70
Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) is as good as classic mythical Westerns get. Eastwood directs and stars in arguably his most action packed film that features numerous gun fights and memorable kills. Josey Wales is a great loner character who builds up a group of outsiders who struggle through post Civil War America. Definitely one of the greats.
69
Stallone's fourth Rambo (2008) adventure was a balls to the wall action film that rounded up the Rambo series with a nice bow. Essentially Stallone's Unforgiven, Rambo blends the gut wrenching drama of First Blood with the insane action of Rambo II and III. The final battle in the film is one of the most violent action scenes in cinema history.
68
Akira Kurosawa's second Yojimbo adventure, Sanjuro (1962), is an excellent chambara sequel. Toshiro Mifune leads a group of young men against actor Tatsuya Nakadai in this popcorn samurai film. Sanjuro features numerous thrilling sword fights that land the film its spot at #68.
67
The Inglorious Bastards (1978) is a slam bam Italian war film that blows all other war films out of the water. Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson lead a team of escaped prisoners against numerous Nazis in this highly entertaining and fun filled flick. Enzo G. Castalleri's action scenes feature some of the best slow motion editing in all of action cinema, they are that great. The film was also a big inspiration on Tarantino's own Inglourious Basterds (2009).
66
Hideo Gosha's debut film, Three Outlaw Samurai (1964), is an excellent and underrated samurai gem that all samurai fans need to search out! The film is essentially the origin story of how three outlaws came together to fight off a ruthless ruler and to defend the poor. The photography, acting, and writing is all pitch perfect. And all of this in only 93 minutes!
65
Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and the amazing Scott Adkins make their mark on action cinema with the fourth Universal Solider film, Day of Reckoning (2012). This low budget sci-fi actioner ranks with Rambo as one of the most brutal and violent action films in cinema history. Scott Adkins' fight scenes with Andrei Arlovski, Dolph Lundgren, and Van Damme are some of the best fist fights in recent memory. Major kudos goes to Arlovski for a small, silent, but incredibly memorable performance as a UniSol hell bent on killing Adkins. Seriously guys, if you haven't seen this underrated gem check it out!
64
Aw man, samurai cinema doesn't get more bloody, gory, and over the top than this. Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972) is the most popular and well received of the Lone Wolf films. The villains of the picture, the Lords of Death, are three of the coolest characters in all of action cinema. Daigoro continues to grow as an important character even though he is a nearly mute child while Itto Ogami cements himself as the most bad ass dad in movie history. An exploitation masterpiece.
63
Screw the haters. I love The Matrix Reloaded (2003) regardless of what anyone else says. This much maligned and despised sequel is a fantastic and action packed sci-fi thrill ride that blows me away every time. The Neo vs. Smiths fight, the Vampire Chateau battle, and the entire freeway chase are three of the best action scenes in cinema history. Don Davis' score is what truly cements this film for me. Every piece of music revs my engine and makes me want to fight off a hundred Agents just like Neo.
62
Bruce Lee's iconic Enter the Dragon (1973) is the man's very last completed film and also the martial arts film that cemented the martial arts genre into the American psyche. Essentially a James Bond film starring Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon is packed with great characters and amazing fight sequences. Lee will forever be remembered as one of the greats and Enter the Dragon's legacy will continue to remind audiences of his action prowess.
61
Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) is one of the most imitated and iconic action films in all of action-dom. Toshiro Mifune gives the performance of a life time as Sanjuro, a man truly with no name and with no life other than the one that he makes for himself. The film's sparse and few action scenes are also great. This is a classic art house film that is hailed by critics as one of the greatest films ever made but also hailed by action fans as one of the most bad ass films too. It's nice when we can all agree like that.
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