The 20 best unstoppable action hero movies

Few action stars have achieved quite the level of success and fame as Sylvester Stallone, who has managed to anchor several different action franchises. One of his most iconic and beloved roles is as John J. Rambo in Rambo: First Blood. In some ways, Rambo embodies a particular type of 1980s masculinity, and the character has remained popular, appearing in numerous subsequent films, including Rambo: Last Blood, released in 2019. There’s just something about Rambo that keeps people coming to the theater to see him.

Even an unstoppable hero like John Wick finally has to have his story come to an end, which is what happens in the fourth installment of the franchise. Before Wick dies (or at least seems to), he, of course, engages in the sort of skilled hand-to-hand combat that he has in all of the other entries in the franchise. Unlike many other action movies at this point in a franchise, which might well collapse under their own weight, this one somehow manages to keep it all together, becoming a true work of popular cinematic art.

Not every action franchise could keep producing films that are of high quality, but that’s exactly what John Wick: Chapter 3 manages to achieve. In this case, Wick finds himself on the run from a number of hitmen who’ve taken up the bounty on his head. The beautiful thing about this film, like its predecessors, is that it leans into the beauty of its own violence, with action set-pieces that are so expertly choreographed that one could be forgiven for thinking they’re actually dances. Rarely has brutality ever been so gorgeous.

Keanu Reeves returns to the role of John Wick in the second film, which once again focuses on his desire to escape from the world of crime and death and the deferral of that desire. As with the first film, the second John Wick film features some truly astounding fight choreography, continuing to set a high bar that few other action films have managed to meet, let alone exceed. It’s not every movie that could take the action of John Wick and take it to new heights, but that’s exactly what this sequel manages to achieve. 

Following the success of Kill Bill,  it makes sense that a sequel would be made, which rejoins the Bride as she continues to seek vengeance against Bill. Thurman is once again in her element as an action hero who refuses to rest until she gets the revenge she feels is hers by right. As with the first movie, it’s clear that Tarantino has a great deal of fondness for action cinema, and it’s a genuine pleasure to see Thurman and David Carradine (who plays Bill) have their long-delayed final confrontation. 

Bob Odenkirk might be most famous for playing Saul Goodman in both  Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but in Nobody, he showed he also has what it takes to play a pretty formidable action hero. This is the kind of film that doesn’t try to be anything other than what it says, which is to say, a fun and violent film about a man trying to protect his family and doing so thanks to his skills as an assassin. It may not be the most original action movie ever made, but it still manages to be a lot of fun, most of which is due to Odenkirk’s remarkable performance. 

Dev Patel has repeatedly shown himself to be one of his generation’s most versatile actors, and in Monkey Man, he demonstrated his skill at playing a formidable action hero. In the film, he portrays Kid, who has devoted his life to getting revenge against the corrupt religious leader who was responsible for his mother’s death. It’s a powerful piece of filmmaking and, in addition to starring in the film as its main character, Patel also co-wrote the screenplay and directed the movie, showing that there is truly nothing he can’t do.

Charlize Theron has shown, time and again, that she is a truly remarkable and versatile actress, someone able to inhabit any number of roles in any number of genres. In Atomic Blonde, for example, she shows her once again inhabiting the role of an action heroine who kicks butt and takes names. In this case, the character in question is Lorraine Broughton, who works for MI6 in the last days of the Cold War. It’s a film that’s an adrenaline rush from beginning to end, and Theron is in her element as an action hero.

The John Wick franchise expanded with Ballerina, which takes place in the same universe and features some of the same characters, including John Wick himself. The real focus of the film, however, is Eve Macarro, played by Ana de Armas, and her efforts to get revenge on the cult that killed her father. Though not quite as expertly balletic in its action sequences as its parent film, it is still quite entertaining, and de Armas is compelling and charismatic enough to make the audience care about and cheer for her quest for justice.

Quentin Tarantino put his own spin on the unstoppable hero character with Kill Bill,  which starred Uma Thurman as the unstoppable assassin known only as the Bride. This film, like so many of the director’s other works, makes it clear how much Tarantino loves movies and loves making homages to them. At the same time, it also stands on its own, and Thurman demonstrates, if any proof were needed, that she has what it takes to be a very memorable action hero.

