The Top 10 Action Movies From the Last 25 Years.

11) Gladiator (2000)

Director: Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott sure as hell knows what he's doing when he sets out to make an epic movie. Where Troy and the likes have flushed themselves down the boring toilet seat, Gladiator - right from the opening sequence which is a course in Roman History 101 down to the coloseum and the Caesar fighting the General - takes you on an adrenaline ride, with a few stops for water on the way in Caesar's political chambers.

















10) The Matrix (1999)

Directors: The Wachowski Brothers

When you have Carrie Ann-Moss riding a mean bike with an East-Asian dude sitting behind her, in the wrong lane with cars coming at them from every side - you know you're watching something special. And when the same movie has Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving doing the martial arts version of the tango at a subway station, the special just graduates with a business degree in kicking ass.
Like Lawrence Fiscburne's Morpheus so succinctly puts it - "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself."

Do yourself a favour.









9) Casino Royale - 2006

Director: Martin Campbell


Say what you might about Daniel Craig's hair or his pout, and about how Clive Owen should've been the James Bond to follow Brosnan, Craig puts the double-oh back in 007. Playing the smooth MI-6 agent who doesn't know where his heart is, until it's being ripped to shreds by Eva Green's Vesper Lynd, Craig, and Martin Campbell re-discover and resuscitate what was becoming a stale franchise.

Quite frankly, there cannot be a better Bond film than one in which James ends with his fabled introduction.

Bond. James Bond. Salut.










8) Apocalypto - 2006

Director: Mel Gibson



Screw the subtitles. Screw the dialogue. Shut the fuck up and watch the last 40 minutes or so of Mel Gibson's second directorial venture, and marvel at the genius of the man. My father's folks had Clint Eastwoon, we've got Gibson. Edgy, experimental, eccentric - whatever you call his style, with two really awesome movies under his belt, Gibson sure as hell knows what he's up to.
















7) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - 2000

Director - Ang Lee

Chow Yun Fat. Zhang Ziyi. Michelle Yeoh.

Four names, that's all there should be to this. There's something for everyone in this movie - Ang Lee's attention to detail is what makes him one of the best there is today. There is no glossing over the story or the plot since he's making an action movie. Unconsummated romance, a troubled father-daughter pair kicking some major ass and some of the smoothest action sequences known to man. It's all there. Watch.


6) Desperado - 1995/ Once Upon A Time In Mexico - 2003

Director - Robert Rodriguez

Guitars. Guns. G...Salma Hayek. Three reasons why this movie should be in this list. If you can give me one why it should not, I will kick you in the face and call you Bucho. Capice?

The sequel to Desperado, has Johnny Depp stealing Antonio Banderas' thunder as the CIA agent. With a plot designed to maim your gonads and make you want to watch the whole movie again, Rodriguez wraps up his trilogy in true Mariachi style. Oh, and it's got Salma Hayek and Jessica Biel too.




5) The Terminator - 1986/ Terminator - 2: Judgement Day - 1991

Director - James Cameron

Before he made the sappy old piece of pulp romance that we call Titanic, James Cameron used to make real movies that made you cut and bleed like broken glass. With Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the badass robot from the future, twice, sent back on different missions in the two movies, but kicking ass equally well in both, he proved to the world that the muscle men could actually get away with not acting at all, and yet making legends out of themselves. Don't worry Arnie, we forgive you for part 3, Kindergarten Cop and for California.










4) Rambo: First Blood - 1982/ Rambo : First Blood Part 2 - 1985

Director - Ted Kotcheff/ George P. Cosmatos

Alongwith writing the screenplay for Aliens, James Cameron kept himself busy in his play time writing another one for John Rambo, taking him from Vietnam War veteran to the quintessential all-American hero. Along with his trusted Colonel, he rids the world of all evil.
















3) The Professional - 1994

Director - Luc Besson

Debutante Natalie Portman's 12 year old Mathilda falls in love with a cold calculative hitman, Jean Reno as the story unfolds around this plot of Mathilda's brother's death. Luc Besson's first American movie was a masterpiece beyond any of his work, and Jean Reno was an instant international star.









2) Kill Bill Vol. 1 - 2003

Director: Quentin Tarantino

The Bride: "Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now."

And that's how the Crazy88 fell. That one sequence is enough to make the cut on this list, I guess the rest of the movie was just an appetizer for O-Ren Ishii's death. Either way, Uma Thurman, also known as Mia Wallace to a few, but mostly as the ass kicking, pussy wagon riding Beatrix Kiddo is one helluva woman, and Kill-ing Bill is one helluva joyride. Only people above *this* height allowed.
Here comes the bride.











1) Die Hard - 1988

Director - John McTiernan

Bruce Willis as a sarcastic cop on a mission to save the United States. A couple of buildings blown, a helicopter, fear of flying, guns, barefoot fighting and a whole lotta yippee-ka-yay, motherfuckers. There's Miles Davis, and there's Die Hard. The epitome of cool.
By far the best of them all!