Action Guys: Men of Action

Dolph Lundgren is truly a man of action. After receiving his degree in Engineering, Lundgren went to star in many well known (and not so well known) action flicks. His towering height and chiseled expressionless face makes for some violently memorable performances.


His action movie appearances include:

- Masters of the Universe (1987)
- Red Scorpion (1988)
- The Punisher (1989)
- Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
- Universal Soldier (1992)
- Direct Action (2004)
- The Russian Specialist (2005)
- The Killing Machine (2010) [also the director]
- The Expendables (2010)

Jean-Claude Van Damme was the go-to guy for any movie in the 90's that required flying roundhouse kicks. His penchant for shameless face-kicking made him a staple in action movies, from low-rent to big budget.


Some of his action accolades include:

- Bloodsport (1988)
- Cyborg (1989)
- Kickboxer (1989)
- Lionheart (1990)
- Double Impact (1991)
- Universal Soldier (1992)
- Timecop (1994)
- Legionnaire (1998)
- Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
- The Expendables 2 (2012)

Bruce Lee is the man responsible for bringing martial arts to the forefront of American movies and entertainment. If it weren't for him, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, or any action star that didn't use a gun wouldn't be on this list. He is still a legend among action stars.


His martial arts roles include:
- Fists of Fury (1971)
- Fists of Fury: The Chinese Connection (1972)
- The Way of the Dragon (1972)
- Enter the Dragon (1973)
- Game of Death [unfinished, and released posthumously in 1978]

Chuck Norris is one of those iconic figures that defies easy description. He's an action star, an explosive internet meme, and a spokesperson for exercise equipment all at the same time. His early career involved getting his guts stomped on by none other than Bruce Lee. But in the 80's, he came into his own as a martial arts/gunman hero of fiery action.


Some of his action roles include:

- The Octagon (1980)
- Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
- Forced Vengeance (1983)
- Missing in Action (1984)
- Code of Silence (1985)
- The Delta Force (1986)
- The Hitman (1991)
- Walker, Texas Ranger [TV series, ran from 1993-2001]

Steven Seagal, the action man who famously squints as he breaks legs, twists wrists, and cracks necks in the name of justice. Or vengeance. Or they messed with the environment... Maybe he doesn't need a reason, but either way, it's fun to watch.


Some of his limb snapping films include:

- Above the Law (1988)
- Hard to Kill (1990)
- Marked for Death (1990)
- Out for Justice (1991)
- Under Siege (1992)
- Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)
- Fire Down Below (1997)
- Exit Wounds (2001)
- Today You Die (2005)

Arnold the 'Schwarzenator' is one of the most iconic action stars of all time. His success has eclipsed most of his contemporaries, and his movies are made more memorable by Schrwarzenegger's accent and comedic one liners. Arnold was an impressive presence on the screen, and dominated box office sales for almost two decades.


Some of his ventures in violence include:

- Conan The Barbarian (1982)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Conan The Destroyer (1984)
- Commando (1985)
- Raw Deal (1986)
- Predator (1987)
- The Running Man (1987)
- Red Heat (1988)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Last Action Hero (1993)
- True Lies (1994)
- Eraser (1996)
- The 6th Day (2000)
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Sylvester Stallone made Johnny Rambo into a household name. He starred in many action films that helped to catapult him to stardom. To be fair, he was already quite successful from Rocky, but it didn't hurt to star in action movies and become even more famous. He's the man that made the idea of explosive tipped arrows seem really cool.


Some of his rapid fire action flicks include:

- First Blood (1982)
- Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
- Cobra (1986)
- Rambo III (1988)
- Tango and Cash (1989)
- Cliffhanger (1993)
- Demolition Man (1993)
- The Specialist (1994)
- Judge Dredd (1995)
- Assassins (1995)
- Daylight (1996)
- Rambo (2008)
- The Expendables (2010)

Clint Eastwood blasted his way into action movies with his role as a gunfighter in Sergio Leone's trilogy of Western movies. In the 70's, he took on the role of Harry Callahan, the magnum toting vigilante cop (likely the role he is most remembered for). Since then, he has made a name for himself as an excellent director. But this list is about action, dammit! So let's start shooting already!


