10 Most Influential Action Movies Ever Made
High-octane masterpieces that redefined the genre.
When done right, there are few better forms of entertainment than an action movie.
The perfect definition of escapism, the best of the genre allows audiences to switch their brains off, sit back and enjoy a couple of hours worth of punch-ups, shoot-outs, car chases, explosions and a fair share of cheesy one-liners. It may not be high art, but it sure as hell leaves you with a smile on your face when the end credits start rolling.
Unfortunately, the 'Golden Age' of the action movie seems to be a thing of the past as $200m comic book blockbusters and CGI-fuelled destruction now seem to be the order of the day, with studios hedging their bets on multi-billion dollar franchises at the expense of more modestly-budget fare that used to be the bread and butter of the genre, although classics like John Wick, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Raid can still manage to slip through the cracks every now and again.
Superheroes, space operas and digital creations are now more likely to put butts in seats than a gun-toting guy named John that's having a bad day, but many of the current crop of big-budget studio movies are clearly inspired by the genre-defining greats that came before, even if not all of them are willing to wear those influences on their sleeve.
10. Enter The Dragon
Almost 45 years after his death, Bruce Lee still remains the most famous martial artist in the history of cinema and the man responsible for bringing the kung-fu movie into the public consciousness in the early 1970s. If you were asked to name one of his movies off the top of your head, then chances are that Enter the Dragon would instantly come to mind.
Breaking barriers as the first co-production between American and Hong Kong companies, it quickly became both the most iconic and successful kung-fu movie of all time, earning $90m at the box office on a budget of just $850,000. The influence of Enter the Dragon would be felt throughout the rest of the decade, not just in the martial arts genre but the movie industry as a whole.
As well as featuring future stars Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung in small roles, Jim Kelly would also use the success of the movie to launch his career as Blaxploitation's premiere martial artist. Enter the Dragon was directly responsible for huge numbers of people taking up martial arts, helped popularize Eastern cinema in the United States and spawned the 'kung-fu craze' of the '70s that led to countless inferior knock-offs, parodies and tributes.