An action movie is perfectly passable if it has a couple of fistfights and explosions and a wisecracking hero, but the very best movies that the genre has to offer go above and beyond with visceral camerawork, breathtaking stunts, and sharp storytelling driven by action. Directors like John Woo and James Cameron have brought an artfulness to action cinema that legitimized the genre.

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Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, harking back to the pulpy adventure serials of the 1930s, resulted in one of the most timeless, unique, and entertaining entries in the entire genre.

Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

Indy taking the golden idol from the temple in Raiders of the Lost Ark

George Lucas chose the perfect collaborators to bring his homage to the classic adventure serials of the ‘30s to life, from Steven Spielberg’s razor-sharp direction to the episodic plotting of Lawrence Kasdan’s uniquely structured seven-act screenplay.

Of course, the MVP of Raiders of the Lost Ark is Harrison Ford’s cool-as-ice performance as Indiana Jones, creating an instant cinematic icon from the moment his silhouette first appears.

Léon: The Professional (1994)

Leon and Mathilda in The Professional

Luc Besson’s Léon: The Professional offers a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a contract killer. Jean Reno stars as the titular hitman, who takes his 12-year-old neighbor Mathilda (Natalie Portman) under his wing when her entire family is killed by a corrupt DEA agent (Gary Oldman).

Reno and Portman develop a fascinating on-screen bond that anchors Besson’s striking visual style with plenty of real emotion and nuance.

Die Hard (1988)

Bruce Willis in a vent in Die Hard

John McTiernan’s Die Hard is the perfect action movie. Bruce Willis’ everyman underdog portrayal of John McClane makes for the quintessential action hero, while Alan Rickman’s delightfully theatrical performance as Hans Gruber makes for the quintessential action movie villain.

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The deceptively simplistic setup of Die Hard — a lone hero taking on a building full of armed baddies — has become a subgenre of its own.

Goldfinger (1964)

Auric Goldfinger tries to cut Bond in half using a laser

After Terence Young established 007’s characterization and the Bond movie formula with Dr. No and From Russia with Love, Guy Hamilton perfected it with Goldfinger.

It has everything a Bond fan could hope for: globetrotting action sequences, quippy one-liners, crazy gadgets, a megalomaniacal villain with a ridiculous plan, and a distinctive quirk — Goldfinger is the quintessential James Bond movie.

Battle Royale (2000)

Battle Royale

Set in a dystopian near-future, Battle Royale sees a group of kids being taken out of their junior high school and forced to fight each other to the death by their totalitarian overlords.

The same premise was later repeated in The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale is a much more violent, disturbing take on this violent, disturbing story.

Aliens (1986)

Sigourney Weaver wielding a flamethrower in the hive in Aliens 1986

When James Cameron was hired to write and direct a sequel to Ridley Scott’s masterfully crafted sci-fi chiller Alien, he knew he couldn’t make a horror movie that would come close to matching the greatness of Scott’s masterpiece.

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So, he switched genres to action. After Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo struggled against one xenomorph in the first movie, Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens pitted her and a bunch of gun-toting Colonial Marines against an entire hive.

Enter The Dragon (1973)

Bruce Lee preparing to fight in Enter the Dragon.

Bruce Lee starred in a ton of classic action movies, from Fist of Fury to Game of Death to The Way of the Dragon, but arguably his most iconic work is the final movie he completed before his untimely passing: Enter the Dragon.

Lee plays a master fighter who takes part in a martial arts tournament on a drug baron’s island in order to infiltrate his operation and bring him down.

Hard Boiled (1992)

Chow Yun-fat sliding down a staircase with two guns in Hard Boiled

With explosive cinematography and action-driven storytelling and characters who never have to worry about reloading, John Woo has become arguably the most revered action filmmaker in the world. After making a few movies that glorified gangsters, Woo decided to make a movie that glorified the police.

This turned out to be one of Woo’s greatest movies, Hard Boiled, starring Chow Yun-fat as badass cop Tequila Yeun. The climactic hospital shootout is one of the most iconic action sequences ever shot.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Max Rockatansky with a gun in The Lone Warrior

After the first Mad Max movie presented a bleak dystopia in a somewhat recognizable near-future, the second one dived head-first into a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by gas-guzzling villainy. Mel Gibson returns to the role of Max, tearing across the desert in his V8 Interceptor, looking for a fight worth fighting.

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As a nonstop thrill-ride filled with breathtaking car stunts and visceral camerawork, The Road Warrior is one of the greatest action movies ever made.

Seven Samurai (1954)

Samurai shot looking up from ground level in Seven Samurai.

Akira Kurosawa practically set the template for the modern Hollywood action movie with his 1954 masterpiece Seven Samurai. This three-hour epic sees some quaint villagers being threatened by a gang of bandits and a samurai assembling a team to protect them.

From the opening action scene unrelated from the plot that sets up the hero to the final battle between the heroes and villains, Seven Samurai is a perfect action movie.

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