The 100 Best Action Movies on DVD (Premiere, 2003)

[Big DSR Energy]

I've been on a bit of an action movie kick as of late (Partially inspired by the "are action movies dead?" thread from a while ago, partially inspired by listening to "How Did This Get Made?" gush over the Crank films).

Anyway, I recently dug up an old issue of Premiere magazine I have, from February 2003, which lists, as the thread title states, the 100 Best Action Movies On DVD.

The list (in alphabetical order, rather than a "Top" 100), is as follows:

1. Aliens (1986)
2. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
3. Battleship Potemkin (1926)
4. Ben Hur (1959)
5. Black Hawk Down (2001)
6. Blade Runner (1982)
7. Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
8. Das Boot (1982)
9. The Bourne Identity (2002)
10. Braveheart (1995)
11. Breakdown (1997)
12. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
13. Brother (2001)
14. Bullitt (1968)
15. Clear and Present Danger (1994)
16. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
17. Desperado (1995)
18. Die Hard (1988)
19. Die Hard 2 (1990)
20. The Dirty Dozen (1967)
21. Dirty Harry (1971)
22. Diva (1981)
23. Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)
24. Enter the Dragon (1973)
25. Escape From New York (1981)
26. Excalibur (1981)
27. La Femme Nikita (1991)
28. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
29. The French Connection (1971)
30. From Russia With Love (1963)
31. The Fugitive (1993)
32. The Getaway (1972)
33. Gladiator (2000)
34. Goldfinger (1964)
35. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
36. The Great Escape (1963)
37. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
38. Hard-Boiled (1992)
39. Heat (1995)
40. The Hidden Fortress (1958)
41. The Hunt for Red October (1990)
42. Independence Day (1996)
43. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
44. The Killer (1989)
45. L.A. Confidential (1997)
46. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
47. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
48. Lethal Weapon (1987)
49. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
51. Mad Max (1979)
52. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
53. The Matrix (1999)
54. Minority Report (2002)
55. Nighthawks (1981)
56. North By Northwest (1959)
57. Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
58. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
59. Patriot Games (1992)
60. Patton (1970)
61. Platoon (1986)
62. Predator (1987)
63. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
64. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
65. Rio Bravo (1959)
66. The Road Warrior (1981)
67. Robocop (1987)
68. Ronin (1998)
69. Run Lola Run (1998)
70. Runaway Train (1985)
71. Saboteur (1942)
72. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
73. Set It Off (1996)
74. The Seven Samurai (1954)
75. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
76. Shaft (1971)
77. Spartacus (1960)
78. Speed (1994)
79. Spider-Man (2002)
80. Stagecoach (1939)
81. Starship Troopers (1997)
82. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
83. The Terminator (1984)
84. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
85. Thelma and Louise (1991)
86. Three Kings (1999)
87. T-Men (1947)
88. Total Recall (1990)
89. The Train (1964)
90. Training Day (2001)
91. True Romance (1993)
92. Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
93. Unforgiven (1992)
94. The Untouchables (1987)
95. The Wages of Fear (1954)
96. The Warriors (1979)
97. The Wild Bunch (1969)
98. Yojimbo (1962)
99. You Only Live Twice (1967)
100. Zulu (1964)

So...what do you guys think of this list? There's a strong leaning towards more of a thinking man's action movie, and flicks that take themselves mostly seriously. Meaning, not so much the tongue-in-cheek over-the-top stuff. I really enjoy both takes on the genre, and my personal action movie list would include stuff like Con Air, Versus, Hot Fuzz, or Shoot 'Em Up. Those last two wouldn't be on this list for another reason...

This list is 10 years old! And in that time, we've had a bunch more action movies thrown at us. So what, if anything, would you guys add to this list to make it more up to date?

Hell, even just talk about the flicks on the list you liked personally. There's a bunch on here that I still haven't seen (or I've seen so long ago that I hardly remember).

['Foretold' Joker]

Lacks any really good martial arts films from Hong Kong, but then Action film is such a broad term. (Enter the Dragon is good from a historic point of view but hardly the best, crouching tiger is over-rated)

On a side note I wouldn't put Aliens at the top (re-read realised its alphabetical) as it's more sci-fi than action and overall I prefer Alien 1 or 3 over it in the franchise. (I do realise I am in the minority with that opinion)

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

i have 38 of these either on dvd or video, and some more taped of the tv

['Foretold' Joker]

I've seen 66 of those movies.

[kidglov3s]

Diva sticks out as a creative choice. I liked it.

[Evilution E5150]

thats one wacky list, they made some odd choices, i wouldnt put a bourne flick anywhere near the top

[Big DSR Energy]

Feb 10, 2013 22:13:10 GMT -5 Evilution E5150 said:

thats one wacky list, they made some odd choices, i wouldnt put a bourne flick anywhere near the top

The list is alphabetical, so it's not like they're saying The Bourne Identity is the 9th best action movie ever.

