The 10 Best Action Sequences in Movie History

1. The French Connection-Car Chase under the elevated train in New York City: If you’re going to kill a cop, then you better do it and make sure he is dead. Otherwise, he will come for you. In “The French Connection,” hit man Pierre Nicoli tried to kill protagonist Det. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) in his apartment. He fails and tries to make his getaway via an elevated train, but Doyle commandeers a car and chases him below. Doyle damages the car and keeps going. Nicoli kills another cop, and a train conductor, and causes the ‘motorman’ to pass out. In the end Doyle is able to corner Nicoli and make the kill shot. Hey, he was going to flee again.

2. Bullitt-Car Chase through San Francisco and then some: Before you had “The French Connection” you had Steve McQueen in the best known if not one of THEbest-known police movies “Bullitt.” The hitmen of the movie’s antagonist Pete Ross are tailing Lt. Frank Bullitt and his late 1968 Ford Mustang GT. As soon as Bullitt turns the tables, the hitman step on the gas of their Dodge Charger R/T and you got a chase up and down the streets San Francisco with cars flying in the air if you catch the drift. The chase continues outside the city and eventually the hitmen and the Charger literarily get burned to a crisp. They wanted to shoot the chase along the Golden Gate Bridge but the powers that be would not allow it. Still this is the car chase that so many other movies and TV shows want to recreate. But they will not reach the heights like McQueen did here.

3. Moonraker-James Bond vs. Chang in Venice: When the movie’s antagonist Hugo Drax realizes that Bond is on to him, he sends out his bodyguard Chang (played by real life aikido instructorToshirōSuga) to take him out in the city of Venice. The result is a fight in a museum in which the two make a mess of the place while trying to kill the other. Bond sadly has to interrupt a concert of romantic Italian music when he sends Chang head first into the grand piano that is used to accompany the singer.Oh and Mr. Bond, its “Play It Sam;” NOT “Play It Again Sam.” Gee, everyone gets that line wrong. By the way, the movie’s climax is so fake…but we love Bond so we let it go. Enjoy the fact that Suga had his 15 minutes of fame starting with this Bond movie.

4. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi-Battle of the final Death Star (Triple Threat): The battle to defeat the empire once and for all takes place in three different means. In outer space itself with a rebel fleet waiting for the shields to be taken down. On the surface of Endor in which a rebel force is trying to take out the imperial bunker and its shield generator so the fleet upstairs can take out the DS. Finally, the battle also takes place on the New Death Star itself in which Luke Skywalker must fight his father Darth Vader once again; while Emperor SheevPalpatine is the sole spectator waiting for Luke to succeed daddy…or not. Either way Palpatine is confident he can with this battle like he did before.

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark-Fist Fight on Runway followed by the Truck Chase: That René Belloq loves to take the credit for all the hard work Indiana Jones had to do. By the time the two reached Egypt, Belloq decided to collaborate with the Nazis and tried to bury Jones once and for all. Instead Jones prevented a plane from taking off with the Ark of the Covent, and that carried right over into a truck chase. That truck chase just made you ready for the all-important climax of the very first Indiana Jones movie.

6. Die Hard-McClaneJumping off the Nakatomiskyscaper: All that NYPD Detective John McClane wanted to do was make amends with his wife during the holiday season. Instead he has to deal with Hans Gruber who has more than just ‘switches’ and ‘rods’ for Joseph Takagi, who McClane’s wife works for. The movie’s iconic action scene is when after McClane clears the hostages off the Nakatomiskyscraper (in real life it’s called the Fox Plaza), he is getting shot at by the good guys. He finds a roll of fire hose nearby and in spite of its lack of length he decides to use it, while venting out some remarks of aggravation. He makes his escape off the roof and breaks into one of the floors of the building before the support of the hose can’t help McClane no more. Sadly for McClane, it’s only the beginning of his troubles, but this scene is still the best of any in the Die Hard series.

7. Captain America: Winter Soldier-Fight in an Elevator, and living it up while their going down: He goes in all alone, then pack a few more men gradually at just about each floor, and then take the jerk out. No… everyone else is a jerk and Captain America escapes. Sometimes the good guys just don’t get break from the people you think are on your side. Still it makes a great all-time action scene.

8. Mad Max: Fury Road-Sand Storm Car Chase: Had it not been for George Miller who was involved in the Mel Gibson era of Mad Max movies, this scene might have not happened and even if it did it might not make this list. Let’s make this short and to the point. The movie for the most part is a single action sequence. There are pauses in the action, but this is the whole movie.

9. Saving Private Ryan-D-Day Battle: The iconic 20-minute scene was the talk (and fair warning) to anyone who was planning to see this movie or not. It recaptures the horror of what war is. If you get passed this, you will be able to sit through the movie. Be forewarned, if the D-Day battle does not get to you, the climax of this movie will.

10. North by Northwest-Attack of the Crop Duster Plane: Roger Thornhill was a man who wanted to be a “Mad Man,” and not a “Secret Agent Man.” But that is what happens here in this Alfred Hitchcockpicture “to end all Hitchcock pictures.” Hey it was successful but it would not be the last. The most iconic action scene here is when Roger Thornhill/George Kaplan is attacked by a crop duster plane in middle of nowhere in Indiana. He was just waiting to catch a Greyhound bus. In the end, a pickup truck will have to do.