The 1980s were foundational for the action genre in film. The boom era established or solidified many of the tropes still associated with the genre today. Franchise fever hit the genre in the 1980s, and everyone’s favorite action heroes were landing film after film. The bombastic fight sequences, vehicle crashes, and one-man-army action heroes popularized in the decade inspired a new generation of filmmakers to up the ante in the 1990s.
There was a blockbuster boom with action films in the 1990s. While the machismo-filled action stars of the 1980s still held significant sway in the genre, there was also a shift towards more inclusive narratives as well, with female-led action films like The Long Kiss Goodnight starring Gina Davis becoming more prevalent in the genre. Martial arts became a significant influence during the decade, with film stars like Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan helping to establish major shifts in the action genre in Hollywood. Action film directors in the 1990s helped expand the borders of the genre and gave viewers a cinematic thrill along the way. With so many blockbuster action movies in the decade, the competition to be named the most thrilling was fierce. From bank-robbing surfers to renegade spies and a futuristic cybernetic organism sent back in time, here are the ten most thrilling action movies of the 1990s.
10
‘Point Break’ (1991)
Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze outdoors with a surfboard in Point Break.Credit:Â Image via 20th Century Studios
Kathryn Bigelow skillfully weaves a tight-paced narrative with chaotic action sequences and daring stunts in Point Break, including intense skydiving and surfing sequences. The film is renowned for its bank robbery gang, the Ex-Presidents, a crew of volatile surfers donning masks with the faces of former US Presidents Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carter, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson. After a series of successful heists, rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) is paired on the case with veteran agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), who is convinced that the robbers come from the California surfer community.
Johnny goes undercover, learning to surf and integrating into the local scene. He meets the alluring Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) through the woman he has convinced to teach him how to surf, Tyler (Lori Petty). Even though he suspects Bodhi may be a part of the robbery ring, as Johnny becomes enmeshed in the surfer community and in his dalliance with Tyler, he has a difficult time not empathizing with the surfer’s Buddhist-inspired outlook on life. Point Break was filled with exciting chase scenes, shootouts, surfing and skydiving, and Bigelow’s skillful handling in capturing these action scenes makes it a thrilling addition to the action genre.
9
‘Bad Boys’ (1995)
Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in Bad Boys (1995) directed by Michael Bay.Credit:Â Image via Columbia Pictures
Oh, Michael Bay. The director of the thunderous Transformers franchise got his start in Hollywood with this tensely-paced buddy-cop-action film. Bad Boys features Miami narcotics detectives and lifelong friends Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), who recently confiscated $100 million worth of heroin, only for it to be stolen from station headquarters shortly thereafter. Internal affairs suspect an inside job, and give Mike and Marcus five days to recover the drugs before they shut down the narcotics division.
It’s a gritty scenario, but the natural comedic chemistry between Smith and Lawrence on screen, plus the farcical identity swap plot that follows, brings as much humor as there is chaotic action, Michael Bay style (lens flare included). The identity swap provides much of the film’s humor, while the drug heist case leads to some iconic action sequences, like the scene of Mike running through Miami traffic in hot pursuit of the remaining gangsters who have kidnapped their witness. This chaotic climactic shootout is filled with driving stunts, a blaze of bullets, explosions, and iconic one-liners, making it a thrilling addition to the action genre of the era.
8
‘Die Hard With a Vengeance’ (1995)
Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson in ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance’Credit:Â Image via 20th Century Studios
Not every Die Hard sequel is a hit (looking at you, Die Hard 2), but John McTiernan‘s third installment in the high-octane franchise had viewers thoroughly invested. Everyone’s favorite everyman NYC detective, John McClane (Bruce Willis), has returned to his roots, back in the crime-filled city he once insisted was more important than following his wife, Holly Gennaro McClane (Bonnie Bedelia), to Los Angeles. When a cryptic terrorist with a family grudge holds the city hostage, it’s up to John to track him down, accompanied by his inadvertent sidekick Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson).
Willis and Jackson bring a dynamic and engaging chemistry to the screen as reluctant partners sprinting around Manhattan seeking out a series of explosive devices that threaten the city. It is no coincidence that McClane is the investigator called to the task of seeking out the explosive devices, since the terrorist, “Simon” (Jeremy Irons), turns out to be the vindictive brother of Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). When it turns out that the bomb threats had been a red herring to keep the city’s first responders occupied while Simon and his crew attempt to empty the Federal Reserve Bank, it is up to McClane to intervene. With its intriguing scavenger hunt bomb threat, dynamic duo of protagonists, and shocking tie-in to the original film, plus several impressive explosions along the way, Die Hard With a Vengeance is a rare sequel action film that rivals the original.