Some of Eastwood's action moments include:
- A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
- For A Few Dollars More (1965)
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
- Where Eagles Dare (1968)
- Dirty Harry (1971)
- Magnum Force (1973)
- The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
- The Enforcer (1976)
- The Gauntlet (1977)
- Sudden Impact (1983)
- Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
- In the Line of Fire (1993)

Maybe you don't think action star when you think about Harrison Ford. But he starred in the action packed Indiana Jones movies, and that has to count for something!


Some of his action greatness includes:
- Star Wars Episode IV (1977)
- Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
- Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Patriot Games (1992)
- The Fugitive (1993)
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- Air Force One (1997)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- Cowboys & Aliens (2010)

Bruce Willis began his ascent to stardom with his role as Detective John McClane in Die Hard. Since then, he has starred in every kind of movie you can imagine. But every few years, he cleans off his dusty guns and appears in an action film.


Some of his most memorable kills can be found in these films:
- Die Hard (1988)
- Die Hard 2 (1990)
- The Last Boyscout (1991)
- Striking Distance (1993)
- Die Hard: With A Vengeance (1995)
- Last Man Standing (1996)
- The Fifth Element (1997)
- Tears of the Sun (2003)
- Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
- Surrogates (2009)
- The Expendables (2010)
- Red (2010)

If you haven't been exposed to Japanese cinema and television, you may not have heard of Sonny Chiba (also known as Shinichi Chiba). His movie roles as The Street Fighter, and his role as Hattori Hanzo in the television show Shadow Warriors are legendary in Japan. Sonny Chiba started his own stunt and martial arts school, where he trained many young actors to fight like bad-ass killers and perform their own stunts. Sonny Chiba often played chaotic lawbreakers or anti-heroes in his movies.


Some of his best blood letting appearances include:
- Gangster Cop (1970)
- The Assassin (1970)
- The Street Fighter (1974)
- Return of The Street Fighter (1974)
- The Street Fighter's Last Revenge (1974)
- Golgo 13 (1977)
- The Shogun's Samurai (1978)
- Time Slip [Sengoku jieitai] (1979)
- Shadow Warriors [Televsion series] (1980)
- Samurai Reincarnation (1981)

Charles Bronson doesn't look like an action star at first glance. But his ability to gun down crooks, punks and low-lives without remorse makes him one hell of an action man.


If these movies are any indication, Bronson preferred to dispense with villain scum by the way of the gun:

- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
- The Dirty Dozen (1967)
- Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
- The Mechanic (1972)
- Death Wish (1974)
- Death Wish II (1982)
- The Evil That Men Do (1984)
- Death Wish III (1985)
- Murphy's Law (1986)
- Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
- Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1995)

Jackie Chan has a unique flair for comedic martial arts action and excellently choreographed fight sequences. He has starred in so many movies, including the famous (well, maybe underground famous) Drunken Master movies. In America, people remember him for the Rush Hour and Shanghai noon movies.


- Drunken Master (1978)
- The Young Master (1980)
- The Big Brawl (1980)
- Heart of a Dragon (1985)
- Police Story (1985)
- Police Story 2 (1988)
- Island of Fire (1990)
- Supercop (1992)
- Crime Story (1993)
- The Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
- Rumble in the Bronx )1995)
- Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996)
- Rush Hour (1998)
- Shanghai Noon (200)
- Rush Hour 2 (2001)
- Shanghai Knights (2003)

Wesley Snipes was a big name in action movies around ten years ago. His action roles in the 90's and early twenty first century were big box office successes. This was all before his IRS audit, of course. A man of action can dodge fists, bullets and explosions. But no one escapes the savage fury of the IRS.


