The Best Action Films by Sub-Genre

The Best Action Films by Sub-Genre

   Uncategorized    May 9, 2021  |  0

The action genre has been one of my favorites since I was young and I would read countless rankings of “Best Action Movie” lists to find more that I would like. The issue is that, like most genres, there are too many different varieties of the movies to make a comparison of any value. Below I’ve broken out some of my favorite action films into some of the most common sub-genres. It’s certainly not a complete list so if you have some recommendations of other sub-genres please leave a comment.

The Buddy Cop Movie

This action/crime hybrid was one of the most popular sub-genres of the 1980s and 90s. The success of the film often hinges on the chemistry between the two protagonists who’s funny banter has to offset the typically dark violence and plot.

Greatest Films:

  1. Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987)
  2. 48 Hours (Walter Hill, 1982)
  3. Die Hard with a Vengeance (John McTiernan, 1999)
  4. Midnight Run (Martin Brest, 1988)
  5. Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright, 2007)
  6. Rush Hour (Brett Ratner, 1998)
  7. Tango & Cash (Andrei Konchalovsky, 1989)
  8. Lethal Weapon 2 (Richard Donner, 1989)
  9. Bad Boys (Michael Bay, 1995)
  10. Rush Hour 2 (Brett Ratner, 2001)


The Terrorist/Hostage Movie

You could really just call this the ‘Die Hard’ sub-genre because it started the scenario and spawned countless imitators. The synopsis involves terrorists taking a buidling/boat/plane/island and the unsuspecting hero has to save the day.

Greatest Films:

  1. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1989)
  2. The Rock (Michael Bay, 1996)
  3. Con Air (Simon West, 1997)
  4. Die Hard 2 (Renny Harlin, 1990)
  5. Air Force One (Wolfgang Petersen, 1997)
  6. Cliffhanger (Renny Harlin, 1993)
  7. Under Siege (Andrew Davis, 1992)
  8. Executive Decision (Stuart Baird, 1996)
  9. Sudden Death (Peter Hyams, 1995)
  10. Olympus Has Fallen (Anton Fuqua, 2013)


Classic Martial Arts

These original Martial Arts films often featured very simple plots (such as a fighting competition) and campy characters, but the action still holds up to this day. Bruce Lee popularized it in the West.

Greatest Films:

  1. Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse, 1973)
  2. Master of the Flying Guillotine (Jimmy Wang Yu, 1976)
  3. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Chia Liang Liu, 1978)
  4. The Way of the Dragon (Bruce Lee, 1972)
  5. The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (Chia Liang Liu, 1984)
  6. Fist of Fury (Wei Lo, 1972)
  7. Five Finger of Death (Chang-hwa Jeong, 1972)
  8. The Game of Death (Robert Clouse, 1978)
  9. Return to the 36th Chamber (Chia Liang Liu, 1980)
  10. The Big Boss (Wei Lo, 1971)


Martial Arts Second Wave

Coming after the first Golden Age, this higher profile movement catapulted a new generation of martial artists like Jackie Chan and Jet Li to superstardom. They feature noticeably better production quality and plot than their earlier counterparts.

Greatest Films:

  1. The Legend of the Drunken Master (Jackie Chan & Chia-Liang Liu, 1994)
  2. Police Story (Jackie Chan & Chi-Hwa Chen, 1985)
  3. Once Upon a Time in China (Hark Tsui, 1991)
  4. Rumble in the Bronx (Stanley Tong, 1995)
  5. Iron Monkey (Woo-Ping Yuen, 1993)
  6. Who Am I? (Benny Chan & Jackie Chan, 1998)
  7. Bloodsport (Newt Arnold, 1988)
  8. Fist of Legend (Gordan Chan, 1994)
  9. Kickboxer (Mark DiSalle & David Worth, 1989)
  10. Once Upon a Time in China II (Hark Tsui, 1992)


Contemporary Martial Arts

While the previous era focused more on advancing character and plot in the genre, the more recent martial arts films are focused on increasingly complex and brutal fight scenes with some of the most thrilling fight scenes ever recorded.