I own 12 of these flicks on DVD or VHS, just for the record. I've seen more than that, but as I mentioned in the original post, it's been a while.

[ThereIsNoAbsurdistOnlyZuul]

6. Blade Runner (1982)

That's not an action movie. Several of these are stretching the definition of what that term means too.

['Foretold' Joker]

^ I would agree with that point, blade Runner is a Sci-Fi Noir film.

In fact a huge chunk of these films I do not consider action films.

Historical/Epics
4. Ben Hur (1959) -
10. Braveheart (1995)
33. Gladiator (2000)
46. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
47. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
77. Spartacus (1960)
100. Zulu (1964)

These are too long, too borard and often deal with historical themes to be considered an action movie, by this logic The Ten Commandments should be included in the list but that would seem silly.

War
3. Battleship Potemkin (1926)
5. Black Hawk Down (2001)
8. Das Boot (1982)
12. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
20. The Dirty Dozen (1967)
36. The Great Escape (1963)
37. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
60. Patton (1970)
61. Platoon (1986)
72. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Seperate genre of there own often historical, war is not a sub-genre of action.

Westerns
28. A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
35. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
52. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
58. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
65. Rio Bravo (1959)
80. Stagecoach (1939)
93. Unforgiven (1992)
97. The Wild Bunch (1969)

Westerns are there own genre.

Not to mention the selection of Japanese Samurai Films and the Sci-Fi selection that was listed.

---

May come back to this with my own 100 list in alphabetical order.

[wildojinx]

If you're going to put a superhero film on the list, why Spiderman and not The Dark Knight or Avengers, both of which fit the "action" genre much more than Spiderman did?

[kidglov3s]

Feb 11, 2013 14:55:39 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

If you're going to put a superhero film on the list, why Spiderman and not The Dark Knight or Avengers, both of which fit the "action" genre much more than Spiderman did?

The list is from 2003.

[sebulba]

I've seen 75 of these movies. Christ, I'm an action junkie....

['Foretold' Joker]

My List after some thought, first letter alphabetical order.

1 Air Force One
2 Aliens (1986)
3 Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
4 Big Trouble in Little China
5 Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
6 The Bourne Identity (2002)
7 Broken Arrow
8 Bourne Supremacy
9 Beverly Hills Cop
10 Bourne Ultimatum
11 Bad Boys
12 Bloodsport
13 Battle Royale
14 Breakdown (1997)
15 Bullitt (1968)
16 Collateral
17 Con-Air
18 Clear and Present Danger (1994)
19 Commando
20 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
21 Crank
22 Desperado (1995)
23 Die Hard (1988)
24 Die Hard 3
25 Deathwish
26 Demolition Man
27 Drive
28 D13
29 Dirty Harry (1971)
30 Diva (1981)?
31 Enter the Dragon (1973)
32 Escape From New York (1981)
33 Expendables 2
34 Enemy of the state
35 The Fast & The Furious
36 Face-Off
37 Fifth element
38 La Femme Nikita (1991)
39 Flash Gordon
40 The French Connection (1971)
41 From Russia With Love (1963)
42 The Fugitive (1993)
43 The Getaway (1972)
44 Goldfinger (1964)
45 Get Carter
46 Highlander
47 Hot Fuzz
48 Hard-Boiled (1992)
49 Heat (1995)
50 Infernal Affairs
51 Inside Man
52 The Killer (1989)
53 L.A. Confidential (1997)
54 Léon: The Professional
55 Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
56 Lethal Weapon (1987)
57 Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
58 Mad Max (1979)
59 Mission Impossible 3
60 Nighthawks (1981)
61 North By Northwest (1959)
62 Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
63 Patriot Games (1992)
64 Planet Terror
65 Police Story
66 Pointbreak
67 Predator (1987)
68 Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
69 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
70 Raiders of the Lost Ark
71 The Raid
72 The Road Warrior (1981)
73 Robocop (1987)
74 Romeo Must Die
75 Ronin (1998)
76 Run Lola Run (1998)
77 Runaway Train (1985)
78 The Rock
79 Shaft (1971)
80 Snakes on a Plane
81 Speed (1994)
82 Sherlock Holmes 1
83 Sherlock Holmes 2
84 Skyfall
85 Snatch
86 Shoot Em Up
87 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
88 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
89 Thelma and Louise (1991)?
90 Three Kings (1999)?
91 Total Recall (1990)
92 Training Day (2001)
93 Triple X
94 True Lies
95 True Romance (1993)
96 Under Siege
97 Universal Soldier
98 The Untouchables (1987)
99 The Warriors (1979)
100 You Only Live Twice (1967)

[Big DSR Energy]

See now, your list is much more my style, Joker. I especially give props for throwing Snakes On A Plane on there! ;D

I'm gonna throw together my own list here in a little bit, though it's probably gonna be a mish-mash of your list, the original Premiere list, and a few things I love that aren't on either.

And here we go. Sorry, I ran out of stuff I truly loved at 80. I could've padded the thing out with stuff like Simon Sez, but why bother?