- Passenger 57 (1992)
- Demolition Man (1993)
- Drop Zone (1994)
- Money Train (1995)
- U.S. Marshals (1998)
- Blade (1998)
- The Art of War (2000)
- Blade II (2002)
- Unstoppable (2004)
- Game of Death (2010)

Jet Li is an international martial arts movie star. He has been appearing in movies since the early 80's, and at 50, he's still an action movie star.


- Dragon Fight (1989)
- Once Upon A Time in China (1991)
- The Legend of the Swordsman (1992)
- The Master (1994)
- The Legend (1993)
- Tai- Chi Master (1993)
- Fist of Legend (1994)
- Black Mask (1996)
- Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
- The One (2001)
- Hero (2002)
- Unleashed (2005)
- Fearless (2006)
- The Expendables (2010)

Mel Gibson began his action movie career in the classic Mad Max. In America, he rose to fame for his role as Detective Riggs in the Lethal Weapon movies.


- Mad Max (1979)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- Attack Force Z (1982)
- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
- Lethal Weapon (1986)
- Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
- Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
- Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
- The Patriot (2000)
- We Were Soldiers (2002)
- Get the Gringo (2012)

Carl Weathers is a chiseled man of action. His role in Predator, and the amazingly over the top movie Action Jackson will never be forgotten.

- Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
- Predator (1987)
- Action Jackson (1988)

Football star Jim Brown became action star Jim Brown in the late 1960's and 70's. Although not as famous as some of the actors on this list, he deserves mention as one of the most badass men of his time.

- The Dirty Dozen (1967)
- Dark of the Sun (1968)
- 100 Rifles (1969)
- Slaughter (1972)
- Black Gunn (1972)
- Three the Hard Way (1974)
- One Down, Two to Go (1976)
- The Running Man (1987)

Fred Williamson was also a former NFL player. He burst into the low budget blaxploitation scene in the early 70's. Whether by fist or by gun, his characters left serious body counts.

- Black Caeser (1973)
- Hell Up in Harlem (1973)
- Three the Hard Way (1974)
- Mean Johnny Barrows (1976)
- One Down, Two to Go (1976)
- Death Journey (1976)
- The Inglorious Bastards (1978)
- Delta Force Commando (1988)
- The Black Cobra 2 (1990)

Chow Yun-Fat may not be remembered as an action star in America, but in his younger days (long before Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), he starred in some seriously explosive and gory action films in Hong Kong. I especially recommend the movie The Killer.


- City on Fire (1987)
- Tiger on Beat (1988)
- The Killer (1989)
- Hard Boiled (1992)
- Full Contact (1992)
- Peace Hotel [Woh ping faan dim] (1995)
- The Replacement Killers (1998)

One look at Vin Diesel, and it's clear he wasn't destined for a career in romantic comedies. He fits pretty well in the genre of action, getting widespread notoriety for his role as Riddick in Pitch Black, and Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious.


- Pitch Black (2000)
- The Fast and the Furious (2001)
- xXx (2002)
- A Man Apart (2003)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
- Babylon A.D. (2008)
- Fast Five (2011)
- Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

Jason Statham has made a name for himself as a martial arts and action star in the last decade. His role as the Transporter, and his recent roles in the Expendables movies solidify him as a man of action.


- The One (2001)
- The Transporter (2002)
- Transporter 2 (2005)
- Crank (2006)
- War (2007)
- Death Race (2008)
- Transporter 3 (2008)
- Crank: High Voltage (2009)
- The Expendables (2010)
- Killer Elite (2001)
- The Expendables 2 (2012)

What? Nicolas Cage a man of action? I didn't believe it myself until I saw all the action movies he starred in.