7
‘Mission: Impossible’ (1996)
The IMF team of Jack Harmon (Emilio Estevez), Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Béart), and Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) in the 1996 ‘Mission: Impossible.’Credit: Image via Paramount Pictures
Move over, Matt Bourne, there is only room for one renegade international man of mystery on this list, and that is Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) from Mission: Impossible. Hunt is framed for the murder of his entire Impossible Missions Force team and for selling government secrets, and forced to go on the run in order to clear his name. Along the way, he recruits hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) to help him break into the CIA to recover a top-secret “NOC list” to reveal the true mole in the IMF, and clear his name.
The first Mission: Impossible film launched Cruise’s reputation as an action hero and established his habit of performing his own, often jaw-dropping, stunts. One of the most intense moments was a solo stunt that created one of the most iconic images from the film. During the heist in the Langley vault, Cruise dangles upside down, suspended by a single wire attached to a harness, as he hovers above a pressure-sensitive floor, collecting the data he needs to clear his name. The film culminates with a physics-defying action sequence where Hunt attaches a pursuing helicopter to a moving train, causing it to crash and explode. Little wonder Mission: Impossible makes the list of the most thrilling action movies of the decade.
6
‘Independence Day’ (1996)
Steve Hillard and David Levinson back to back looking at the camera in ‘Independence Day’ (1996).Credit: Image via 20th Century Studios
Independence Day is the definitive science fiction action movie of the era. Two days before America celebrates Independence Day, an alien armada begins an assault on Earth. As the world’s major metropolitan areas begin to crumble, a group of Americans band together to try to discover a weakness in the aliens’ defenses. Will Smith stepped into the role of Marine pilot squadron leader and aspiring astronaut Captain Steve Hiller, who is used to leaving his young family in times of crisis in order to serve his country. Returning to the sexy scientist role that made his Jurassic Park character such a hit with viewers, Jeff Goldblum plays David Levinson, a satellite engineer who studied at MIT. And it wouldn’t be a White House disaster movie without the involvement of the President of the United States (Bill Pullman), who helps the unlikely pair of Hiller and Levinson execute their plan to reverse Earth’s fortunes under alien invasion.
Although it’s heavy on science fiction, Independence Day is chock-full of unforgettable action setpieces. The global scale of mass destruction was a shocking theater experience for many viewers, especially the scene that shows an alien ship firing a powerful beam down to blow up the White House. The grandiose special effects, action sequences, and a final battle where the handsome protagonists risk their lives to save the world entrenched this alien film as an iconic action movie of the decade.
5
‘Speed’ (1994)
Keanu Reeves looks anxiously ahead as Sandra Bullock drives the bus in ‘Speed’Credit:Â Image via 20th Century Studios
Despite what at first seems like a ridiculous premise, Speed is one of the most artfully crafted action movies of the 1990s. A mad bomber, Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper), terrorizes the populace of Los Angeles by placing an explosive device on a bus and forcing it to maintain a speed of 50 miles an hour to avoid detonating. The exciting opening sequence shows LAPD bomb disposal officers Jack Traven (Keunu Reeves) and Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels), attempting to defuse a bomb Payne has set up in an elevator containing 13 people.
From the opening rescue to the tension of keeping a bus above 50 km/h in LAPD traffic, and the exhilarating final chase sequence on a subway train, Speed is a masterclass in escalating action, featuring one of the most original and memorable of any movie in the genre. Powered by Reeves and Sandra Bullock’s now-iconic performances, perfectly contrasted with Hopper’s unhinged villain, the film is a brilliant example of the type of exhilarating excess that dominated the decade, making Speed one of the most thrilling action movies of the 1990s.
4
‘Twister’ (1996)
Jo (Helen Hunt) and Bill Harding (Bill Paxton) standing in a corn field staring ahead with concerned expressions and Jo reaching her hand forward in TwisterCredit:Â Image via Warner Bros.
This disaster movie, where the characters are in near constant peril from powerful tornadoes, was certainly one of the most thrilling theater experiences of the 1990s. Director Jan de Bont returns to the action genre with this natural disaster film, and while there may not be any explosives threatening public transit, the constant danger of being swept into a lethal storm creates a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat viewing experience. Written and produced by Michael Crichton, the author and screenwriter who brought us Jurassic Park, the film follows a group of storm chasers determined to deploy a tornado research device, named Dorothy, during storm season in Oklahoma.
