Where would movies be without action? It’s practically written into the DNA of the medium. And wherever you find action, you’ll almost always find heroes fighting to save the day. But while there have been several versions of the Hollywood action hero over the decades, a select few have left indelible marks on the pop culture. Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday made such an impression that he’s been cited as the reason people became real life cowboys. Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme inspired multiple generations of men and women to dedicate their lives to the study of martial arts. The military and police department’s ranks have swelled because of wannabe heroes hoping to follow the likes of Axel Foley and John Matrix into service.
But that’s enough talk. Let’s get to the action.
These are the 50 Greatest Action Movie Heroes of All Time*.
*not including superheroes
30. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) | Taken (2008)
Every once in a while, a movie will come along that will reshape an actor’s entire career. For Liam Neeson, that movie was Taken. Bryan Mills doesn’t break new ground for an action protagonist. However, the way Neeson embodied the role and delivered that iconic threat that rivals anything Schwarzenegger ever uttered onscreen is why we are still talking about that first Taken to this day. The man does a great job of humanizing the grizzled and often broken men he portrays, and a lot of that is thanks to his early theatre background and spending the first two decades of his career honing his craft with dramatic roles. Neeson’s Bryan Mills is all business, and if he comes knocking at your door, it’s best you just do what he says.
–Marmaduke Karlston
29. Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) | Beverly Hills Cop (Franchise)
Once upon a time Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the world, with a stint on Saturday Night Live, two fantastic standup films (Delirious and Raw) and the highest grossing R-rated film of all time (well, until 2003 and Matrix: Reloaded anyway). That was Beverly Hills Cop, a fish-out-of-water action-comedy film featuring Murphy as a Detroit detective trying to sole a crime in Beverly Hills. Axel Foley was pure Murphy, faster, smarter and funnier than any ten other guys, he was a smartass, but the most charming smartass you ever met. Murphy managed comedy and action with drive and skill making Foley one of the standout characters of the 80’s, even if the sequels were never quite as fun or funny as the original.
–Bob Cram
28. Conan the Barbarian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) | Conan the Barbarian (Franchise)
A savage warrior ethos that translates into a meme only for the meme to topple and that ethos to come out victorious: What is best in life?
As it turns out, the fictional, stoic warrior Conan the Barbarian is so mighty he can even overcome the carefree modern generations of our reality with little more than a harsh answer to the rhetorical question above. On film, and played twice by Arnold Schwarzenegger (both outings differing from one another in notable ways), Conan swings axe and sword, slays cultists and beds witches, and challenges the cinematic standard for an action hero. The films of the ’60s and ’70s, leading into the 1982 release of Conan the Barbarian, had birthed the cool gunslingers and frustrated vigilantes that became the standard. Conan (and Arnold) smashed that standard with ease and ushered in a new wave of film heroes.
Beyond the scope of cinema, Conan the Barbarian offers a ruthless, savage, bloody take on the Hero’s Journey. A quiet, brooding hulk of a man, Conan has but one goal of revenge for the butchering of his parents and his people. But the man is still that, and as a man, his lusts and passions carry him where he will. Adventure fills his heart, a disdain for society and its hypocrisies furrows his brow, a Nietzschean edict fuels his rage, and a fist full of cold steel marks the character a timeless hero.
–Nokoo
27. Kuwabatake Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) | Yojimbo (1961)
Sanjuro is not just a character — he is a crucial cinematic archetype. With his blend of cynicism, cunning, and reluctant justice, Sanjuro paved the way for countless lone, morally gray protagonists in both Eastern and Western cinema. Every lone wolf and antihero from The Man with No Name to Mad Max to Raphael from the Ninja Turtles owes their existence to him.
In both Yojimbo and its sequel Sanjuro, Toshiro Mifune plays a wandering samurai who finds himself in the middle of someone else’s conflict and begrudgingly decides to help. He is a lone figure with literally no direction in life. In his introduction, he tosses a stick to choose his path, an act that signifies both his rootlessness and detachment. He has no overarching plan or goal, he’s content just wandering around. It’s an archetype used a million times after, but always with an injection of sadness. In order to explain their loneliness and isolation, writers tend to give the lone wolf character a sad backstory to justify their indifference and extreme apathy. What makes Sanjuro so special is the fact that he isn’t a sad character. He isn’t running from a tragic past or on a quest for revenge, he just goes where the wind takes him. That isn’t to say he’s without any personality traits, he just lacks purpose. When he finally has one, he relishes the opportunity to be a trickster. With an internal and unpredictable moral code, he is not a savior in the traditional sense, but instead a redemptive force who plays a broken system against itself, with Mifune’s complex performance serving as a precursor to the antiheroes of modern cinema.
