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The 36 Best Action/Adventure Movies of All Time
You're gonna need a bigger bowl of popcorn.
Every year, a slew of films starring Hollywood’s It biceps hands out tickets to their gun show. And every year, we shrug at how their attempt to get our pulses racing fell somewhere between mildly entertaining and “I’m getting more snacks.” But sometimes, a film so gripping comes along, we have to remind ourselves to breathe. These are those films and the films that inspired them.
'King Kong' (1933)
Called the “father of Jurassic Park [and] the Alien movies” by Roger Ebert, King Kong is a technical marvel that utilizes every trick in—and not in—the book, including stop-motion animation, live action and special effects. David Selznick’s thriller about a beast and the damsel in his grip was a monstrously innovative achievement for its time, but watch it today and you’ll see it remains quite the wild and creepy ride.
'The 39 Steps' (1935)
Before we were given a welcome case of Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock was honing his suspense mastery on a staircase in London. The chase story that introduced Hitchcock’s signature “MacGuffin,” The 39 Steps has been credited as the catalyst for the modern action thriller (think The Bourne Identity and The Fugitive). Watch the climatic Big Ben scene and you’ll see why.
'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (1948)
Humphrey Bogart submerges himself in character in this Oscar-winning western adventure that rides off into the Mexican desert. A tale about a bunch of cowboys blinded by greed for gold, the film’s themes are echoed throughout cinema—Star Wars and Indiana Jones included.
'Seven Samurai' (1954)
Monochromatic. Subtitled. Lengthy. But stick with us here. Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese adventure drama, about a group of samurai protecting a village, deserves your attention. Not only is it a rewarding watch on its own, but decades later, it continues to leave its mark on the entire canon of war, heist, and battle epics—including Quentin Tarantino’s complete body of work.
'The French Connection' (1971)
Before William Friedkin was unleashing his reckless abandon on our psychological well-being (The Exorcist, Killer Joe), he was exercising that same recklessness with drugs, racism, and a really fast Pontiac LeMans in The French Connection, which is perhaps most celebrated for that inventive car chase sequence. You know the one.
'Jaws' (1975)
Not only is Spielberg’s toothsome classic about a group of men hunting a killer shark the reason we hum “da-dum, da-dum” near a body of water, but it also marks the birth of the summer blockbuster.
'Alien' (1979)
A horror film at its core, Ridley’s Scott’s genre-bending classic still gets an A for action. Plus, it boldly went where few (if any) directors had gone before—it put a woman in the driver’s seat, thus opening the floodgates for a wave of powerhouse heroines (Beatrix Kiddo, Sarah Connor) that soon, unfortunately, crested.
'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981)
Steven Spielberg, armed with a story by George Lucas and the rogue charm of Harrison Ford, borrowed from 1930s and ‘40s cinema to make an adventure classic that would inspire a new generation of epics. With rumors of a fifth installment arriving in 2019, it’s clear we still can’t get enough of Indy cracking that whip.
'The Empire Strikes Back' (1985)
Sure, A New Hope introduced the world to the way of the Jedi, but Empire Strikes Back ultimately changed the game, thanks in no small part to one of the most important cinematic reveals in history. Widely regarded as the best installment of the series, it’s a fascinating familial melodrama enrobed in a science fiction chase adventure—and love it we shall.
'Terminator 2: Judgement Day' (1991)
Though not the first or anywhere near the only, T2 is quite possibly the most noted sequel to improve upon its original: the action, drama, and taglines are all the more robust the second time around. James Cameron’s man-versus-metal masterpiece was a machine at the box office and its enduring legacy—like its cyborgs—is impossible to kill.
'Speed' (1994)
Pop quiz: Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock costar as Officer Jack and commuter Annie in a nonstop, white-knuckler from the ’90s. What do you do? Answer: You watch it on repeat. At least, that’s what this writer did when Jan de Bont’s now-essential action film hit video way back when. About a madman who sends Reeves’s LAPD cop on an explosive goose chase to dismantle a bomb he’s affixed to the bottom of a metro bus, the film spends nearly two hours speeding through one impossible pickle after another, culminating in one of the very best action films of all time.
