If you have a thing for action films, the chances you've seen a film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer are anything but low. The Detroit-born advertising specialist transitioned to action film production in the early '80s when he associated himself with Don Simpson, and they together produced some of Paramount's staples of that decade. What came after was a collaboration era between the two that's easily among the most recognizable in the industry.

It's not that Bruckheimer has a certain style of film production, although his films have an identity of their own that's hard to discard. It's that his runs with Paramount, Disney, Sony, and Warner Bros. all delivered spectacular action films, and some are known today as the best in the genre. His latest blockbuster was the Tom Cruise action masterpiece Top Gun: Maverick, which reunited him with the franchise that he owed a lot to. And it's likely he will return to it again at some point.

Recent Jerry Bruckheimer productions include:

To celebrate the man and his vision, we've decided to compile the 10 best films Jerry Bruckheimer ever produced. Some of them he did with Simpson, and some fall entirely under his responsibility. In any case, they're the expected action that Bruckheimer always aims to deliver.

10 Con Air (1997)

Con Air tells the story of Cameron Poe, a convict who finds himself in a bad situation on what could be the best day of his life. After he accidentally killed a man while trying to defend his wife, Poe spends eight years in prison. He's finally about to be released and boards a prison transport plane with other convicts. While in the air, some of the convicts, including ferocious leader Cyrus "the Virus," escape and hijack the flight. Of course, Poe goes back to his days as a U.S. Army Ranger and saves the day.

What's Great About Con Air

The film is one of Nicolas Cage's signature action films. He deserves all the praise for making Simon West's film entertaining even when things aren't blowing up. However, what makes the film a marvel is its exceptionally good supporting cast: John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Colm Meaney, Mykelti Williamson, Dave Chappelle, Rachel Ticotin, and Danny Trejo. This is a very entertaining action film that hasn't lost one touch of its value.

Rent on Prime Video

9 Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)

Three years after Con Air, Bruckheimer would reunite with Nicolas Cage for Gone in Sixty Seconds. The remake of the 1974 film of the same name tells the story of a car thief whose current life is kind of boring. He has retired, but his little brother gets into some trouble, and Memphis Raines is forced to get back in the game. Not only that, he needs to steal 50 very valuable cars in a single night. To accomplish this, he gets his gang back together while old grudges with a detective come to light in the middle of chaos.

Related: Best Action Sequences of the 2000s, Ranked

What's Great About Gone in 60 Seconds

Even though critics didn't really like the film, Gone in Sixty Seconds is far from bad. It's exciting, well-acted, and features a noteworthy and action-packed third act that will satisfy your hunger for action. Once again, Bruckheimer puts Cage alongside a fantastic supporting cast, which elevates the film higher: Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Christopher Eccleston, Timothy Olyphant, Scott Caan, Michael Peña, Robert Duvall, Vinnie Jones, Delroy Lindo, Chi McBride, and Will Patton. The film also has some of the best car chase sequences ever shot.

Rent on Prime Video

8 Déjà Vu (2006)

In Déjà Vu, ATF agent Douglas Carlin faces the most important mission he will ever have. After a terrorist attack that leaves more than 500 people dead during Mardi Gras, Carlin is recruited into a new agency that uses technology to predict events and has even accomplished time-bending to prevent crime. Of course, Doug's mission is to travel back in time to stop the attack from taking place.

What's Great About Déjà Vu

Bruckheimer's partnership with Tony Scott is more than notable. It's actually essential, as the pair made some solid genre films throughout three decades. Déjà Vu is one of those. Starring Denzel Washington in a great action role, the film was underappreciated by critics who associated its setting with that of the Hurricane Katrina disaster that left New Orleans completely destroyed. Nevertheless, it's one of the best time-travel movies in recent history.

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7 Days of Thunder (1990)

Tony Scott's Days of Thunder tells the story of Cole Trickle, a young driver of open-wheel cars who wishes to make it big in NASCAR. The problem is Trickle's attitude doesn't exactly stick with his team, and his hot temper represents a huge but exciting problem for the organization and his contenders. Think Top Gun with cars.

What's Great About Days of Thunder

Scott gets back with Tom Cruise and Bruckheimer, and the three make a thrilling version of the most famous fighter jet movie ever, but with racing cars. Days of Thunder is an extremely exciting film that's entirely fueled by its realistic race sequences. It's all framed under a romantic story featuring the hottest couple of '90s Hollywood, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, but like other Bruckheimer productions, the drama isn't exactly the film's most prominent story element. This sports drama is all about cars, and the dangers of racing sports.

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6 Top Gun (1986)

In the action epic Top Gun, talented pilots Nick "Goose" Bradshaw and Pete "Maverick" Mitchell enter a Navy program known as Top Gun, where the country's best pilots train to use fighter jets for warfare. Maverick and Goose soon collide with other trainees, but when in the sky, all bets are off. Tragedy strikes early on, and Maverick is forced to think beyond his cocky attitude to survive the real fight.