Jo Harding (Helen Hunt) lost her father as a child in an F5 category tornado, and as an adult, her fixation on the most intense tornadoes leads her to a career as a meteorologist in charge of a crew of storm chasers. As Jo begins her research in Oklahoma, her estranged husband Bill Harding (Bill Paxton), a former member of the storm-chasing team, shows up with his new fiancée Melissa Reeves (Jami Gertz), seeking a signature on their divorce papers to finalize their separation. Twister is filled with adrenaline-pumping chase sequences and groundbreaking special effects, conveying the devastating, destructive power of the titular antagonist. In the final act, Jo faces the same category of storm that killed her father, providing a sense of resolution as she finally successfully launches her potentially life-saving Dorothy weather alert device.
3
‘Heat’ (1995)
Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley and Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis wielding guns in traffic in 1995’s HeatCredit:Â Image via Warner Bros.
There isn’t an action movie in existence that rivals the intense pacing of Michael Mann‘s Heat. The A-list ensemble cast all deliver riveting performances, breathing life into the tightly-knit crew of criminals and the LAPD detective pursuing them, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) is a professional thief who lives by one golden rule: you shouldn’t get close to anyone or anything you can’t walk away from if you feel “the heat” around the corner. In the opening scenes, McCauley and his crew pull off a tightly-orchestrated armored car heist, robbing over a million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds and setting the breakneck pace for the film.
Heat explores the duality between law enforcement and criminals, with players on both sides of the law sharing striking similarities, such as a devotion to their careers, following a near-impossible personal code of conduct, and the profound loneliness that comes with their lifestyles. The intrigue amps up as the police scrutinize the criminals, and the criminals flip the script by casing out the officers investigating them. The intense character studies, coupled with some of the most thrilling shootouts and realistic portrayals of robberies ever committed to film, make Heat one of the most exciting cinematic experiences of the decade. Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert signed off on the film as “the greatest heist movie ever made,” which should be enough to solidify Heat’s status as an all-timer.
2
‘The Matrix’ (1999)
The dystopian future created by the Wachowskis, in which humanity is unknowingly enslaved inside a simulated reality created by sentient machines, was a revolution in both science fiction and action. Here was the culmination of Hollywood’s decade-long obsession with martial arts films, funneled into a grim futuristic narrative about humanity’s fight against machines. These fighting techniques were combined with theories of philosophy and knowledge from hacker communities in a futuristic narrative about a “chosen” one set to save humanity.
In an unnamed city, a computer programmer known as Neo (Keanu Reeves) in his hacker community, is attempting to understand the mystery of the Matrix, bringing him to the attention of Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), who discloses that a mysterious man named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) can answer all his questions. What follows is an intense sequence where Neo is assaulted at his office complex by police officers and the agents of the Matrix, including Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). As Neo moves from a state of ignorance to the revelation of the true nature of the Matrix and the machines’ enslavement of humanity, he must learn to have faith in the prophecy that names him a savior. Neo’s final face-off with Agent Smith, where he finally begins to understand his power, is filled with a fierce fight sequence, thrilling stunts, and mind-bending special effects.
1
‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)
Credit:Â Image via TriStar Pictures
While The Matrix came at the end of the decade, paranoia about the fate of humanity amid our dependency on machines was prevalent throughout the 1990s. James Cameron‘s sequel to the narrative in his futuristic film The Terminator (1984) is one of the few movies in cinematic history that bucks the trend of follow-up films not matching up to the quality of the original. Terminator 2: Judgment Day sees action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger return to his role as the Terminator, a cybernetic time-traveling assassin from the year 2029, who has been reprogrammed by the human resistance to the artificial intelligence Skynet that has ravaged the planet. In the original film, the Terminator was sent back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) because in the future world, her son becomes the leader of the resistance against the machines.
In Judgment Day, the reprogrammed Terminator is once again sent back in time, but his purpose is different: to protect young John Connor (Edward Furlong) from the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), an advanced, shape-shifting cybernetic assassin that Skynet has sent back in time to murder the young boy, leading to one thrilling action sequence after another. None, perhaps, is as iconic as the chase scene where a semi-truck crashes into a canal in hot pursuit of the Terminator and John fleeing on a motorcycle. In an era when action films were starting to integrate more fully developed roles for women, Sarah Connor remains a lasting prototype of the “strong female lead.” Her transition from the damsel in distress in the first film to a fierce psych-ward escapee who steps into the role of training her son for the future resistance to save humanity is one of the most revolutionary character arcs in the action genre. Although it came at the very beginning of the decade, Judgment Day remains the most thrilling action film of the 1990s.