the night, a web of betrayal, long-held grudges, and dormant secrets unravels—and a ton of fantastic fighting, of course.
10. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 91 | 95 | 86 | 75 | 91 | 87.6 |
- Release Date: 3 July, 1991
- Runtime: 2h 17m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: James Cameron
- Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong
While some of the special effects here might look a bit dated, Terminator 2: Judgement Day really blew people away in 1991. In fact, it helped usher in the shift from more practical effects to a focus on computer-generated imagery (CGI) due to how god-damn good it all looked. And, to top it all off, it’s one of the greatest sequels ever made—up there with Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens.
In T2, a new T-800 model (Schwartzenegger) returns to the past, but with a new mission this time: protect the future resistance leader John Connor from assassination. To this end, the T-800 will team up with Connor, as well as his mother, Sarah, to protect the future against a far more advanced Terminator threat.
9. Top Gun: Maverick
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 96 | 99 | 82 | 78 | 84 | 87.8 |
- Release Date: 27 May, 2022
- Runtime: 2h 10m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Joeseph Kosinski
- Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm
When news of a Top Gun sequel was first announced, I think initial reactions were pretty skeptical. The original is such a product of its time that it wasn’t clear how the series would translate to a more modern adaptation. Well, not only did they nail it—they made a better movie out of it.
Top Gun: Maverick continues the story of the original, 30 years later, with everyone having moved on except Maverick. He remains a Captain, having largely seen his military career stall due to his insubordination. After he pushes a test aircraft too far, he’s recruited back into the Top Gun military school to guide the next generation of pilots, and when a new mission appears, he’ll have to take point. It’s a thrilling film, best enjoyed with a big screen and even bigger subwoofer.
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 97 | 86 | 81 | 91 | 85 | 87.8 |
- Release Date: 15 May, 2015
- Runtime: 2 hours
- Rating: MA15+
- Directed By: George Miller
- Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Part reboot, part sequel, Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the most intense movies ever made. The film took about 15 years from pre-production to release, and changed considerably during that time. While Mel Gibson doesn’t return as Max, replaced by Tom Hardy, the movie is very much a continuation of the same world George Miller created back in 1979.
Fury Road follows Max as he attempts to help a former marauder Furiosa (Theron) aid a group of slave wives escape their ‘husband’ Immortan Joe. When the bandit leader realises what has happened, he sends his entire cadre after his ‘property’, and one of the greatest chase scenes of all time unfolds.
7. The Terminator
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 100 | 89 | 81 | 84 | 86 | 88 |
- Release Date: 26 October, 1984
- Runtime: 1h 44m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: James Cameron
- Starring: Arnold Schwartzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield
The film that really pushed the Governator into the mainstream, The Terminator is one of the most important action-sci-fi films ever made. Arnie appears as the titular Terminator, who has travelled back in time with a very direct mission: find and kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Why? Well, Connor’s son, John, will lead a resistance force against the armageddon-inducing Skynet, and the Terminator has come back to ensure Skynet’s unopposed dominance.
A fellow time-traveller, Kyle Reece, also returns to protect Connor, however, and a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse begins, with a seemingly un-killable death machine constantly on their heels.
6. Godzilla Minus One
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 99 | 98 | 77 | 81 | 86 | 88.2 |
- Release Date: 3 November, 2023
- Runtime: 2h 5m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Takashi Yamazaki
- Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki
Godzilla is one of Japan’s most famous movie series, but it really has had a bunch of cheap, shitty movies. The release of Godzilla Minus One changed all that—and it’s largely regarded as one of the best movies in the entire franchise. Minus One does an amazing job at not only delivering a more modern take on what is a classic movie monster, it also keeps, and expands on, all the thematic importance the creature represents.
In post-World War II Japan, a former pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Kamiki) is plagued by regrets after failing to act in a late-night encounter with Godzilla, which ended up causing the death of his comrades. Now, Godzilla has been radiated due to the US’ nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll, and it is heading straight for Japan. Shikishima will need to act, as will the Japanese military, to save its people from a radioactive, rampaging beast.
