At heart, each of us lives a little mischievous child. He dreams of traveling, discovering uncharted lands and new galaxies, fighting pirates, aliens and other villains and being a real hero. That is why the action movie genre is always so popular. After all, watching such films, viewers get the opportunity to escape from their daily worries for at least an hour and plunge into the magical world of movie adventures.
Let's look at a list of exciting militants who are considered the best of their kind and with whom it will be interesting to pass the evening.
Features of the genre "action"
Before you learn about the best films of this genre, it is worth considering the distinguishing features of this type of tape. Indeed, in many tops of the most exciting action movies, projects of other genres are often added to them. One of the main features of the action movie is the focus of the audience on violence. That is, such tapes must be full of fights, shots, chases, etc.
These projects implicitly promote the so-called aesthetics of violence. Therefore, in order to shoot such a picture, its creators have to apply a lot of special effects, which makes the militants one of the most expensive types of films.
As a rule, in such tapes the number of bad guys killed totals tens, if not hundreds. At the center of all events is a certain invulnerable and incredibly cool protagonist. Contrary to the laws of logic and physics, he manages to survive even in the most incredible situations and at the same time save the world, or part of it.
By the way, due to the abundance of violence, most militants are banned from watching by teenagers. The only irony is that it is this category of viewers who loves such pictures most of all and is inclined to circumvent all prohibitions for the sake of a favorite movie.
As for the plot, it is usually primitive in action movies, although there are happy exceptions to this rule.
To better understand the advantages and disadvantages of this genre, all of its fans should definitely watch the film "The Last Movie Hero" (1993) with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role. This project tells the story of a young action movie fan who, once in the world, began to use his knowledge of such films to help the protagonist find the culprit. Despite the playful style of the project, it makes fun of all the traditional cliches characteristic of the action.
List of the best action movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Consideration of the most exciting action movies is worth starting with projects that featured the legendary Iron Arnie.
During his career, he starred in more than 60 films. Not all of them were really successful, but very many.
The best of the militants with Schwarzenegger are like that.
- "Terminator 1, 2, 5".
- Commando
- "Running Man".
- "Remember everything".
- "True lie."
- "Escape plan".
- Quadrology "The Expendables". It is worth noting that in the action movies of this cycle, most of the stars of classic action games played. Perhaps that is why they were able to gain such popularity.
Action Films with Sylvester Stallone
Veteran of the action movie (thanks to which this genre became just that) is another star of the Expendables - Sylvester Stallone.
In his piggy bank there are more than 80 roles. However, like Arnie, not all of them were successful.
Two action franchises helped make Stallone a name in the movie world: Rocky (dedicated to the life of boxer Rocky Balboa) and Rambo.
In fairness, it is important to remember that not all the militants from these cycles are really interesting. However, it is worth looking at them, since they influenced the development of further world cinema culture, and many later projects contain references to them.
Below is a list of the most exciting action movies with Sylvester Stallone.
- "Cobra".
- "Locked up (Tjuryaga)".
- Rock climber.
- "Destroyer".
- "Judge Dredd".
- "Hired assassins".
Exciting action movies with Bruce Willis
Another hero of the classic action movie is Die Hard Bruce Willis. He starred in more than 100 films, and began his career as a comedian. It was only after the fantastic success of Die Hard that he moved into the category of action heroes.
His best work in this genre is this.
- "Die Hard 1,2,4".
- "The Last Boy Scout."
- "At a hit distance."
- "Crime novel".
- "The fifth Element".
- "Mercury is in danger."
- Nine Yards.
- "Sin City".
- "16 quarters."
- "RED".
Action with Mel Gibson
Blue-eyed handsome Mel can hardly be called a typical action hero. For his work, psychological and comic roles are more characteristic. Despite this, the artist managed to play far from one interesting action movie with an exciting plot.
The first fame brought him the action movie franchise "Mad Max". In total, Gibson starred in 3 parts of the project.
But the real glory of the hero of the fighters to the artist brought participation in the cycle "Deadly Weapon". Three of the four films of this epic are rightfully considered the best in their genre.
In addition to these projects, several very successful historical action movies came out with Mal: Braveheart, Patriot, and We Were Soldiers.
Among other interesting tapes of the action movie genre with this actor are such projects:
- Films "Ransom", dedicated to the father’s struggle with the kidnappers of his son.
- Psychological action movie "Conspiracy Theory".
- Payback 1999. Do not confuse her with the action movie "Payback" in 2016 with Ben Affleck in the title role. Although both pictures are great examples of action, the plot is different and unrelated.
This confusion has arisen due to incorrect translation of project titles. So, the 1999 film is called Payback ("Payback") in the original. And "Payback" in 2016 is called The Accountant ("Accountant").
What can I say: in the Russian box office and not such coincidences happen. For example, there are more than 5 different films with the name "Obsession", and their original names never coincide.
By the way, like all of the above artists, Mel Gibson also starred in The Expendables.
