We all love an explosive action flick — one with insane stunts and a stylish ambiance. But sometimes, it’s nice to sink our teeth into a story that matches the level of heart-pounding chaos. While many action movies rely on adrenaline over substance, there are also movies that manage to deliver both incredible action and a truly solid narrative.
How many times have we seen mercenaries suiting up for an epic fight oran intense car chaseand then going totally off the rails to the point where we’re not even sure who’s chasing who? And sure, mindless madness has a place in cinema. But on nights when we’re in the mood for a strong story filled with character development and plot twists, we need an action film that can impress both our eyes and our minds.
Some talented directors like Edgar Wright and Christopher Nolan have taken the action genre to new heights by merging impressive fight sequences with emotionally engaging story lines. The multidimensional protagonists and theconsequences of their choicescapture our hearts fully. This list celebrates the 20 best action movies that stuck the landing by delivering top-tier action without forgetting the most important ingredient — a gripping tale told with flair.
20Heat (1995)
Neil McCauley is a legendary bank robber who wants one last big score before he retires. He leads a close-knit crew on an ambitious heist in Los Angeles. However, when Vincent Hanna, a dedicated LAPD detective who is always analyzing McCauley’s moves, gets assigned to the case, things do not go as planned. Both men respect each other’s talents while simultaneously invested in defeating the other.
Pacino vs. De Niro Crime Thriller
Heatis hands down one of thesmartest and most exhilarating crime thrillermovies out there. Under Michael Mann’s masterful direction, the sprawling action scenes burst out of the film in spectacular fashion. Despite its three-hour long runtime, the piercing script adds gravitas to each cold and calculated move carried out by the characters. The rivalry between Al Pacino’s and Robert De Niro’s characters alone makes for an exciting watch.
Stream Heat on Netflix
19Skyfall (2012)
Daniel Craig’s third outingas the iconic 007 sees him on a brand-new mission. When the details of undercover agents from around the world begin to leak, suspicions are set on an ex-MI6 agent who is out for revenge against M. While Bond focuses on tracking down the hard drive, London is targeted in a major terrorist attack. In the process, he must also deal with a resurfacing aspect of his past.
A Deep and Emotional Bond Film
One ofSkyfall’sgreatest strengths is that the film also works as a stand-alone in the series, because of its nuanced character drama. The 23rd Bond film in the overall franchise carries a darker, grittier tone. Javier Bardem is a scene-stealer as the chilling villain Raoul Silva, fabricating a complex game of secrets and lies for Bond and M to get lost in. With gorgeous cinematography and surprising emotional depth,Skyfallelevates the status of the franchise.
Stream Skyfall on Max
18Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott invested a massive amount of effort in makingGladiatoran epic, and the director succeeded spectacularly, through its gripping story: Commodus, emperor Marcus Aurelius’ inept son, hears of his father’s plan to make Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius his successor.
Commodus murders his father, then murders Maximus' family and sets up a trap to kill the general as well. Barely surviving, Maximum ends up sold into slavery and becomes a gladiator, rising through the ranks of the arena to take bloody revenge.
Related:Every Best Picture Oscar Winner of the 2000s, Ranked
A Cinematic Tale of Revenge
Bringing Ancient Rome to pulsing life on the big screen, Scott created a sweeping revenge epic that still holds up today. Russell Crowe was born to play the noble warrior hungry to carry out his personal vendetta, and Joaquin Phoenix naturally loses himself in the role of the ominous and twisted emperor. However, the heart and soul of the film lies in its smooth but terrific plot, which stays away from cheesy sword fights and classic scandals, and instead stays cinematic throughout.
Stream Gladiator on Paramount+
17The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War,The Man From U.N.C.L.E.takes you to the 1960s, when CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin are forced to join hands and work together on a common mission to stop a huge catastrophe. A mysterious criminal organization is trying to benefit from the dynamics of the Cold War by launching nuclear weapons, and it is up to the two rival spies to stop them.
Rival Spies Working Together
Based on the 1960s television series, this film serves as a winning love letter to both campy humor andthe clever spy genre. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer share incredible chemistry as the mismatched duo effortlessly cruising through their high-stakes mission with their witty banter and reluctant romance. And yet, it is director Guy Ritchie’s remarkable vision in the journey from Berlin to Rome and beyond that proves the action genre is more than just gun fights.
Stream The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on Max
16Léon: The Professional (1994)
Léon: The Professional
A controversial masterpiece,Léon: The Professionalcenters around the titular character, a professional hitman in New York, who reluctantly becomes a mentor to 12-year-old Mathilda after her family is brutally murdered, and she’s left with no one to look after her. When she asks him to teach her the ropes, an odd friendship and dependency develops between the two.
