10 Action Movies That Are Bangers From Start to Finish

With action movies of all sorts, it’s easy to decide which ones are made purely for action, and which ones want to tell a deeper story. A mix of both is brilliant, but often underrated, and saying that an action movie is a banger from start to finish can mean different things to different people. With a mix of a great story and relentless action, lots of movies can be considered great from their first moments to the final credits; choosing only ten feels like betraying a large part of the genre.

To this day, some action movies are truly great, or better said – absolute bangers. Great action choreographies are still highly respected, which is seen in some stellar features from last year, like Monkey Man, Dev Patel‘s directorial, action star debut, which was made brilliantly, and obviously, with a lot of love; and Rebel Ridge, the non-stop action thriller with Aaron Pierre as the new face of action film. For anyone looking for other recommendations and classics, these action movies are varied and creative representations of the action genre, and best of all – bangers.

10

‘Upgrade’ (2018)

Directed by Leigh Whannell

Upgrade might be a strange choice, but it’s one of the most underrated sci-fi action movies of the 2010s (and, really, ever). From pretty much the first moments, Upgrade is a brilliant combo of a dystopian sci-fi and a relentless action thriller; it starts with Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) and his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) traveling in a self-driving car, establishing the futuristic setting; their car gets hacked and crashes, then Asha is killed in an attack, while Grey is left completely paralyzed.

After falling into deep depression, Grey is visited by a rich client, Eron, who gives him a chance to use his STEM implant. Upon implantation, Grey regains power in all his limbs, but the STEM implant starts talking to him; with newfound physical abilities, Grey is now ready to get revenge for Asha’s death. Upgrade is bloody, fast, and violent; it uses all the 100 minutes of its runtime to deliver a brilliant revenge movie, though its ending is kind of bleak. Many have compared Upgrade with a dystopian Death Wish, you know, the one with Charles Bronson.

9

‘The Raid’ (2011)

Directed by Gareth Evans

Though the director and writer of The Raid is British filmmaker Gareth Evans, the movie is an Indonesian production; it was completely filmed in Jakarta, and has become a sort of cult classic in recent years as one of the essential international action movies. The language barrier is irrelevant, as The Raid speaks the language of fists and punches. Due to its high popularity and critical and audience praise, Evans got the opportunity to give The Raid a sequel in 2015; a remake is still in talks, but everyone agrees the 2011 original is perfect already.

The Raid follows Rama (Iko Uwais), a young rookie in the Indonesian National Police’s tactical squad; his Sergeant, Jaka (Joe Taslim), leads his team in a raid on a violent drug lord’s apartment block, but as the squad enters the building, they’re locked in and surrounded by ruthless killers, meaning the squad must fight their way through the complex. Taslim may be familiar to fans of Warrior and Mortal Kombat; he’s one of the modern martial arts dons, and he and Uwais are the bright points of this high-octane, fiery, violent action flick that’s also a great martial arts movie.

8

‘John Wick’ (2014)

Directed by Chad Stahelski

No action movie list could be complete without John Wick, a movie that barely even reached existence. Keanu Reeves‘ stunt double on The Matrix, Chad Stahelski, directed John Wick, hiring Reeves as the eponymous character; Wick’s popularity spawned three sequels and two spin-off shows, with Ballerina coming soon. As a stuntman, Stahelski knows good action, and knows what sort of action looks good on-screen and can be done well. Working with Reeves again allowed him to enter a Hall of Fame as one of the best action directors of the 2010s.

John Wick follows the titular character as a former highly trained assassin. He lives peacefully with his wife and their dog, but when they become targets of a house break-in one evening, the people who broke in kill Wick’s wife and the dog; hell-bent on getting revenge, Wick gears up once again and uses all of his former connections and fighting skills to avenge his family. Keanu Reeves has starred in many action movies before, and John Wick simply extended his popularity as an action hero. After one legendary action franchise, Reeves became a part of another, even more physically demanding, as it seems; he’s still got it, though, and every Wick movie is as brilliant and exciting as the last one.

