10 Action Thrillers That Are Almost as Good as ‘Die Hard’
Die Hard is Die Hard; one of those quintessential movies that doesn’t really need much by way of an introduction. It’s rightly thought of as an all-timer of an action movie, keeping things exciting by having most of the action take place in a confined setting, all the while pitting a legendary underdog hero (played by Bruce Willis) and one of cinema’s best-ever villains (played by Alan Rickman) against each other.
It escalates perfectly, has engaging action on top of “combat” done by way of verbal sparring, and also satisfies as a Christmas movie, too, of all things. It’s often called one of the best action movies ever, but it’s honestly just as strong a thriller, particularly because most of the action is relatively brief and straight-to-the-point. It’s arguably more about suspense than it is explosive action, but it does ultimately deliver on both fronts. And most other movies classifiable as action thrillers do have to live in Die Hard’s shadow, but of those, these are the ones that come closest to stepping out from under it.
10
‘The Professional’ (1981)
The Professional is a movie that lets Jean-Paul Belmondo be super cool for a bit under two hours, and few actors were ever as cool as him, so that alone is enough to make it worth watching. Okay, the rest of the film is also pretty great, since you’ve got a winning Ennio Morricone score here, plus a good blend of action and thrills with a story about a secret service agent who’s wronged and imprisoned, then breaks out and finds himself craving revenge.
It’s kind of like a French James Bond, only a good deal bloodier and more downbeat than even the most intense 007 movies. The Professional also shouldn’t be mixed up with 1994’s Leon: The Professional, which is sometimes referred to as just “The Professional…” though, come to think of it, that’s also a pretty great action/thriller movie. Maybe do mix it up with that film and, in turn, watch both. You can’t lose.
9
‘The Fugitive’ (1993)
What do you know? The Fugitive is indeed about a fugitive, specifically one who’s been accused of murdering his wife, though he maintains he’s innocent and will go to great lengths to prove that. Such an endeavor involves him escaping custody and going on the run, following in the footsteps of a great many Alfred Hitchcock protagonists by being continually chased while trying to find proof that he’s not the one who should be getting chased.
The performances might be what help elevate The Fugitive from good to great, as Harrison Ford is excellent here, and Tommy Lee Jones is arguably even better.
It might sound like the kind of film that’s been done time and again, but The Fugitive makes that sort of premise work surprisingly well, and the brilliant pacing here really can’t be praised enough. Also, the performances might be what help elevate The Fugitive from good to great, as Harrison Ford is excellent here, and Tommy Lee Jones is… well, not just also excellent, but maybe more excellent. Like, no disrespect to Ford, who’s seldom been better, but damn, Tommy Lee Jones is just perfectly cast here.
8
‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ (2023)
If you’re after good action movies released since the start of the 21st century, the John Wick series is a pretty dependable one to dive into. The first movie was best summarized as one about a guy getting revenge after some very sorry people killed his dog (there was a bit more to it than that), but then its sequels went a bit wild and kept the whole story going, sometimes a little absurdly.
But it was worth it because the John Wick movies were willing to keep upping things in terms of spectacle and action, with the fourth film – the appropriately titled John Wick: Chapter 4 – being the biggest and flashiest of the bunch. Truth be told, the first movie might be more definable as an action/thriller film, since it was as much a thriller as it was an action movie, but the fourth film can still be classified as such, and it’s probably more entertaining, so it’s getting the full-fledged shout-out here, sorry.
7
‘One Battle After Another’ (2025)
Paul Thomas Anderson can pretty much do no wrong, as a filmmaker, but sometimes he does more right than usual, and One Battle After Another is one of those times. This film has a whole lot to offer, working as a dark comedy and a drama about some very topical issues at the same time as it thrills and excites on an action front, but it has the time and space to do all that, considering it’s not far off three hours runtime-wise.
But One Battle After Another doesn’t feel that long, since it’s so well-paced and continually involving. It’s got the right balance of surprising and crowd-pleasing stuff, with much more by way of the latter compared to most Paul Thomas Anderson movies, but the balance feels right, since the movie doesn’t feel long, and those things are perhaps the most important of all, for a film like this one.
6
‘The Man Who Stole the Sun’ (1979)
The Man Who Stole the Sun is fairly obscure and underrated, but shouldn’t be. There’s a lot here, and it’s incredibly entertaining, even with its energy being offbeat, and its range of genres tapped into admittedly chaotic. It’s about a high school teacher who snaps, and then starts building an atomic bomb on his own, threatening the government with it to get what he wants.
