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The 10 best action films around the globe, ranked

The 10 best action films around the globe, ranked

No matter what mood you’re in or what your taste in movies is, everyone can use a healthy dose of adrenaline-fueled action. Action has long been one of the most popular and successful film genres of all, and each year produces a number of absolute masterpieces that captivate audiences and linger in their memories for years to come.




There are all sorts of fun tropes and subgenres in action, but one of the most entertaining is the globetrotting action film. These are Action films with a sense of adventure that tell stories of tough characters traveling the world in search of their goal — honorable or not. From antiheroic, weapon-wielding epics like John Wick: Chapter 4 to more sophisticated spy thrillers like SkyfallThese films prove that even action heroes deserve a vacation every now and then.


10 “Fast & Furious Five” (2011)

Director: Justin Lin

Fast Five - Paul Walker - Vin Diesel
Image via Universal Pictures


It is not in a great position today, and it was not in a great position during the first four parts, but after that Fast Five came out and took the franchise in a whole new direction, audiences were surprised at where these films could go. This is still the best-made, most exciting and gripping film in the series, following Dom and his crew as they plan a heist to buy their freedom while in the crosshairs of a powerful Brazilian drug lord and a dangerous federal agent.

The Fast & Furious Franchise is one of the highest-grossing in film history, and this is mainly thanks to Fast Five to have been a surprise success. Although most of the film is set in Rio, there are enough globetrotting elements to satisfy fans of the subgenre.If that’s not enough, the fast-paced chases, thrilling action scenes and surprisingly strong character moments should do the trick.

Fast Five

Release date
29 April 2011

Duration
130 minutes


9 “John Wick: Chapter 4” (2023)

Director: Chad Stahelski

Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins in John Wick: Chapter 4
Image via Lionsgate

Since the first John Wick Film was released in 2014, the series has quickly become one of the most popular and iconic action franchises not only of the 21st century, but of all time. The latest installment is John Wick: Chapter 4where the former assassin discovers a way to defeat the powerful High Table. Before he can gain his freedom, however, he must face a new enemy who has powerful allies all over the world.

Thanks to some of the most exciting scenes in the franchise, a tough story arc for the title characterand a third act that will leave every viewer with a tense pulse biting their nails in anticipation, Chapter 4 has become the most critically acclaimed outing in the franchise. It’s also the longest journey Wick has ever taken on screen, so that’s something.


8th “Skyfall” (2012)

Director: Sam Mendes

In Skyfall, Bond fights another man on a moving train.
Image via MGM

It was celebrated director Sam Mendes who took over the 007 Franchise with Daniel Craigs third film with the popular character, Skyfall. In it, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested when her past catches up with her. When MI6 is attacked, Bond must track down and destroy the threat, played by a fearsome Javier Bardem in one of his best roles.


Skyfall is about as entertaining as 007 Get movies, takes viewers around the world as Bond faces his most personal threat to dateCraig’s portrayal of the character was always characterized by her being the most human and emotionally vulnerable of all (while still being incredibly cool), and in Skyfallviewers experience him at his most open. Combine that with some of the most exciting scenes in the series and you get a Bond adventure for the ages.

Skyfall

Release date
25 October 2012

director
Sam Mendes

Duration
143

7 “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” (2015)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) clings to the door of a taking off plane.
Image via Paramount Pictures


There is a special film series that currently dominates the genre of global action, and that is the Impossible mission franchise. After Brad Vogel revitalized it in 2011, Christopher McQuarrie (who was previously known primarily as a screenwriter) took over Rogue NationIn the fifth part of the series, Ethan and his team must wipe out an international villain organization that is just as skilled as they are.

Rogue Nation was the most serious and exciting film in the series to date, and will still be remembered as one of the best action-adventure films of the 2010s. It has some of the series’ greatest scenes and some of the most adrenaline-pumping chases around the world, reveling in its exotic locations and mysterious story.


6 “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2007)

Director: Paul Greengrass

Jason Bourne rides a motorcycle in “The Bourne Ultimatum”
Image via Universal Pictures

Related to Robert Ludlumpopular spy novel series that Bourne Films deserve to be discussed much more these days. The best of the series is generally acknowledged The Bourne Ultimatumthe third installment, in which the amnesiac character evades a ruthless CIA agent while searching for the origins of his life as a trained assassin.


