A lot of action movies offer nothing more than mindless entertainment. These can still be great, because the audience goes to action movies to see explosions and car chases, so plot and character can take a backseat and the movie can still deliver the goods.

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But those movies will only ever stand a single viewing, maybe two. The action films that stand the test of time are the ones filled with little details to pick up on repeat viewings. Things like the foreshadowing in Hot Fuzz and the homage-driven storytelling of Raiders of the Lost Ark make them endlessly rewatchable.

Kill Bill (2003-4) - Stream On Max Go

The Bride holding a sword in Kill Bill.

Ever since shaking up the American crime film with the nonlinear structure and idiosyncratic dialogue of his debut feature Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino’s most notable contribution to cinema has been his subversion of familiar genres. The eclectic mix of cinematic influences in Kill Bill – kung fu movies, spaghetti westerns, blaxploitation, etc. – makes it Tarantino’s definitive statement on genre.

As with any other Tarantino movie, Kill Bill has countless pop culture references and Easter eggs to catch on rewatches. It also has more action than any of the director’s other films, like the masterfully crafted House of Blue Leaves set piece, which is a timeless gem.

RoboCop (1987) - Stream On Paramount+

Peter Weller as RoboCop holding a gun

Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop plays as a straightforward ultraviolent action thriller about a cop who’s left for dead and turned into a cybernetic judge, jury, and executioner. But under the surface, the movie is a lot smarter than it seems. It’s a satirical masterpiece tackling such issues as corporate greed, privatization, and police corruption.

The story moves along at a nice, brisk pace, Peter Weller humanizes the titular killing machine as he gradually claws back his previous identity, and the anti-capitalist satire is more relevant than ever.

Heat (1995) - Stream On Starz

Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer carrying guns in Heat.

Michael Mann’s Heat finally paired up Robert De Niro and Al Pacino on-screen together. A quintessential cat-and-mouse thriller, Heat stars De Niro as a notorious bank robber and Pacino as the cop on his tail.

Mann brings a startling sense of realism to the bank heist and shootout sequences that pack a punch on every viewing, while De Niro and Pacino sharing the screen at the height of their powers never gets old.

Hot Fuzz (2007) - Stream On Max Go

Nicholas and Danny with guns in the pub in Hot Fuzz

Edgar Wright followed up his critically acclaimed lampoon of the zombie genre with a spoof of buddy cop action movies. Just like Shaun of the Dead is as much of an authentic horror movie as a comedy, Hot Fuzz is as much of an authentic action thriller as it is a comedy.

RELATED: Every Classic Action Movie Referenced In Hot Fuzz

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star as a hilariously mismatched pair of detectives – a hypercompetent cop from the big city and a bumbling small-town buffoon – who uncover a startling conspiracy in a sleepy English village. Like the other Cornetto movies, Hot Fuzz subtly foreshadows all of its twists and turns with little hints for eagle-eyed viewers to pick up on rewatches.

First Blood (1982) - Rent On Vudu

Sylvester Stallone in the woods in First Blood

While the Rambo sequels turned the character into a remorseless killing machine, the 1982 original First Blood was an intimate, small-scale thriller. It’s endlessly rewatchable because the stakes of the story are constantly being raised: Rambo is hunted by a small-town police department, then the helicopters swoop in to join the search, then the National Guard is deployed.

After setting up its anti-Vietnam war message in the opening act, First Blood becomes a straightforward thriller (and a wildly effective one) about a relentless police manhunt.

Total Recall (1990) - Stream On Netflix

Arnold Schwarzenegger in the memory implant machine in Total Recall

Adapted from Philip K. Dick’s groundbreaking writing, Total Recall is a mind-bending sci-fi story about the fickle nature of reality wrapped in a classic Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie. Schwarzenegger plays Doug Quaid, a blue-collar worker in the future who goes to an experimental memory-implant business and ends up believing he’s a secret agent with a mission on Mars.

Audiences need to watch Total Recall a few times to wrap their heads around it. Paul Verhoeven refuses to definitively conclude the story, so viewers have to look out for all the hints and decide for themselves whether Quaid is really on Mars or not.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Stream On HBO Max

The opening shot of Mad Max Fury Road

Three decades after the disappointing response to Beyond Thunderdome, it seemed as though the fourth Mad Max movie was doomed to languish in development hell indefinitely. With Mad Max: Fury Road, against all odds, George Miller managed to deliver an action-packed masterpiece that was worth the wait.

Hailed as one of the action genre’s finest entries, Fury Road is filled to the brim with breathtaking practical stunt work and it tells its story almost entirely visually.

Die Hard (1988) - Stream On AMC+

Bruce Willis in a vent in Die Hard

Sometimes called the greatest action movie ever made, Die Hard and its story of a cop fighting terrorists in the confined space of a skyscraper have inspired a whole new subgenre of action cinema. Bruce Willis’ plucky everyman John McClane offered a relatable counterpoint to the invincible musclebound action heroes of the ‘80s.

RELATED: 10 Ways Die Hard Still Holds Up Today

He’s backed up by a handful of memorable characters, from Powell to Argyle to Hans Gruber, so the dialogue scenes are just as compelling as the action scenes. Director John McTiernan strikes the perfect tonal balance of humor, suspense, and action-packed spectacle.

The Matrix (1999) - Stream On HBO Max

The lobby shootout in The Matrix

The Wachowskis’ The Matrix has been praised as a masterwork of the sci-fi action subgenre. It has all the complex themes and convoluted plotting of a great sci-fi movie, but also offers plenty of shootouts, explosions, and kung fu fights to keep the story from getting too heady.

The movie’s musings on existentialism and the nature of reality can’t be fully absorbed on a single viewing. Audiences are lucky if they can even follow the plot the first time.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) - Stream On Showtime

Indiana Jones grabbing treasure in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

With Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas introduced audiences to one of cinema’s most recognizable icons, Indiana Jones, and put him in one of the most lauded action movies ever made. The pulpy style, exotic locations, and breathtaking practical stunts make Raiders a pure cinematic experience.

The plot of Raiders is driven by action and moves at a breakneck pace, so there’s always something to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The no-nonsense episodic storytelling of Lawrence Kasdan’s seven-act screenplay harkens back to Lucas and Spielberg’s pulp serial influences, and it means there’s always something going on.

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