Action Films to DIE for.
by Whirlwind201 | created - 02 Jan 2011 | updated - 25 Apr 2015 | PublicThe best and most intense action movies out there, bar none.
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1. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Edgar Ramírez, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles
Votes: 658,045 | Gross: $227.47M
2. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 945,093 | Gross: $83.01M
3. The Expendables (2010)
R | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A CIA operative hires a team of mercenaries to eliminate a Latin dictator and a renegade CIA agent.
Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren
Votes: 364,565 | Gross: $103.07M
4. Die Hard 2 (1990)
R | 124 min | Action, Thriller
John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Bruce Willis, William Atherton, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 382,932 | Gross: $117.54M
5. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
R | 128 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
John McClane and a Harlem store owner are targeted by German terrorist Simon in New York City, where he plans to rob the Federal Reserve Building.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Graham Greene
Votes: 407,996 | Gross: $100.01M
6. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
When Jason Bourne is framed for a CIA operation gone awry, he is forced to resume his former life as a trained assassin to survive.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
Votes: 486,739 | Gross: $176.24M
7. The Bourne Identity (2002)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen
Votes: 576,034 | Gross: $121.66M
8. Equilibrium (2002)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.
Director: Kurt Wimmer | Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs
Votes: 346,889 | Gross: $1.20M
9. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,051,682 | Gross: $171.48M
10. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen
Votes: 1,192,920 | Gross: $70.10M
11. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 810,729 | Gross: $6.10M
12. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,173,354 | Gross: $204.84M
13. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,549,032 | Gross: $292.58M
14. The Boondock Saints (1999)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Two Irish Catholic brothers become vigilantes and wipe out Boston's criminal underworld in the name of God.
Director: Troy Duffy | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, David Della Rocco
Votes: 250,572 | Gross: $0.03M
15. The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)
R | 118 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
The MacManus brothers are living a quiet life in Ireland with their father, but when they learn that their beloved priest has been killed by mob forces, they go back to Boston to bring justice to those responsible and avenge the priest.
Director: Troy Duffy | Stars: Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly, Clifton Collins Jr.
Votes: 66,897 | Gross: $10.27M
16. Collateral (2004)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Votes: 432,898 | Gross: $101.01M
17. 300 (2006)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama
In the ancient battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. They face insurmountable odds when they are betrayed by a Spartan reject.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West
Votes: 863,795 | Gross: $210.61M
18. Smokin' Aces (2006)
R | 108 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.
Director: Joe Carnahan | Stars: Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Joseph Ruskin
Votes: 152,027 | Gross: $35.66M
19. Star Trek (2009)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Leonard Nimoy
Votes: 620,134 | Gross: $257.73M
20. The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A discovery made by a kung fu obsessed American teen sends him on an adventure to ancient China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King.
Director: Rob Minkoff | Stars: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano, Juana Collignon
Votes: 109,505 | Gross: $52.08M
21. Hanna (2011)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A sixteen-year-old girl who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Vicky Krieps
Votes: 206,809 | Gross: $40.26M
22. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
IMF agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancée in response.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 390,570 | Gross: $134.03M
23. Mission: Impossible (1996)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny
Votes: 470,086 | Gross: $180.98M
24. Blade II (2002)
R | 117 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reapers, who are feeding on vampires.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela
Votes: 234,294 | Gross: $82.35M
25. Commando (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells
Votes: 174,779 | Gross: $35.10M
26. Lethal Weapon (1987)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Two newly paired cops who are complete opposites must put aside their differences in order to catch a gang of drug smugglers.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 276,234 | Gross: $65.21M
27. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Patsy Kensit
Votes: 188,716 | Gross: $147.25M
28. Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
R | 118 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue a former LAPD officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo
Votes: 178,436 | Gross: $144.73M
29. Wanted (2008)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A frustrated office worker discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin, and that he shares his father's superhuman killing abilities.
Director: Timur Bekmambetov | Stars: Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp
Votes: 408,411 | Gross: $134.51M
30. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,509 | Gross: $59.74M
31. Shooter (I) (2007)
R | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A marksman living in exile is coaxed back into action after hearing of a plot to kill the President. After being-double crossed for the attempt and on the run, he sets out for the real killer and the truth.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, Rhona Mitra, Danny Glover
Votes: 355,444 | Gross: $47.00M
32. Taken (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser
Votes: 634,238 | Gross: $145.00M
33. Crank (2006)
R | 88 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Professional assassin Chev Chelios learns his rival has injected him with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops.
Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor | Stars: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Carlos Sanz, Jose Pablo Cantillo
Votes: 263,511 | Gross: $27.83M
34. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,383 | Gross: $25.24M
35. Ronin (1998)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A freelancing former U.S. Intelligence Agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by the Irish and the Russians.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 195,041 | Gross: $41.62M
36. Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
R | 86 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A man named Mr. Smith delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen.
Director: Michael Davis | Stars: Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci, Paul Giamatti, Stephen McHattie
Votes: 154,999 | Gross: $12.81M
37. Tropic Thunder (2008)
R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, War
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Kahn
Votes: 447,784 | Gross: $110.52M
38. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure
In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 810,584 | Gross: $197.17M
39. The Raid: Redemption (2011)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.
Director: Gareth Evans | Stars: Iko Uwais, Ananda George, Ray Sahetapy, Donny Alamsyah
Votes: 216,964 | Gross: $4.11M
40. The Raid 2 (2014)
R | 150 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Only a short time after the first raid, Rama goes undercover with the thugs of Jakarta and plans to bring down the syndicate and uncover the corruption within his police force.
Director: Gareth Evans | Stars: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara
Votes: 131,218 | Gross: $2.63M
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