The Top 10 Action Flicks We’ve Reviewed… So Far

Before action heroes needed a six-film origin story, Max Rockatansky needed gasoline, a battered leather jacket and roughly 16 lines of dialogue. George Miller's The Road Warrior drops us into a scorched Australian wasteland, stomps on the accelerator and trusts movement, machinery and desperation to tell the story.

The plot is lean enough to fit in a gas can: a refinery community has fuel, a gang of marauders wants it, and Max might be the only lunatic capable of driving a tanker through the middle of the problem. That simplicity is the engine. The opening chase explains the world without a lecture, and the final pursuit remains a practical-stunt miracle of twisted metal, dust, speed and performers who appear to have abandoned their sense of self-preservation.

Jon called it one of his top films for action and car chases and credited it with changing the language of action filmmaking - from costumes and vehicle design to the scale of its explosions. He still landed at 3.50 because the thin story and limited characterization left him admiring the ride more than loving the entire movie.

Ken had no such hesitation. He praised the movie's 'relentlessness' and the way it continually propels the audience toward the next obstacle. To him, Max belongs beside Han Solo and Indiana Jones: a one-of-a-kind screen icon. That earned the Professor a perfect 5.00.

Don described the filmmaking more efficiently: 'It's raw. It's gritty. It's fast.' He would have gone all the way to cinematic gold if the movie had not blown up Max's Interceptor, killed the dog, and made Max drive directly toward the marauders when another direction seemed considerably healthier. His heartbreak stopped at 4.50.

The result is a 4.33 average and the widest disagreement in this Top 10. Even its lowest scorer believes it helped create the modern action movie. Not bad for a film where civilization collapses, and the chief surviving resource is vehicular insanity.

The Predator series kept adding bigger guns, more aliens, and a more complicated story over the years. Prey brought new life to the franchise by taking most of that away.

Dan Trachtenberg sends the hunt back to the Great Plains in 1719, where Naru - a young Comanche healer determined to prove herself as a hunter - recognizes a threat that the people around her cannot yet understand. Amber Midthunder anchors the movie with intelligence, determination and physical credibility. The Feral Predator may have superior technology, but Naru studies every failure, every weapon and every weakness until the hunt belongs to her.

Ken called the film a 'rich watch' and said the second viewing impressed him even more. He praised the camera work, score and character development, especially Naru's tenacity and the way the third act pays off everything she has learned. His only real resistance came from the end-credit suggestion that more Predator ships may return. He wanted this victory to stand on its own.

Jon loved how the movie blended science-fiction thrills with a respectful portrayal of the Comanche people. He singled out Midthunder's nuanced performance, Dane DiLiegro's physical work as the Predator, the primitive-but-familiar creature redesign, and the mix of practical effects plus CGI. For him, Prey did not simply revive the franchise; it redefined what a Predator story could be.

Don entered with modest expectations and left 'blown away' by the cinematography, scale, cast, music and action. He called it easily the second-best Predator movie and left open the possibility that it could challenge the original film once the Guys finally put both films in the same arena.

This time, everyone agreed: all three gave it a 4.50. Prey takes ninth place because it follows the most important rule of the hunt—the deadliest weapon is the person who keeps learning while everyone else underestimates her.

John Wick: Chapter 3 begins with a $14 million contract, every assassin in New York checking the clock, and John approximately five minutes away from having the worst evening of his already extremely eventful life.

Chad Stahelski turns that premise into an action relay race: a library brawl, an antique-knife fight, horse-powered combat, motorcycle swordplay, attack dogs in Casablanca, and a glass fortress designed to make every body slam look expensive. The violence is brutal, but it is staged with such definition and flow that the Guys repeatedly compared the choreography to dance.

Jon said exactly that: 'The choreography is like a dance.' The movie held his attention so completely that when he glanced down to research trivia, he rewound what he had missed. He ranked Chapter 3 above the first two because the action never allowed him to disengage - apparently the highest honor a movie can receive from a man holding a phone.

Ken was equally drawn to the expanding world. He loved learning more about the Continental, Winston, the Adjudicator, and Laurence Fishburne's theatrical Bowery King. For him, the production's style, music and ruthless efficiency pushed Chapter 3 just ahead of Chapter 2.

Don praised the continuation of John's increasingly impossible fight to become free, along with the knife room, horses and glass-room finale. His summary was admirably direct: the movie contains a lot of rewatchable scenes, the Guys had been gushing all night, and it was time to cut to the chase.

All three gave it a 4.50. Parabellum is bigger, weirder, and more over-the-top than the first movie, but every new twist still supports the series’ main emotional goal. John Wick just wants people to stop trying to kill him so he can remember his wife. Unfortunately, the world won’t let him.

John Wick takes a classic revenge story, adds a sharp black suit, gun-fu, and a whole criminal world that runs on gold coins, perfect manners, and rules that are never fully explained.

What makes the first film work is its discipline. The action is fast but readable. John reloads, gets hurt and survives through preparation rather than superhero invulnerability. Keanu Reeves says little because the way every criminal reacts to his name says everything. The puppy gives his grief a physical symbol; the home invasion turns that grief into a fuse.

