5 Best Action Movies Of All Time, According To Letterboxd Users

Given how rampantly produced action movies are in the modern world, it can be easy to take this genre for granted. The finer artistic nuances underlining these works can be hard to appreciate when one is bombarded by big-budget American movies whose idea of "quality" action is a bunch of indistinguishable CG mush. As modern action classics like "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In," "RRR," and "The Furious" have excitingly demonstrated, though, artistry can flourish as vibrantly in action movies as with any other genre. Just because there's a lot of punching and kicking on screen doesn't mean there isn't craft and precision going into the proceedings.

If one needs a searing reminder of how powerful action films can be, the Letterboxd community can help. Among this site's many lists is Letterboxd's collection of the highest-rated action movies of all time, as voted by the site's users. The five highest-rated titles on this list (ranked below from "least best" to greatest) each exemplify the staggering level of artistry action films are capable of. Certain titles in this top five are exhilarating pieces of escapist cinema. Others use the action film mold to question the long-term consequences of violence. There's no end to the molds action-oriented cinema can operate in.

That reality becomes crystal clear when examining the five action movies Letterboxd users love most of all. Watch out for incoming explosions as we dive into those top five features.

The internet loves to highly rank Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight." Before the film's opening weekend was even through, this title was the number one film on IMDb's top 250 films list. As the decades have gone by since it first hit theaters, general sentiment towards "The Dark Knight" still registers profoundly positive. Meanwhile, some of the 15 most disappointing movies of the 2020s (so far) have been superhero action films that failed to come even remotely close to "The Dark Knight" in overall quality. Such titles have made it even easier to appreciate everything "The Dark Knight" did right. Inevitably, all this enthusiasm has made its way over to Letterboxd, where his titles often garner tremendous passion.

Currently seated as the 25th highest rated film in history on Letterboxd's Top 500 Films list, "The Dark Knight" is also the fifth highest-rated action title on the site. This achievement is extra impressive given that the action sequences in the film's predecessor, "Batman Begins," have been routinely criticized as being poorly shot. In contrast, "The Dark Knight" opens with a barnburner set piece chronicling the Joker pulling off a bank heist full of crisp editing, striking imagery, and creative action beats (like the sudden appearance of a bus crashing through a wall).

With that sequence, the wobblier action impulses of "Batman Begins" are gone. In its place are the seminal action sequences that both populate "The Dark Knight" and heavily inform its revered reputation in the modern world.

There's a single sequence in "Ran" that alone justifies why it must be on this list. Said sequence concerns warlord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) being attacked at the Third Castle by two of his sons, Taro (Akira Terao) and Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu). The ensuing raid is a marvelous and staggering display of epic filmmaking. Writer/director Akira Kurosawa (who penned this adaptation of William Shakespeare's "King Lear" with Hideo Oguni and Masato Ide) demonstrates awe-inspiring control behind the camera as he depicts this fiery invasion that leaves Hidetora insane. This is epic filmmaking at its most refined and glorious.

Nearly every Akira Kurosawa movie is a gem of some kind, which makes it unsurprising to report that "Ran" is another sublime masterpiece from this particular director. However, even in this man's tremendous filmography, "Ran" stands out as an especially extraordinary concoction. For one thing, every "Ran" sequence, from the action scenes to the quiet dialogue exchanges, is littered with hues so vibrant that they're bound to inspire jaws to plummet to the floor. The precise camerawork (courtesy of Kurosawa and cinematographers Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda, and Asakazu Nakai) lets audiences marinate in all the towering achievements coursing throughout "Ran."

With charging horses, clashing soldiers, and arrows plunging into bodies, "Ran" delivers and then some on straightforward action elements. The finesse imbued into this project, though, reflects the craftsmanship only a filmmaker of Akira Kurosawa's caliber could deliver. It's a no-brainer that Letterboxd users would get their blood pumping over "Ran."

One of the very best films among the best picture Oscar winners of the 2000s, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is a gargantuan exercise whose massive stature includes a smorgasbord of action sequences. This is, after all, the film where all the forces of Middle-Earth collide as control of the One Ring is ultimately decided. In this chaos, set pieces like Legolas riding down the trunk of a Mûmakil or a ghost army emerging to help the film's heroes prove crucial. Director Peter Jackson is sending out this daunting trilogy with an explosive bang that requires some of the greatest action sequences ever put on film.

What's especially impressive about all this action mayhem is that Jackson never once loses sight of the human beings driving "Return of the King." Tender scenes like Gandalf and Pippin conversing about death, for instance, are incredibly poignant and make all the battle sequences extra involving. There's a purpose to all the swords clashing and spider battles, not to mention engrossing characters at the center of everything. With "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Jackson reaffirmed that epic movies can have expansive scopes and mesmerizing intimacy.

Years after its release, "Return of the King" is now largely considered the best movie in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. That's unsurprising given its artistic prowess, including in those unforgettable action scenes.

Leave it to a filmmaker as phenomenal as Akira Kurosawa to score two movies on this list. Letterboxd users and cinema lovers everywhere can't get enough of this man's works, which also includes the 1954 feature "Seven Samurai." One of the only action movies with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, it's no surprise that the film also holds a towering space on Letterboxd. The fifth highest-rated title among all movies on the site, "Seven Samurai" is also the second-most beloved action film on Letterboxd. There's no end to the achievements under this masterpiece's belt, though they still don't quite communicate what an exceptional work of art "Seven Samurai" is.

This seminal title follows ronin Kambei (Takashi Shimura) and six other samurai, including the unpredictable drunk Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), being enlisted to help exceedingly vulnerable villagers protect their land. This narrative is a divine vessel for a story rich with nuanced characters (including the compelling layers nestled inside Kikuchiyo), while the 207-minute runtime lets the growth of these lead characters feel transfixingly organic. With seven protagonists to juggle, Kurosawa's gift for evocative blocking is constantly reinforced throughout "Seven Samurai." 

Countless images here vividly communicate the personalities of folks like Kikuchiyo or Kambei simply by how they're positioned against other characters. Then there are the fight scenes, which are absorbing set pieces making terrific use of the innate intimacy of sword fights. "Seven Samurai" fires on all cylinders in every way viewers can imagine.

"Harakiri" was not always destined for the immensely venerated reputation it holds today. This jidaigeki masterpiece from director Masaki Kobayashi and screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto has always procured incredible reviews from critics and even received an impressive jury special prize from the Cannes Film Festival. However, unlike other acclaimed international films of the 1960s (such as "The Woman in the Dunes" and "Z"), it didn't break into the Oscars, nor did it make much of an award season impact elsewhere in the U.S. Meanwhile, in the Letterboxd sphere, "Harakiri" has always been held in high esteem, as seen by it being the site's fourth highest-rated film as early as November 2020.

Today, though, "Harakiri" is the highest-rated film on Letterboxd, which also makes it the site's most beloved action film by default. Labeling "Harakiri" an "action" film is a bizarre proposition, since the film does have swordplay and bloodshed. However, this isn't "The Raid" or "Death Wish" where all the carnage is meant to inspire cathartic joy in the viewer. Instead, with "Harakiri," Kobayashi crafts a haunting saga about how formidable institutions and people use violence to wield influence and control history. The cost of violence (normally the fuel driving action films) is very much on this film's mind, as seen in its unsensationalized depictions of brutality.

"Harakiri" isn't just one of the 13 best Japanese films of all time. It's simply one of the greatest motion pictures from any country ever created. No wonder it's the highest-rated action film on Letterboxd.