The 100 best action movies: film critics and experts, A-L
The world’s leading action stars, directors and critics pick the best action movies ever, including martial-arts movies, explosive stunts and the best action thrillers
By Time Out editors
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How did we choose the 100 best action movies of all time? We went straight to the experts and polled people who have created some of the greatest action films ever made. We asked each of them for their ten favorite action movies. From there we calculated the top 100 overall best action movies. Here, you'll find the personal selections of film critics and experts including Grady Hendrix (co-founder of the New York Asian Film Festival) and Joshua Rothkopf (film editor of Time Out New York).
Ben Sin
Ben Sin is the former film editor of Time Out Hong Kong
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- Police Story (1985)
- Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
- A Better Tomorrow (1986)
- Hard Boiled (1992)
- Exiled (2006)
- Fist of Fury (1972)
- Drunken Master (1978)
- Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)
- City on Fire (1987)
- The Legend (a.k.a. Fong Sai-yuk) (1993)
Cath Clarke
Cath Clarke is the deputy film editor of Time Out London
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Christopher Rouse
Christopher Rouse is a film editor best known for his work with Paul Greengrass on The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- Hard Boiled (1992)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Raging Bull (1980)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
- The Dark Knight (2008)
Colin Geddes
Colin Geddes is a programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival.
- Hard Boiled (1992)
- Project A (1983)
- Ong-bak (2003)
- Enter the Dragon (1973)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- Kill Bill (2003/2004)
- The Great Escape (1963)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Aliens (1986)
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Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun is the global film editor of Time Out.
- The General (1926)
- The Wages of Fear (1953)
- North by Northwest (1959)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- Kill Bill (2003/2004)
- RoboCop (1987)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- “Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat” (1896
Eoin Friel
Eoin Friel runs a website called the Action Elite. The site is dedicated especially to old-school films from action heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
- Die Hard (1988)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Predator (1987)
- RoboCop (1987)
- Lethal Weapon (1987)
- The Raid (2011)
- Enter the Dragon (1973)
- Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
- Ip Man (2008)
- The Rock (1996)
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Grady Hendrix
Grady Hendrix is a writer and co-founder of the New York Asian Film Festival, which The New York Times has called “one of the city’s most valuable cultural events.”
- Dragons Forever (1988)
- Full Contact (1992)
- Bullet in the Head (1990)
- The Blade (1995)
- The Mission (1999)
- Heroes of the East (a.k.a. Shaolin Challenges Ninja, 1978)
- The Tournament (1974)
- Nowhere to Hide (1999)
- Aachi and Ssipak (2006)
- Ong-bak (2003)
Harvey O’Brien
Harvey O’Brien is the author of Action Movies: The Cinema of Striking Back and The Real Ireland: The Evolution of Ireland in Documentary Film.
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- Aliens (1986)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Die Hard (1988)
- The Killer (1989)
- Enter the Dragon (1973)
- Dirty Harry (1971)
- Commando (1985)
- Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
- Last Action Hero (1993)
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Helen Gynell top ten (in alphabetical order)
ActionMovieFreak.com is a fan site created to promote the genre, featuring everything you love about action movies.
- Aliens (1986)
- Commando (1985)
- Die Hard (1988)
- Mission: Impossible (1996)
- Predator (1987)
- Rambo III (1988)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
- The Matrix (1999)
- The Rock (1996)
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf is the film editor of Time Out New York
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Face/Off (1997)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- The Fugitive (1993)
- Hard Boiled (1992)
- Enter the Dragon (1973)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
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