Over 400 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Most Underrated Action Movie Of ’90s Action Stars
Voting Rules
Vote up the most underappreciated '90s film of these action stars.
Think of action stars like Schwarzenegger and Stallone, and it's easy to prattle off a list of their best feature films - but what about the underrated movies? We're talking about those deep cuts only true fans will wave the flag for, but the average moviegoer might never have seen. These films also deserve a special place in the almanacs of action movies, right?
This is the reason we're here now. By doing the heavy lifting and running through all these actors' filmographies, we have identified the best of the underrated best, and this is quite a collection of must-watch action movies for Friday nights. Make sure to vote up your favorites!
Marco Brambilla's Demolition Man sees Sylvester Stallone become Captain America - well, kind of. Stallone's John Spartan and mega-nemesis Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) are frozen in time in this 1993 sci-fi actioner. When Phoenix escapes after he is up for parole, Spartan must come out of his slumber to take down his mortal enemy in this new futuristic world he knows nothing about.
It turns out Sly is a massive fan of this film, too, as he posted the following on Instagram about it: "I always enjoyed this movie. It was a great action film wonderfully directed by Marco Brambilla. And the writers were way ahead of their time." Agreed. So, how about that long-rumored sequel?
When it comes to over-the-top films with elaborate action sequences and witty one-liners, no one is better than the legendary Bruce Willis. Pair him up with director Tony Scott and Damon Wayans, and it's a guaranteed good time of explosions, quirky banter, and more testosterone than a UFC main event.
In 1991's The Last Boy Scout, Willis portrays a weary detective who teams up with a former football player trying to get his job back as they uncover a plot about all the shady dealings in the world of American football. Entertainment Weeklycalled it "a guilty pleasure by any standard, but I've seen plenty of guilt-free movies lately that aren't this much fun."
There's no such thing as a bad Jackie Chan film. The guy simply doesn't miss. Stanley Tong's Rumble in the Bronx is a 1996 gem from Chan's filmography and the movie that announced his arrival as a global superstar to the American public.
Taking place in New York, Hong Kong policeman Keung (Chan) is in town for his uncle's big day. Unexpectedly, he makes nice with a gang that needs his help to take down the criminals known as the White Tigers.
Celebrated film critic Roger Ebert heaped praise on Chan in particular, writing: "The movie uses the flimsiest of plots as an excuse to string together astonishing action sequences in which Chan exhibits the physical grace and athletic control of a Buster Keaton."
After dazzling in The Mask of Zorro, Antonio Banderas received the opportunity to star in another action/period piece hybrid in the form of John McTiernan's The 13th Warrior. The 1999 film sees Banderas play the exiled character Ahmad ibn Fadlan who joins the Norsemen to square off against a supernatural danger and become the fabled 13th warrior - it's literally in the title here.
Loosely based on the unquestionably classic tale Beowulf, this story comes from the mind of Jurassic Park's Michael Crichton. As such, you can expect a lot of bombast to go along with Banderas's brooding.
Most young kids dream of being transported into the world of their favorite heroes, and that's what happens to Danny Madigan in John McTiernan's Last Action Hero. A magical ticket stub transports Danny to the movie world of action star Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger), where he gets to live out his dreams next to his idol. On another level, McTiernan's 1993 film also acts as a shrewd parody of the action genre as a whole.
Even Schwarzenegger considers it his most underrated role. "Last Action Hero was great - it wasn’t fantastic, but it was underrated," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "Now, more and more people are seeing it and saying, 'I love this movie.' I’m getting the residual checks, so I know it’s true."
John Travolta is supremely underrated as a bad guy. Go watch Face/Off if you disagree. In John Woo's Broken Arrow, he flexes his roguish repertoire in an intense thriller where everything threatens to go boom at any moment.
Travolta stars as Vic Deakins, an Air Force pilot who switches sides and has a keen eye on some nuclear warheads. It's up to his former partner (Christian Slater) to put a stop to his dastardly intentions and avert disaster. The film may have gotten a lukewarm reception from critics, but movies don't just become box office hits for no reason, and Travolta's performance has to be one of the reasons why this flick was so successful in 1996.