'Bad Boys' (1995)
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, whose roles were initially intended for SNL alums Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey, won out as the Miami buddy cops slinging jokes and dodging bullets. The film’s bloated action and exorbitant production marks the introduction of “Bayhem,” the phenomenon describing the trademark style of a little action filmmaker by the name of Michael Bay.
'Braveheart' (1995)
Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning display of Scottish martyrdom has found permanent residence as one of the best historical epics of all time. Sure, it’s bookended with blows of brutality and the vengeance of war, but more than just a battle cry, Braveheart is an intimate love story, and a beautiful one at that.
'The Matrix' (1999)
An homage to anime, comic books, and kung fu, the Wachowskis' story of a caped hero named Neo facing off against a race of computer-programmed machines dedicated to wiping out humankind is immeasurably influential in its own right. One of its most notable contributions to cinematic history: “bullet time,” or the use of super slo-mo visual effects and ballet wire to create those logic-defying scenes that introduced our jaws to the floor.
'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' (2000)
It’s possible you couldn’t go to a house party in the early aughts without seeing Ang Lee’s remarkable fantasy adventure playing in the background, juxtaposing a playlist of Jay-Z, Eminem, and Destiny’s Child. A brilliant work of art, the film about a warrior, a sword, and the romantic adventure that takes him to the treetops makes for the ideal conversation starter, so we get it. But, really, the best way to take in Lee’s Oscar-winning, action-filled epic is to turn down the party jams, and turn up Tan Dun’s triumphant score.
'City of God' (2002)
The frenetic energy and pulsing action do not let up in Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s rapid-fire Brazilian Oscar nom for 2004. Set in a gang-controlled slum of Rio de Janeiro, the true-story-based film follows the lives of two locals: Li’l Ze, a drug lord, and Rocket, a budding photographer documenting the fall of his city. Further harrowing details, however, we’ll let you discover on your own. As for how this unrelenting film will make you feel upon first viewing, there are many words. But if we were forced to conjure just one: gutted.
'Kill Bill Vol. 1' (2003)
Grindhouse. Martial arts. Blaxploitation. Spaghetti westerns. You name it, Quentin Tarantino has pulled red-sauced inspo from it. A fanboy cinephile, he owes his two-volume epic about Beatrix Kiddo and her Bill-killing quest to cinema of yore. While it’s one thing to build a career out of tributes, it’s quite another to do it well. This is action-making entertainment as fearless as the film's Hattori Hanzo-wielding heroine.
'Oldboy' (2003)
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook uses the same-name Japanese manga as his springboard for telling Oh Dae-su’s harrowing story. But unlike its predecessor, Park’s film—gratuitous with its violence, gut-wrenching with its imagery, and tormenting with its narrative—steers clear of exploitation while pioneering a new genre of action-torture horror.
'The Incredibles' (2004)
Pixar, the production studio responsible for extending chatter about animated films from the sandbox to the water cooler, has filled its canon with hyper-intelligent crowd-pleasers, and The Incredibles, Brad Bird’s turbocharged superhero spoof, is no exception. A glossy delight with sociopolitical subtext, it shakes the kiddie stigma and takes 'toons to new heights.
'The Bourne Ultimatum' (2007)
The finale in a cat-and-mouse trilogy that gets better with each release, Paul Greengrass's Ultimatum plays with time and place, brings Jason Bourne’s identity crisis full circle, and elevates a genre suffering from stunt overload to a higher art form, one that moves at a breakneck pace and turned Matt Damon into a grade-A superstar.
DeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays. A native Texan living in NYC since 2005, Janes has a degree in journalism from Texas A&M and got her start in media at US Weekly before moving on to O Magazine, and eventually becoming the entertainment editor of the once-loved, now-shuttered DailyCandy. She’s based on the Upper West Side.
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