Best action movie of all time?

[GoSkinsGo]

No love for Commando the most glorious of all 80's action or Cobra with Stallone. Constantine was good even with Keanu as was End of Days for fighting the devil.

[Henry]

Haven't read the thread, but here are mine, in no particular order:

Die Hard
Die Hard 4
Aliens
Terminator 2
The Untouchables
Lethal Weapon

That's if we are talking straight-up action with guns blazing. If you mean Martial Arts, or Westerns or SciFi or something else the list gets a lot bigger.

EDIT: I see a lot of love for Raiders of the Lost Ark, and that would definitely make my list, but as someone else said I call that more of an adventure movie. Still, if it counts it's on my list too.

[DCranon21]

Aliens
Terminator 2
Die Hard
Heat
Dark Knight

I know I'm missing some, but those come to the top of my head.

[ArmchairRedskin]

I haven't seen any of the Bourne movies mentioned.

Love the fight scenes. So well done.

[Henry]

I haven't seen any of the Bourne movies mentioned.

Love the fight scenes. So well done.

True. The Bourne movies are pretty good. I like the second one a lot.

Some of the Mission Impossible movies are pretty good too. I might put #3 on the list.

[HailToTheRedskins14]

If The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is considered an action movie, I guess that's it. I never really thought it was for some reason. But yeah, it's one of my top movies ever.

[Chump Bailey]

No love for Commando the most glorious of all 80's action or Cobra with Stallone. Constantine was good even with Keanu as was End of Days for fighting the devil.

End of Days was painful to watch IMO...

I prefer Stallone in Get Carter...

[Momma There Goes That Man]

You guys have some unique ideas on action movies. For example, Heat is not an action movie. That movie is slow and loaded with plot and dialogue. I love the Dark Knight but I would classify that as a drama more so than action movie.

I think a true action movie is one where the plot is more reason to get to the next action scene than anything else. It can have a good plot and great acting but I don't think it can get to the Dark Knight level.

Which is why Gladiator is the greatest action movie of all time. The action scenes are visceral but have meaning, are well choreographed and exciting. The plot is serviceable IMO but mainly a simple power grab/revenge story, nothing too special. The acting is fantastic though and I love the dialogue and meaningful quotes/lines that come from it. It is the best overall action movie.

Now if the question is what action movie has the best action scenes, that is completely different. Id have to think about that one but off the top of my head The Raid: Redemption had some truly awesome action scenes that I Ioved.

[elkabong82]

Agree with you Momma that action films definition needs to be narrowed down. Personally I would disqualify sub-genres like sci-fi, racing, western, etc. and solely stick with "one man versus nefarious villain with group of badies, guns and fists are only way out, straight up battle." Like i said, as far as straight up pure action movies are concerned, I would vote Die Hard.

Gladiator is an awesome movie, but I would qualify that as historical, along the lines of Braveheart, instead of purely an action film. Heck, I love Aliens and Predator as action films, and even those I feel barely qualify because of the sci-fi elements. IMO Die Hard is the quintessential PURE action movie which is why it gets my nod.

[Mr. Sinister]

Yeah, if you're talking straight up action, not sci-fi, comedy, martial arts, etc, I'd have to go with The Avengers in the top spot. Then probably Terminator 2. I loved the Bourne movies, and the Die Hard movies. I also liked John Woo's Hard Boiled, with Chow Yun Phat. Predator, The Rock, Commando, the Rambo movies.

[Jumbo]

The Notebook
The English Patient
Fried Green Tomatoes
Beaches
The Devil Wears Prada

These stand out because of the great action I got after suffering through each one with whoever it was at the time.

[bedlamVR]

I am going to say it T2 was an okay film at the time but I actually do not like it - The first Terminator was a fantastic film and had the impending doom angle to it . Then T2 became an anti corporation left wing subversive "hey everything is going to be okay if you kill enough people and blow enough **** up film" and the kid was annoying ...and it broke the concept of the original idea of the film .

Die hard was one of those odd films that got better with the squeals (other than die hard 2 which was a cheese fest - and went for body count over story line) . I would have to say die hard (1) and live free or die hard (4) have to be amongst my favorites . Also Red gets an honourable mention .

I cannot believe no one has talked about any of the Hong kong action films like "who am I?", "rumble in the Bronx" or "accidental spy" - Also while it could be more of a comedy film the action scenes in "Rob-b-hood" are amazing as they are in "City Hunter"- I think that is my Jackie Chan fix over with .

Jason Stathem has had some very dull films but Transporter and Transporter 3 were good action films ...as was Death Chase 2000 remake

I also enjoyed the A team ... and the Loosers ...

As for action films people might not have seen how about the Lockout - or the Runaway (welcome to the Jungle)

[Mr. Sinister]

I love all or Jackie Chan's movies (I'm a huge martial arts cinema fan) but I decided to go with more traditional, straight up action movies. I loved Supercop, Drunken Master, Rumble, etc. I thought he was brilliant in the Rush Hour movies with Chris Tucker.

[Bubble Screen]

Haven't read through the thread completely, but I would have to go with Raiders of the Lost Ark here.

[mboyd784]

Not strictly action, but has a great plot and some incredible action scenes!