Great spy movies aren’t all about James Bond. The Bourne Ultimatum is one of the best films of the 2000s and combines exciting and hard-hitting action (filmed under the direction of Paul Greengrasss typical shaky-cam style) with a well-told and brilliantly paced story, it’s the kind of globe-trotting action thriller that grabs the viewer’s attention and doesn’t let go until the credits roll.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Release date
3 August 2007

Duration
115 minutes

5 “Goldfinger” (1964)

Director: Guy Hamilton

James Bond (Sean Connery) stands in a driveway in the countryside with his Aston Martin DB5.
Image via MGM


It may be that Impossible mission Franchise that currently dominates the field of global action, but it was James Bond who catapulted his popularity into the stratosphere. The legendary Sean Connery was the actor who first brought the character to life, and although his first two films are fantastic, it is Golden Finger it really works. In it, Bond, while investigating the shady dealings of a gold magnate, uncovers a conspiracy to contaminate Fort Knox’s gold reserves.

Whether the audience are fans of 007 or not, Golden Finger has it all: exciting action in fun locations, some of the best Bond gadgets, one of the best Bond girls (with a pretty funny name), and Connery at the peak of his effortless, charismatic performance. Everything Goldfinger touches turns to gold, and this film is no exception.

“Goldfinger” (1964)

Release date
20 September 1964

director
Guy Hamilton

Pour
Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Harold Sakata

Duration
112


4 “Casino Royale” (2006)

Director: Martin Campbell

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale
Image via MGM

Another Bond masterpiece – some would say the best of the entire franchiseCasino Royale revitalized the franchise with a new lead actor, a new tone, and a whole new direction for this long-running series. More than just a thrilling, globe-trotting thriller (which it absolutely is), Casino Royale is a wonderfully sarcastic yet entirely serious deconstruction of the Bond myth and everything he represents in the 21st century.

Thanks to a flawlessly cool yet deeply human performance by Daniel Craig in his first outing as 007, this is undoubtedly one of the most rewatchable films. It was a brilliant idea to reinvent the character and his mythology for a new audience, especially after the rather lackluster last few films by Pierce Brosnan‘s Bond. The result is one of the most entertaining action spectacles of the 21st century to date.


3 “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Indiana Jones prepares to replace a golden statue with a sack of sand in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1)
Image via Paramount Pictures

In 1981 Steven Spielberg was already an established director, but far from the icon he is remembered as today. Therefore, perhaps not many people expected him to completely redefine a genre. Yet that is exactly what he did. With his Hunter of the lost treasureIn the film, which is about an archaeologist named Indiana Jones who is commissioned by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do, Spielberg showed a completely new face of the adventure film.


This is one of the best desert adventure films of all time, taking in Peru, Connecticut, and the dry heat of Egypt.. Full of non-stop, high-octane action, very reminiscent of the old adventure series that inspired Spielberg to make this film. robber is one of the most entertaining films ever captured on celluloid. The protagonist is a legend, the story has no dead spots and the third act is unforgettable.

2 “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” (2018)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Ethan Hunt runs on a roof in Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Image via Paramount Pictures


After Rogue NationIt was clear to pretty much everyone that the Impossible mission Franchise was in good hands with Christopher McQuarrie. What these people probably didn’t expect, however, was for the next installment in the series, Stand outand was probably the best action film of the last ten years. In it, Ethan and his team face their most impossible mission yet and fight against time to save a mission gone wrong.

It is simply admirable that In the sixth part, the franchise is better than ever: more exciting, more epic and much more entertainingAdd Henry Cavill at the peak of his powers was just the icing on the cake of an already perfect action film that takes viewers across Europe in a thrilling chase where the stakes are higher than ever before.


1 “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Sean Connery and Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”
Image via Paramount Pictures

If Hunter of the lost treasure made Indiana Jones an icon of the genre Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade made him and Steven Spielberg legends of the genre. It is set in 1938, after Indy’s father mysteriously disappears while searching for the Holy Grail. It is the adventurer who must go in search of his father and the Grail and once again faces the Nazis.


The film brings back the desert setting, familiar faces, and a MacGuffin quest that is reminiscent of the original – and yet at no point does it feel in the least bit derivative or unoriginal. Perhaps it is the father-son relationship that forms the emotional core of the story (perfectly embodied by Harrison Ford And Sean Connery), but the fact is that The Last Crusade is as perfect as a globe-trotting action adventure can be.

NEXT: The best action movies of all time, ranked