We have reached the top-10 movies of the decade. If you’ve missed any of the other episodes, they’ll all be linked in this video for you to check out later. I’m diving into ten world class action movies that I think will stand the test of time. So, let’s get into it.
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Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
Coming in at #10 is a movie about a cop who can be great on a good day, and on a bad day, he’s the best there is, because he is Bruce Willis. Bruce Willis is John McClane, and the film would be 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance from director John McTiernan also starring Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Irons.
Now after Die Hard 2 basically remade the first Die Hard, Die Hard with a Vengeance was able to take the franchise to completely new avenues while still maintaining the same tone and vibe that made the first film so iconic and timeless. Sort of Lethal Weapon inspired with Willis’s pairing with Samuel L. Jackson and the elevation of the buddy comedy themes actually works for the needs of this creative plotline that has plenty of spectacle but still feels relatively grounded and realistic. Willis and Jackson working together to solve clues is a great time and it’s because the contained elements of the franchise are removed. Unlike the confines of a building, or an airport, the entire city of New York is the new playground, and it allowed the film to incorporate so much more into the action. You get all the shootouts and fight sequences with McClane doing his thing. But Die Hard with a Vengeance was also able to deliver impressive action set-pieces like the taxi chase through central park, the chase sequence on the highway and even with things getting a bit too over the top in the flooded tunnel this is still the best film in the franchise after the first.
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Blade (1998)
I have a comic book movie for my #9 film about a man with the power of an immortal, the soul of a human, and the heart of a hero. And the movie is of course 1998’s Blade starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, and Stephen Dorff. From director Stephen Norrington.
I certainly think Blade gets a bit overlooked when it comes to CBM’s that would go on to reinvigorate the genre. Sure, the daywalker isn’t on the same level as Spider-Man or the X-Men but this film is still one of the best comic book movies of all-time and this role would go on to be iconic for Wesley Snipes who lived and breathed this character perfectly for the needs of the plot and the overall tone. Norrington’s direction is edgy, gritty, and still sleek, and endlessly stylish and he’s able to create a delightfully ominous atmosphere that runs throughout the duration. The soundtrack is pulse pounding and able to elevate the mood and vibe of a given scene with ease and Stephen Dorff is soaking in the villain vibes with gusto to feel like a suitable match-up for Snipes. And when the action kicks in and Blade is taking out vampires the result is a timeless ride of carnage, mayhem, and martial-arts violence.
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Hard Boiled (1992)
It’s raining gunfire for my #8 movie. A full-throttle Hong Kong action flick from visionary director John Woo. It stars Chow Yun-Fat as a cop who has brains, brawn, and an instinct to kill in 1992’s Hard Boiled also starring Tony Leung, Philip Chan, and Teresa Mo.
Now I’ll admit that Hard Boiled follows the checklist of genre cliches from an action standpoint, and from an action storytelling standpoint. But surprisingly in the hands of Woo behind the camera and from the straight edged performances led by Chow Yun-Fat that give the impression this is the first time this story has been told, makes this bonanza of bullets and joyful ride of carnage and cop themed suspense. This film goes from grounded to a bit ridiculous, but it’s consistently played straight and the elegance in the waves of violence is a sight to behold. The body count is endless in this two-hour mission to take down a mobster and his crew and it delivers everything from confined gunplay to large scale battle sequences with machine guns, pistols, and a variety of other weapons and pyrotechnics. John Woo indulges in the spectacle with Hard Boiled and Chow would bring his dual pistols to the forefront in a film that not all of you may be aware of, but one that has certainly inspired many of your recent favorites in the genre.
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Heat (1995)
My my #7 pick would deliver a showdown Los Angeles has never seen before and the result would be one of my favorite films of all-time. And it’s 1995’s Heat from director Michael Mann starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, and others to complete a world class ensemble.
Now Heat is one of my all-time favorite films. It’s one of the best crime dramas of all-time and would easily top most of my all-time lists. However, as an action movie when the violence ignites in Heat, Michael Mann’s classic is also one of the best action movies from the decade. This LA set saga doesn’t deliver a ton of action. It’s character and story driven which is what you want from a crime-drama centered on a team of high-end thieves playing a game of cat and mouse with a relentless detective. Yet when the action does burst onto the screen, the direction from Mann, the choreography of the sequences, and the visceral tone is impressive. The downtown shootout is legendary in the genre and seeing De Niro and Pacino sharing the screen and having their final showdown is what makes cinema amazing. The ensemble in this film is top tier as well, everyone gets their moments to shine, and overall Heat is precision filmmaking at its finest.
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Point Break (1991)
Next up at #6 is an action thriller that promised to deliver 100% pure adrenaline and that was the result when Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze would team up for 1991’s Point Break from director Kathryn Bigelow also starring Lori Petty and Gary Busey
Point Break is another film that I have a lifelong love for. It’s a perfect hybrid of 80s and 90s action and the direction from Bigelow is flawless. She creates an alluring atmosphere that reeks of a west coast summer, sex appeal, adrenaline, and living life with no rules and its classic action filmmaking. Reeves and Swayze are perfectly cast in their roles, and both breathe life into these characters to make them their own. Swayze would be legendary as Bodhi and the plot of surfers, wearing masks of dead presidents to rob banks, is fantastic story plotting. Point Break is summer at the cinema, it’s peak summer in vibes and the endless string of action gives this film an inescapable pace. From the foot chase to the car chases, surfing, the skydiving, football on the beach, showdowns at the airport, fights in the sand, robbing banks, and raiding stash houses, Point Break never takes its foot off the gas. There’s a seductive appeal to Point Break and why even thirty years from now it’ll still be as effortlessly cool.