7

‘Apocalypto’ (2006)

Directed by Mel Gibson

There’s a lot to dislike about Mel Gibson, but Apocalypto isn’t one of those things. His 2006 historical epic is an action adventure that applies pressure and feelings of haste even in its milder moments; it’s a race against time, set in the 1500s Mexico, and it’s proof that we don’t need guns and ammo to enjoy a high-octane chase movie. While historical facts and interpretations of Apocalypto‘s ending are a common point of discussion, it seems to have been received warmly in Latin America, with some praise, and, of course, some skepticism.

Apocalypto follows Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), a young Mayan whose tribe gets attacked by the Holcane warriors. Jaguar Paw, in the meantime, hides his pregnant wife and young son in an empty well and promises to come back for them. What ensues is Jaguar Paw’s feisty run from the Holcane warriors and their leader, Zero Wolf (Raoul Trujillo) making the suspense and tension in Apocalypto unparalleled. It’s also interesting because the characters speak the Yucatec Maya language, and the cast mainly consists of Mexican and Indigenous actors. For the 2000s, this was a big deal, since most directors still opted to hire predominantly white and racially ambiguous actors for historical movies. Apocalypto, with all its flaws, is a thrilling attempt at being true.

6

‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (2014)

Directed by Doug Liman

Many people may not be aware that Doug Liman‘s intense and brilliant action hit Edge of Tomorrow is a Japanese light novel adaptation. Fans of the novel All You Need Is Kill found it a refreshing live-action adaptation (though not totally true to source), while critics and fans thought the time-loop premise was brilliantly executed. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt show great chemistry, though Blunt shines as the big action heroine just a bit more than Cruise, for whom this kind of movie is just another Tuesday, really.

Edge of Tomorrow is a sci-fi action thriller that follows military endeavors to defeat an alien race called the Mimics. Major William Cage (Cruise) is sent to Germany, where he’s meant to join a squad and go on the battlefield with the celebrated Sergeant Rita Vratanski (Blunt). During his first battle, Cage kills an Alpha Mimic, but ingests some of its blood. This gives him the ability to wake up on the same day every time he dies, capturing him in a time loop. As Cage tries to reach Rita, and they work on destroying the Mimics, Edge of Tomorrow keeps us on the edge of our seats; from the beginning to the very end, it promises – and delivers – stunning action and great characters to cheer for. It’s one of those action movies that feel fresh upon every single rewatch.

5

‘The Matrix’ (1999)

Directed by The Wachowskis

Another Keanu Reeves-led action franchise started with The Matrix in 1999, and it was the biggest action movie of the time. With Y2K approaching and a looming dread of technology overtaking our lives seeping its way into more and more stories, the Wachowskis’ The Matrix was an almost necessary viewing for everyone who felt that dread. Besides the wire-fu choreographies and an insane bullet time scene (which was made with a bunch of cameras), this movie also had a poignant and powerful story to tell. From its first moments to the final scene, The Matrix is a heavy banger that’s still very impressive to watch.

The Matrix follows hidden hacker Thomas (Reeves), who goes by Neo online; Neo is found by his group of hacker friends after Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) takes him in for questioning. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) find Neo and explain to him that reality is actually a program, and that he can escape it. The story is powerful, but beyond that, The Matrix is a solid, non-stop action movie that can be watched over and over again.

4

‘Predator’ (1987)

Directed by John McTiernan

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an action hero who’s been relevant since his beginnings on film. Though his first few movies were comedies, after Conan the Barbarian in 1982, Schwarzenegger cemented a foundation on which he built a lucrative action career; Predator from 1987 is one of his biggest and best movies, and generally, one of the greatest action thrillers of all time. The tension, fear, and anticipation in Predator is palpable; being chased by an unknown creature that has tactical and physical advantages over you feels very much like nightmare fuel, but leave it to Schwarzenegger to save the day regardless of his enemy.