And, as you can see, I love comic book movies. So...sorry?

1. Action Jackson (1988)
2. The Avengers (2012)
3. Bad Boys II (2003)
4. Batman (1989)
5. Batman Begins (2005)
6. Battle Royale (2000)
7. Battlefield Baseball (2003)
8. Blade (1998)
9. The Bourne Identity (2002)
10. Bourne Supremacy (2004)
11. Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
12. Bulletproof (1996)
13. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
14. Casino Royale (2006)
15. The Chase (1994)
16. Cobra (1986)
17. Commando (1985)
18. Con-Air (1997)
19. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
20. Crank (2006)
21. Crank 2: High Voltage (2009)
22. The Crow (1994)
23. Cutie Honey (2004)
24. Daredevil (2003)
25. Demolition Man (1993)
26. Die Hard (1988)
27. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
28. Doomsday (2008)
29. Enemy of the State (1998)
30. Enter the Dragon (1973)
31. Escape From New York (1981)
32. Escape From LA (1996)
33. Fist of the North Star (1986)
34. The French Connection (1971)
35. From Russia With Love (1963)
36. Ghost Rider (2007)
37. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
38. Goldeneye (1995)
39. Goldfinger (1964)
40. Hellbound (1994)
41. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
42. Hot Fuzz (2007)
43. Independence Day (1996)
44. Judgment Night (1993)
45. Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003)
46. Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
47. Iron Man 2 (2010)
48. Last Action Hero (1993)
49. The Last Boy Scout (1991)
50. Lionheart (1990)
51. Licence to Kill (1989)
52. The Matrix (1999)
53. North By Northwest (1959)
54. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
55. The One (2001)
56. Predator (1987)
57. The Punisher (2004)
58. Punisher: War Zone (2008)
59. The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
60. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
61. Returner (2002)
62. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)
63. Robocop (1987)
64. Robocop 2 (1990)
65. Rocky IV (1985)
66. The Running Man (1987)
67. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
68. The Seven Samurai (1954)
69. Shaft (1971)
70. Shoot Em Up (2007)
71. Skyfall (2012)
72. Snakes on a Plane (2006)
73. Speed (1994)
74. Spider-Man (2002)
75. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
76. Starship Troopers (1997)
77. Superman II (1980)
78. The Terminator (1984)
79. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
80. They Live (1988)
81. Three Kings (1999)
82. Total Recall (1990)
83. The Transporter (2002)
84. True Lies (1994)
85. Universal Soldier (1992)
86. The Untouchables (1987)
87. Versus (2000)
88. The Warriors (1979)
89. Wonder Woman (2009)
90. You Only Live Twice (1967)

[mizerable]

Feb 10, 2013 21:27:16 GMT -5 'Foretold' Joker said:

I've seen 66 of those movies.

I've seen 93

Also, I'd say about half of these movies aren't even really considered action.

And the greatest action movie in my opinion; "Raiders of the Lost Ark" isn't even on the list.

['Foretold' Joker]

Big DSR Energy

I skipped Superhero films in my list, just felt they are there own niche, If I had included them then my list would be very different.

"26.Fist of the North Star"

Nice choice, is it action or animation genre ... I guess it's both. Which opens up a whole load of possible contenders I hadn't considered. Akira, Steamboy & Ninja Scroll would make the list easily.

[chazraps]

I forgot about that weird law forbidding Jean-Claude Van Damme movies from being legally released on DVD until 2004.

[Big DSR Energy]

Feb 12, 2013 5:02:28 GMT -5 'Foretold' Joker said:

Big DSR Energy

I skipped Superhero films in my list, just felt they are there own niche, If I had included them then my list would be very different.

"26.Fist of the North Star"

Nice choice, is it action or animation genre ... I guess it's both. Which opens up a whole load of possible contenders I hadn't considered. Akira, Steamboy & Ninja Scroll would make the list easily.

Superhero films I consider a sub-genre of action, simply because of how important the action set-pieces are to the films as a whole. Though, the reason I put Superman II without putting the first one is because Superman II is about a physical clash between Kryptonians, whereas the first movie is more of an epic origin story, and has more to do with the philosophical reasons for Superman's existence than to do with him punching stuff.

And I never consider animation its own genre. To discuss TV for a minute, my brain doesn't link Clerks The Animated Series to something like Batman The Animated Series. Animation is a specific way of telling stories, but those stories can be from any genre.

[Big DSR Energy]

I hope nobody minds, but I thought I'd revive this thread. Just under 2 months removed from starting this thing, I've added a bunch of action movies to my collection, and as a result, have wound up adding 10 movies to my own personal "Best Action Movie" list. Please feel free to discuss action movies you love.

[mizerable]

While it's not a direct action movie, I recently watched The Lineup and it had some fantastic action scenes in the later part of the movie. It's pretty enthralling for a 50's movie and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Haven't seen many action movies since I watched that one though.