An action thriller film is a mix between the genres of action and thrillers and they often feature guns, cool explosions, and amazing set pieces. With that being said I;'m going to bring you my top 10 favorite action thrillers of all-time. So without further ado...
10. Kill Bill: Volume 1
This is one of the most violent films that I have ever seen, but I still enjoy watching it a lot. An entire wedding party is slaughtered during a dress rehearsal in a rural chapel: the pregnant woman in the blood-splattered wedding dress is Black Mamba, better known as The Bride (played by Uma Thurman). The assassin, Bill (played by David Carradine), and his circle known as The Vipers left The Bride for dead, but unluckily for them she was merely comatose. Four years later, The Bride suddenly awakens from her coma and realizes what has been done to her. She sets off on a ferociously focused mission, setting out to seek revenge on her former master and his deadly squad of assassins. One by one, she kills the various members of the assassin group. She saves Bill for last. Kill Bill: Volume 1 has a rating of 85% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. The Warriors
This is a fantastic film and it vastly underrated. As the tale opens, the titular Coney Island has traveled to the Bronx to attend a city-wide meeting of all gangs; at that event, however, the psychotic leader of a rival gang, The Rogues assassinates the head of the city's foremost gang, but The Warriors are pegged as culpable. This sends the gang fleeing through the labyrinthine city. With every thug in Manhattan in vicious, homicidal pursuit, they must also overcome all obstacles in their way. The Warriors has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Starship Toopers
This an absolutely ridiculous film and one film that I got in trouble for for watching it at a very young age. The story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico (played by Casper Van Dien) and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to NCO and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an insectoid species known as "Arachnids". Starship Troopers was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and it has a rating of 63% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Speed
This film will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time and it has some nice comedic elements as well. Jack Traven (played by Keanu Reeves) is an LA Bomb Squad specialist whose principal antagonist is elusive bomber-extortionist Dennis Hopper. Seeking vengeance after his latest ransom scheme is thwarted, Hopper presents a personal challenge to Reeves: A wired-for-destruction city bus, which will detonate if the speedometer drops below 50 MPH. Speed was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing while winning 2 (Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing) and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. True Lies
This is an amazing film and it is also a really great character study and a look at how Vietnam veterans were treated after the war. A former Green Beret must use all of the guerrilla tactics he learned in Vietnam to save himself after he is falsely accused of a crime while visiting the lush and wild Pacific Northwest in this heart-pounding actioner. First Blood has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Lethal Weapon
The film is full of suspense from beginning to end and it has some amazing performances. Dr. Richard Kimble (played by Harrison Ford, is convicted of murdering his wife. While being transferred to prison by bus, Kimble is involved in a bus-train collision. Surviving the disaster, Kimble escapes, vowing to track down the elusive professional criminal whom he holds responsible for the murder. Dogging the fugitive every foot of the way is U.S. marshal Sam Gerard (played by Tommy Lee Jones), who announces his intention to search "every whorehouse, doghouse, and outhouse" to bring Kimble to justice. The Fugitive was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Sound Editing while winning the award for Best Supporting Actor and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
This is just a complete non-stop action film filled with amazing special effects and terrific performances. In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max (played by Tom Hardy), a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland. Mad Max: Fury Road has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
10. Kill Bill: Volume 1
This is one of the most violent films that I have ever seen, but I still enjoy watching it a lot. An entire wedding party is slaughtered during a dress rehearsal in a rural chapel: the pregnant woman in the blood-splattered wedding dress is Black Mamba, better known as The Bride (played by Uma Thurman). The assassin, Bill (played by David Carradine), and his circle known as The Vipers left The Bride for dead, but unluckily for them she was merely comatose. Four years later, The Bride suddenly awakens from her coma and realizes what has been done to her. She sets off on a ferociously focused mission, setting out to seek revenge on her former master and his deadly squad of assassins. One by one, she kills the various members of the assassin group. She saves Bill for last. Kill Bill: Volume 1 has a rating of 85% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. The Warriors
This is a fantastic film and it vastly underrated. As the tale opens, the titular Coney Island has traveled to the Bronx to attend a city-wide meeting of all gangs; at that event, however, the psychotic leader of a rival gang, The Rogues assassinates the head of the city's foremost gang, but The Warriors are pegged as culpable. This sends the gang fleeing through the labyrinthine city. With every thug in Manhattan in vicious, homicidal pursuit, they must also overcome all obstacles in their way. The Warriors has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Starship Toopers
