1980s action meant big muscles and big weapons. It was an era of dudes defined by one name — Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme — and sometimes even fewer emotions.
In the ’90s the movies themselves got bigger. Schwarzenegger and Stallone became such massive stars — figuratively, as well as literally — that the budgets of their movies ballooned along with the scope of the stunts and spectacle. No longer just B-movie drive-in fodder, action films took over the mainstream. They dominated multiplexes and the box office charts. But it was also a tipping point for action movies as well. Because the old school, practical way of doing stunts began to fall out of favor amidst the rise of digital special effects and green-screen technology.
Today on ScreenCrush we’re looking back at this all-important time in the history of the action movie, with a list that celebrates the genre’s best. We picked the single finest action film of each year of the 1990s — something that’s harder to do than it looks. There’s a lot of great action movies from this period, and a pretty wide range from titles too, from gritty direct-to-video thrillers to massive blockbusters; from Asian kung-fu flicks to homegrown sci-fi mind-benders. Narrowing them down to just ten singular films is tricky, like comparing apples and officially licensed Rambo hunting knives. But if ’90s action movies have taught us anything it’s that heroes show up when things look the most difficult, preferably while a Lalo Schifrin song bops along on the soundtrack.
The Best Action Movie Every Year of the 1990s
From 1990 to 1999, here’s the best action movie released each year.
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The 10 Worst Action Movies of the Last 10 Years (2015-2024)
Some very underwhelming and unexciting action movies have been released in the last ten years. These are the worst of the worst.