12 Ridiculously Macho Movies You Must See

Sometimes you just want to switch off, kick back, and watch a testosterone-fuelled action flick to fire you up. What better place to turn than some ass-kicking macho movies with plenty of violence, some triumph over adversity, and as many throw-away lines as you can fit into 90 minutes.

The concept of a macho film is not a modern one and has been a key feature in cinema as far back as the 1930s with James Cagney’s breakthrough, The Public Enemy. John Wayne epitomised machoism on film and rode a peak of popularity through the ‘50s and ‘60s before Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando became huge stars through the ‘60s and ‘70s playing a number of legacy-defining roles as dominant male characters.

The golden era of the macho film is certainly recognised to be the 1980s, the decade made global stars of several muscle-bound actors who were high on muscle definition and arguably low on acting skills. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bruce Willis became household names and made some of the most popular and high grossing films of the decade.

The trend spilled into the ‘90s and seems to remain popular throughout contemporary cinema with the nostalgia fuelled The Expendables series, the Fast and Furious franchise and pretty much anything involving Jason Statham.

Jason Statham has admirably carried the macho torch into the 2000s and beyond with a raft of top action hits including The Expendables series. Crank is by far his craziest and most action packed movie to date though, and arguably one of his best. Statham plays Chev Chelios, a former hit-man who wakes up to the knowledge he has been poisoned by a gangster and has to keep his heart beating as fast as possible to stay alive. So, basically this is Speed in a human body.

Beyond this set-up, there is no clever dialogue needed, no deeper character development – the film, and Statham, go 100 mph from the start. The action is outrageous and ridiculous and there are some hilarious moments throughout. It goes to places you certainly wouldn’t expect but manages to retain credibility from Statham’s tough and relentless performance.

There are also some impressive directorial touches with frenetic editing and visual flair through crash zooms and disorienting angles, which keeps the action going at full pelt. Crank is a 21st century action movie for a new generation and set the bar for pushing the adrenaline envelope.