What's Great About Top Gun

Bruckheimer's production is still a classic with audiences whose love for the characters was essential to making a huge return a couple of years ago. Without question, this was the film that put Tom Cruise in the Hollywood spotlight and catapulted him into star status. To this day, some of the fighter jet sequences are mind-blowing, a production element that Bruckheimer maintained throughout his entire career.

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5 Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

The action comedy Beverly Hills Cop featured comedy icon Eddie Murphy wielding guns and heavily using profanity when playing a different kind of character than audiences usually saw him do. This time he gave life to Axel Foley, a Detroit detective whose best friend is murdered, and he takes it upon himself to investigate the mystery. He heads over to California and clashes with the extremely different culture that he's not used to. The question is: Is California ready for him?

What's Great About Beverly Hills Cop

Undoubtedly one of the best detective movies from the '80s, Beverly Hills Cop was Bruckheimer's approach to a more experimental side. One in which Don Simpson heavily participated. The film was ridden with issues since its conception, with Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone passing through Axel's chair with no success. Simpson and Bruckheimer ultimately went for Eddie Murphy and successfully designed the landscape of buddy cop films and action comedies with Beverly Hills Cop, a film that garnered nominations at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards and shot Murphy into the spotlight outside of Saturday Night Live.

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4 The Rock (1996)

Michael Bay's The Rock takes us to Alcatraz Island, where a rogue group of marines have hijacked the place and threatened the authorities with launching a missile with nerve gas unless they get paid a large sum of money. Luckily, one of the few men who have escaped the fortress has been recruited to help a chemist take back Alcatraz. John Patrick Mason is the only man who knows the island from inside out, and together with the nerdy Stanley Goodspeed, they're the only chance we got.

What's Great About The Rock

It's an action-packed ride, led by performers in the genre that truly put the film above its thinly-scripted story: Sean Connery with perhaps his most iconic modern cinema contribution, Ed Harris showing he can play the bad guy superbly, and Nicolas Cage adding the right amount of comic relief. The Rock is one of Bay's finest films, and one where the control by producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson doesn't let him expand with unnecessary details.

Rent on Prime Video

3 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Disney's behemoth Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl tells the story of a pirate known as Captain Jack Sparrow who forms a partnership with poor blacksmith Will Turner to save Elizabeth Swann from the crew of the pirate ship The Black Pearl, led by Captain Barbossa. Barbossa only seeks one thing: a gold piece that will help them break the curse that turned them into the living dead.

What's Great About Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

The film is a modern classic that surpassed every single expectation upon release. It was Disney's first PG-13 film (which is extraordinary considering the "jump" they made after decades of film production), but the project wasn't born like that. It was only when Bruckheimer joined that the film took its supernatural spin and made it more than just a pirate movie based on a theme park ride.

The result was a box-office monster that dominated 2003. It was nominated for multiple Academy Awards (including one for Johnny Depp's portrayal of Sparrow) and became the first entry in what would later become a monumental franchise.

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2 Remember the Titans (2000)

Starring Denzel Washington in one of his signature performances, Remember the Titans tells the beautiful true story of coach Herman Boone when he gets hired by a high school to coach their football team. The problem is that the year is 1971, and prejudice and segregation are alive in this small town in Virginia, especially after two previously segregated high schools are combined.

Boone, an African-American man, exceeds all expectations and does his best to integrate the football team and make them a winning team. It is one of Bruckheimer's few participations in a non-action film, but it's one of his very best productions, by far.

Related: Michael Bay's 10 Best Action Movie Scenes of All Time

What's Great About Remember the Titans

The heartwarming film by Boaz Yakin takes more than a few liberties to create a fictionalized account of the true story. However, the movie drifts away from any negative connotation that people may associate with its lack of accuracy. It's simply too fulfilling because of its optimistic approach to the racial prejudice story, which is only possible due to the film's solid performances by Washington and also by Will Patton. Bruckheimer's cooperation with Disney was crucial for balance, and translates into one of the best football films ever made. Fun fact: This is Ryan Gosling's first big Hollywood film.

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1 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

The sequel to Top Gun, 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, tells the story of Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell as the same adrenaline-seeking pilot he always was. He doesn't play by the rules, and this has kept him unable to grow in rank. However, the Navy's latest mission requires the best of the best. Maverick is recruited to form a team of elite pilots (among them the son of the late Goose) that can go on a mission to bomb a uranium plant using the flying techniques that only Maverick can pass on.

What's Great About Top Gun: Maverick

In many ways better than the original, Top Gun: Maverick is the best film Jerry Bruckheimer has ever produced. It's extremely exciting as a standalone film, and its stunt work represented an impressive cinematic experience after the COVID-19 pandemic that had left theaters empty. Along with Joseph Kosinki, a director who fully understands the figure of Hollywood star Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer brought to life a concept that had been cooking for decades and delivered a film that made audiences believe again in the movie theater experience.

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To stay in tune with the genre, here's a video of the best action movies of 2023, so far: