16 Action Films You Need To Watch Before You Die

16 Action Films You Need To Watch Before You Die

Die Hard

The Dark Night

When the menace known as the Joker emerges from his mysterious past, he wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the Dark Knight must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Writers: Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay)
• Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

The French Connection

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.

• Director: William Friedkin
• Writers: Ernest Tidyman (screenplay), Robin Moore (based on the book by)
• Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey

The Bourne Identity

A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and regain his memory.

• Director: Doug Liman
• Writers: Tony Gilroy (screenplay), W. Blake Herron (screenplay) (as William Blake Herron)
• Stars: Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper

Raiders of the last ark

Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Writers: Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay), George Lucas (story by)
• Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman

RoboCop

In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.

• Director: Paul Verhoeven
• Writers: Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
• Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy

The Matrix

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.

• Directors: Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
• Writers: Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
• Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss

Speed

A young police officer must prevent a bomb exploding aboard a city bus by keeping its speed above 50 mph.

• Director: Jan de Bont
• Writer: Graham Yost
• Stars: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son, John Connor, from a more advanced cyborg.

• Director: James Cameron
• Writers: James Cameron, William Wisher Jr. (as William Wisher)
• Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong

Bullitt

An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

Director: Peter Yates
Writers: Alan Trustman (screenplay) (as Alan R. Trustman), Harry Kleiner (screenplay)
Stars: Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn

Mad Max: Fury Road

A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in postapocalyptic Australia in search for her home-land with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper, and a drifter named Max.

• Director: George Miller
• Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy
• Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

Gladiator

When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor’s corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.

• Director: Ridley Scott
• Writers: David Franzoni (story), David Franzoni (screenplay)
• Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen

Jurassic Park

During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Writers: Michael Crichton (novel), Michael Crichton (screenplay)
• Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum

Lethal Weapon

A veteran policeman, Murtaugh, is partnered with a younger, suicidal officer, Riggs. They both have one thing in common: hating working in pairs. Now they must learn to work with one another to stop a gang of drug smugglers.

• Director: Richard Donner
• Writer: Shane Black
• Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey

The Avengers

Earth’s mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.

• Director: Joss Whedon
• Writers: Joss Whedon (screenplay), Zak Penn (story)
• Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson

Kill Bill