My favourite Old-school action movies
by darthpercent | created - 16 Sep 2013 | updated - 20 Nov 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Supercop (1992)
R | 91 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.
Director: Stanley Tong | Stars: Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Kenneth Tsang
Votes: 24,242 | Gross: $16.27M
This one is one of the best action/comedies of my chlidhood'. I grew up watching this :)
2. Hard Target (1993)
R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A woman hires a drifter as her guide through New Orleans in search of her missing father. In the process, they discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Yancy Butler, Chuck Pfarrer
Votes: 56,201 | Gross: $32.59M
One of Van Damme's best by John Woo.
3. City Hunter (1993)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A self-indulgent private investigator winds up on a cruise ship full of rich patrons, gorgeous women, murderous terrorists, and scarce food.
Director: Jing Wong | Stars: Jackie Chan, Richard Norton, Joey Wang, Kumiko Goto
Votes: 12,268
Nonstop laughing and kick-ass action.
4. Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
R | 79 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two L.A. cops with opposing views on what is the best way to uphold the law have to work together to bring down the Yakuza, while trying to protect a beautiful woman.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tia Carrere
Votes: 20,686 | Gross: $2.28M
Man I love this very much. Perfect buddy-action movie.
5. Point Blank (1998)
R | 89 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Convicted corporate criminal Howard engineers a prison break as he and a number of fellow inmates are being transferred to a new facility. The escapees storm a shopping mall and take a ... See full summary »
Director: Matt Earl Beesley | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Danny Trejo, Frederic Forrest, Werner Schreyer
Votes: 1,915
I don't think many people know this movie with Mickey Rourke. A little bit silly but it's worth watching.
6. The Art of War (2000)
R | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
UN's secretary general uses covert operations to help diplomacy along. Shaw's called back 6 months after one such operation. He witnesses the murder of Chinese UN ambassador at UN, NYC, chases the assassin and ends up a suspect.
Director: Christian Duguay | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Donald Sutherland, Maury Chaykin, Anne Archer
Votes: 30,887 | Gross: $30.21M
In my opinion this was the penultimate good movie of Snipes.
7. Passenger 57 (1992)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An airline security expert must take action when he finds himself trapped on a passenger jet when terrorists seize control of it.
Director: Kevin Hooks | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, Tom Sizemore, Alex Datcher
Votes: 50,676 | Gross: $44.07M
A gripping action hit with Wesley Snipes and the diabolic Bruce Payne.
8. District B13 (2004)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and an ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.
Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amario, Bibi Naceri
Votes: 73,833 | Gross: $1.20M
Very good non-stop action flick a la French style.
9. El Mariachi (1992)
R | 81 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gómez, Jaime de Hoyos, Peter Marquardt
Votes: 71,215 | Gross: $2.04M
Robert Rodriguez's low-budget and very explosive movie with a lot of gunpowder.
10. 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: 34,370 | Gross: $12.76M
And this was the last good movie of Wesley Snipes.
11. Death Warrant (1990)
R | 89 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
In a violent and corrupt prison, decorated cop Louis Burke must infiltrate the jail to find answers to a number of inside murders. What he finds is a struggle of life and death tied in to his own past.
Director: Deran Sarafian | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, Cynthia Gibb, George Dickerson
Votes: 20,763 | Gross: $16.85M
Hard as steel. Probably one of the best prison movies.
12. Crying Freeman (1995)
102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A woman sees an assassin outside San Francisco killing yakuza men and later in Vancouver. She's been told that he leaves no witness. Will she be his next victim or...?
Director: Christophe Gans | Stars: Julie Condra, Kevan Ohtsji, Mark Dacascos, Debbie Podowski
Votes: 13,615
This little diamond was the surprise action movie of 1995. Very stylish.
13. 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: 154,972 | Gross: $12.81M
Bang-bang! KaBoom! Guilty pleasure.
