In honor of the greatest genre in the history of ever, here are the 27 best '90s action movies ever made. In no particular order we countdown;
27. 'DEMOLITION MAN' (1993)
This guilty pleasure has EVERYTHING: Wesley Snipes' hair. Future overalls. The Three Seashells, you guys! The only way this excessive ode to machismo could be any more '90s is if it were directed by slap bracelets.
26. 'THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT' (1990)
There's a lot of Bruce Willis on this list, and we'd be remiss if we didn't include one of his more underrated efforts. Tony Scott directs a very R-rated Shane Black script that pits alcoholic P.I. Willis and ex-quarterback Damon Wayans against, um, football. Just watch -- it's funny and action-packed.
25. 'BLADE' (1998)
Marvel's first R-rated comic book movie success is still one of their better efforts, opening with a still-badass brawl at a vampire rave and concluding with a kung-fu fight that ends with a vial ninja kicked into the baddie's head.
24. 'RONIN' (1998)
What's better than De Niro? De Niro with a gun, working with a group of ex-spies while precision driving (the wrong way) down Parisian streets in search of a MacGuffin in this gritty, lean car-chase caper.
23. 'LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL' (1994)
Featuring Natalie Portman's breakout role, "The Professional" is the last truly good movie Luc Besson has made. It's "Lone Wolf & Cub," but with a French assassin (Jean Reno) and recently-orphaned Portman up against Gary "Everrrryone!" Oldman.
22. 'DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE' (1995)
Of the "Die Hard" sequels, the third comes closest to capturing the gritty (and funny) spirit of the first film. Like he did with the original, director John McTiernan keeps the action grounded and the tension taut as John McClane must work with the great Samuel L. Jackson to stop Hans Gruber's brother from stealing gold from NYC's Federal Reserve.
21. 'GOLDENEYE' (1995)
Pierce Brosnan's first Bond movie is still his best, a then-necessary updating of the Bond franchise for the modern era. While the movie's story doesn't hold up as well now as it did then, its action scenes still pack lots of entertainment -- especially the opening bungee jump, the tank chase and Bond's arm-bar fueled fist fight with 006.
20. 'DESPERADO' (1995)
That's how you walk away from an explosion. Robert Rodriguez' first Hollywood feature is a loose remake of his self-funded "El Mariachi" and it thankfully retains that film's core concept of a mariachi carrying a guitar case full of guns, looking for revenge run over-the-top shootout at a time.
9. 'THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT' (1996)
We're not sure what we love more about this movie: Shane Black's insanely clever and funny dialogue, Samuel L. Jackson's delivery of said dialogue, or Geena Davis going all badass as an amnesiac assassin. Three-way tie? Three-way tie.
18. 'POINT BREAK' (1991)
17. 'STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT' (1996)
Yes, a "Star Trek" movie can deliver the action goods, as proved with this Picard-vs.-Borg adventure that, when it's not struggling with the themes of revenge and identity, it's phasering the s**t out of baddies and filling the screen with one hell of a space battle.
16. 'CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER' (1994)
Harrison Ford carved out one hell of a "Thinking Man's" action movie niche in the 1990s, thanks largely in part to his two Jack Ryan movies. "Patriot Games" is base hit with some pacing problems, but "Danger" is the best Jack Ryan mission since "The Hunt for Red October," a political thriller/drug war procedural that -- in between well-written character exchanges -- delivers visceral action scenes. The standout? Ryan and a convoy of suburbans gets ambushed by RPGs.
15. 'AIR FORCE ONE' (1997)
"Get off my plane!" There is a reality where this movie stars Kevin Costner, the original actor intended for the role of terrorist-hating President Marshall, instead of Ford. And that's just wrong. There's no one more perfect for the punch-happy POTUS than Indiana Jones, in this engaging thriller that marks the pinnacle of the 90s exploitation of the "Die Hard" on a (insert inventive location here) premise.
#14. 'FACE/OFF' (1997)
Summer 1997 incepted us all with the idea that Nicolas Cage would rise from Oscar-winner to over-the-top action star with the one-two punch of "Con Air" and "Face/Off." We loved both movies then, but skip the former (it's bad) and rewatch the latter (it's guilty pleasure bad) -- it's John Woo's best Hollywood film, full of quotable Cage-isms and balletic double-gun shootouts.
