The 8 Most Exciting Action Movies in Film History

Image via 20th Century Studios Published Aug 31, 2026, 5:31 PM EDT William likes watching movies and writing about those movies. Anything else is minutae. Sign in to your Collider account Action movies have excitement on lock. No genre of movie can get pulses racing and fists pumping like action can. Car chases, gunfights and hand-to-hand combat are all the elements that make for exciting entertainment, and they all feature in some of the most exciting action movies in film history. What makes these action movies more exciting than any others is certainly subjective, but there’s no denying they are all effectively made. They're all action classics from the 20th and 21st centuries, with some of the genre's biggest stars and filmmakers well represented among them. Some could qualify as the greatest films ever made, while others are indelible favorites, but they're all exciting as hell. 8 'Die Hard' (1988) Image via 20th Century Studios "Suspense, excitement, adventure on every level." That’s one of the taglines used to describe Die Hard and its truth in advertising. This 80s action classic directed by John McTiernan brought excitement back to the genre after the decade had been dominated by muscular supermen who could shrug off bullet wounds like bug bites. Casting Bruce Willis, best known at the time for the television series Moonlighting, gives the movie an action hero with real vulnerability. Pitting him against a skyscraper full of armed assailants turns that vulnerability into intense excitement. The action sequences are all staged perfectly, continually putting John McClane (Willis) on the back foot as he tries to save his wife’s Christmas party from Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his team of thieves, and then makes him walk over glass with that foot. The success of Die Hard would inspire multiple films that would attempt to repeat its formula of one man against an army of villains in an isolated location, though none could ever match its excitement. To quote another tagline, it will blow you through the back wall of the theater. 7 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991) Image via Tri-Star Pictures Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the indestructible supermen who were superseded by the Willis’ of the world. His most famous role made him quite literally indestructible, as he played the relentless villain of James Cameron’s The Terminator. After both men spent the rest of the 80s cultivating their action careers, they retraced for the sequel, which reprogrammed Schwarzenegger to be the hero and upped the excitement quotient exponentially. The Terminator was a tense sci-fi slasher action thriller but Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a blockbuster on a whole other level. Tapping into Schwarzenegger’s finely tuned star power and putting him as the protector gives the sequel a lighter tone and gives Cameron room to bring in an even badder villain. The T-1000 (Robert Patrick) was originally planned for the first film, but Cameron quickly scrapped it because the technology wasn’t available yet. The groundbreaking CGI used to make the liquid metal killer is one part of what makes Terminator 2 such a well-oiled machine of excitement. The other parts are a motorcycle versus semi-truck chase sequence, a nonstop third act that’s all action, and Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton competing to see who can be the biggest badass. 6 'Hard Boiled' (1992) Image via Golden Princess Film Production John Woo has a filmography filled with exciting action movies. From his heroic bloodshed classics like A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, to his Hollywood hits Hard Target and Face/Off. His action direction is second to none, and his undisputed action masterpiece is Hard Boiled. It was his final action film made in Hong Kong before moving to Hollywood, and it’s an exciting culmination of that phase of his career. The title is appropriate given the film’s clear noir influences, with a jazz-loving detective intent on taking down a criminal syndicate. That detective is Tequila (Chow Yun-fat), and while the film itself is inspired by classic crime thrillers, it’s all exciting action, featuring the most blistering gunfights in Woo’s career. Any one of the three major action sequences, from the tea house opening to the hospital climax, are more exciting than entire action movies, but cumulatively make Hard Boiled a masterpiece of ballistic exhilaration. 5 'Speed' (1994) Image via 20th Century Studios For even more truth in titling, there’s the 90s action classic Speed. Though it’s often referred to as the best of the Die Hard clones, and the film does feature a McClane-Gruber kind of relationship between its hero and villain, it’s more inspired by thrillers like Runaway Train. No matter how it’s classified, it’s definitely exciting. Directed by Jan de Bont, who was the cinematographer on Die Hard, and giving Keanu Reeves his second action hero role, it’s popcorn perfection that puts the pedal to metal. The premise is simple, and similar to the Japanese film The Bullet Train. A bus has a bomb put on it by a madman, and it’s rigged to go off if the bus drops below fifty miles per hour. That makes the action nonstop by design. Many people forget the extraneous action sequences that take place either side of the bus-set action, but it’s all very exciting stuff. Speed is high-concept action that goes above and beyond its concept. Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would BeYour Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back. 🎖️Rambo 🍸James Bond 🏺Indiana Jones 🔧John McClane 🎭Ethan Hunt FIND YOUR PARTNER → 01 You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you. ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged. NEXT QUESTION → 02 You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission. AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method. NEXT QUESTION → 03 You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of. ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead. NEXT QUESTION → 04 The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are. AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability. APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership. AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters. ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had. ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up. NEXT QUESTION → 09 Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together. AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked. NEXT QUESTION → 10 It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one. AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been. REVEAL MY PARTNER → Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse. RamboYour partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know. James BondYour partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing. Indiana JonesYour partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them. John McClaneYour partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay. Ethan HuntYour partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 4 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (2007) Image via Universal Pictures Spy movies are always going to have some level of excitement. It just depends on whether it’s found in psychological tension or action-packed espionage. North by Northwest, Casino Royale, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout are all among the most exciting spy movies, but The Bourne Ultimatum is simply relentless. As the climax to the original spy trilogy starring Matt Damon, it's the ultimate spy action thriller, and it leaves you breathless in the best way possible. On the hunt to find answers and finally end his one-man war against the CIA, Jason Bourne (Damon), goes from London to Tangiers to New York City, and he’s followed by the queasy camerawork that’s the signature of director Paul Greengrass. Though a maligned visual style by many action fans, it’s the imitators that are to fault. While it may not be the most legible action put on screen, the chase and action sequences in The Bourne Ultimatum are pulse-racing perfection. 3 'Unstoppable' (2010) Image via 20th Centruy Fox Tony Scott, though known as a successful blockbuster action director, was never given his full due for how influential he was in the action genre. His distinct glossy visuals and kinetic action coming out of the 80s and early 90s inspired almost every action director who followed, and his style only continued to evolve. His 2000s saw him experimenting with more extreme editing and camera techniques. His final films would find a middle ground between his slick and chaotic senses, and he perfected the combination in his last movie, Unstoppable. A classic runaway train thriller (this one without a bomb on board), the movie takes its time to get going, but then is just a juggernaut of excitement. It’s as perfectly directed an action movie as has ever been made and, like Scott himself, was undervalued. Popcorn entertainment this perfectly paced and produced isn’t automated. It takes a filmmaker with the skills and energy of Scott to pull it off properly. 2 'The Raid' (2011) Image via PT Merantau Films The 2000s started a trend of increased brutality in action and martial arts movies, led by films like Ong Bak and Oldboy. Those and several other seminal films paved the way for 2010s franchises like John Wick, Extraction and, most excitingly, The Raid. An Indonesian action masterpiece, directed by Welshman Gareth Evans, it’s another contained movie but one that’s punctuated by bone-cracking, blood-spurting fight scenes. After a SWAT team is torn to shreds by bullets when trying to raid an apartment block to take down a drug lord, it leaves Rama (Iko Uwais) to lead a small group of survivors through floor after floor of killers. Its survival horror meets martial arts action, and Uwais makes for a compelling action hero in that context. His and the rest of the stunt performers’ physicality is what makes The Raid such an exciting action thriller. 1 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (2015) Image via Warner Bros. Pictures George Miller’s Mad Max franchise has been consistently exciting from the original Ozploitation revenge thriller to the epic prequel Furiosa, but it’s the invigorating Mad Max: Fury Road that’s the peak of excitement. Taking the climax of Mad Max 2 and turning it to feature length, it’s one long car chase across the desert that never runs out of gas or takes a wrong turn. Max (Tom Hardy) finds himself dragged into another conflict, this one between the despot Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and the bionic-armed badass Furiosa (Charlize Theron). The car chases, which blend incredible stuntwork with visually stunning CGI, are perfectly constructed, down to a single frame in many cases. Mad Max: Fury Road is pure adrenaline and high octane excitement.