Best Action Movies of All Time - Based on 50 Published Sources

Scene from Die Hard (1988) ranked number one action movie.

Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings for the best action films of all time. Our Reel Fives team found 50 ranked lists of the top action movies published online and ended up with 82 movies that made the list. For each ranked list of greatest movies for the genre, we have taken the top five ranked films. The movie rankings of top action films that we aggregated are included at the bottom of this post and include the best movies in the genre as ranked by movie experts and polling sites, such as ranker.com.

The action genre is an umbrella for a variety of films, making it difficult to define the genre. Perhaps what unify the genres most are the fist fights, gun fights, and explosions. Die Hard (1988), the all-time best action film, features Officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) attempting to rescue his wife and her co-workers from a group of terrorists—led by the German mastermind Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)—amidst a flurry of ammunition exchanges and exploding elevator shafts. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), ranked second, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the Terminator—an android assassin—sent from the future to protect John Conner (Edward Furlong) from the more-advanced T-1000 Terminator model. The Matrix (1990), tied for fourth, is a complex story involving a battle—between humans and the machines that enslave them—in both simulated reality and real life.

The action genre encapsulates other genres, such as the superhero and post-apocalyptic genres, thus widening the variety in the action genre. Most action movies have multiple genres. The Dark Knight (2008), also tied for fourth, showcases two genres molded together to produce a great film (it is also the all-time best superhero film). Neither element can exist in the film without the other. The Dark Knight (2008) cannot move forward without action, as action is central to the theatrics of the film. Batman and the Joker must use violence to achieve their respective goals, and that violence moves the film along. George Miller’s Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), ranked sixth (also the all-time best post-apocalyptic film), stars Mel Gibson as the titular character, who attempts to defend an oil refinery and its inhabitants from bandits in a post-apocalyptic Australian Outback. The blending of several genres gives action movies the ability to diversify through different types of storylines, locations, and time period, all with the common thread of an explosion or four.

Not all action films usher in sequels, but when they do, as the list shows, the subsequent films do not always match the greatness of the original films. Die Hard has gone on to become a film franchise that includes five movies, but Die Hard has not been beaten by the other movies in the series. The Matrix series comprises three films, the first critically acclaimed, the two sequels not as much. Terminator 2, on the other hand, ranks higher than the original (Terminator [1989] is tied for twenty-ninth).

The rankings do justice to some established action films, though the genre does show that it is willing to accept newer entries. Nonetheless, films from the 1980s and 1990s appear to hold strong in the rankings. This could be because some may be considered classics in some respects, or because the genre has been saturated with sequels. It remains to be seen how technological advancements in cinematography and visual effects will influence the action genre rankings. The genre also continues to be dominated by male leads, though more-recent action movies have shown the industry’s willingness to give moviegoers female stars to root for as well.

