The MoFo Top 100 Action Movie Countdown

*affects trailer voice*
Welcome, Adrenaline Junkies, one and all!

There's a distinct lack of ACTION in the Lists section. It must be remedied! I task each of you with a mission, if you choose to accept it, to bring forth the greatest collection of carnage ever put to film!

There is only one qualification: YOU WATCH IT FOR THE ACTION. It doesn't matter what else is in the movie so long as it's thrives on bloodpumping violence, audacious stunts, and one-liners so cool they BURN (but seriously, no one has to talk to make a fun action movie, just use your best judgment).


If you're in on this I want you to send me a private message containing your list of up to 25 of your favorite action movies (don't spoil your choices in the thread!), make sure to title it with "Action Countdown". These are ordered lists, so make sure to number them top to bottom. The countdown is ranked by total points across all lists. Your #1 movie is worth 25 points, #2 is worth 24, #3 is 23, and so on...

You MAY send in incomplete lists, however they will be weighted against the number you listed, so if you send in a list of 11 movies, your #1 movie is worth 11 points. If you wish to revise a list you've already submitted, you're welcome to send in a new list (this rule may change as circumstances dictate).

Ties will be resolved by number of votes, then by maximum point allotment, then by release date (in favor of older movies).

I'm going to impose the newbie rule too: I will only accept lists from members who've been here at least a month (subject to discretion).


Lists Received (chronologically):
Tugg (25), The Rodent (25), urkillinmesmalls (25), CiCi (25), Holden Pike (25), BraedenG33 (20), CosmicRunaway (25), Guaporense (25), jiraffejustin (25), Omnizoa (25), NedStark09 (25), Miss Vicky (25), Camo (25), Horroist (25), Larry (25), TylerDurden99 (25), TheUsualSuspect (25), Upton (25), Gideon58 (25), teeter_g (25), NextScorsese (10), False Writer (25), Topsy (24), gandalf26 (25), The Sci-Fi Slob (25), Ultraviolence (25), Steve Freeling (25), RealHero (25), 77topaz (25), Clazor (25), The Gunslinger45 (25), Raven73 (25), Vokzul (25), Optimus (25), mark f (25), edarsenal (25), linespalsy (25), Sexy Celebrity (25), Fabulous (25), Yoda (25), Friendly Mushroom! (25), Sedai (25), Captain Spaulding (25), TONGO (25), Daniel M (25), SkyDog (18), 7thson (25), gbgoodies (25), Iroquois (25), Hitchcockian97 (10), Cobpyth (25), Captain Steel (1), Sunomis (25), dadgumblah (25), MovieMeditation (25), honeykid (25), and rauldc14 (25).


186 of you were contacted, 57 of you answered the call.

489 movies were considered, 473 of them were nominated.

17367 points were distributed, 12065 of them are on this countdown.

You bastards can't agree on anything can you? nah I'm kidding What this was was a struggle for each of you to personally reconcile "good movies" with "action movies", and rationally this involved scrutiny of what it means to be "good" and what it means to be "action".

I think it's apparent that genres like "action" are a matter of gradation, movies can be more or less "drama" or "comedy" oriented and the same holds true of action. The question is how to rank generally excellent movies with relatively unremarkable action with movies that have excellent action sequences, but are otherwise kinda crappy, and with movies that don't have all that much action in them except for that one scene you can't forget.

Despite my misgivings about a couple nominations (or more accurately, lack there of...), and there are in fact several that appear on this countdown that I love, but personally disqualified, I have vetoed no movies for this countdown. And so it is that I present what can only be best described as an approximate democratized conception of what the standard of excellence is when it comes to ACTION MOVIES, as chosen by the contemporary Movie Forums community.

