The action genre is one of the most loved and respected in cinema. Whether thanks to practical effects, chase scenes or carefully choreographed fights, there will always be something to be surprised by. In this list we will show you the best action movies in history, to highlight the seventh art and all the work involved in working on a production of this style.
1. Seven Samurai (1954)
Name in Spanish: the seven samurai
A small village that is the haunt of thieves and warriors alike tires of robberies. To avoid repeating the same history, they hire an expert samurai to defend them. After assessing the village, the samurai decides that he needs six companions to defend it in its entirety. And besides, he teaches the inhabitants to defend themselves.
2. The Hurt Locker (2009)
Name in Spanish: Fear Zone / Living on the Edge
Follow a bomb disposal team during the Iraq war. The group is being hunted by insurgents, and shows their reactions to the stress of combat. After making a connection to an Iraqi boy, Sergeant William James finds himself in a race for survival.
3. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Name in Spanish: The darkest night
This film is a dramatization of the efforts to capture the terrorist Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda. Follow a step-by-step account of the investigation that went into finding his hideout, starring CIA analyst Maya Harris. Maya was in charge of the investigation behind the search.
4.Dunkirk (2017)
Name in Spanish: Dunkirk
In this feature film we are transported to 1940, during World War II. It is a dramatization of the events that occurred between German and French soldiers, where a group of allied troops are trapped on the Dunkirk beach. It covers evacuation maneuvers, which included naval vessels and civilian transport.
5. Apocalypse Now (1979)
Name in Spanish: apocalypse now
American Captain Benjamin L. Willard will be sent on a terrifying mission into the jungle in the Vietnam War. His objective is to eliminate Walter E. Kurtz, a green beret soldier who has lost his sanity. The closer he gets to the other man’s base, the more he reflects on him, and he knows full well that after this mission, he won’t be the same.
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Name in Spanish: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
In the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil, the future of Middle Earth will be decided. Frodo and Sam arrive in Mordor to destroy the ring, while Aragorn leads the forces against Sauron’s evil army.
7. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Name in Spanish: Saving Private Ryan
After discovering that a soldier is lost in the French countryside, a rescue mission is scheduled to bring him back home. The team in charge of the mission is made up of a veteran, and a group of young people who are not willing to risk their lives.
8. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Name in Spanish: Mad Max: Fury Road
In this apocalyptic land grab, we follow a woman who rebels against a tyrant. In the process, she will try to save the lives of a group of female prisoners (whom the tyrant calls “wives”), and will meet an outsider named Max.
9. Dirty Harry (1971)
Name in Spanish: Dirty Harry
Inspector Dirty Harry will have to deal with a society in panic thanks to the “Scorpio Killer”. This will lead Harry to use whatever measures are necessary to catch the monster that hides behind a pseudonym and constantly taunts the police.
10. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Name in Spanish: Mission Impossible: Fallout
After taking down a terrorist organization, Ethan Hunt will have to deal with its remains, the organization called Apostles. To eliminate them, they will have to work with CIA agent Augustus Walker. But when the former head of the terrorist organization, Solomon Lake, escapes from prison, things get complicated.
11.Baby Driver (2017)
Name in Spanish: Baby: Apprentice to Crime
Baby serves as “the one who drives the getaway car”. He has a slight hearing impairment, but his driving skills are impressive. He works under the yoke of Doc, a criminal magnate, with whom he has a debt that he must pay. Just when he thinks his association with Doc is over, Baby is given one last job with highly unstable criminals.
12. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Name in Spanish: Bourne: The Ultimatum
Jason Bourne will have to get back to work once again. Now collaborating with a reporter looking to expose the Blackbriar operation, Bourne will have to deal with unexpected memories that the job brings up. Little by little his past makes sense and he looks much darker than he thought, as he runs from the Company, who will try to eliminate him.
13.Hero (2002)
Name in Spanish: Hero
Before the reign of the first emperor in ancient China, warring factions among the Six Kingdoms want to take down the Qin ruler. When a stranger manages to kill three of his most important enemies, Qin will call him to the palace to reveal his story.
14. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Name in Spanish: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
In South America, the archeology professor Indiana Jones is in South America, looking for a golden statue. After escaping from a death trap, he meets museum curator Marcus Brody, who tells him about the Ark of the Covenant. It is an artifact that could hide the secret behind human existence. Jones will have to embark on a journey to Nepal, Egypt and also evade Nazis to find her.
15.Alien (1986)
Name in Spanish: aliens: the return
In this action-packed and suspenseful sequel, we follow Ellen Ripley again, 57 years later. Ripley will have to participate in a mission with soldiers who will seek to colonize a planet that already has an established human settlement. Arriving on the planet, however, she is met with a dangerous threat and the remnants of the once thriving space colony.
16.Looper (2012)
Name in Spanish: Looper: Future Assassins
In this universe, there are “loopers”, mercenaries who use time travel to kill men from the past who are dangerous in the future. Thus, getting rid of the body is much easier. However, the risk of this job is that eventually his own future version will come to finish him off to tie up loose ends…
17. Blade Runner (1982)
Name in Spanish: blade runner
In a futuristic, cyberpunk version of humanity, man developed the technology to create humanoid androids called “replicants.” Their lives are set to be short in length, and are illegal on Earth. A control group against these androids, the Blade Runners, are in charge of preventing them from entering the earth, and Rick Deckard receives news that four replicants have entered the atmosphere in search of their creator.
18. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Name in Spanish: The tiger and the dragon
The warrior Li Mu Bai has left the sword in the care of an esteemed warrior, but when it is stolen, he must retrieve it. During the search for the skilled thief, he will have to confront his feelings, his passions, his desire for freedom and the loose ends he has in his life.
19.Goldfinger (1965)
Name in Spanish: 007 vs. Goldfinger
James Bond will have to investigate the gold magnate, Auric Goldfinger, who is taking advantage of his position. The Bank of England asks him to take part in the investigation and in the process, he will discover a plan to commit “the crime of history” that will bring economic chaos to the entire country.
20. Nobody (2021)
Name in Spanish: Nobody
Hutch Mansell is a man trapped in a mundane existence, until a life-threatening event for his family changes him completely. After taking a beating, Hutch decides to start fending for himself and learn to defend himself, until he discovers that he is being targeted by a Russian drug magnate. Will his will be enough?
21.Old Boy (2003)
Name in Spanish: Oldboy: Five Days to Get Even
After being kidnapped without any explanation for fifteen years, seeing freedom, a man has only one idea in mind: revenge. His captors kept him alive and constantly prevented him from taking his own life in his agony. Because? Who would hate him enough to deny him the right to die on his terms?
22.John Wick: Parabellum (2019)
Name in Spanish: John Wick 3: Parabellum
John Wick finds himself on the run for two reasons, one, he has a bounty on his head, and two, he’s broken a crucial rule. After killing someone at the Continental Hotel, he is hunted by the High Table, the organization that wants his head. John only has to flee from New York in the most effective way he can find.
23. Matrix (1999)
Name in Spanish: matrix
When a beautiful woman leads a hacker to question the reality that surrounds him, and plunges him into an underground world he never thought possible, Neo will have to mate as soon as possible. Especially if he intends to collaborate with the rebel warrior Morpheus to eliminate the illusion that trapped all of humanity.
24.Train to Busan (2016)
Name in Spanish: zombie station
After his daughter convinces him to accompany her on a train trip to Busan province to see his ex-wife, a businessman is forced to fight for his life. The trip seems normal, until they discover that in other carriages several passengers have turned violent and are fighting and biting whoever gets in their way. Humanity is in danger.
25. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Name in Spanish: at the edge of tomorrow
Humanity has no chance to win against an alien threat called “mimics”. The army tries to fight them off, but they find themselves overwhelmed by an ability that Private William Cage will experience firsthand. If he dies during combat, he relives the same day over and over again. But he’s the only one who knows. Is this enigma possible to solve?
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