Action movies have a few things in common: 1) they make us want to stand up and cheer for the good guy, 2) they usually have a bit of a romance interwoven in them and 3) the good guy will always triumph over evil. Here are a list of some of the best action/adventure movies of all time.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Sure Terminator (the original) was great, but Terminator 2 was superb, mostly due to the fact that it did not make an appearance until seven years after the original when special effects were much more advanced. A young boy, who is destined to become a powerful general in the fight against the machines, is sent both an assassin and a protector from the future. The movie centers around the fight between the more advanced Terminator assassin and the Terminator protector.
Die Hard
A cop is about to attend his wife’s Christmas party in her office building only to find that his wife and her colleagues have been taken hostage by terrorists. The cop, played by a humorous Bruce Willis, must single-handedly take them down and save the lives of his wife and her friends.
Mission Impossible 2
Once again, a sequel has made it to the top ten. Mission Impossible was pretty good, but Mission Impossible 2 proved better. Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, an agent whose mission is to destroy a pharmaceutical company’s plans of unleashing a deadly genetic disease to the entire world. The cinematography and special effects prove far superior to those in the original.
Rambo: First Blood
How could one of Sly Stallone’s movies NOT make it to this list? Rambo is a man who is disillusioned from the Vietnam War and is on a quest to meet up with some war friends. While doing so, he gets arrested by a sheriff who begins to abuse him. He escapes to the surrounding woods and must be tracked down.
Predator
A group of agents must rescue some men whose flight have gone down in a jungle in Central America. They realize that they are being hunted by a supernatural hunter who is invisible but extremely deadly.
Matrix
When The Matrix was released, it revolutionized the action movie as we knew it. The entire world is controlled by machines and technology but nobody knows it. A group of soldiers who have escaped this control must deliver the entire human race from it with the help of the chosen one, Neo.
Gladiator
Who can resist a movie about the classic gladiators who fearlessly battled lions and ferocious warriors? Maximus has been named heir to the Roman throne, only to have his entire family killed by the jealous son of the previous emperor. He is left for dead and soon becomes a slave forced to make his way as a gladiator who is hellbent on revenge.
Braveheart
The Scots versus the Brits is an age-old tale. William Wallace, a rebellious Scotsman in the 13th century, leads a revolution against the controlling British in this realistic and gruesome epic.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
How can we have a list of great action movies without mentioning Star Wars? This fifth installment introduces us to the great Jedi Yoda, Boba Fett and Jabba the Hut.
Raider of The Lost Ark
This is one of those classic adventure stories. Indiana Jones has been hired to find the sacred Ark of the Covenant but must battle Hitler’s cronies to get it.