1. Die Hard (1988) 663 points
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 604 points
3. Aliens (1986) 510 points
4. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 480 points
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 474 points
6. The Matrix (1999) 355 points
7. Predator (1987) 312 points
8. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) 267 points
9. The Dark Knight (2008) 264 points
10. The Terminator (1984) 212 points
Honorable Mentions: 13 Assassins (2010), Apocalypto (2006), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Bullitt (1968), The Boondock Saints (1999), Ghost in the Shell (1995)
11. First Blood (1982) 194 points
12. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) 189 points
13. Seven Samurai (1954) 188 points
14. Gladiator (2000) 185 points
15. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 183 points
16. Lethal Weapon (1987) 173 points
17. Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977) 165 points
18. Con Air (1997) 155 points
19. RoboCop (1987) 153 points
20. Leon: The Professional (1994) 152 points
Honorable Mentions: Scarface (1983), Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014), Hard Target (1993), Highlander (1986), Oldboy (2003), Road House (1989)
21. Hard Boiled (1992) 150 points
22. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) 148 points
23. The Killer (1989) 144 points
24. Enter The Dragon (1973) 142 points
25. Total Recall (1990) 136 points
26. Commando (1985) 133 points
27. Point Break (1991) 131 points
28. The Avengers (2012) 123 points
29. True Lies (1994) 116 points
30. Speed (1994) 116 points
Honorable Mentions: Death Race 2000 (1975), Pacific Rim (2013), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Matrix: Reloaded (2003), The Departed (2006), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
31. The Crow (1994) 113 points
32. The Rock (1996) 112 points
33. The Raid: Redemption (2011) 110 points
34. Heat (1995) 110 points
35. Iron Man (2008) 109 points
36. Inception (2010) 107 points
37. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) 103 points
38. The Raid 2: Berandal (2014) 103 points
39. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) 100 points
40. Face/Off (1997) 96 points
Honorable Mentions: Collateral (2004), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), From Russia With Love (1963), Ip Man (2008), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
41. Dredd (2012) 95 points
42. Hot Fuzz (2007) 91 points
43. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 91 points
44. The Wild Bunch (1969) 91 points
45. The Warriors (1979) 89 points
46. 300 (2006) 87 points
47. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) 87 points
48. John Wick (2014) 86 points
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 85 points
50. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 85 points
Honorable Mentions: Tokyo Drifter (1966), Snatch (2000), Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), A Better Tomorrow (1986), Fast Five (2011), Minority Report (2002)
51. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 85 points
52. Hero (2002) 84 points
53. Casino Royale (2006) 80 points
54. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) 80 points
55. The Bourne Supremacy (2004) 80 points
56. Battle Royale (2000) 76 points
57. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) 76 points
58. Braveheart (1995) 75 points
59. Stark Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 70 points
60. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) 68 points
Honorable Mentions: Sicario (2015), The Italian Job (1969), Twister (1996), Coffy (1973), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
61. The Bourne Identity (2002) 67 points
62. The Fugitive (1993) 67 points
63. Yojimbo (1961) 67 points
64. The Grandmaster (2013) 67 points
65. Escape From New York (1981) 66 points
66. The Incredibles (2004) 64 points
67. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) 61 points
68. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) 60 points
69. Dirty Harry (1971) 60 points
70. Desperado (1995) 59 points
Honorable Mentions: Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Cliffhanger (1993), Ong Bak (2003), Police Story (1985), Spider-man (2002), The Expendables 3 (2014)
71. V for Vendetta (2005) 59 points
72. Independence Day (1996) 58 points
73. Goldfinger (1964) 58 points
74. Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) 57 points
75. Starship Troopers (1997) 57 points
76. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) 53 points
77. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) 53 points
78. Django Unchained (2012) 53 points
79. Jurassic Park (1993) 52 points
80. Demolition Man (1993) 52 points
Honorable Mentions: Alien (1979), End of Watch (2012), GoldenEye (1995), House of Flying Daggers (2004), La Femme Nikita (1990), The Thing (1982)
81. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 51 points
82. Spider-man 2 (2004) 51 points
83. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) 51 points
84. King Kong (2005) 51 points
85. Batman Begins (2005) 50 points
86. Under Siege (1992) 50 points
87. Princess Mononoke (1997) 49 points
88. Deadpool (2016) 48 points
89. North by Northwest (1959) 46 points
90. The Fifth Element (1997) 46 points
Honorable Mentions: Blade Runner (1982), Crank (2006), Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990), Drive (2011), The Legend of Drunken Master (1994), Mission: Impossible III (2006)
96. Akira (1988) 44 points
97. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) 44 points
98. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) 43 points
99. Mad Max (1979) 43 points
100. Smokey and the Bandit (1977) 43 points
Honorable Mentions: Once Upon A Time in China (1991), Man on Fire (2004), A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987), Ant-Man (2015), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Pitch Black (2000)

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Top 100 Action Movie Countdown (2015): List | Thread
"Well, at least your intentions behind the UTTERLY DEVASTATING FAULTS IN YOUR LOGIC are good." - Captain Steel

So I guess it's a yes on Star Wars then

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**** yeah.

John Woo is the master of heroic bloodshed genre. I guess his films will be high.

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

On the plus side, without thinking too hard I already have a lot of movies I want on my list. The downside is I have no idea how I'm going to rank them haha.

Bad Boys II, A Good Day to Die Hard, Armegeddon and the entire Transformers franchise in the top 10! Yaaaay

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MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

Don't forget Battlefield Earth!

On another note... June 29th????

I don't think we have ever done one of these HUGE Top 100 forum-wide countdowns in such short notice? I'd rather wait to be honest... The thing that makes these lists great are the period leading up to it. Watching recommendations and such. Am I the only one thinking this?

No, as I said it's negotiable. If things seem pretty set by then we'll go with it. I can bend a couple weeks too.

I didn't see the timeline tbh, but yeah, June 29th, 6 days, is waaay to short a time.

What do you guys suggest?

No. These are usually things everyone on the site discusses for a while and we set a date and are given time to watch suggestions and such. We usually discuss what the next countdown will be as well. For some reason Omni has just decided what the next countdown will be and that it will be done before the 50's

When is the 50s countdown taking place?
I'd suggest having the actual countdown for this one 2 weeks after the 50s countdown.

I didn't even notice it was that short a time frame. I think my mind is a month behind the calendar because I didn't realize it was already the 23rd of June.

Also, in case the joke wasn't obvious: please, no one watch Battlefield Earth. Unless you hate yourself and want to be miserable, that is.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie I'm a little upset, mainly because of all the work I have prepared for the 50s list for another list to just up and come about before that one.

Alright now, grumpypuss.

Okay, I'm going to push it back.

To be honest this is usually a thing everyone discusses. If people can just take it upon themselves to decide what the next countdown will be i imagine we'll see Musical and Noir and Comedy ones popping up every week.

Just checked, the 50s is going about 2/3 of the way through August... I'd suggest having this one end of Aug, beginning of September, which gives a small cooldown period between actual countdowns.
It'll give time for people to watch some movies and at the same time won't cross over the 50s list.

It's OPEN to discussion, Camo. Shoo.