It’s like Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Breaking Bad, and Marathon Man had a baby somehow, but also, that baby was more willing to belong to the action genre than any of those movies/shows were. That might not make sense, and maybe The Man Who Stole the Sun doesn’t make much sense either, but it’s one of the most thrilling films of its era, and strange/unique enough that it’s basically essential viewing if you think you’ve seen it all, as far as action and/or thriller movies go.
5
‘Speed’ (1994)
A movie with the right sort of title, Speed is indeed pretty relentless, once it gets going (and it doesn’t take very long to get going). It has the sort of high-concept premise that’s best described with a reference to Die Hard, in fact, kind of being like Die Hard, but on a bus. But also, unlike some other “Die Hard on an x” movies, Speed is actually genuinely great, and only broadly comparable to Die Hard.
Speed came 20 years before the first John Wick, and was one of a handful of 1990s action movies that demonstrated Keanu Reeves really had what it took to be an action star. It’s about a bus that can’t drop below a certain speed, or it’ll detonate, and that might sound like it could be silly, but Speed makes it enthralling. It’s a quintessential action thriller, and holds up well more than 30 years on from its release.
4
‘Casino Royale’ (2006)
You might not think Casino Royale is the best James Bond movie, but you can hopefully understand why some people consider it a highlight of the (very) long-running series. It was a bit of a shake-up tonally for 007, and also the first movie in the series to have Daniel Craig in the lead role, going for realism and grit a little more than the majority of James Bond movies, even if it wasn’t the first “dark” 007 movie.
It had some phenomenal action as well, not to mention great stunt work, and Casino Royale was also phenomenally well-paced while being constructed in a way that made it enjoyable even if you weren’t usually all that wild about the James Bond series. Other than Skyfall, the latter Daniel Craig Bond movies weren’t really on the same level, but they really had their work cut out for them with Casino Royale being as great as it was.
3
‘To Live and Die in L.A.’ (1985)
To Live and Die in L.A. is ferocious and intense in ways that still prove impactful, even if the film is stylistically very recognizably one from the 1980s (but that’s not inherently a bad thing). It’s almost a spiritual sequel of sorts to William Friedkin’s The French Connection or, more accurately, can be described as the kind of movie where, if you like one, you’ll probably dig the other.
The story here involves a ruthless Secret Service agent out for revenge against a similarly cunning criminal, and both they – and countless other people – get impacted by the whole cycle of vengeance and violence. There is indeed quite a bit of dying (after the living) in L.A., and maybe “fun” isn’t the right word to describe it all, but it is a thrilling and exciting movie, with so much dread and spectacle to offer in its tightly-paced 116 minutes.
2
‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (2018)
It’s accurate to say that Mission: Impossible – Fallout boasts one of the best action scenes of the 21st century so far, but probably even more accurate to say that it boasts several of the century’s best action scenes, in all honesty. It doesn’t go too wild narratively, since it’s about saving the world with the sorts of high stakes you’d expect from the series, but the ride it provides is pretty much unparalleled.
And there had been great Mission: Impossible movies released before 2018, without a doubt, but Fallout still feels like the absolute peak of the series, and probably won’t ever be surpassed. That’s okay, though, since it’s so immensely rewatchable, and also because it’s understandably hard – if not impossible – to top what is already really damn close to perfect.
1
‘Hard Boiled’ (1992)
John Woo is an all-time great director, and Hard Boiled might well be the movie that showcases his particular strengths at their best. Granted, The Killer comes pretty close, as far as action/thriller movies go, and Woo has also made some pretty great action movies that don’t involve people firing guns in slow motion (see Last Hurrah for Chivalry and Red Cliff), but heroic bloodshed is probably what he does best.
And Hard Boiled is the quintessential heroic bloodshed movie, unless you want to argue that The Killer – and its slightly more dramatic storyline – makes it qualify for that label more. Ugh. Okay. It’s frustrating. Just watch The Killer and Hard Boiled, perhaps even back-to-back if you have the time, and do it ASAP if you’ve never seen a John Woo movie before, for whatever reason. They’ll make you an instant fan, and then you can dive deeper into his chaotic – but mostly rewarding – filmography. It’s a trip well worth taking.
Hard Boiled
- Release Date
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April 16, 1992
- Runtime
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126 Minutes
- Writers
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John Woo, Gordon Chan, Barry Wong
