
If cinema is the perfect escapist medium-and until someone invents a virtual-reality device that works, it will be-then action movies are its purest expression, the best way we know of for humanity to shake itself loose from the trappings of humdrum reality and take to the ether. It isn’t exactly what pseuds would call High Art.Īll of which is precisely the point. It doesn’t offer much insight into the human condition (though the image of Bruce Willis walking on broken glass could be taken as a poignant metaphor for life’s little brutalities). But does Die Hard really fit the bill? It doesn’t have anything to say about the state of the world. The killer scene: Alan Rickman’s final tumble: iconic, nostalgic, slightly-shoddy-effects–based glory.


🥋 The 25 best martial arts movies of all-timeĬast: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedeliaīest quote: “Now I have a machine gun. 🌊 33 great disaster movies that’ll have you running for cover Written by Eddy Frankel, Eddy Frankel, Joshua Rothkopf, Trevor Johnston, Ashley Clark, Grady Hendrix, Tom Huddleston, Keith Uhlich, Dave Calhoun, Phil de Semlyen, Dave Calhoun & Matthew Singer Just be warned that your hand may experience some soreness from all the high-fiving you’re likely to do while watching. Light that fuse, clip that wire and batten down the hatches – these are the most pulse-pounding, heart-racing, edge of your seat thrill rides ever put to film. Time Out ’s critics have weighed in, too. To put together this definitive list of the greatest action movies ever made, we polled over 50 experts in the field, from Die Hard director John McTiernan to the actual folks in the line of fire, such as Machete himself, Danny Trejo. Shoot, some even have character development. Others might dropkick you right in the heart. (To be fair, Bay does have some bangers, including one on this list.) But action flicks needn’t be dumb or epic or even particularly loud to succeed. The problem is that the genre has been co-opted by the likes of Michael Bay and a stream of hacks who think that big explosions are the only thing a movie needs. After all, film is meant to make you feel something, and the best action movies will quite literally make your chest rumble – usually because something big just exploded.

Art school snobs and hardcore cineastes may turn their noses in public, but the truth is, deep down, everyone loves a good action movie.
