10 Most Ambitious Action Movies of All Time, Ranked
If you talk to someone who’s a little negative or cynical about action movies, they might well tell you that those sorts of films are among the more unambitious out there, generally speaking. And if they were only focusing on the wrong kinds of action movies, maybe you could see where they’re coming from. Titles like Taken are thunderously simple (though in ways that do appeal to some), and also, look at all the “Die Hard on an x” movies that popped up in the wake of Die Hard and its sequels.
But all that’s not worth focusing on. It’s better to look at those action movies that went the extra mile in doing something different, or pushing the genre forward in one way or another. These action films are classics, or potentially modern/soon-to-be classics, and can all be admired for their creativity, willingness to go big, or ability to do a lot on a fairly small budget.
10
‘Redline’ (2009)
Yeah, okay, Redline is an animated movie, but it still counts as an action film, since it’s so high-energy and contains a good many super exciting racing sequences that take place well beyond the bounds of racing on Earth. People from different areas of space all gather to race very fast, and there’s one individual who’s something of an underdog in the whole thing, and he has to deal with external problems not related to racing, too.
So that all makes Redline a sports movie, too, and a very underrated one. It does all this while having unique and remarkably detailed animation, which is even more impressive when you read about how much hand-drawn animation was used to bring it all to life. It looks beyond what one might think capable of such an old-school style, but the look of Redline speaks for itself. It was clearly a labor of love, and an undeniably exciting action/sports movie, once finally finished.
9
‘Heat’ (1995)
Everyone was familiar with what a heist movie was, prior to 1995, but prior to 1995, no one had made one quite like Heat. This takes the sort of action and suspense you’d expect to find in a movie about trying to pull off a massive bank robbery, but pushes it all to the point that it becomes an epic. Heat is nearly three hours long, has many characters, and is always moving forward in one way or another.
There’s an almost overwhelming number of things to be impressed by in Heat, like that enormous cast, or the central action scene.
The fact it all comes together so seamlessly, and feels like an all-time great action movie on top of being a crime/drama/thriller? Well, that just makes it all the better. There’s an almost overwhelming number of things to be impressed by in Heat (like that enormous cast, or the central action scene), and so no one could call it lacking in ambition, really.
8
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)
Before the release of Avengers: Infinity War, there had been about a decade of (mostly good) Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and quite a few of those, on their own, had been ambitious. It was kind of the MCU in its entirety that felt most ambitious, though, and so when Avengers: Infinity War came out and threaded so many of the past movies and characters together, it was a whole other level of impressive.
There was a massive threat here that required multiple superheroes to try and defeat, and honestly, most of the people who made appearances got at least one or two moments to shine. There might have been more catharsis in Avengers: Endgame, which properly wrapped up most of the first three phases of the MCU, but viewed as an individual film, Avengers: Infinity War had to keep the most balls up in the air at the same time, and so was arguably even more ambitious.
7
‘Hundreds of Beavers’ (2022)
In Hundreds of Beavers, a man is required to survive in the wilderness, and finds that collecting beaver pelts to exchange for money and survival equipment seems to be the best approach. He finds little success at first, and then gets progressively better at hunting numerous beavers, until he eventually makes enemies of hundreds of them, and then everything gets ridiculously chaotic.
It’s a black-and-white film that feels like both a throwback to silent cinema and a video game movie not based on an actual video game; more one that’s got a world filled with a sort of video game logic. And it’s a ton of fun as an over-the-top yet small-budget action movie, all the while being one of the funniest films in recent memory, too. Hundreds of Beavers wants to be more than just an action movie, and succeeds entirely at that, in turn feeling impressively ambitious.
6
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
Not only does The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King have the most emotional impact of any movie in the trilogy, but it’s also the most spectacular. It kind of has to be, considering it’s the film where Frodo and Sam’s journey is coming to an end, and those who are still left fighting elsewhere need to go all-out in combating Sauron’s forces elsewhere, partly so the Hobbits can continue to sneak into Mordor.
So, the stakes are high, and the level of action – and quality of it – remains something to behold, even though The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is now more than two decades old. It’s looking like it might well be timeless, just based on how well most of it’s aged so far, and also, action movies on this scale rarely feel as exciting or emotionally satisfying.
