80
The original Death Wish (1974) marks the emergence of the vigilante sub-genre and Bronson at the top of his game. Winner adapted Brian Garfield's novel into a gritty and realistic portrayal of crime and arson on the streets of New York City. The film is essentially about what happens when the ordinary citizen is pushed to the brink. Bronson gives one of his best performances as the vulnerable and trigger happy Paul Kersey. A definite action classic.
79
The extended cut of James Mangold's Wolverine (2013) is an amazing feat in superhero cinema. Hugh Jackman gives his best performance as Wolverine to date. The film features intense fight scenes and a heaping helping of ninja and samurai aesthetics too. Arguably the most small scaled and focused of the X-Men films, The Wolverine is another contemporary action film that wows me every time.
78
Pete Travis' Dredd (2012) is one of the great contemporary action films. Karl Urban gives the best performance of his career as Judge Dredd, a judge, jury, and executioner all rolled up into one. The film paints a crime ridden future where Judges take it upon themselves to rid mega-cities of filth and crime. Dredd is very similar to ultraviolent and satirical classics like RoboCop and Total Recall with its excessive gore and dark humor. Olivia Thirlby also gives an amazing supporting performance as a psychic judge.
77
This is the Robert Rodriguez that I love and miss. The guy who used practical effects and used to blow up practical heads off of dummies filled with fake blood and goo. The guy who had the confidence to make one half of his film about a hostage situation and the second half about killer vampires. The guy who round up genre legends like Tom Savini and Fred Williamson next to George Clooney, Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Danny Trejo, Salma Hayek, and many more. The guy who ruled the 90's with his creative energy and wit. In my opinion, From Dusk Til Dawn (1996) will always be the guy's best action film. Rest in peace to the Robert Rodriguez who made films before he got his hands on a computer.
76
Brian De Palma is mostly known for psychological thrillers and tense horror films. However, I wish the guy had dabbled in action cinema more because his directorial style turns action films into works of art. The Untouchables (1987) represents the gangster action film at its best with fantastic performances by Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, amazing score by maestro Ennio Morricone, and awesome slow motion blood letting and editing that only De Palma can nail. The train station sequence easily ranks as one of the greatest pieces of cinema in my opinion.
75
Seagal haters can suck it! Hard to Kill (1990) kicks ass and takes names! The film is small scaled 90s action at its very best. The action scenes are fantastic, the plot and characters are engaging, and the soundtrack by David Michael Frank is amazing. In my opinion, this is Seagal's very best film.
74
Stallone makes his first mark on the list with Rambo III (1988), the biggest, manliest, and most excessive of the Rambo sequels. Widely hated and maligned at the time of its release, Rambo III has since become one of the definition representations of action movie machismo in the 80s. I love this film because it is essentially Lawrence of Arabia done Rambo style. The action scenes in this film are absolutely massive and breathtaking. Highly recommended to all action fans.
73
The Man From Nowhere (2010) is a contemporary action classic in my eyes. The film is essentially a Korean effort at combining The Professional with Taken. Won Bin gives a transformative performance as a depressed loner turned redemptive killing machine. This is more of a drama than action film unfortunately. When the action scenes hit though, you best watch out. The final knife fight between Won Bin's character and the main villain's right hand man is THE greatest knife fight in cinematic history. It wows me to this day.
72
Oh man, we're getting serious now. The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1983) blows both my balls and socks off. This is what you call a freakin' action movie. Gordon Liu's fight scenes are some of the very best I have ever seen. The climactic 8 minute finale is one for the books. Themes of honor, brotherhood, and loyalty abound in this martial arts masterpiece that reminds me why I love action movies so much.
71
I wasn't kidding when I said this list was getting serious. Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Hades (1972) is samurai cinema at its most epic, violent, and gratuitous. This is the only example of exploitation cinema that I will ever defend. Regardless of the nudity, head decapitations, and 100 plus body count, these films are masterpieces of storytelling.
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