Greatest Films:

  1. The Raid: Redemption (Gareth Evans, 2011)
  2. The Protector (Prachya Pinkaew, 2005)
  3. Ip Man (Wilson Yip, 2008)
  4. The Raid 2 (Gareth Evans, 2014)
  5. Ong Bak (Prachya Pinkaew, 2003)
  6. Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow, 2004)
  7. Ip Man 2 (Wilson Yip, 2010)
  8. Chocolate (Prachya Pinkaew, 2008)
  9. Ong Bak 2 (Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai, 2008)
  10. Ip Man 3 (Wilson Yip, 2015)


The Superhero Blockbuster

What started as the occasional niche film, Superhero movies became their own unique powerhouse. They often feature operatic story arcs and big, usually CGI, action scenes. It should be noted that many of these movies are only good if you’ve seen the previous installments (just like comic books).

Greatest Films:

  1. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
  2. Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi, 2004)
  3. Avengers: Infinity War (The Russo Brothers, 2018)
  4. X2: X-Men United (Bryan Singer, 2003)
  5. Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008)
  6. Avenger: Endgame (The Russo Brothers, 2019)
  7. Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005)
  8. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (Bob Persichetti et al., 2018)
  9. Blade II (Guillermo del Toro, 2002)
  10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (The Russo Brothers, 2014)


The Sci-Fi Action Blockbuster

These are the CGI action spectacles that aren’t superhero movies. Often set in space, or feature aliens or time travel, these films have big budget, spent on producing awe-inspiring visuals (at least for their time). The differentiation from the similar “Dystopian” category is that these are less concerned with the high concept environment/themes and more on the action with sci-fi elements.

Greatest Films:

  1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron, 1991)
  2. Aliens (James Cameorn, 1986)
  3. Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)
  4. Men in Black (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1989)
  5. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
  6. Predators (Nimrod Atal, 2010)
  7. Transformers (Michael Bay, 2007)
  8. Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996)
  9. Timecop (Peter Hyams, 1994)
  10. Universal Soldier (Roland Emmerich, 1992)


The Government Operative Film

These action thrillers separate themselves from the campier ‘Secret Agent’ genre by focusing more on the large scale action. The plots are typically about more grounded international intrigue and feature grittier violence. (Bond films are a category of their own, their ranking can be found here.)

Greatest Films:

  1. The Bourne Identity (Doug Liman, 2002)
  2. Mission Impossible: Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)
  3. Face/Off (John Woo, 1997)
  4. Clear and Present Danger (Phillip Noyce, 1994)
  5. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015)
  6. The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass, 2007)
  7. Point Break (Katherine Bigelow, 1991)
  8. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011)
  9. Patriot Games (Phillip Noyce, 1992)
  10. True Lies (James Cameron, 1994)


Dystopian Action

There are A LOT of dystopian sci-fi movies, but this category is specific to the ones that focus on the action. They can feature a framework of social commentary, but these themes are usually not explored deeply and the movies are usually campy in nature.

Greatest Films:

  1. Robocop (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)
  2. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
  3. Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990)
  4. The Matrix (The Wachowski Siblings, 1999)
  5. Escape from New York (John Carpenter, 1981)
  6. Mad Max 2: Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981)
  7. Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla, 1993)
  8. Running Man (Paul Michael Glaser, 1987)
  9. Escape from L.A. (John Carpenter, 1996)
  10. The 6th Day (Roger Spottiswoode, 2000)


The Anti-hero Film

The anti-hero film is usually more developed and darker than most other action films. Typically featuring hitmen or other career criminals, the protagonist’s are never nice people but are still portrayed as the relative good in the story. The violence tends to be more brutal.

Greatest Films:

  1. John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski, 2017)
  2. Leon: The Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)
  3. The Killer (John Woo, 1989)
  4. Crank 2: High Voltage (Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, 2009)
  5. Fast Five (Justin Lin, 2011)
  6. John Wick (Chad Stahelski, 2014)
  7. Assassins (Richard Donner, 1995)
  8. Fast & Furious 6 (Justin Lin, 2013)
  9. La Femme Nikita (Luc Besson, 1990)
  10. The Equalizer (Antoine Fuqua, 2014)


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