Natalie Portman as a Spy-In-Training
This unforgettable and genius film by director Luc Besson explores the gray areas between morality and ethics through the relationship shared by its main characters. While Jean Reno is absolutely marvelous as the iconic assassin, it is Natalie Portman that delivers a stunning performance, well ahead of her years, as Mathilda. Beautifully filmed, the movie also has a moody score, violent action, and thought-provoking ending.
Rent Léon: The Professional on Apple TV
15The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix
The Matrixis a seminal film that drew the ’90s to an epic close. It follows computer programmer Thomas Anderson who lives two lives — one by day at his job, and another by night as hacker “Neo,” searching for the truth about the world around him. When he meets underground hacker Trinity, he’s taken to a mysterious man named Morpheus and given a choice: take the blue pill and forget the strange events of the past few days, or take the red pill, learn the truth, and join a rebellion.
Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Action
It goes without saying that the Wachowskis’ came out swinging with their second film. The one-of-a-kind experience of watchingThe Matrixhow it transformed cinemawith its mind-bending premise, unforgettable action, and ground-breaking visuals. With Keanu Reeves as the leading man, there was a generation of viewers contemplating the nature of reality for weeks after watching the movie.
Stream The Matrix on Hulu
14Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Saving Private Ryan
Lauded asthe best war film of all time,Saving Private Ryanchronicles the notorious D-Day invasion and the events that occurred days after that. In 1944 occupied France during World War II, a group of U.S. soldiers went behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper, Private James Ryan, whose three brothers were killed in action. As they try to locate and return the young soldier home, grave danger and emotional peril surround them from all sides.
A Visceral Tale in WWII
Director Steven Spielberg crafted an astonishinglygritty WWII masterpiecethat is regarded, to date, as the most intense and visceral depiction of war on the big screen. The visceral opening 20 minutes of the movie threw the audience into one of the bloodiest battles in a way that no other movie had done before. Tom Hanks leads an interesting ensemble through an honest and unflinching examination of the heroism as well as the trauma brought by war. Overall,Saving Private Ryanremains a standout in the genre.
Stream Saving Private Ryan on Paramount+
13A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a spaghetti Western film from director Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood. A Fistful of Dollars is notable for being Clint Eastwood’s big break in Hollywood and also for being the beginning of the “Dollars Trilogy.” The film was followed by For a Few Dollars More in 1965 and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly in 1966.
As far as “Spaghetti Westerns” go,A Fistful of Dollarsis an iconic and groundbreaking film that stands the test of time. In the movie, Clint Eastwood plays the “Man with no Name,” a drifter who walks into a Mexican village that is undergoing a violent turf war between two opposing gangs. While he remains officially neutral, he secretly plays both sides in a ruthless and clever game to benefit from their differences. Soon, corpses start piling up, and the result is one final, tense showdown.
Clint Eastwood and His Cigar
The film is directed by Sergio Leone, an influential director who basically pioneered the genre of western films made in Italy, known as Spaghetti Westerns. Eastwood made his anti-hero debut with this film, and let the narrative as well as his cigar do half the talking. Despite the action being minimal, it is the tense and intelligently choreographed character arc that really elevates the film to high art.A Fistful of Dollarsradically changed the game and left the audience wanting more of this aesthetic.
Stream A Fistful of Dollars on DIRECTV
12Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction
Winning praise particularly for the screenwriting,Pulp Fictionis a significant piece of work considered to be Quentin Tarantino’s magnum opus. In it, four stories of crime intersect with one another. A burger-loving hitman, his philosophical partner, a gangster, and a doomed boxer find themselves crossing paths violently, in a plot where the timeline of events is out of order, and life’s little morsels are savored through dialogue.
Related:Why the Pulp Fiction Briefcase Is the Best MacGuffin in Movie History
Non-Linear Levels of Cool
Pulp Fictionwas how Tarantino exploded into the scene. Bringing forward his signature knack for non-linear storytelling, genre-blending, and delivering thought-provoking dialogue, he turned the film into something that lodged itself in our brains. Apart from the solid story, the movie also has sharp and witty banter that almost borders on poetry. John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson own every word of this true original.
Stream Pulp Fiction on Max
11V for Vendetta (2005)
V For Vendetta
Set in a futuristic, tyrannical Britain,V for Vendettafollows a shadowy freedom fighter known only as “V,” who seeks to free his oppressed people and save them from doom by using chaotic methods and terrorist tactics. Assisting him in this propaganda is Evey, a young woman caught up in the evil of this populist revolution.
Relevant Revolution
The frightening and powerful source material, when put in the hands of the Wachowskis for the screenplay, is sharpened into a modern masterpiece of fiction that only seems more prophetic today about its themes of loss and freedom in society. Under the chilling and smart direction of James McTeigue, the film unfolds at active speed, and all the action that takes placeunder the name of revolutionis simply outstanding.
Rent V for Vendetta on Apple TV