Militants with Tom Cruise
Unlike the artists mentioned earlier, Tom Cruise does not look like an action hero. Despite this, he played the main roles in many very successful projects of this genre.
The first exciting action drama with his participation was "Mission Impossible." The audience liked it so much that 5 more sequels were filmed, with Cruz in the lead role.
Some researchers of the work of Tom Cruise, argue that the first action movie with his participation is "The Best Shooter", released 10 years earlier. However, most movie experts agree that Top Gun is not exactly an action movie. By genre, he is closer to a military drama with elements of action.
The next action movie with Cruise, which is worth a look for every lover of this genre, is "Minority Report". This picture, telling about the near future, is full not only of chases and fights, but also interesting in its psychologism.
The film "The Last Samurai" is uncharacteristic for the work of Tom Cruise. This is a historical action movie about the events in Japan of the second half of the 19th century.
Unlike typical action films, this one is based on a well-written script and is striking in its realism. Thanks to this, “The Last Samurai” is very popular with the thinking half of the audience who appreciate in the action movies not only fights and chases, but also well-written characters of the characters and a well-thought-out plot, without “holes”.
In 2008, Cruz played in the militant "Soldiers of Failure". And although he did not get the main role, the picture was very entertaining and was well received by the audience. She talks about the attempts of the film crew to remove a military action movie in the jungle. The main roles in the film project were played by Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Nick Nolte and Matthew McConaughey.
But Cruise's next work in this genre, the painting “Knight of the Day” is a typical action movie with elements of humor. Despite the obvious hackneyedness of the artistic techniques used in it, the audience liked it, though mainly its female half.
Another successful work of the artist in recent years is the action-dilogy "Jack Reacher".
As for the fantastic action movie, the best movie project of Tom Cruise in recent years was the film "Edge of the Future" (2014). It was filmed on the basis of the popular Japanese eponymous ranobe. Despite a series of plot "holes", the project has become one of the best fantastic action films filmed in recent years. Therefore, lovers of temporal paradoxes, he clearly will like it.
Action movie with Brad Pitt
Initially, the main role in the film "Edge of the Future" (2014) was offered to play by Breda Pete. He, like Tom Cruise, began with the roles of handsome men and only then re-qualified as heroes of the militants.
The most famous action films with his participation are:
- "Fight Club" based on the cult eponymous novel by Chuck Palahniuk. This picture also acquired the status of a classic, though not everyone agrees that it relates to action.
- But about the genre of "Big Jackpot" (in which Pitt played Mickey O'Neill) - no one argues, as this is a classic crime action movie with elements of a black comedy.
- A special place in the artist’s work is occupied by peplum (historically action based on antique and biblical stories) of Troy, in which Brad played Achilles.
- Of course, the picture is very free to deal with Homer's works, but at the same time it is very interesting for viewing.
- The action movie about the war of the two killer spouses "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is one of the best family action games that should not be missed by fans of the creative duo Pete and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
- Quentin Tarantino's film "Inglourious Basterds" became a classic even before its release, as is the case with most films of this director. However, this action movie is suitable for a more sophisticated viewer, obviously over 16 years old, since there really is a lot of violence.
- The film "War of the Worlds Z" (2013) did not become something special in the genre of fantastic action movies about the invasion of zombies. However, it is a solidly made project, which can be said little about what picture of recent years. Thanks to this, in the coming years there will be a continuation of the “War of the Worlds Z” (2013), which will be called the “War of the Worlds Z: Chapter Two”.
- Also in recent years, with the participation of the artist, 2 action movies about the events of the Second World War were released: "Rage" and "Allies". These tapes are not very realistic. However, these are fighters, what to take from them?
The best action games dedicated to martial arts
A special place in this genre is occupied by projects on martial arts. Several artists stand out who are more often than others removed in such tapes.
- Bruce Lee: Fist of Fury, Dragon's Way, Game of Death.
- Jackie Chan: “Drunken Master”, “Dragon Fist”, “Armor of God 1-3”, “Who am I?”, “Shanghai Noon 1.2”, “Medallion”, “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Myth” , "Forbidden Kingdom".
- Jean-Claude Van Damme: "Bloody Sport", "Kickboxer", "Universal Soldier", "Patrol of Time".
- Donnie Yen: Highlander: The End of the Game, Blade II, Ip Man 1-3, Three X: World Domination.
Best comic book adaptations
Graphic novels - this is one of the inexhaustible sources of the script for the militants. The most famous in the world are two empires of comics: "Marvel" and DS. On the account of each of them is a lot of adaptation of graphic short stories, however, not all of them were successful. Below is a list of the best ones.
At DS it is:
- "Batman" (1989).
- The Shadow (1994).
- "Constantine: Lord of Darkness" (2005).
- The Batman Christopher Nolan Trilogy.
- The Keepers (2009).
- "Wonder Woman".
As for the "Marvel", then they have the best fighters are the following pictures.
- The Punisher (1989).
- The cycle "X-Men."
- The Spider-Man trilogy with Toby Maguire.
