Top 35 Greatest Action Movies
by Goose4456 | created - 14 Mar 2011 | updated - 14 Mar 2011 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,241 | Gross: $322.74M
2. The Rock (1996)
R | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer
Votes: 358,055 | Gross: $134.07M
3. 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: 2,550,001 | Gross: $292.58M
4. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,496,031 | Gross: $216.54M
5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A prince of the mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth. Hellboy and his team must fight to stop him from locating the all-powerful Golden Army.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Alexander
Votes: 285,902 | Gross: $75.75M
6. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,379,365 | Gross: $290.48M
7. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
PG | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Two Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their original glory.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd
Votes: 856,236 | Gross: $474.54M
8. Slap Shot (1977)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A failing ice hockey team finds success with outrageously violent hockey goonery.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean, Strother Martin, Jennifer Warren
Votes: 41,224 | Gross: $28.00M
9. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,869,807 | Gross: $534.86M
10. 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: 364,626 | Gross: $103.07M
11. 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: 454,664 | Gross: $59.74M
12. Platoon (1986)
R | 120 min | Drama, War
Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David
Votes: 439,381 | Gross: $138.53M
13. Hot Fuzz (2007)
R | 121 min | Action, Comedy, Mystery
An overachieving London police sergeant is transferred to a village where the easygoing officers object to his fervor for regulations, all while a string of grisly murders strikes the town.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy
Votes: 535,163 | Gross: $23.64M
14. Bad Boys II (2003)
R | 147 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two loose-cannon narcotics cops investigate the flow of Ecstasy into Florida from a Cuban drug cartel.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Mollà
Votes: 267,157 | Gross: $138.61M
15. Batman Begins (2005)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After witnessing his parents' death, Bruce learns the art of fighting to confront injustice. When he returns to Gotham as Batman, he must stop a secret society that intends to destroy the city.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Liam Neeson
Votes: 1,578,069 | Gross: $206.85M
16. Unstoppable (2010)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Thriller
With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer and a young conductor race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Ethan Suplee
Votes: 207,733 | Gross: $81.56M
17. Undisputed 3: Redemption (2010 Video)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Boyka is back. This time he is fighting in the first ever inter-prison tournament with one knee.
Director: Isaac Florentine | Stars: Scott Adkins, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Mark Ivanir, Hristo Shopov
Votes: 44,554
18. The Town (2010)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A proficient group of thieves rob a bank and hold an assistant manager hostage. Things begin to get complicated when one of the crew members falls in love with her.
Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
Votes: 415,627 | Gross: $92.19M
19. Backdraft (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Two feuding siblings carrying on a heroic family tradition as Chicago firefighters. But when a puzzling series of arson attacks is reported, they are forced to set aside their differences to solve the mystery surrounding these crimes.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 87,830 | Gross: $77.87M
20. The Great Escape (1963)
Approved | 172 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
Votes: 258,841 | Gross: $12.10M
21. Daredevil (2003)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Crime
A man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero.
Director: Mark Steven Johnson | Stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 229,034 | Gross: $102.54M
22. 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: 157,433 | Gross: $25.24M
23. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Three years into the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi pursues a new threat, while Anakin Skywalker is lured by Chancellor Palpatine into a sinister plot to rule the galaxy.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson
Votes: 845,164 | Gross: $380.26M
24. Hellboy (2004)
PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A demon raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair, John Hurt
Votes: 349,898 | Gross: $59.62M
25. Bad Boys (1995)
R | 119 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two hip detectives protect a witness to a murder while investigating a case of stolen heroin from the evidence storage room from their police precinct.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Lisa Boyle, Michael Taliferro
Votes: 286,270 | Gross: $65.81M
26. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Votes: 502,414 | Gross: $179.80M
27. Batman (1989)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
Votes: 404,140 | Gross: $251.19M
28. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,121,153 | Gross: $309.13M
29. Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing (2006 Video)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Sequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges.
Director: Isaac Florentine | Stars: Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Ben Cross, Eli Danker
Votes: 39,208
30. Wyatt Earp (1994)
PG-13 | 191 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
From Wichita to Dodge City, to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, a man becomes a myth in this thrilling journey of romance, adventure, and desperate heroic action.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, David Andrews
Votes: 54,938 | Gross: $25.05M
31. The Wolfman (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten and subsequently cursed by a werewolf.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Simon Merrells
Votes: 111,720 | Gross: $61.98M
32. Days of Thunder (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sport
A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid
Votes: 96,379 | Gross: $82.67M
33. Undisputed (2002)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When heavyweight champion George "Iceman" Chambers lands in prison, the resident gangster arranges a boxing match with the reigning prison champ.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker
Votes: 34,394 | Gross: $12.76M
34. The Marine (2006)
PG-13 | 92 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A group of diamond thieves on the run kidnap the wife of a recently discharged marine who goes on a chase through the South Carolinian wilderness to retrieve her.
Director: John Bonito | Stars: John Cena, Kelly Carlson, Robert Patrick, Anthony Ray Parker
Votes: 35,821 | Gross: $18.84M
35. Predators (2010)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A group of elite warriors parachute into an unfamiliar jungle and are hunted by members of a merciless alien race.
Director: Nimród Antal | Stars: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga
Votes: 243,796 | Gross: $52.00M
Tell Your Friends