Jon called the film 'a master class in action filmmaking' and argued that it revitalized the genre with a gritty, grounded hero whose breathtaking choreography remains clear and focused. Even the dreaded puppy death could not trigger his normal deduction, because John's entire rampage avenges the dog - and ends with another pup getting a home. He awarded a gold-coin-solid 5.00.

Ken loved the stylish criminal underworld and described Wick's movement through it as a 'death dance.' The sophisticated visuals, gun-fu, musical choices, and Helen’s story gave the movie more depth with each rewatch. He debated whether it could match The Matrix in his personal Keanu hierarchy and settled at 4.75.

Don gave 4.50, praising the cast, Keanu's career-reviving performance, and the way the opening shows that the violence is ultimately motivated by love. His only disadvantage was knowing that later installments would expand the world and raise the action ceiling; the original serves as the foundation, even if it is not always the chapter he reaches for first.

That gives it a 4.75 average and seventh place. Many movies have a hero lose someone they love, but John Wick made a whole generation look at a beagle and say, 'Oh, these idiots are completely fucked.'

Gladiator is what happens when a prestige historical drama decides it also wants to cave in your chest with a shield.

Ridley Scott builds an enormous Roman world around a painfully simple emotional line: Maximus loses his family, his rank and his freedom, then turns every arena victory into one more step toward Commodus. Russell Crowe gives the hero exhausted dignity; Joaquin Phoenix makes the emperor needy, poisonous and skin-crawling. Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard's music turns dirt, wheat and blood to myth.

Jon called it a 'stunning visual trip back to ancient Rome.' He praised Scott's direction, layered storytelling, immersive fights and Phoenix's deeply creepy villainy. He is not normally the biggest Russell Crowe fan, but considered Maximus one of Crowe's best performances. The length and occasional drag kept him at a still-formidable 4.50.

Ken saw a Shakespearean story filled with memorable dialogue, political intrigue, wonderful music and brilliantly staged fights. More importantly, the movie left him with a collection of images and moments he is always ready to revisit. For the Professor, there was no doubt: 5.00 and cinematic gold.

Don nearly joined him. The cast, score, cinematography and direction were 'pretty fucking perfect,' but he felt the political sections repeated points the audience already understood. Shave a little from the 155-minute march, and his 4.75 might have entered the arena as a five.

The average is 4.75. Gladiator proves that spectacle matters most when it has an emotional target. We are entertained by the arena, but we remember the hand moving through the wheat.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is the blade flashing through the air. Vol. 2 is the hand holding it - scarred, patient, and carrying a great deal of unresolved emotional baggage.

Quentin Tarantino slows the tempo and fills the second half of the Bride's revenge story with burial, training, betrayal, parenthood, and long conversations between people who understand that someone at the table will probably not survive dessert. The action remains sharp, but the real showdown is verbal. David Carradine's Bill finally steps out of the shadows as a calm, charismatic monster who can make a Superman monologue feel like both affection and an autopsy.

Jon delivered his review as a rhyme, praising Tarantino's style, Uma Thurman's swordplay, sharp dialogue, and 'action that was truly sublime.' He found it masterful but not quite perfect, landing at 4.75.

Ken remembered preferring the lighter, faster first volume, yet the slower dialogue played much better on this rewatch. He loved the coffin escape, Pai Mei training, the Bride's reunion with her daughter, and Bill's deliberate cadence. Even after matching his Vol. 1 score of 4.75, he admitted the first remained the installment he would choose most often.

Don went the other direction. He slightly preferred Vol. 2 because it feels more recognizably Tarantino: richer dialogue, great supporting characters, and musical choices that include Robert Rodriguez's score. His problem was structural. Neither volume completely stands alone; one ends on a cliffhanger, and the other begins at Chapter Six. Kill Bill is one terrific, very long movie divided into two excellent but incomplete pieces.

All three reviewers gave it a 4.75. Vol. 2 comes in fifth place, while the faster first volume is still waiting near the top with a higher average.

Every time someone pitches 'Die Hard on a bus,' 'Die Hard on a boat' or 'Die Hard in space,' John McTiernan's original should receive a royalty check.

The setup is now action scripture: off-duty New York cop John McClane arrives at Nakatomi Plaza hoping to repair his marriage, then finds himself barefoot and alone against a group of extremely well-dressed thieves. Bruce Willis makes McClane vulnerable, funny, and resourceful. Alan Rickman makes Hans Gruber so controlled and intelligent that the villain nearly steals the building along with the bearer bonds.

Jon credited Die Hard with creating an action formula that filmmakers still use, and audiences still use as shorthand. He could not imagine Clint Eastwood, Nick Nolte or Sylvester Stallone replacing Willis because Willis makes McClane feel like an ordinary cop surviving on instinct, luck and bloodied feet. Jon gave 4.50.

Ken placed McClane and Gruber among cinema's great rivalries. The movie established Willis and Rickman as stars, filled itself with endlessly repeatable lines and remained ready for another viewing anytime. The Professor also settled the annual debate: yes, it is a Christmas movie, and yes, it is cinematic gold. 5.00.