Predator follows Dutch (Schwarzenegger) leading an elite paramilitary team on a rescue mission in Central American jungles. Their mission is to save a minister whose helicopter was shut down in the jungle, and CIA comes to their aid. While there, Dutch and his team are hunted by an unknown creature of immense strength and fighting skills – a predator. Their mission is to survive and get the cabinet minister out before it’s too late. Predator was the number one box office hit during its opening weekend, and was loved by critics and audiences alike (though a lot more by audiences, as it seems).

3

‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)

Directed by James Cameron

The Terminator is the beginning of the most famous Schwarzenegger franchise, but its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, is one of the best and most exciting action movies of all time. It’s always tough to make a sequel as good as the first movie, but James Cameron, the director of both, has always had a knack for making great sequels in franchises, including one that’s not his own – Aliens. T2 was so good, it even won four Oscars – though they were technical, they were still vital to the movie’s success.

T2 includes the already-known T-800 (Schwarzenegger), a robot that, in the first movie, comes from the future to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). In the sequel, T-800 returns to kill T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a shapeshifting, advanced robot, who is sent for Sarah’s son, John (Edward Furlong). John, in the future, saves humanity from an evil organization, Skynet, and T-800 is reprogrammed to, this time, save John and Sarah from dying, so John’s destiny is fulfilled. With incredible action sequences and catchy, cool one-liners, T2 returns viewers to a familiar place, but this time makes T-800 a good guy; no, the best guy.

2

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)

Directed by George Miller

Witnessing the War Boys drive to Valhalla in 2015 wasn’t just a random Internet ritual – it was part of the extensive lore of George Miller‘s new Mad Max, this time subtitled Fury Road. In a blasting return to the dystopian desert, Miller gives viewers a new Max Rockatansky, though he’s not all that important to this installment. The real hero is Imperator Furiosa, a fierce, intelligent, and justice-driven woman who’s quickly become one of the coolest action heroes ever. Fury Road brilliantly blends storytelling with intense action choreographies and high-octane car chases, and it’s truly one of the rare movies of the genre that can be called a masterpiece.

Fury Road follows Max (Tom Hardy), who stumbles onto a community that has a large waterfall in the middle of the desert. The water from the waterfall is monopolized by the evil Immortan Joe (Hugh Keayns-Byrne), and he releases it occasionally to his followers. He also trades the water for gasoline with other communities, and a rig driver, Furiosa (Charlize Theron), is tasked with driving it to an exchange one day. Max latches on to her truck, and soon realizes she has very different plans from her orders. This isn’t a wild twist, but the movie itself has many that happen immediately and without warning, keeping the atmosphere and pacing on the very edge from its first to its final moments.

1

‘Die Hard’ (1988)

Directed by John McTiernan

The second John McTiernan movie on the list (after Predator) is probably the greatest action movie of all time – Die Hard. McTiernan made a name for himself primarily by directing badass action features that still stand the test of time. Die Hard is often also called a Christmas movie, because it takes place during Christmas Eve, and the debate is still out between people who are hardcore proponents of it being Christmas canon and those who aren’t yet convinced. Whether you’re in the first or second group, you have to admit Die Hard is a banger regardless.

Die Hard was adapted from Roderick Thorp‘s novel Nothing Lasts Forever. It follows detective John McClane (Bruce Willis), who hopes to revive his relationship with his estranged wife by visiting her corporate party at the LA skyscraper, Nakatomi Plaza. While there, the building is hijacked by German terrorists led by the extremist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). While Die Hard was often analyzed as a story that gains redemption through violence, it was also often praised for Willis’ great performance, which earned him a spot in the action hero ranks; Rickman’s performance as the villainous and sinister Gruber was also praised, and often placed among the best villain performances of all time. Further reevaluation of the movie gave it a cult movie status and the title of a feature perfect from beginning to end.

KEEP READING: The 60 Best Action Movies of All Time, Ranked