Have a look below at his action movie portfolio:
- The Rock (1996)
- Con Air (1997)
- Face/Off (1997)
- Windtalkers (2002)
- Ghost Rider (2007)
- Next (2007)
- Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
- Drive Angry (2011)

Is Will Smith an action star? I've been asking myself that question as I make this list. His role in the Bad Boys movies alone kind of puts him there. But at the same time I wouldn't call Martin Lawrence an action star, and he was doing the same stuff as Smith. So far, Smith's appearances in action movies have been some of his most successful outings as an actor.


- Bad Boys (1995)
- Independence Day (1996)
- Men in Black (1997)
- Bad Boys II (2003)
- I, Robot (2004)
- I Am Legend (2007)
- After Earth (2013)

Brandon Lee's career and life was cut short due to his death on the set of The Crow. He would have starred in many more action movies, had he lived longer.


- Laser Mission (1989)
- Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
- Rapid Fire (1992)
- The Crow (1994)

We begin our second tier of action stars with Olivier Gruner. Don't beat yourself up if you haven't heard of him. He stars in some of the classic 90's action flicks that had a fraction of the budget of your average Hollywood action movie. Some of these movies I have seen, and if you're a fan of enjoyable bad movies, you'd probably like them as much as I did.


- Nemesis (1992)
- Automatic (1995)
- Savate (1995)
- T.N.T (1997)
- Velocity Trap (1999)
- Interceptor (1999)
- Extreme Honor (2001)
- Interceptor Force 2 (Alpha Force) [2001]
- The Circuit (2002)

Micheal Dudikoff is the American Ninja! A lone white guy fights off and kills dozens of armed and well trained Asians without breaking a sweat. The American Ninja phenomenon was a strange period in the 80's and early 90's where every young American wanted to be a ninja.

Micheal Dudikoff continued to star in non-ninja related action movies throughout his career, and still makes appearances as a supporting actor.


- American Ninja (1985)
- Avenging Force (1986)
- American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987)
- Platoon Leader (1988)
- American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990)
- The Human Shield (1991)
- Chain of Command (1994)
- Soldier Boyz (1995)
- Strategic Command (1997)

David Bradley is one of the American ninjas from the American Ninja movies. As a half Asian, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry or both at all the white guy turned ninja movies. But they should not be ignored or forgotten, and thus David Bradley has his place in this list.


- American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)
- American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990)
- American Samurai (1992)
- American Ninja V (1993)
- Cyborg Cop (1993)
- Blood Warriors (1993)
- Cyborg Cop 2 (1994)
- Hard Justice (1995)
- Expect to Die (1997)
- Total Reality (1997)

Frank Zagarino has starred in some classically bad action movies. You may remember him in Barbarian Queen, Cyborg III, or Shadowchaser. Okay, let's not kid ourselves. You haven't heard of any of these movies. But trust me, they exist. And so does Frank Zagarino.


- Barbarian Queen (1985)
- Striker (1987)
- Ten Zan - Ultimate Mission (1988)
- Trained to Kill (1989)
- Project Eliminator (1991)
- Shadowchaser (1992)
- Project Shadowchaser II (1994)
- Never Say Die (1994)
- Project Shadowchaser III (1995)
- Cyborg Cop III (1995)
- Without Mercy (1996)
- Orion's Key (1996)
- Convict 762 (1997)
- Airboss (1997)
- The Protector (1998)
- Armstrong (1998)

Mark Dacascos has had a long career as an actor. During his early years, he put his martial arts skills to use in some obscure action movies. He also played The Crow in the short lived television series. Believe it or not, Mark Dacascos is the current host of Iron Chef America...


- American Samurai (1992)
- Only the Strong (1993)
- Double Dragon (1994)
- Kickboxer 5 (1995)
- Crying Freeman (1995)
- Drive (1997)
- Redline (1997)
- Sanctuary (1998)
- No Code of Conduct (1998)
- The Crow: Stairway to Heaven [TV Series: 1998]
- Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
- Instinct to Kill (2001)