5
‘The Raid 2’ (2014)
This is a bit tricky, because The Raid (2011) was incredibly ambitious, even though it was restricted in scope. And it was also an amazing martial arts movie for sure, but The Raid 2 was probably even a little better, and it can also be called more ambitious. Sure, it’s no longer about a fight for survival inside a confined apartment complex, but it is now a sprawling gangster epic with a ton of martial arts action thrown in for good measure.
There’s a greater variety of action found in The Raid 2, and lots of it looks even more painful to watch than the already brutal action sequences seen in the first movie. It’s just everything a movie like this could ever be, and then more somehow, and so even if the non-action stuff is a bit less-than-perfect here, the parts that really count shine so brightly that, basically, all is forgiven, and The Raid 2 ends up feeling damn near masterful.
4
‘A Touch of Zen’ (1971)
A Touch of Zen might sound like a very peaceful sort of title to give to an action movie, but it’s fitting here, since A Touch of Zen is rather peaceful and not exactly action-packed for a good deal of its runtime. It’s ultimately an epic movie, and the early stages of the expansive tale it tells mostly revolves around a young woman on the run, hiding from some pursuers and meeting certain individuals who’ll later fight to defend her.
It takes its time, and proves willing to build up an atmosphere (all the while showcasing some stunning images) before it gets a little mystical, and then all that before it delivers quite a bit by way of action. If you’re patient enough, A Touch of Zen ends up being truly rewarding; one of those long and wholly satisfying movies that feels like the cinematic equivalent of eating an entire – and well-balanced – five-course meal.
3
‘The Matrix’ (1999)
Not the first movie to show Keanu Reeves had it in him to be an action star, but maybe the most notable, The Matrix exploded into the world right at the end of the 1990s. It did something a bit weird and unexpected for a sci-fi/action movie and, in turn, ended up influencing countless films to come, especially because of how stylish the characters and world of this film were, and how bold and memorable the slow-motion consistently was.
Before the movie’s release, having a film with martial arts action, shootouts, and a story about fighting back against machine enslavement might’ve all sounded a bit too messy, but the Wachowskis pulled it off. Their subsequent films have never been quite as good, but that’s okay, because The Matrix pretty much does nothing wrong, and will surely keep on feeling like a classic for who knows how many years to come.
2
‘The General’ (1926)
More than 100 years ago, people probably didn’t even have much of an idea of what an action movie could be. There had been some early silent films that had exciting moments, with Les Vampires feeling almost a little action-y at times, albeit while being more of a thriller. But The General, which is also classifiable as a war movie and a comedy, went all out in showing action, and thereby became one of the first major – and high-quality – feature-length action releases.
It’s all about a man who gets his train stolen, and a girl he has fallen for is also taken, so he sets off to get both back, and the whole thing is exciting, genuinely dangerous looking at times, often spectacular, and almost always funny. It’s a masterfully done film considering it’s nearly a century old, and truthfully, so much of it still feels impressive to watch today, almost 100 years later.
1
‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Seven Samurai is one of the greatest movies of all time. Be it a samurai film, a drama, an epic, or an action movie… however you want to define it, it’s an all-time great. It tells a big story in a simple and digestible way, as there’s a threat established, a problem to overcome, a group of warriors who might be the solution, training undertaken to prepare for battle, then the conflict/battle itself, and then the somber final scenes assessing who’s still standing, and whether it was all worth it.
And that’s kind of describing the whole thing, but that doesn’t really spoil the details of Seven Samurai, nor does it impact the execution of it all, which is what really matters. This thing was so ambitious and influential that you’ve likely seen a movie along those lines before, with those sorts of narrative beats, and that’s okay, because they work. And they really, really work with Seven Samurai, which was even more important for the action genre overall than The General, and still stands as a film that might well be the most impressive and ambitious in the history of the action genre.
Seven Samurai
- Release Date
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April 26, 1954
- Runtime
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207 Minutes
- Director
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Akira Kurosawa
- Writers
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Akira Kurosawa
