Top 25 Best/Most Important Action Stars

[Paragon]

I just made this list on a whim. I think my top 5 is pretty solid, but the rest of it I could change based on my mood. I also probably forgot some really key guys, because I'm sleepy. Let me know what you think and feel free to post your own version.

1 Arnold Schwarzenegger
2 Jackie Chan
3 Harrison Ford
4 Bruce Lee
5 Sylvester Stallone
6 Tom Cruise
7 Jean-Claude Van Damme
8 Sean Connery
9 Clint Eastwood
10 Jet Li
11 Bruce Willis
12 Nicholas Cage
13 Tony Jaa
14 Jason Statham
15 Liam Neeson
16 MichelleYeoh
17 Kurt Russel
18 Michael Jai White
19 Chow Yun-Fat
20 Chuck Norris
21 Dolf Lundgren
22 Will Smith
23 Steven Seagal
24 Wesley Snipes
25 Antonio Banderas

[Xlite]

You made this thread expecting a top 25 from everyone, or just wanted to show your top 25?

[Paragon]

Originally Posted by Xlite

You made this thread expecting a top 25 from everyone, or just wanted to show your top 25?

Don't expect top 25 from everyone. Just the few hardcore action fans we have here (p6867 comes to mind). I'm more curious about how people feel about the list I threw together (who's missing, who should be thrown off, who is ranked too high/low, etc). This thread is really just about comparing action stars in a grand scale.

[constantinople]

Chow Yun Fat should come before Michelle Yeoh, IMO. He has the more iconic portfolio.


I don't think I really would have included Nicholas Cage in this one. Replace that nigger with Vin Diesel. You need some Mel Gibson as well, I mean, it's like you totally disregarded Lethal Weapon

[Paragon]

Originally Posted by DR.PAPADROPADOCALOPALIS

Chow Yun Fat should come before Michelle Yeoh, IMO. He has the more iconic portfolio.


I don't think I really would have included Nicholas Cage in this one. Replace that nigger with Vin Diesel. You need some Mel Gibson as well, I mean, it's like you totally disregarded Lethal Weapon

Yeah, you might be right about Chow Yun Fat. My only problem with him is that I think John Woo is a super shit director, and, in some ways, only set action movies back with his repetitive shitty slow-mo and random explosions. I guess I'm being biased, though.

Cage for me makes it for keeping the 90s alive with Con Air, The Rock, Gone in Sixty Seconds, etc. I probably did put him too high on the list, though.

Diesel, along with The Rock, don't crack the top 25 for me. Their action movies have either little action or all of it blows. I actually think The Rock is charismatic and could have been a lot cooler, but his movies were too shitty.

Gibson maybe belongs on my list. It's hard for me to say because he's one of the only action stars I didn't grow up watching (no idea why, since I've seen so fucking many). The only Lethal Weapon I've seen is Lethal Weapon 4, and that was awful. I've seen bits of the rest, but not enough to get a fair impression. I wonder if I will ever be able to see him the way other people have, though, now that I'll be going into his movies knowing that he's a crazy bastard (Tom Cruise is a good enough actor to get me passed knowing that he's fucking insane, but I doubt Gibson is based on what I've seen of him). For now, I'll just say he's off due to my ignorance. I don't see him doing too well, though, but maybe he would crack the top 20.

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

[2006] Herp derp you misspelled Chuck Norris 24 times. [/2006]

My top 5 would probably be different, but it's a pretty solid list nonetheless. I don't know about Jackie Chan and shit though - mainly because I draw a completely arbitrary distinction between "action movies" and "kung fu movies".

Jason Statham would probably place higher for me. And Bruce Willis - I was surprised he wasn't in your top 5. Harrison Ford is though? What... all because of Indiana Jones?

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Pee Vee Proots, M.D.

[2006] Herp derp you misspelled Chuck Norris 24 times. [/2006]

My top 5 would probably be different, but it's a pretty solid list nonetheless. I don't know about Jackie Chan and shit though - mainly because I draw a completely arbitrary distinction between "action movies" and "kung fu movies".