Top 82 Movies based on 50 published rankings
Percent of online top fives movies appear in shown
1 . Die Hard (1988): 72%
2 . Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): 50%
3 . Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): 42%
4 . The Matrix (1999): 40%
5 . The Dark Knight (2008): 28%
6 . Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981): 12%
7 . Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977): 12%
8 . Seven Samurai (1954): 10%
9 . Hard Boiled (1992): 10%
10 . Aliens (1986): 10%
11 . 300 (2006): 8%
12 . Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980): 8%
13 (tied). Point Break (1991): 8%
13 (tied). The Bourne Ultimatum (2007): 8%
15 . Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): 6%
16 . Inception (2010): 6%
17 . The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938): 6%
18 . Enter the Dragon (1973): 6%
19 . The Wild Bunch (1969): 4%
20 . The Dark Knight Rises (2012): 4%
21 (tied). True Lies (1994): 4%
21 (tied). Alien (1979): 4%
23 (tied). Goldfinger (1964): 4%
23 (tied). Heat (1995): 4%
23 (tied). Dr. No (1962): 4%
23 (tied). North by Northwest (1959): 4%
27 (tied). The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): 4%
27 (tied). Predator (1987): 4%
29 (tied). The Terminator (1984): 4%
29 (tied). Gladiator (2000): 4%
29 (tied). Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000): 4%
32 . Casino Royale (2006): 4%
33 (tied). Commando (1985): 4%
33 (tied). Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003): 4%
35 (tied). 13 Assassins (2010): 2%
35 (tied). The Raid: Redemption (2011): 2%
37 (tied). African Queen (1951): 2%
37 (tied). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001): 2%
37 (tied). Where Eagles Dare (1968): 2%
37 (tied). Metropolis (1927): 2%
37 (tied). The Bourne Supremacy (2004): 2%
37 (tied). Deliverance (1972): 2%
37 (tied). Con Air (1997): 2%
37 (tied). Under Siege (1992): 2%
37 (tied). Rocky (1976): 2%
37 (tied). Lethal Weapon (1987): 2%
47 (tied). The Bourne Identity (2002): 2%
47 (tied). Lucy (2014): 2%
47 (tied). The Wages of Fear (1953): 2%
47 (tied). First Blood (1982): 2%
47 (tied). Source Code (2011): 2%
47 (tied). The Legend of Drunken Master (1994): 2%
47 (tied). The Avengers (2012): 2%
47 (tied). King Kong (1933): 2%
47 (tied). Guardians of the Galaxy (2014): 2%
47 (tied). Blade (1998): 2%
57 (tied). Taken (2008): 2%
57 (tied). Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010): 2%
57 (tied). Escape from New York (1981): 2%
57 (tied). Speed (1994): 2%
57 (tied). Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983): 2%
57 (tied). X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014): 2%
57 (tied). Jaws (1975): 2%
57 (tied). Runaway Train (1985): 2%
57 (tied). Braveheart (1995): 2%
57 (tied). Top Gun (1986): 2%
57 (tied). Batman Begins (2005): 2%
57 (tied). Bad Boys (1995): 2%
57 (tied). The Killer (1989): 2%
57 (tied). The Proposition (2005): 2%
57 (tied). Bullitt (1968): 2%
72 (tied). Napoleon (1927): 2%
72 (tied). District 9 (2009): 2%
72 (tied). Starship Troopers (1997): 2%
72 (tied). Léon: The Professional (1994): 2%
72 (tied). Iron Man (2008): 2%
72 (tied). The Rock (1996): 2%
72 (tied). Django Unchained (2012): 2%
72 (tied). Speed (1994): 2%
72 (tied). Oldboy (2013): 2%
81 (tied). Run Lola Run (1998): 0%
81 (tied). Mad Max (1979): 0%
Action Movie Ranking Sources
Time Out	List of top 100 (link)
Rotten Tomatoes	List of top 100 (link)
GamesRadar	List of top 50 (link)
IMDb	List of top 250 (link)
Rolling Stone	List of top 10 (link)
Flickchart	List of top 100 (link)
The Top Tens	List of top 10 (link)
The Telegraph	List of top 11 (link)
IGN	List of top 25 (link)
Good Movies List	List of top 10 (link)
Ranker	List of top 422 (link)
Film Crave	List of top 500 (link)
Watch Mojo	List of top 10 (link)
Thrillist	List of top 33 (link)
Gear Patrol	List of top 50 (link)
Complex	List of top 50 (link)
Wikipedia	List of top 5 (link)
The Guardian	List of top 10 (link)
Film School WTF	List of top 100 (link)
Allwomenstalk	List of top 26 (link)
My First Class Life	List of top 10 (link)
Fiery Dragon	List of top 10 (link)
BFI	List of top 10 (link)
Hollywood.com	List of top 25 (link)
Goliath	List of top 11 (link)
Digital Trends	List of top 30 (link)
LifeDaily	List of top 60 (link)
Digital Guide	List of top 25 (link)
We Got This Covered	List of top 100 (link)
The Cinemaholic	List of top 10 (link)
Taste of Cinema	List of top 25 (link)
WhatCulture.com	List of top 100 (link)
AskMen	List of top 10 (link)
SLIP/THROUGH	List of top 10 (link)
Listal	List of top 50 (link)
Movies Talk	List of top 10 (link)
customerkart.com	List of top 10 (link)
Infogram	List of top 10 (link)
Film Affinity	List of top 100 (link)
MUBI	List of top 19 (link)
Screen Rant	List of top 10 (link)
Gayot (gah-yo)	List of top 10 (link)
Reading Tree	List of top 10 (link)
Top10HQ	List of top 10 (link)
AZ Central	List of top 10 (link)
DigitalDreamDoor.com	List of top 100 (link)
Movie-Film-Review	List of top 100 (link)
Made Man	List of top 10 (link)
EW	List of top 25 (link)
Greatest Movies.org	List of top 15 (link)

 

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