Action movies are a mix of Martial Arts, Science Fiction and Thriller. With so many styles in one no wonder it is one of the most watched genres. We give you the best action movies of all time which will surely have you on pins to learn some action for your protection or maybe just to look cool?
Check out the best thriller movies, horror movies and the best war movies of all time.
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1. Enter the Dragon (1973)
- IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
- Movie Length: 110 minutes
- Director: Robert Clouse
- Actors: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly
- Gross revenue: $90 million
Bruce Lee, the god of action gave us the best Action movies ever. His talent cannot be compared to anyone especially in the world of Action.
The British intelligence takes the help of a martial art artist Lee (Bruce Lee) to work for them undercover by participating in a tournament hosted by Han who is believed to be trading Opium. Lee’s job is to gather information about Han that can be used as evidence to arrest and punish him.
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- IMDB Rating: 8.5/10
- Movie Length: 115 minutes
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Actors: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
- Gross revenue: $389.9 million
The US government hires an Archeological professor called Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to find a biblical artefact called ‘The Ark of the Covenant’ and retrieve it before the Nazis do. He travels to places like Egypt and Nepal to find the artefact, but he is not alone as he has to fight his enemy Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) and a group of Nazis to get to the object. This Action movie shows us how the search for rare and ancient items can get a little messy when third parties are involved.
3. Die Hard (1988)
- IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
- Movie Length: 132 minutes
- Director: John McTiernan
- Actors: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia
- Gross revenue: $140.7 million
John McClane (Bruce Willis) is an NYPD officer who goes to visit his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and spend Christmas with her in Los Angeles only to have his wife taken as one of the hostages in a Christmas Party by German terrorist by the name Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). John has no other choice but to take matters into his hands and save all the hostages and capture Hans.
4. Gladiator (2000)
- IMDB Rating: 8.5/10
- Movie Length: 171 minutes
- Director: Ridley Scott
- Actors: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson
- Gross revenue: $457.6 million
Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a general in the army of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and is loved by him. Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) kills the Emperor and fearing Maximus to know the truth and start a rebellion against him demotes him to a gladiator for the rest of his life and kills off his wife and son. Gladiator has a soft spot in my heart as much as the action was amazing the storyline was heartbreaking as you watch his whole world crumble before him.
5. The Transporter (2002)
- IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
- Movie Length: 92 minutes
- Director: Louis Leterrier, Corey Yuan
- Actors: Jason Statham, Qi Shu, Matt Schulze
- Gross revenue: $43.9 million
Frank (Jason Statham) is a former soldier whose job is to transport packages which can be goods or humans to clients who are unknown to him. He is given a similar task to make a delivery to someone called Wall Street, but when the package starts moving, he looks inside to find a girl. Frank is faced with the dilemma of either saving her or delivering her. Jason Statham is my favourite Action movie Hero.
6. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
- IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
- Movie Length: 111 minutes
- Director: Quentin Tarantino
- Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen
- Gross revenue: $70.1 million
Kill Bill is an action movie that empowers the strength of a woman and how her anger can win any war. The Bride (Uma Thurman) part of an Assassination Group discovers she is pregnant with her Boss’s child and wants to leave her murdering life behind. She flees to Texas and falls in love with a man, but on the day of her wedding rehearsal her boss Bill (David Carradine) finds her and shoots the couple. The Bride wakes up after four years in a coma only to find that her baby and lover have been killed and starts her revenge on all the people responsible.
7. Ong- Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
- IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
- Movie Length: 108 minutes
- Director: Prachya Pinkaew
- Actors: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol
- Gross revenue: $4.5 million
Komtuan steals a sacred Buddha Statue known as Ong Bak from a small village, and this creates a frenzy among the people of the village. Booting (Tony Jaa) volunteers to go to the underworld and retrieve the treasure which acts as an identity for them using his traditional Muay Thai Skills against Komtuan and his army of men who stand in his way.
8. IP Man (2008)
- IMDB Rating: 8/10
- Movie Length: 108 minutes
- Director: Wilson Yip
- Actors: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu- Wong Fan
- Gross revenue: $22.1 million
Based on the life of Bruce Lee’s teacher IP man (Donnie Yan), the movie is set around the time when Japan invaded China. The wealthy martial arts master of Fushan is forced out of his home and into poverty. The Japanese start matches and rewards the winner with a bag of rice. At first, IP is against this but later agrees to fight to find his friend who never returned from a fight only to discover that he had been killed. IP man fights for his honour refusing to teach the Japanese or fight for their amusement. IP man as an action movie is one you shouldn’t miss. The action is both simple yet complex and really nice to watch.
9. Taken (2008)
- IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
- Movie Length: 93 minutes
- Director: Pierre Morel
- Actors: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
- Gross revenue: $226.8 million
Bryan Millis (Liam Neeson) is a former CIA agent who is still very good at what he does. His skills are put to the test when his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) while on a trip to Paris is abducted by Human Traffickers. He has almost no information about his daughter’s whereabouts except a recording of the voice of the abductor saying ‘Good Luck’, Bryan has insufficient time to find his daughter in a new country before she is lost forever. Watching this action movie had me wishing Liam Neeson was my dad.
10. Logan (2017)
- IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
- Movie Length: 137 minutes
- Director: James Mangold
- Actors: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
- Gross revenue: $616.2 million
With a Total focus on the character of The Wolverine from the X-Men series, Logan is a story based in the far future when most of the X-Men have gone extinct. Logan (Hugh Jackman) and Professor X (Patrick Stewart) hide away from the world, but everything changes when Logan finds a young girl Laura (Dafne Keen) who is just like him and her safety becomes his goal in the process of which he loses Professor X and gets his own life at stake. This movie was also won many nominations in the best action movies category.