The 10 Best Action Movies Ever Made (According To The AFI)

Due to their spectacle-driven nature, action films don’t usually get a lot of respect as art. But action-driven narratives can be a great vehicle for themes and commentary, evidenced by RoboCop, First Blood, and The Matrix. The genre can also be used to tell human stories about universally relatable motivations like taking care of a kid, as seen in Aliens, Taken, and Netflix’s The Night Comes for Us.

The American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Thrills list includes a few thriller subgenres, like suspense thrillers and horror movies (including supernatural ones like The Exorcist), but it also includes a handful of straightforward action movies that the AFI deemed worthy of recognition.

10 Goldfinger (1964)

By Sean Connery’s third James Bond movie, 1964’s Goldfinger, the producers had perfected the formula. More than half a century (and 22 movies) later, the 007 threequel still stands as a high benchmark for the franchise.

Director Guy Hamilton nailed all the franchise’s signature tropes: Gert Fröbe’s titular gold-obsessed megalomaniac is one of the greatest Bond villains, Oddjob is one of the greatest Bond henchmen, the drug lab explosion is one of the greatest Bond openings, and the Fort Knox battle is one of the greatest Bond finales.

9 The Matrix (1999)

The Wachowskis combined the stylized cyberpunk visuals of Ghost in the Shell with the thematic subtext of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in their groundbreaking 1999 masterpiece The Matrix.

With both thought-provoking themes and explosives set-pieces, The Matrix is the pinnacle of the sci-fi action subgenre. It forces viewers to question their own reality without sacrificing a single explosion or shootout.

8 The Terminator (1984)

Thanks to the high-octane thrills of Judgment Day, the Terminator franchise is defined by large-scale action spectacle. But the charm of the 1984 original was its small-scale telling of a story with global consequences. James Cameron told the original Terminator story as a blend of tech-noir and slasher.

Broadly, The Terminator’s plot determines the fate of the human race, because Sarah Connor is destined to raise the man who will lead the Resistance against the cyborgs. But Cameron frames the worldwide stakes through the intimate horror tale of an unstoppable killing machine’s relentless pursuit of an everywoman-turned-badass on the streets of Los Angeles.

7 Dirty Harry (1971)

Perhaps Don Siegel’s strongest influence on the New Hollywood movement was his gritty reinvention of action cinema. 1971’s Dirty Harry is a prime example of Siegel’s distinctively edgy style of action filmmaking.

Clint Eastwood’s eponymous rule-breaking renegade Harry Callahan is a dark subversion of the heroic cops previously seen in the film noir. His moral compass is askew and Siegel’s minimalist direction sheds a harsh light on Harry’s decidedly ignoble policing.

6 Die Hard (1988)

When a movie is acclaimed and influential enough, it inspires an entire subgenre of its own. John McTiernan’s action-packed classic Die Hard launched the “Die Hard in a…” subgenre. Speed is “Die Hard on a bus,” Passenger 57 is “Die Hard on a plane,” etc.

After a decade of action movies starring musclebound superheroes like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis’ John McClane offered a refreshing change of pace as a relatable everyman who cuts his feet, makes plenty of mistakes, and struggles with self-loathing.

5 Bullitt (1968)

Peter Yates’ Bullitt is one of the early classics that laid the groundwork for the modern Hollywood action movie. Steve McQueen gives one of the most iconic performances of his career in the title role.

The most notable sequence in the movie is, of course, the car chase. Bullitt has the car chase against which all subsequent car chases have been judged. It earned an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Frank P. Keller.

4 Jurassic Park (1993)

Apparently, Steven Spielberg wasn’t content with breaking the record for the highest-grossing movie ever made twice with Jaws and E.T., so he did it again with 1993’s Jurassic Park.

While the movie digs deep into the ethics of cloning and the ubiquity of commercialism (John Hammond brings dinosaurs back to life so he can get rich quick with a theme park), Spielberg also finds time for plenty of nail-biting dinosaur-infested action sequences like the T. rex’s escape and the velociraptors’ attack in the kitchen.

3 The Fugitive (1993)

Adapted from the TV series of the same name, The Fugitive stars Harrison Ford as a doctor who goes on the run after being framed for his wife’s murder and Tommy Lee Jones as the U.S. Marshal who relentlessly pursues him while he tries to clear his name.

This movie is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest TV-to-film adaptations ever made. If anything, the premise of The Fugitive works better in feature-length form as a tense, fast-moving cat-and-mouse thriller.

2 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)

Four years after introducing the world to one timeless, iconic modern pulp hero with Han Solo in Star Wars, George Lucas and Harrison Ford did it again with archeologist-turned-explorer Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

From Steven Spielberg’s old-school action direction to John Williams’ energetic musical score, everything in Raiders comes together to perfectly recapture the feel of old adventure serials.

1 The French Connection (1971)

Like Dirty Harry, William Friedkin’s The French Connection is a quintessential New Hollywood police noir that challenged Hollywood’s traditional portrayal of cops as noble, law-abiding heroes. Like Bullitt, it features one of the greatest car chases ever put on-screen (filmed recklessly on the bustling streets of New York City).

Gene Hackman stars as “Popeye” Doyle, a hard-boiled, morally gray detective who loses sight of the law in his narrow-minded pursuit of a French heroin smuggler.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3461 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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