14. Fortress (1992)
R | 95 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a future, private underground prison/Fortress, the inmates are computer controlled with CCTV, dream readers and devices that can cause pain or death. John and his illegally pregnant wife are inside but want to escape before birth.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Loryn Locklin, Kurtwood Smith, Clifton Collins Jr.
Votes: 30,444 | Gross: $6.74M
Classic sci-fi with Christopher Lambert. I'm wondering if this film will have a remake or at least a sequel ? I know there's a sequel but it's very bad. With today's technology that would be a hit!
15. Last Man Standing (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken
Votes: 60,966 | Gross: $17.60M
Bruce Willis deals death and justice in the form of little lead bullets.
16. Broken Arrow (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Terrorists steal nuclear warheads from the U.S. military but don't count on a pilot and park ranger spoiling their plans.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Delroy Lindo
Votes: 105,160 | Gross: $70.77M
Travolta is in his finest in this breathtaking John Woo movie.
17. End of Days (1999)
R | 122 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
At the end of the century, Satan visits New York in search of a bride. It's up to an ex-cop who now runs an elite security outfit to stop him.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollak
Votes: 116,672 | Gross: $66.89M
Arnold defeats Satan while everything is in fire. By the way the CGI is good too.
18. The Glimmer Man (1996)
R | 91 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two cops are forced to work together to solve a chain of mysterious killings by a killer nicknamed "The Family Man".
Director: John Gray | Stars: Steven Seagal, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Bob Gunton, Brian Cox
Votes: 21,248 | Gross: $20.10M
The movie starts very good but the ending...bleh. Anyway, is watchable.
19. Hard to Kill (1990)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Targeted by the mob and its political supporters, hired assassins leave LAPD Detective Mason Storm for dead. Seven years later, he recovers from a deep coma, demanding justice and the opportunity to get even.
Director: Bruce Malmuth | Stars: Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler, Frederick Coffin
Votes: 32,331 | Gross: $47.41M
I don't know how many times I have rented the VHS of this damn' good Seagal movie.
20. Under Siege (1992)
R | 103 min | Action, Thriller
An ex-Navy Seal turned cook is the only person who can stop a group of terrorists when they seize control of a U.S. battleship.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Steven Seagal, Gary Busey, Tommy Lee Jones, Erika Eleniak
Votes: 95,407 | Gross: $83.36M
The cook terminates the enemy. Classic.
21. Digital Man (1995)
R | 95 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
An out-of-control robot is inadvertently set loose in a small community, and a crack squad of soldiers are sent to hunt it down. Gradually, the members of the squad begin to suspect that some of them are robots.
Director: Phillip J. Roth | Stars: Ken Olandt, Kristen Dalton, Adam Baldwin, Matthias Hues
Votes: 831
Although it's not a very good film, but it has a special 90's vibe and some pretty action scenes. Also the photography is cool.
22. The Replacement Killers (1998)
R | 87 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A troubled hitman seeks aid from a forger to help him get papers to China. However, the drug lord has hired replacements to finish the job, and kill the hitman.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker, Kenneth Tsang
Votes: 30,505 | Gross: $18.97M
John Woo style actions and a sexy Mira Sorvino! ;)
23. Argo (2004)
106 min | Comedy, Action
The crew of Tibi Balogh sets out on a journey across Hungary to get the ancient Gold Owl statue, as well as the Milk Man. The treasure is worth millions, who gets there first?
Director: Attila Árpa | Stars: Lajos Kovács, Sándor Oszter, László Görög, Laura Ruttkay
Votes: 4,119
This is a good hungarian action-comedy with some good actors, laughable characters and jokes.
24. Stone Cold (1991)
R | 92 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A tough Alabama cop is blackmailed by the FBI into going undercover in a violent Mississippi biker gang.
Director: Craig R. Baxley | Stars: Brian Bosworth, Lance Henriksen, William Forsythe, Arabella Holzbog
Votes: 10,015 | Gross: $9.29M
This movie should have a place on the "90's best action movies" list. Unarguably Brian Bosworth's best.
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