The action movie genre has been delivering thrills and excitement to audiences ever since the earliest days of the movie business. Throughout the decades, the movies have changed considerably from the types of heroes to the special effects to the scope of the adventures.
There is a long list of movies that are considered the best action movies of all time, but only a rare few can claim to have changed the genre. These movies influenced the great and not-so-great imitators that followed and showed audiences, as well as fellow filmmakers, something new that could be done in action movies.
The General (1926)
People don’t often look at silent movies as being action-packed thrill rides, but without dialogue to tell their story, these early movies featured some of the best physical performers of all time. Buster Keaton was generally regarded as one of the greats of this format, and his film The General is a true masterpiece.
Looking back on it today, it is still awe-inspiring what Keaton was able to accomplish. He showed the immense fun that action sequences can deliver and the spectacle of an incredible stunt, which were all performed by Keaton himself.
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Robin Hood is a character that audiences seem to be sick of seeing on the big screen as they have been watching his adventures for decades. But when Errol Flynn took on the legendary role in The Adventures of Robin Hood, it was a new kind of adventure for moviegoers at the time.
This movie helped launch the “swashbuckling” subgenre of movies that have been popular ever since. It was followed by other Hollywood epics with dashing heroes and thrilling adventures on a big scale.
Seven Samurai (1954)
Acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa is seen as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and his movies have gone on to inspire other artists from many different generations. His incredible adventure movie Seven Samurai stands as a prime example of his contributions to the business.
It’s obvious how the movie influenced its Western remake, The Magnificent Seven, but it goes far beyond that. Other action movies about a team of warriors on a mission, from The Dirty Dozen to Saving Private Ryan, owe something to Kurosawa’s movie.
Goldfinger (1964)
Though the James Bond franchise began with Dr. No, the third movie in the series, Goldfinger, feels like the more influential movie in retrospect. It helped establish the formula of these movies that was followed closely for many years, from the opening song to the Bond girls to the memorable villain.
But it was not just the Bond movies that followed that drew inspiration from Goldfinger. This movie helped establish the vibe and style of the entire spy genre for many years. There was a mixture of refined class and exciting action that many other movies tried to emulate.
Bullitt (1968)
Hollywood began to see a shift in its filmmaking near the end of the 1960s. The more conservative approach of Old Hollywood was being replaced with young filmmakers telling riskier and grittier stories. While this was seen in many different genres, it was defined within the action movies with Bullitt.
Steve McQueen cemented his reputation as one of the coolest actors of the era in this grounded and violent detective story. The movie helped create the hard-nosed detective character later seen in Dirty Harry and The French Connection as well as deliver a car chase that is still seen as a ground-breaking action sequence.
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Though he is certainly seen as an icon today, it’s hard to understand just how exciting of a star Bruce Lee was when he was first introduced to Hollywood. One man and one movie helped popularize martial arts in America, not to mention within the action genre.
Ever since Enter the Dragon was released, this kind of fighting has been incorporated and expanded on in countless action movies. The influence can even be seen in the upcoming MCU movie Shang-Chi while Lee himself paved the way for stars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
48 Hrs. (1982)
While it was not the first buddy action movie, 48 Hrs. really set a template for what these kinds of movies can be. The odd-couple pairing of Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy was immediately intriguing and it lent itself to some hilarious back-and-forth comedy, which was in turn mixed with exciting action.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is only the latest Hollywood project to point to 48 Hrs. as an inspiration. Not only are the bickering leads a product of that movie but also the entire action-comedy genre as it proved how fun it can be to blend these elements.
Die Hard (1988)
The fact that Die Hard spawned its own subgenre of action movie proved how influential it has been. Speed is referred to as “Die Hard on a bus”. Air Force One is referred to as “Die Hard on a plane”. That speaks to how effective of a premise the movie had and how it lends itself so well to the genre.
Aside from the very influential setup of Die Hard, it also brought a new attitude to the genre as well. John McClane was not as obvious an action hero as those Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone played. He was an everyman who was flawed, he got beat up a lot, and he really wished someone else could save the day instead of him. The relatable action hero was born.
Hard-Boiled (1992)
Long before he started making action movies in America, like Face/Off, John Woo was inspiring American filmmakers with his Hong Kong action movies. Hard-Boiled is often seen as his best work, and it is a wild, frantic, and endlessly fun ride.
Quentin Tarantino has often talked about the influence of Woo’s work and it is more impactful than some might realize. In fact, Woo’s work in Hong Kong is more responsible for the influx of action movies in the 1990s than any American film.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
It’s impossible to talk about the action movie genre without acknowledging how superhero movies have changed it. While there were plenty that came before it, Spider-Man 2 proved that these movies could not only make hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office, but they could be better than most people assume.
Spider-Man 2 managed to tell an emotionally satisfying story with fascinating characters and a lot of humor while also showing the astonishing action sequences that can be done in these larger-than-life stories. The MCU owes a lot to this movie.