- "Ghost rider".
- "Iron Man 1.2."
- The Avengers (2012).
- "Thor 1-3".
- Ant-Man (2015).
- Deadpool (2016).
- "Doctor Strange" (2016).
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
It is worth noting that both Marvel and DS actively use the transitional character technique in their films. Thus, the heroes of some projects actively participate in the events of others, as secondary characters.
So Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman appear in Justice League tapes. But Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Doctor Strange and Tony Stark, in addition to individual franchises, appear in the Avengers, as well as each other's films.
In parallel, individual projects continue to be filmed about them. So, in future years, Marvel announced the release of the continuation of such tapes as Deadpool (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ant-Man (2015), Doctor Strange (2016), etc. The first parts of these fantastic action movies were really perfectly shot. However, will a worthy continuation come about? Time will tell. In the meantime, you can enjoy the first parts.
However, the Marvel world is not the only one living in the comic book world. There are several successful cycles of graphic novels from other publishers, on the basis of which many interesting action films were shot.
These are projects such as:
- "300 Spartans 1.2".
- "V means vendetta."
- "Kick Kick 1.2".
- Kingsman 1.2.
Video Game List
Also, many action films are shot based on popular video games.
The most famous of them are:
- Pentalogy Mortal Kombat (1995-2000).
- Six fighters from the Resident Evil cycle about the brave Alice.
- "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010).
- "Lara Croft - Tomb Raider 1,2" (2001, 2003).
- "Hitman 1.2" (2007, 2015).
- "Assassin's Creed" (2016).
- Warcraft (2016). By the way, this relatively new action movie turned out to be fantastically successful. He collected over 400 million at the box office. Thus, "Warcraft" (2016) was ahead of other film adaptations of video games. So in 2018, its continuation is coming.
Super Popular Jurassic Park Franchise
Among the numerous thematic groups of fighters, a special place is occupied by those of them that are dedicated to the fight against some dangerous animals. The ancestor of such paintings can be considered the 1954 tape "Godzilla", telling about a living dinosaur.
Her success gave rise to a lot of remakes and sequels. However, the most successful of them was Jurassic Park (1993). This film about the organization of an amusement park with cloned dinosaurs has become a real event in the cinema world. And even today, after many years, she remains unsurpassed.
In 1997, the continuation of this project was filmed, in which there were significantly more chases and killings. And although it was inferior to the debut project, this picture also became a classic.
In 2001, the third part was released, but it did not represent anything particularly interesting.
After 14 years, it was decided to restart the franchise, and soon the film "Jurassic World" (2015) was released. Although the quality of the plot and the banal logic of the development of events was inferior to even the least successful part III of Jurassic Park, the excellent special effects and the audience’s love for this topic did their job. The picture earned at the box office $ 1.5 billion.
Such a fantastic success of “Jurassic World” (2015), contributed to the fact that its continuation, which should be released in the summer of 2018, is already being filmed.
List of the most interesting Soviet fighters
Although the action movie genre is considered the invention of the Americans, adventure films with chases and fights (which he is) were shot in the USSR.
So, the tape “Elusive Avengers”, shot in 1967, can be considered the first Soviet action movie. Its success with the audience was so great that in the next years 2 more sequels were released: “New Adventures of the Elusive” and “The Crown of the Russian Empire, or Again elusive. "
The entire Elusive Avengers trilogy was a real event, and the main performers turned into the first movie stars for teenagers from all over the country.
In 1970, another action movie was released in the USSR, which became a unique phenomenon in the cinema of that time. We are talking about isterna "White desert sun." Like the trilogy mentioned above, he talked about the heroes of the Civil War. And in the same way was squandered on quotes.
In 1979, another Soviet action movie appeared on the movie screens - “Twentieth Century Pirates”. Unlike the previous ones, it corresponded to the best western and eastern traditions.
In the same year, the project "Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed" was released on television. And although it is a TV series in format, it contains all the signs of a police action movie.
Among other actions of that period, it is worth mentioning the tape "Do not be afraid, I'm with you." In addition to chases, fights and murders, touching Bul-Bul Ogly songs were also sounded in it.
As the last example of the most successful Soviet fighters, it is worth bringing the last tape with the participation of Anatoly Papanov - "Cold Summer 53rd".
The best Russian fighters
Although after the collapse of the USSR, the film industry of the Russian Federation came to its senses for almost a decade, later on in this country they also learned how to shoot high-quality action games.
The most exciting of them are:
- "Brother 1, 2."
- "A fight with a shadow".
- "Sisters."
- Wolfhound.
- "We are from the future".
- "9 Rota".
- "Turkish gambit".
- "Countdown".
- "Breaking news".
- "On the game".
Almost every Russian exciting action movie from the ones listed above was subsequently continued, and sometimes more than one.
However, only the “Brother” they turned out really successful. This indicates that in the Russian Federation they are capable of shooting excellent action films that are able to interest foreign viewers, but they do not work out as much as we would like.