Don said Die Hard had been a comfort movie since childhood and estimated he had seen it more than 200 times. Even with that mileage, he still celebrated its movement, wit, charisma and one of the greatest villains in any genre. A few slow stretches kept him at 4.75 - a score that looks less like criticism and more like wear on a well-loved VHS tape.

With a 4.75 average, Die Hard lands in fourth place. It didn’t just perfect the formula for one night in a skyscraper—it set a new standard for action movies.

Lethal Weapon is a Christmas movie about grief, friendship, drug smugglers, electrocution, and the therapeutic value of destroying a suburban lawn with a fistfight.

Richard Donner and writer Shane Black pair Martin Riggs, a suicidal loose cannon, with Roger Murtaugh, a careful family man counting the days until retirement. Mel Gibson supplies the danger; Danny Glover supplies the exasperated humanity. Michael Kamen's score gives Riggs a lonely guitar and Murtaugh a steadier saxophone, then gradually lets the sounds overlap as the reluctant partners become family.

Don's connection started when his father rented the movie around his birthday in 1987. He called Riggs and Murtaugh the best buddy-cop duo in cinematic history and praised the pacing, casting and soundtrack before offering the only seasonal verdict that mattered: 'Merry fucking Christmas. Lethal Weapon: five fucks.'

Ken also gave 5.00. He called the pair the gold standard for buddy-cop movies, enjoyed Gary Busey's convincing lunacy and found Riggs's journey from despair to the Murtaugh family both heartbreaking and satisfying. The action works because the friendship gives Riggs something worth surviving for.

Jon agreed on the chemistry, one-liners, and performances, but became the precinct's internal-affairs investigator. He questioned magically repaired handcuffs, suspicious travel times, police procedure and several large helpings of action-movie improbability. Even while nitpicking, he placed it among his best action and buddy-cop films and argued that its redemption and friendship make it a twisted feel-good holiday movie.

According to the current 3 Guys ratings, Lethal Weapon has a 4.83 average and takes third place. No matter how many plot holes Jon finds, Riggs and Murtaugh are still the buddy-cop team that every other mismatched duo tries to match.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 does not enter quietly. It arrives in a yellow tracksuit, borrows from kung fu, samurai cinema, anime, spaghetti westerns and revenge thrillers, then sprays the walls red enough to make subtlety file a restraining order.

Uma Thurman's Bride wakes from a coma with a list of names and no interest in restorative justice. Tarantino fractures time, changes aspect ratios, switches to animation and turns the House of Blue Leaves into an operatic marathon of blades, silhouettes, music and severed limbs. It should feel like competing movies stitched together. Instead, it moves with the confidence of one filmmaker emptying an overstuffed toy box.

Don first watched a bootleg - apologies to QT - then immediately watched it again and later paid for it. That back-to-back reaction still describes the movie's pull. He placed it among his top Tarantino films and praised the soundtrack, cast, writing, direction and sheer fun before awarding 4.75.

Ken said the first viewing knocked off his pants, socks and shoes, leaving him 'practically naked.' The movie had lost none of its shine: Thurman radiates star power, the supporting cast is strong, the writing is crisp, and the vivid action moves with a cadence that makes the cliffhanger feel less like an ending than a demand to continue. He also gave 4.75.

Jon required only a limerick: 'There once was a gal named the Bride. Her enemies ran but couldn't hide...' The stylish display earned his perfect 5.00 and pushed the average to 4.83.

Vol. 1 comes in second because it does more than just show action—it blends decades of action movies into something that’s clearly Kill Bill. The Bride has one more name on her list, and this ranking has one more spot to fill.

Before the multiverse, streaming shows, time heists, and complicated storylines, there was just a billionaire in a cave building an armored suit out of scraps.

Iron Man had to accomplish several dangerous missions at once: make a formerly second-tier Marvel hero matter, turn Robert Downey Jr. into the center of a franchise, sell a believable metal superhero in live action and quietly convince audiences to stay to the end of the credits. Jon Favreau pulled it off by building the spectacle around Tony Stark's transformation from charismatic weapons dealer to a man finally willing to take responsibility for what he creates.

Don praised Downey as perfect, along with the cast, pace, and score. His only meaningful complaint was the underwhelming final showdown with Obadiah Stane - an early warning that the Marvel villain problem arrived at the same time as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even so, what the movie became was undeniably iconic. He gave 4.75.

For Jon, this was the first comic-book movie that felt truly faithful to its source while still working completely as a film. He praised Downey's authentic fusion with Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow's chemistry as Pepper, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, the practical-and-CGI armor, the rock-heavy soundtrack, and the balance of humor, action, and heart. The Comic Book Guy called it a 'solid gold titanium-alloy movie' and awarded 5.00.

Ken matched him. He saw the same near-perfect balance and felt extra affection because this was the movie that started everything. The origin still feels personal, funny, and self-contained even after an entire universe grew around it.

With two perfect scores and a 4.75, Iron Man averages 4.92—the highest of all the action movies we’ve reviewed. Iron Man wins because it’s both a great action movie and a strong starting point. The MCU later became a huge machine, but it all started here, in a cave, with a box of scraps.