10 Most Influential Action Movies Ever Made

James Bond's second big-screen outing is not only one of the best entries in the entire 55 year history of the franchise, but also the most important and influential. Building on the template established by its predecessor, From Russia With Love firmly established 007 as one of cinema's biggest icons while also introducing several key elements to both the Bond formula and the wider spy genre.

Opening with a pre-credit sequence is now a prerequisite for Bond movies, but plenty of other genre films have adopted the approach to instantly engage audiences with the product. The presence of a physically-imposing henchman that the hero seems hopelessly outmatched against has become so ubiquitous over the decades that it now borders on cliche, while the use of unrealistic gadgets became one of the most widely-used tropes in the espionage genre.

From Russia With Love both cemented the franchise's blockbuster status and cast a huge shadow over the competition and inspired countless companion pieces, imitators and parodies including Licensed To Kill, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, The Silencers, Get Smart, Our Man Flint, The Ipcress File, True Lies, Austin Powers, Kingsman and plenty more, all of which either mocked, subverted or borrowed the conventions established in 007's sophomore feature.