Jason Statham would probably place higher for me. And Bruce Willis - I was surprised he wasn't in your top 5. Harrison Ford is though? What... all because of Indiana Jones?

Proots, you goin senile on us?

Harrison Ford played Han Solo.





Also, I guess I'm nit-picking myself over what I can call an "action" movie and what I can't. Upon further review I would have moved Clint Eastwood up higher on the list, and put Bruce Lee where Jackie Chan is. Jet Li I think should go immediately after MichelleYeoh. Aside from Unleashed, Hero, and Fearless he really doesn't have the amount of truly epic titles under his belt. MichelleYeoh may only have two that I can think of off the top of my head, but they are both probably tied for the best wire-harness rubber-sword style kung-fu AWESOMENESS (Reign of Assassins/Crouching Tiger)

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

Originally Posted by DR.PAPADROPADOCALOPALIS

Proots, you goin senile on us?

Harrison Ford played Han Solo.

Han is hardly an action hero in my mind. He shoots his blaster like once in the whole trilogy, half of which he spends as a decorative plaque in Jaba's palace. He's a charming bastard, but no action star.

Also the arbitrary distinction between sci-fi and action comes into play here. In my mind an action movie is one man on a mission to fuck shit up, maybe with a wisecracking partner or some shit. Han was a glorified taxi driver, and the Millenium Falcon was like his unlicensed cab, and that's the extent of Harrison Ford's badassery outside Indiana Jones.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Pee Vee Proots, M.D.

Han is hardly an action hero in my mind. He shoots his blaster like once in the whole trilogy, half of which he spends as a decorative plaque in Jaba's palace. He's a charming bastard, but no action star.

Also the arbitrary distinction between sci-fi and action comes into play here. In my mind an action movie is one man on a mission to fuck shit up, maybe with a wisecracking partner or some shit. Han was a glorified taxi driver, and the Millenium Falcon was like his unlicensed cab, and that's the extent of Harrison Ford's badassery outside Indiana Jones.

The implied badassery of all the things Han Solo did up until that fateful day makes him a fuckin action star. He made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs.

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

Originally Posted by DR.PAPADROPADOCALOPALIS

The implied badassery of all the things Han Solo did up until that fateful day makes him a fuckin action star. He made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs.

He'd kick your ass if only he could move.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Pee Vee Proots, M.D.

He'd kick your ass if only he could move.

I'll kick you straight in your moldy cunt, you ginger bitch.

[STD]

I'd have Bruce Willis up higher, like in my top 5. Probably top 3, along with Stallone and Schwarzenegger.

[A$AP Weed Smoker]

yeah, pop culture. how fucking important.

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

Originally Posted by Weed Smoker

yeah, pop culture. how fucking important.

If you want a cure for herpes and hep C, research it yourself faggot. Nobody cares about you or your opinions, you STD addled fuck.

[A$AP Weed Smoker]

I was given those precious diseases by 2 wonderful angels of God, something you'd know nothing about.

[Akagi]

Originally Posted by DR.PAPADROPADOCALOPALIS

The implied badassery of all the things Han Solo did up until that fateful day makes him a fuckin action star. He made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs.

Doesn't even make sense. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time.

[mizled]

Needs more Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin - those guys did their own stunts.

[Proots]

Chow Yun-Fat was awesome in the movie "Hard Boiled". Man, I love that movie. It was just so over the top, insane and hilarious. Good list, though. You mentioned a lot of the action juggernauts of their time.

Originally Posted by Pee Vee Proots, M.D.

Harrison Ford is though? What... all because of Indiana Jones?

Hey, Proots! Come on, now. "Indiana Jones", "Star Wars", "The Fugitive" and "Air Force One"? Classic action movies!

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

Originally Posted by Akagi

Doesn't even make sense. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time.