This an absolutely ridiculous film and one film that I got in trouble for for watching it at a very young age. The story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico (played by Casper Van Dien) and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to NCO and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an insectoid species known as "Arachnids". Starship Troopers was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and it has a rating of 63% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Speed
This film will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time and it has some nice comedic elements as well. Jack Traven (played by Keanu Reeves) is an LA Bomb Squad specialist whose principal antagonist is elusive bomber-extortionist Dennis Hopper. Seeking vengeance after his latest ransom scheme is thwarted, Hopper presents a personal challenge to Reeves: A wired-for-destruction city bus, which will detonate if the speedometer drops below 50 MPH. Speed was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing while winning 2 (Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing) and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. True Lies
This is a fun and amazing film that I can enjoy over and over every time I watch it. By day Harry Tasker (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a mild-mannered computer salesman with a wife and teenage daughter. But at other times, he is a high-ranking spy living on the edge. His wife hasn't a clue that he and his partner Gib (played by Tom Arnold) are constantly in danger. After Tasker begins to suspect her of infidelity, he uses every trick in the book to verify his suspicions. Everything blows apart when Helen (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), his wife finally learns the truth about her heretofore dull husband. True Lies has a rating of 72% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. First BloodThis is an amazing film and it is also a really great character study and a look at how Vietnam veterans were treated after the war. A former Green Beret must use all of the guerrilla tactics he learned in Vietnam to save himself after he is falsely accused of a crime while visiting the lush and wild Pacific Northwest in this heart-pounding actioner. First Blood has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Lethal Weapon
This movie is absolutely hilarious and it started the buddy cop genre. L.A. cop Martin Riggs (played by Mel Gibson), whose wife has recently died, is a loose cannon with a seeming death wish. This makes him indispensable in collaring dangerous criminals, but a liability to any potential partners. Roger Murtaugh (played by Danny Glover), a conservative family man who wants to stay alive for his upcoming 50th birthday, is partnered with Riggs. As Riggs gets to know Murtaugh and his family, he begins to mellow, though his insistence on using guerilla tactics to catch criminals is still (put mildly) above and beyond the call of duty. The main villain is The General (played by Mitchell Ryan), a drug dealer responsible for the death of the daughter of one of Murtaugh's oldest friends. The General is also in charge of a deadly, militia-like gang of smugglers. Lethal Weapon has a rating of 84% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Point Break
I absolutely love this film and and I think it is vastly underrated. FBI agent Johnny Utah (played by Keanu Reeves) as he goes undercover to infiltrate a cache of Southern California surfers suspected of robbing banks. Utah, a former football player, is assigned to Los Angeles. There, four bank robbers, who wear rubber masks and call themselves "Ex-Presidents," have executed a series of successful robberies which embarrassingly have the FBI stumped. Utah, and his partner Pappas (played by Gary Busey) suspect that the robbers are surfers and hatch a plan for catching them. Point Break has a rating of 68% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. The Fugitive3. Point Break
I absolutely love this film and and I think it is vastly underrated. FBI agent Johnny Utah (played by Keanu Reeves) as he goes undercover to infiltrate a cache of Southern California surfers suspected of robbing banks. Utah, a former football player, is assigned to Los Angeles. There, four bank robbers, who wear rubber masks and call themselves "Ex-Presidents," have executed a series of successful robberies which embarrassingly have the FBI stumped. Utah, and his partner Pappas (played by Gary Busey) suspect that the robbers are surfers and hatch a plan for catching them. Point Break has a rating of 68% on rottentomatoes.com.
The film is full of suspense from beginning to end and it has some amazing performances. Dr. Richard Kimble (played by Harrison Ford, is convicted of murdering his wife. While being transferred to prison by bus, Kimble is involved in a bus-train collision. Surviving the disaster, Kimble escapes, vowing to track down the elusive professional criminal whom he holds responsible for the murder. Dogging the fugitive every foot of the way is U.S. marshal Sam Gerard (played by Tommy Lee Jones), who announces his intention to search "every whorehouse, doghouse, and outhouse" to bring Kimble to justice. The Fugitive was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Sound Editing while winning the award for Best Supporting Actor and it has a rating of 96% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
This is just a complete non-stop action film filled with amazing special effects and terrific performances. In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max (played by Tom Hardy), a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron), a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland. Mad Max: Fury Road has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite action thrillers and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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