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GoldenEye (1995)
We’ve reached the top 5 and for my #5 pick is a movie that would be the theme of one of the best first-person shooters in video game history and it would also be the introduction to a new James Bond when Pierce Brosnan would star in 1995’s GoldenEye from director Martin Campbell also starring Sean Bean, Izabelle Scorupco, and Famke Janssen.
Martin Campbell and Pierce Brosnan would pump life back in the James Bond franchise with 95’s GoldenEye and to this day it’s one of the best Bond films ever made and easily the most well-crafted entry in the Brosnan era. GoldenEye is a perfect blend of intricate storytelling, impactful plotting, and just enough character development to give the film a playful seriousness to connect the equally intricate and inventive action sequences. Brosnan was effortlessly suave in the role of Bond and seeing him doing a lot of his own stunts gave the action a much more immersive atmosphere and visual appeal. This was a reinvigoration for the franchise and Sean Bean as 006 was a great first villain for this new bond who’s diving off damns, outsmarting henchmen, making love, getting his gun off, riding bikes off cliffs, dangling from planes, and racing tanks in the streets throughout a calculating adventure with a great cast and a timeless appeal.
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True Lies (1994)
My #4 movie is one of the biggest summer blockbusters from the 90’s that starred one of the biggest action stars from the 80s and 90s. It’s Arnold Schwarzenegger’s True Lies from 1994 directed by James Cameron also starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tia Carrere, and Tom Arnold.
Arnold would team again with James Cameron and enter the world of spies and espionage for a film that is filled with visually stunning action as Arnold lives a double life trying to save the world from terrorist threats. While also being a suburban husband, the result is a buffet of adventure, humor, action, and suspense. The perfect recipe for a film that would co-command the summer box office in 94. The plot is engaging and not over layered and the comedic bits blend perfectly with the flow of the film. Jamie Lee Curtis is equally as awesome as Arnold here as she gets duped by a used car salesman played up to amazing levels by the late great Bill Paxton. Tom Arnold serves precision comedic relief and pairs surprisingly well with Arnold. And sure, the villains are a bit too cartoonish but it’s nothing that hinders seeing Arnold riding horses in hotels, shooting up bathrooms, blowing up compounds and flying a fighter jet from making True Lies one of the decade’s best action flicks.
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Speed (1994)
We’ve reached the top three films and for my #3 pick action will hit rush hour in the nonstop summer blockbuster Speed from 1993 directed by Jan de Bont. Starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels, and an incredible ensemble cast.
I have no doubt I put this film higher on the list than most would place it on theirs, but Speed was a massive blockbuster hit in the summer of 94 and I think it gets overlooked when thinking back to 90s action films that relied mostly on practical action and on-location shoots. Speed is full-throttle action from start to finish and it’s a riveting, edge of your seat thrills and close-calls all of Los Angeles as Reeves’ Jack Traven and Sandra Bullock’s Annie race a bus rigged with bombs from the freeways to the side streets, to the runways with top-tier gusto. Reeves is perfect in the lead here and both he and Bullock are likable, they have a great chemistry, and it all complements the non-stop ride of action adventure this film takes you on. De Bont’s direction is impressive, this movie still looks great all these years later and from the endless, and intricate chase sequences to the quiet character moments, to the development of the world class villain from Dennis Hopper to the shoots outs, Speed’s a precision crafted bonanza of summer movie spectacle and should be regarded as one of the decades very best.
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Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
My #2 pick is a sequel to an 80s classic. It’s the same make, the same model, but this mission is different in this cinematic masterpiece from 1991, James Cameron’s, Terminator 2: Judgment Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, and Robert Patrick.
Only a select few sequels have been able to go a completely different direction from the first film like Terminator 2: Judgment Day was able to accomplish. T2 is bigger, bolder, and more spectacle-filled on every level than The Terminator. Both are equally impressive but for completely different reasons. Arnold turns good in this entry and his mission to save John and Sarah Conner took the world by storm in the summer of 1991. James Cameron’s direction was top-notch, and his roller coaster of chase sequences, explosions, shootouts, and cutting-edge special effects blended with good old stunt work crafted a film that will stand the test of time. The continued worldbuilding is in place to take things both forward, and backwards, and it makes the mission of these characters compelling as you get to love Arnold and his dispensing of one-liners. T2 is without question a film that changed the game for filmmaking not only in the genre of action but for cinematic storytelling as a whole as the emotional intrigue in this movie is to surpass the spectacle of the action to make it all mean something.
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The Matrix (1999)
And for my #1 pick for the best action movie of the 90s is a film that changed the game in terms of cinematic action. It was a film that challenged you to free your mind and that film would be 1999’s The Matrix from the Wachowski’s starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Ann Moss, and Hugo Weaving.
I think The Matrix was able to up-the-bar for the genre at the perfect time before going into the next century of cinema. From a story aspect they don’t get much more unique, inventive, or thought-provoking than The Matrix. Then from a pure action aspect the visceral gunplay and shootouts, and smoothly choreographed fight sequences you don’t get much better edge of your seat intensity. The Matrix is an iconic film filled with iconic characters. This ensemble cast is a world class grouping and the Wachowski’s took action filmmaking to new heights with new film techniques and cutting-edge technology that created visual action storytelling the world had never seen on the big screen. Reeves would go on to be legendary in the role of Neo, Carrie Ann Moss pumped life into Trinity, and Morpheus in the hands of Fishburne was the perfect Obi Wan for this world operating inside the world we’re living in. And no matter how many times you’ve seen The Matrix, if you come across it, you’ll end up taking the ride all over again before you know it.
Anthony J. Digioia II © 2024 SilverScreen Analysis & Movies Never Say Die!