5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 95 | 94 | 85 | 86 | 85 | 89 |
- Release Date: 2 June, 2023
- Runtime: 2h 20m
- Rating: PG
- Directed By: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
- Starring: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Oscar Issac, Mahershala Ali
A sequel to 2018’s excellent Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse continues the story of Earth-1610’s Miles Morales and Earth-65’s Gwen Stacey, as they jump between dimensions to deal with the repercussions of Kingpin’s Alchemax collider. Here, the pair end up jumping between a whole multiverse of dimensions in an effort to track down The Spot, a reality-jumping entity created by the Alchemax collider.
While Morales and Stacey take top billing, there are over 600 different Spider-People depicted in the movie, which largely centres on the ‘myth’ of Spider-Man, and the responsibility involved in donning the mask. With great power and all that.
4. Aliens
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 94 | 84 | 84 | 89 | 89 |
- Release Date: 18 July, 1986
- Runtime: 2h 17m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: James Cameron
- Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Lance Henriksen, Bill Baxton, Jenette Goldstein, Carrie Henn
How do you possible follow-up one of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time? You turn it into a ammunition-blasting horror action movie is how. Years after Ridley Scott made his mark on cinema with the original Alien, James Cameron was given the chance to follow it up with his own take—and fresh off the success of Terminator and Rambo: First Blood Part II, he knew what he needed to do.
When Ellen Ripley is recovered from the shuttle she escaped the Nostromo in, she is taken back to LV-426 to investigate a lost colony that has, surprise surprise, been largely murdered by everyone’s favourite aliens. Ripley and a crew of Weiland-Yutani marines must now deal with an entire colony’s worth of xenomorphs—plus an even greater threat that lurks deep in the ruins.
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 96 | 84 | 86 | 89 | 89.8 |
- Release Date: 12 June, 1981
- Runtime: 1h 55m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Steven Spielberg
- Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davis, Denholm Elliott
A film conceptualised by George Lucas and brought to life by Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a timeless classic that, even now, stands the test of time. It cemented Harrison Ford as a Hollywood A-Lister after his breakout performances in the Star Wars trilogy, and proved that pulpy action-adventure films weren’t dead.
Raiders is our first look at Indiana Jones, who is tasked by the US Army to recover the fabled ‘Ark of the Covenant’ before Hilter’s Nazi party can get there first. Jones will travel the globe, sneak onto a German U-Boat, and punch a bunch of Nazis. It’s a good time had by all, except for the guy who gets melted.
2. The Dark Knight
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 94 | 94 | 90 | 84 | 91 | 90.6 |
- Release Date: 18 July, 2008
- Runtime: 2h 32m
- Rating: M
- Directed By: Christopher Nolan
- Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Ekhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Cain
Rightfully remembered for the incredible method acting of the late Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight was also the moment superhero movies changed forever. Rather than focusing on delivering high-octane comic-book style fight scenes, Nolan’s Batman trilogy slowed things down into something closer to a crime procedural: and The Dark Knight is easily the best of the bunch.
Bale’s Batman had largely been dealing with a rogue’s gallery filled with mafia bosses and criminals with understandable motives—but with the appearance of the mysterious Joker, that all changes. Not only is he an enigma, but the Joker seems to want nothing more than to cause chaos, and to prove that even someone as militantly-focused Batman can snap under the right conditions.
1. Seven Samurai
| Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter | IDMB User Score | Metacritic Metascore | Metacritic User Score | Averaged Total |
| 100 | 97 | 86 | 98 | 80 | 94.2 |
- Release Date: 26 April, 1954
- Runtime: 3h 27m
- Rating: PG
- Directed By: Akira Kurosawa
- Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Isao Kimura, Daisuke Katō
One of the most influential and important movies ever made, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai laid the foundation for pretty much every other movie on this list. It’s widely regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, and is every bit as impressive today as it was 70-odd years ago.
The film follows a relatively small-scale plot: a group of farmers discover bandits will be raiding their village when their next harvest is ready, and hire a group of samurai to protect them. The samurai learn to trust the villagers, while preparing them for the hard battle that is to come—after all, when the bandits arrive, they’ll all be fighting to protect the village.
While that story is well told, and each of the characters are fleshed out, it was the movie’s impact on cinematography that had perhaps its most lasting impact. Kurosawa’s style was considered bold and dynamic, and serves as the blueprint for how many directors shoot action today: emphasising motion and action above all. It’s a stand-out film, and deserves every bit of recognition it gets.
