The greatest epic action movies ever made have some of the best action stars to have ever fought on screen. Good Hollywood action movies tend to be the ones where we get a little substance to go along with the shooting; a little banter along with the battles. This list has some of the most awesome action films of all time, and it's now up to Ranker users to vote on which of these are truly the top action movies of all time. If you're looking for some of the greatest action movies of all time that are streaming on Netflix or Amazon, check out The Best Action Movies on Netflix and The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime.
The list of popular action movies ever has famous action films with a mix of one man renegades (Die Hard), supernatural thrills (Alien), and science fiction dreams brought to reality on the big screen (Terminator, Jurassic Park). You'll even find some great comedic performances among the gun fights, smack talking, and explosions. Heck, you could probably fill a New Jersey size dump with all the stuff that gets blown up in these action films. The list covers a broad time range as well with nearly as many classic action movies making the list as newer, big budget CGI action-fest. Other good action movies to watch include The Matrix Trilogy, the John Wick movies, and The Bourne Series.
This is a fan ranked list and that means you can rerank this list so everyone can know that the biggest action movie of all time was actually...(this is where you fill in what you think the coolest action movie ever is). Make your voice heard and don't forget, these are action films so you're gonna have to be loud. And, if you love action movies, you might want to check out this list of the best action shows.
1
7,4923,075Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward FurlongReleased: 1991
Directed by: James Cameron
2
4,1271,579Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Harrison Ford, Carrie FisherReleased: 1980
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
3
4,3901,741Gladiator
Russell Crowe, Joaquin PhoenixReleased: 2000
Directed by: Ridley Scott
4
4,6411,831Star Wars
Harrison Ford, Carrie FisherReleased: 1977
Directed by: George Lucas
5
4,8511,978Predator
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse VenturaReleased: 1987
Directed by: John McTiernan
6
7,8273,255Die Hard
Bruce Willis, Alan RickmanReleased: 1988
Directed by: John McTiernan
7
5,2582,203The Terminator
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill PaxtonReleased: 1984
Directed by: James Cameron
8
3,7291,507Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Harrison Ford, Sean ConneryReleased: 1989
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
9
6,4682,762Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Harrison Ford, Alfred MolinaReleased: 1981
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
10
4,386945John Wick
Keanu Reeves, Willem DafoeReleased: 2014
Directed by: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch
11
6,9342,936The Dark Knight
Christian Bale, Michael CaineReleased: 2008
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
12
3,5191,550Braveheart
Mel Gibson, Sophie MarceauReleased: 1995
Directed by: Mel Gibson
13
1,853772The Fugitive
Julianne Moore, Harrison FordReleased: 1993
Directed by: Andrew Davis
14
2,039808The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellenReleased: 2003
Directed by: Peter Jackson
15
3,7911,626First Blood
Sylvester Stallone, Brian DennehyReleased: 1982
Directed by: Ted Kotcheff
16
1,688577The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Clint Eastwood, Eli WallachReleased: 1966
Directed by: Sergio Leone
17
4,0271,876Jurassic Park
Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff GoldblumReleased: 1993
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
18
4,4982,003Saving Private Ryan
Tom Hanks, Matt DamonReleased: 1998
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
19
2,072871Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Harrison Ford, Carrie FisherReleased: 1983
Directed by: Richard Marquand
20
6,0333,067The Matrix
Keanu Reeves, Hugo WeavingReleased: 1999
Directed by: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
21
4,2182,122The Avengers
Robert Downey Jr., Chris EvansReleased: 2012
Directed by: Joss Whedon
22
2,5351,219Batman Begins
Christian Bale, Michael CaineReleased: 2005
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
23
1,726726The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellenReleased: 2002
Directed by: Peter Jackson
24
1,667635Guardians of the Galaxy
Chris Pratt, Zoe SaldanaReleased: 2014
Directed by: James Gunn
25
3,6411,866Lethal Weapon
Mel Gibson, Gary BuseyReleased: 1987
Directed by: Richard Donner
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25