The Most Rewatchable Action Movies
Is there such a thing as comfort movies when it comes to action films? This is a list of action movies we keep watching, even when there are newer, more intense, or overall better action films to watch. Because it doesn't have to be good to be a rewatchable action movie, you just have to love it.
These are the movies we own multiple copies of, so if they're not available on streaming, we can still get our fix. Some of the greatest action movies, like The Dark Knight and The Matrix, have obvious rewatch value. Or, you love Bruce Willis so you end up watching Sin City as often as Die Hard. But then there are movies like Face/Off that are just much-loved guilty pleasures.
It doesn't matter why you like rewatching action movies, only that you love to watch them again and again. What action movies do you think are the best to rewatch?
- Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia
- Released: 1988
- Directed by: John McTiernan
New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the ...more - Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question -- What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by ...more - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
- Released: 1991
- Directed by: James Cameron
In this sequel set eleven years after "The Terminator," young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the key to civilization's victory over a future robot uprising, is the target of the shape-shifting T-1000 ...more - Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
With the help of allies Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman (Christian Bale) has been able to keep a tight lid on crime in Gotham City. But when a vile young ...more - Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Dr. Indiana Jones, a renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, is hired by the U.S. Government to find the ark of the covenant, which is believed to still hold the Ten Commandments. ...more - Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
- Released: 1980
- Directed by: Irvin Kershner
The adventure continues in this "Star Wars" sequel. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) face attack by the Imperial ...more - Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: James Cameron
After floating in space for 57 years, Lt. Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) shuttle is found by a deep space salvage team. Upon arriving at LV-426, the marines find only one survivor, a nine year old girl ...more - Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
They are the best-kept secret in the universe. Working for a highly funded yet unofficial government agency, Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jay (Will Smith) are the Men in Black, providers of immigration ...more - Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
A young Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels to the Far East, where he's trained in the martial arts by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a member of the mysterious League of Shadows. When Ducard reveals ...more - Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Luc Besson
In the 23rd century, a New York City cabbie, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), finds the fate of the world in his hands when Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) falls into his cab. As the embodiment of the fifth ...more - Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey
- Released: 1987
- Directed by: Richard Donner
Following the death of his wife, Los Angeles police detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) becomes reckless and suicidal. When he is reassigned and partnered with Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), Riggs ...more - Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) takes his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Surrounded by the brutal realties of war, while searching ...more - Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Peter Jackson
The culmination of nearly 10 years' work and conclusion to Peter Jackson's epic trilogy based on the timeless J.R.R. Tolkien classic, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" presents the ...more - Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Pierre Morel
Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), a former government operative, is trying to reconnect with his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). Then his worst fears become real when sex slavers abduct Kim and her friend ...more - Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy
- Released: 1982
- Directed by: Ted Kotcheff
Vietnam veteran and drifter John J. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanders into a small Washington town in search of an old friend, but is met with intolerance and brutality by the local sheriff, Will ...more - Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Mel Gibson
Tells the story of the legendary thirteenth century Scottish hero named William Wallace (Mel Gibson). Wallace rallies the Scottish against the English monarch and Edward I (Peter Hanly) after he ...more - Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
A former assassin, known simply as The Bride (Uma Thurman), wakes from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill (David Carradine) attempts to murder her on her wedding day. Fueled by an ...more - Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards
- Released: 1986
- Directed by: Tony Scott
The Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) is sent to the school, his reckless ...more - Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller
In this quartet of neo-noir tales, a mysterious salesman (Josh Hartnett) narrates a tragic story of co-dependency, while a musclebound vigilante (Mickey Rourke) tears his way through the criminal ...more - Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Brad Bird
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol is a 2011 American action spy film directed by Brad Bird, and the fourth film in the Mission: Impossible series. The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in ...more - Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
- Released: 2000
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) takes power and strips rank from Maximus (Russell Crowe), one of the favored generals of his predecessor and father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the great stoical philosopher. ...more - Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief with the rare ability to enter people's dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. His skill has made him a hot commodity in the world of ...more - Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
- Released: 2015
- Directed by: George Miller
Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads ...more - Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Roland Emmerich
In the epic adventure film "Independence Day," strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it ...more - Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: James McTeigue
Following world war, London is a police state occupied by a fascist government, and a vigilante known only as V (Hugo Weaving) uses terrorist tactics to fight the oppressors of the world in which he ...more