4. The Matrix (1999)
After it became parodied in everything from Scary Movie to Shrek and delivered two underwhelming sequels that almost drowned in a sea of pseudo-philosophical nonsense, it's almost difficult to remember how The Matrix revolutionized the action genre with its visually stunning mix of Eastern-influenced fight scenes and cutting-edge special effects. Directing duo The Wachowskis initially came up with the idea in 1994, but it was deemed too ambitious for a debut feature so the brothers (as they were back then) cut their teeth on noir thriller Bound before returning to their passion project. And ambitious it certainly was; the idea that our world is a simulation known as 'The Matrix' and the world is actually controlled by sentient machines that harvest the human population as energy sources with a heavy philosophical and religious subtext doesn't exactly scream 'summer blockbuster' on paper. With the input of legendary martial arts choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping, the groundbreaking fight scenes were unlike anything seen in a Hollywood production of this scale and influenced a generation of sub-par imitators, while the lobby scene combines wirework and visual effects with good old-fashioned gunplay to create one of the greatest shootouts ever put on film. And of course, you can't talk about The Matrix without mentioning bullet time; still cameras shooting the equivalent of 12,000 frames per second to provide the movie's iconic moment as Neo harnesses the power of The Matrix to literally dodge bullets. The script is arguably the weakest part of the movie, featuring a mountain of exposition to establish the world and very little levity. However, excellent production design creates a distinct parallel between the two realities, the cast (particularly Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith) fully embrace the material, and the action scenes are unlike anything that had been seen before.