20 iconic films that reinvented the action genre

A group of outlaws joins forces to stop the bad guys from invading an innocent town. It's a plot you've seen in other movies, but it wasn't always a common story. Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic set the stage for countless standoffs, lightsaber fights and glorious shootouts in cinema, its influence ranging from Star Wars to The Searchers. It remains a valiant, voraciously entertaining staple of the action cinema genre.

There would be no Liam Neeson without Death Wish. The geriatric action movie started with Charles Bronson getting revenge on the thugs who murdered his wife. He's a man with a particular set of skills, and in this gritty, gruesomely dark vision of a bygone New York, the one person who's sweeping the streets of trash. 

The Matrix  is one of those rare action movies that gets at deeper subjects than just revenge, murder and mindless spectacle. Starting an entire digital universe of thought-provoking action films, the film sees Keanu Reeves enter another universe of kung fu, trench coats, bullet-bending, and mind-bending suspense. It's a movie that made people question reality, whether or not action movies could be more than just action, and whether or not Keanu Reeves was the greatest action star of the decade. 

Everyone knows Ocean's 11,  but how many of you know Rififi? One of the first heist films and undoubtedly the most influential, the noir caper went on to inspire every heist movie that came after it, from Sexy Beast to Ocean's 11. This tense, riveting film builds to a near-silent heist sequence that'll have your palms sweating like they were in wool pants in a heat wave.

Trace the breadcrumbs of man-on-the-run movies and you'll find the steps lead back to Alfred Hitchcock. In this rollicking chase film--in which a man is falsely accused of murder--you'll get to watch countless action tropes being made up on the go. Of course, many people know Hitchcock from films like Psycho and Rear Window, but this may very well be his most influential work on the action genre.

It's a story as old as cinema itself: "boy meets girl, boy forgets girl, boy loses girl in a tragic blimp accident on New Year's day--Good Year?--no, the worst." It's arguable the funniest movie ever made as Leslie Nielsen tries to prevent an assassination attempt while juggling love, police detecting, opera singing, and the greatest joke book of one-liners imaginable. The Naked Gun would go on to inspire countless genre satires that couldn't hold a gun--let alone a flame--to this hilarious comedy.

They got robots serving drinks in bars, self-driving cars and robot house butlers--did no one watch Terminator 2? An urgent warning on the dangers of technology, this movie is packed with genuinely fun action, but the message seems more vital now than ever before. Now we have plenty of cinematic warnings on the dangers of technology (most inspired by James Cameron's film), but maybe we should start implementing those concerns about advancements in technology in real life.

In this reinvention of the espionage film, a former spy has his memory wiped and tries to find his way back to headquarters like a blind man without a cane. A gonzo mashup of Memento and Mission Impossible , it's noteworthy for making Matt Damon a movie star, as well as the handheld camera that would not only put you in the character's jumbled brain but set the pace for countless action movies that decade.

This isn't the first Hong Kong action flick to make waves across the planet--that would be John Woo's A Better Tomorrow--but it was the most influential of the Hong Kong action bunch. Bringing slow-motion, hyper-stylized editing, and almost impossible cool to the action table, it's no wonder so many directors mention Hard Boiled as a key inspiration. As two undercover cops infiltrate a mafia ring, you watch ballets of bombast so epic you aren't even sure how the movie pulled it off.

It's not a very jolly Christmas when a group of terrorists invades a company Christmas party. Unfortunately for them, Bruce Willis is gonna stop at nothing until his family is safe. It's not the first one-man-army movie, nor is it the first vulnerable hero archetype, but it executes those tropes so well that made them a staple of blockbuster cinema for decades.

He's just a guy, staring at a locomotive train, telling her that he loves her--the opening of Buster Keaton's silent classic emphasizes that his character loves his locomotive train and his soon-to-be wife, which means he's going to enlist in the army to impress her. Soon the train is literally off the tracks when she's kidnapped and Buster Keaton has to track her down in stunts so wildly impressive they put CGI to shame. A massively influential action film, The General inspired countless chase sequences, as well as Jackie Chan and Tom Cruise, to perform their own stunts in an attempt to match the balletic aplomb of Keaton.

This is a movie, disguised as a movie, playing another movie. A hilarious satire that's a great action movie as well, Tropic Thunder wears many masks, and all of them are great. As a group of actors enter a vast jungle to film their movie, they don't even realize the action taking place around them is real, which makes for a meta commentary on cinema that's thought-provoking and jokes that remain quotable to this day.

In a galaxy far, far away, around 50 years ago, George Lucas showed Star Wars to his friends and they all laughed at him, but who's laughing now? George Lucas laughed his way to the bank when he invented the first-ever space opera in Star Wars. In blending science fiction with action, he created one of the most influential action movies ever made.

As rich as a plate of homemade Italian spaghetti paired with delectable wine, The Godfather is a recipe of genres that remains as sumptuous as it did on release. Stirring family drama with mafia action, Francis Ford Copolla reinvented action cinema with a more eloquent, operatic dish of disaster, where the lighting, editing, and human drama took precedence over stylized action. 

The Western movie used to be a good guy versus bad guy genre, but The Wild Bunch blurred the line with blood. There are no good guys, and the violence is more stylized than heroic, but that didn't stop this film from being massively influential. The Wild Bunch turned the Western movie into a grittier genre.

The French New Wave meets local cinema in this buddy Western. Showcasing cinema techniques from the French New Wave in forms of editing, cinematography, montage, and action, this movie reinvented how Westerns were created.

Science fiction was a more contemplative genre until James Cameron made space for visceral violence. Taking horror tropes along with science fiction tropes and throwing in epic action sequences, Aliens took the Alien formula and added more ammunition... as well as aliens!

Taken wasn't the first angry old man getting revenge movie--we already saw that in Death Wish--but it made geriaction movies a box office success again. Now we have countless Liam Neeson-types getting revenge on those who wronged their family every year at the movie theater.

Kids love action movies as well! They play with G.I. Joes and create spectacular battlefields in their brain, which is why this movie about a kid stuck at home fending off burglars is such a triumphant outlier.

Is there a better fantasy movie than this? Inconceivable! The Princess Bride is a wonderful mix of action, fantasy, true love, and many more genres as well.