–Sailor Monsoon
26. Inspector “Tequila” Yuen Ho-yan (Chow Yun-fat) | Hard Boiled (1992)
It’s crazy that Hard Boiled hasn’t been available to stream or watch (except with pricey imports) for so long. You’ll soon be able to watch it, though, thanks to Shout Factory. That means you get to watch one of the greatest Hong Kong action thrillers featuring one of the greatest Hong Kong action thriller characters. Inspector “Tequila” is a jazz playing version of Dirty Harry, except he’s way more physically capable than Harry could ever be. Sliding across tables, diving through a hail of bullets, he’s a superhuman with a gun even if he can’t quit keep his temper in check. Like all of Woo’s characters Tequila is a flawed human, but Chow Yun-fat makes him impossible to look away from. He’s the heart of Hard Boiled and the reason to keep coming back to watch it again. Now that you can.
–Bob Cram
25. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) | The Matrix (Franchise)
The minute Trinity kicks the gun out of that cop’s hand and then walks up the wall, dodging bullets, I was sold. When she walked up to Neo at the club I wanted to elbow him in the ribs and say, sotto-voce, “dude, that’s HER!” Trinity was just so badass that I sometimes wondered why the movie wasn’t about her instead of Neo. People talk about her name, “Trinity,” in religious terms (and that’s definitely there), but I always think about the site where the first atomic bomb was tested. That first scene with the character was the cinematic equivalent of a nuclear explosion. I never felt like the series really did the character justice after the first film, but I’m always up for more Carrie-Anne Moss in black vinyl and leather.
–Bob Cram
24. “El Mariachi” (Carlos Gallardo & Antonia Banderas) | Mexico Trilogy
One of the coolest and sexiest characters of the ’90s. El Mariachi was one of those characters that women wanted and men wanted to be like. He could sing, play the guitar, get the girl, and shoot a bunch of henchmen all at the same time like no one else. Carlos Gallardo would play the original El Mariachi, but Antonio Banderas would make the role famous. He would enter the Hall of Fame of action heroes with this one performance, for how badass he was in the second part of the Mexico Trilogy. Also, because he bagged Selma Hayek. Bravo sir.
–Vincent Kane
23. Alex Murphy / RoboCop (Peter Weller) | RoboCop (1987)
I love movies that center the question of identity – who are we, and how did we get to be the way we are? Robocop manages that along with a heaping helping of violence, satire and black humor. The heart of the film is the basic question of whether Robocop is Murphy or if it’s just a machine that thinks it’s Murphy. Without Peter Weller’s performance I think it might be more ambiguous, but that gentle, haunted face stuck like a rubber mask onto his own mechanized corpse doesn’t give you any room for doubt. Robocop IS Murphy, or near enough as to make no difference. That we get to ponder those questions and others is a treat, a philosophical journey with a ton of gory action as a cherry on top. “I’d buy that for a dollar!”
–Bob Cram
22. Lieutenant S.D. Bob “Snake” Plissken (Kurt Russell) | Escape from New York (1981)
Snake is the quintessential antihero. While forced into situations where he’s got to save the day, he’d always rather be doing something else, something most likely illegal. This comes from the fact that after fighting against Russia in World War III, he’s betrayed by the government and loses family in a botched rescue attempt. It sours him on living by the straight and narrow, to say the least.
Still, Plissken has the goods when the chips are down. He’s laconic, cynical, and will kill at the drop of a hat, but he’s not a monster. He’s got a muddy code of ethics that keeps him from killing for fun, or leaving good folks left out to dry. Snake is edgy and kicks ass, so we like him right off, but it’s his sense of honor, (skewed as it may be), that gives us permission to not feel bad about our admiration.
Honestly, I’m probably not alone in thinking I could watch Kurt Russell read from the phone book. I do think it’s hilarious on some level that a guy who got his real start acting in Disney films gives us a hell of a turn as a steely-eyed mercenary who cashiers goons by the score. Maybe it just adds to the charm.
–Jeff Cram
21. Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) | Predator (1987)
Pound for pound, Dutch stacks up against any other action hero out there, and I might be a bit salty he’s not higher on this list. To be fair, Predator came out when I was ten – the perfect age for its shredded protagonists to inject pure male power fantasy into my pre-pubescent brainmeat! Okay…that may have not sounded the way I meant it. Regardless, I’ve seen the film too many times to count, and I love it even more with each viewing.
From the moment we first see him, reclined in the shadows of a Huey’s cargo compartment lit only from the match he’s using to start a stogie, we can’t help but get a sense of sheer badassery. Even among a team of elite warriors, he stands out. But it’s not just his stature that makes Dutch a man worthy of the title of hero. He and his team are soldiers, sure, stone-cold specialists – but as he puts it, they’re “a rescue team, not assassins.” Dutch cares about his men, and cares about behaving in a manner that best represents the old U.S. of A. When he finds out they’ve been used by Dillon to obtain secret intel and the hostages were not the point, he’s less than pleased.
When he’s the last man pitted against the alien Predator, it takes everything he has to just make it out alive, but man, he gives us a show doing it. Physically powerful, he’s still no match for the monster’s strength. But, he’s no less clever than it, and when sheer brawn won’t get the job done, his smarts seal the deal. All of these attributes combine to cement Dutch’s place among the pantheon of action heroes. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s Arnold!
–Jeff Cram
40-31 | 20-11
Who are some of your favorite action heroes? Maybe they will show up later on this list!