The Kessel run is a trip from one sector of the galaxy to another. You can take many possible routes, one of which is apparently under 12 parsecs. I guess smugglers usually take a longer route to avoid Imperial patrols/etc, but Han is such a skilled pilot with such a great ship he can make the shorter, more dangerous trips.

That's a bastardized version of the explanation I got anyway. Makes sense though.

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

Originally Posted by Weed Smoker

I'm a worthless methhead and bath salt junkie - I got those diseases from sharing needles and having unprotected sex with skanky bitches who did even less than the drugs do to fill my hollow, meaningless existence.

FTFY.

[Number13]

Top 10 in no particular order:
Clint Eastwood
Bruce Lee
John Wayne(That was his name in the movies, I'm unsure of the real one.)
Sean Connery
Antonio Banderas
Bruce Willis
Nicholas Cage
Jason Statham
Liam Neeson
Arnold Schwarzenegger

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Number13

Top 10 in no particular order:
Clint Eastwood
Bruce Lee
John Wayne(That was his name in the movies, I'm unsure of the real one.)
Sean Connery
Antonio Banderas
Bruce Willis
Nicholas Cage
Jason Statham
Liam Neeson
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Rooster Cogburn and The Duke were two of his bigger characters. I don't recall a movie where he played a character named John Wayne.


John Wayne is stage name he was given during the start of his career by Fox.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Akagi

Doesn't even make sense. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time.

In order to go from Kessel to Courisant you had to travel by an enormous black hole called "the Maw". Such was the power of Han Solo's Millenium Falcon that he could go closer to the Maw than any other ship because of the enormous power of it's engines, thus allowing him to take a more straight and direct route, equaling a fewer amount of parsecs traveled.



^The above explanation, though, was made after the movie was made.

[Number13]

Originally Posted by DR.PAPADROPADOCALOPALIS

Rooster Cogburn and The Duke were two of his bigger characters. I don't recall a movie where he played a character named John Wayne.


John Wayne is stage name he was given during the start of his career by Fox.

Thanks for correcting me.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Number13

Thanks for correcting me.

Any time sugar-tits.

[ZeroMalarki]

The list is arguably a tad 80s/90s centric, could do with some of the older ones: Steve McQueen, Charlton Heston and Charles Bronson need to be noted.

Newer stars are also on the rise.. The Rock is one of the best cheese action stars ever, Tom Hardy is fantastic, Christian Bale, Vin Diesel all should be noted too. Russell Crowe is another addition.

The guy from the Raid could be the next Tony Jaa

[ZeroMalarki]

Originally Posted by Number13

Top 10 in no particular order:

John Wayne(That was his name in the movies, I'm unsure of the real one.)

Marion

[Pee Vee Proots, M.D.]

Originally Posted by Proots

"The Fugitive" and "Air Force One"? Classic action movies!

I completely forgot about those movies, but yeah. In hindsight I guess he has been an action star in more than Indiana Jones. I still don't count Star Wars though - Han was a pussy. His only bad ass act was shooting Greedo, and Lucas even managed to take that away from him.

Greedo shooting first pretty much robbed Han of the only cool thing he did in the movies.

[STD]

Originally Posted by Pee Vee Proots, M.D.

If you want a cure for herpes and hep C, research it yourself faggot. Nobody cares about you or your opinions, you STD addled fuck.

lol, STD.

Originally Posted by Proots

Chow Yun-Fat was awesome in the movie "Hard Boiled". Man, I love that movie. It was just so over the top, insane and hilarious. Good list, though. You mentioned a lot of the action juggernauts of their time.

hell yeah, one of the best opening scenes EVAR

Originally Posted by Pee Vee Proots, M.D.

I completely forgot about those movies, but yeah. In hindsight I guess he has been an action star in more than Indiana Jones.

I don't know why but I don't really count action like Indiana Jones in the same catergory as something like Die Hard, which is pure straight manly action, Indiana Jones and Star Wars go a little deeper than that.

But fuck the truck chase in Raiders was awesome