13. 'UNDER SIEGE' (1992)
Yes, that's Navy SEAL-turned-cook Steven Seagal defensively biting down on a butcher knife. Because 1992. "Under Siege" effectively executes its "Die Hard" on a battleship premise with the exact amount of whatever each scene needs, never going too camp or too serious. Not an easy feat because Seagal. Fun fact: Director Andrew Davis would re-team with Tommy Lee Jones one year later for the Oscar-winning "The Fugitive."
12. 'THE MASK OF ZORRO' (1998)
Action director Martin Campbell owned the latter half of the decade, with "GoldenEye" and this spirited and funny Zorro adventure that made Catherine Zeta-Jones a star. This wasn't Zorro's last ride thought.
11. 'CLIFFHANGER' (1993)
This Stallone comeback vehicle is basically, "'Die Hard' on a mountain," but with a less-cool (and way too hammy) villain thanks to John Lithgow. But you won't find a better dive-away-from-an-explosion, or collection of snowy action set pieces, than "Cliffhanger." (Bonus: Without this movie, we never would have got "Demolition Man" or Stallone's series of 90s action misfires.)
10. 'IN THE LINE OF FIRE' (1993)
Okay, so maybe it's not as popular with traditional action movie junkies as others on this list. But those films would kill to have a script as tight, character-driven and tension-filled as "In the Line of Fire's." As an aging Secret Service agent hunting down a would-be assassin, Clint Eastwood delivers one of his best, most underrated performances. "Fire" also earned two Oscar noms for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor John Malkovich.
9. 'THE ROCK' (1996)
"Welcome to The Rock!" And with Sean Connery's immortal growl of that line, Michael Bay turned Nicolas Cage into a legit action hero and gave us a movie sponsored by explosions genre classic.
8. 'TRUE LIES' (1994)
Yes, that's Arnold Schwarzenegger -- flying a Harrier jet, using his daughter as a hood ornament -- about to fire a terrorist-laced missile. More movies, nay, all of them, need scenes like this. Thanks, James Cameron.
7. 'TOTAL RECALL' (1990)
For most Arnie fans, this is his best movie outside of the "Terminator" franchise. Paul Verhoeven indulges in R-rated spectacle to deliver a trippy and twisted sci-fi film about memory, identity and, of course, saving Mars. It's a space-set spy movie/mistaken identity thriller.
6. 'MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE' (1996)
Tom Cruise's first all-out action movie is still one of his best, with "Mission: Impossible" lighting the fuse on a nearly 20-years-old franchise that's about to start production on its sixth installment.
5. 'HARD-BOILED' (1992)
John Woo, guys. Before crapfests like "Paycheck" and "Windtalkers," the director used this perfect action movie to help his career get through the Hollywood gates. "Hard-Boiled" and "The Killer" are responsible for putting two guns in every action hero's hands, as they slow-mo dive and shoot at people and things. It's influence can still be felt today on the genre.
4. 'SPEED' (1994)
"Speed" is one of those movies that makes you so stressed you can't move for about two hours because you just need to know what happens. It is "Die Hard" on a bus and we love it.
3. 'THE FUGITIVE' (1993)
Arguably the most rewatchable movie that the '90s produced, Harrison Ford delivers one of best performances as Dr. Richard Kimble, opposite the Oscar-winning Tommy Lee Jones as the relentless U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard. More than 20 years later, the chase is just as thrilling as it was at the time of release.
2. 'T2' (1991)
One of the best sequels ever made, “T2” is both a sequel and big budget re-imagining of James Cameron’s first “Terminator” film. It’s then-revolutionary use of CG created one of the movies’ most iconic villains in the T-1000, and it also set the standard for how modern blockbusters are made.
1. 'THE MATRIX' (1999)
1999 was one of the best years ever for movies, thanks in large part to this Joel Silver produced game changer. From "bullet time" to leather jackets and cool sunglasses, “The Matrix” revolutionized both Hollywood and the action movie genre with its groundbreaking special effects and complex story about Neo’s rise from Mr. Anderson to “The One.”
Here it's peeps. You'll have made your as i already did.
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