Liam Neeson moved into the action genre with Taken, in which he portrays Bryan Mills, a man who was once a CIA operative but now has to save his daughter from kidnappers. In hindsight, it’s the kind of role that Neeson was clearly born to play, with his gravelly voice and his sometimes-stern screen persona. It certainly performed well at the box office, and while not every entry was critically praised, no one can fault Neeson for not committing himself completely to the role.

Tom Hardy’s Max might have been the hero of the aptly-titled Mad Max: Fury Road,  but in some ways Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa managed to steal the show. It’s thus not surprising that she got her own film, in which Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the role from Theron. While it wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, it is still a pulse-pounding good time, and it demonstrates why Furiosa is such a formidable character, someone who won’t rest until she’s received justice for both her own sufferings and those of the other women in their world.

With Mission: Impossible,  Tom Cruise not only solidified his reputation as one of his generation’s most notable action stars; he also helped launch a franchise that would endure for decades. Ethan Hunt is the type of hero who can truly never be kept down, no matter what his various enemies might throw at him. While that is certainly true of this first movie, it’s also true of the franchise as a whole, and no matter what comes his way, Cruise’s Hunt proves that he is always the man for the moment.

Keanu Reeves became an unstoppable action hero for the 2010s and 2020s when he began portraying the character of John Wick. He may not be the most muscle-bound hero to have ever appeared on the big screen, but there’s no denying that he is a true force of nature. Like so many other heroes, he really just wants to spend his time mourning his wife, but once his dog is killed, he has no other choice but to set off on a quest for vengeance. 

Tom Cruise is certainly no stranger to the action film, as he has shown time and again. Even so, he outdoes himself in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of War of the Worlds, in which he plays Ray Ferrier, a man determined to keep his family safe despite a devastating alien invasion. Ferrier proves to be a true unstoppable action hero, and while he might not be responsible for the aliens’ demise — that’s due to their being allergic to Earth’s microbes — he still does the extra mile for those he loves and will let nothing stand in his way.

Bruce Willis has repeatedly shown that he is a remarkably versatile actor, but few would disagree that Die Hard is one of his best and most beloved movies. John McClane is, in many ways, a paradigmatic example of the unstoppable hero, both in this film and in all of those that followed. And, because he’s played by Willis, he manages to be someone that the audience can genuinely cheer for and care about, making him into something much more than just a violent avenger.

Sigourney Weaver resumes her iconic role as Ellen Ripley in Aliens,  the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien. While she was certainly formidable in the first movie, she is even more so in the second, and no Xenomorph, no matter how powerful, can stand in her way. In fact, she even manages to defeat the sinister Alien Queen, arguably one of the most terrifying and powerful aliens ever put to screen. Ripley is not one to be trifled with, and she should often be regarded as one of sci-fi’s most formidable heroes. 

Gladiator is one of those films that manages to be many things at once, for while it’s very much a sword and sandal epic, it’s also an adrenaline-filled action film. Its hero, Maximus, is truly an unstoppable force of nature, for he manages to survive an assassination attempt and numerous bouts of brutal fighting in the Coliseum. Of course, he does eventually succumb to his wounds at the end of the movie, but not before making sure the villainous and corrupt Emperor Commodus 

The Bourne Identity continues to be held up as a sort of thinking man’s action film, which is due to both the very intelligent screenplay and Matt Damon’s performance as Jason Bourne. It has more than its fair share of narrative twists and turns, but it’s really Damon who makes this film sing, and it’s thanks to him that the franchise continued as long as it did. While the film has its fair share of action sequences, it is also invested in character development, which is still unusual in the genre.

Harrison Ford might be best known for portraying Indiana Jones and Han Solo, but he’s been in a number of other fantastic movies that highlight his skills as an action hero. In The Fugitive, for example, he plays Dr. Robert Kimble, who is falsely accused of murdering his wife. In typical genre style, however, he sets out to clear his name and find the man responsible. He truly is one of those heroes who cannot be stopped no matter what, and he is fortunately vindicated in the end.