The T-1000. Firing two guns at once (while in mid-air optional). "Bullet Time." These are just some of the many blessed things to come out of '90s action cinema. In honor of the greatest genre in the history of ever, here are the 27 best '90s action movies ever made.
'DEMOLITION MAN' (1993)
This guilty pleasure has EVERYTHING: Wesley Snipes' hair. Future overalls. The Three Seashells, you guys! The only way this excessive ode to machismo could be any more '90s is if it were directed by slap bracelets.
'BLADE' (1998)
Marvel's first R-rated comic book movie success is still one of their better efforts, opening with a still-badass brawl at a vampire rave and concluding with a kung-fu fight that ends with a vial ninja kicked into the baddie's head. #blessed
'RONIN' (1998)
What's better than De Niro? De Niro with a gun, working with a group of ex-spies while precision driving (the wrong way) down Parisian streets in search of a MacGuffin in this gritty, lean car-chase caper.
'DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE' (1995)
Of the "Die Hard" sequels, the third comes closest to capturing the gritty (and funny) spirit of the first film. Like he did with the original, director John McTiernan keeps the action grounded and the tension taut as John McClane must work with the great Samuel L. Jackson to stop Hans Gruber's brother from stealing gold from NYC's Federal Reserve.
'DESPERADO' (1995)
That's how you walk away from an explosion. Robert Rodriguez' first Hollywood feature is a loose remake of his self-funded "El Mariachi" and it thankfully retains that film's core concept of a mariachi carrying a guitar case full of guns, looking for revenge run over-the-top shootout at a time.
'AIR FORCE ONE' (1997)
"Get off my plane!" There is a reality where this movie stars Kevin Costner, the original actor intended for the role of terrorist-hating President Marshall, instead of Ford. And that's just wrong. There's no one more perfect for the punch-happy POTUS than Indiana Jones, in this engaging thriller that marks the pinnacle of the 90s exploitation of the "Die Hard" on a (insert inventive location here) premise.
'FACE/OFF' (1997)
Summer 1997 incepted us all with the idea that Nic Cage would rise from Oscar-winner to over-the-top action star with the one-two punch of "Con Air" and "Face/Off." We loved both movies then, but skip the former (it's bad) and rewatch the latter (it's guilty pleasure bad) -- it's John Woo's best Hollywood film, full of quotable Cage-isms and balletic double-gun shootouts.
'UNDER SIEGE' (1992)
Yes, that's Navy SEAL-turned-cook Steven Seagal defensively biting down on a butcher knife. Because 1992. "Under Siege" effectively executes its "Die Hard" on a battleship premise with the exact amount of whatever each scene needs, never going too camp or too serious. Not an easy feat because Seagal. Fun fact: Director Andrew Davis would re-team with Tommy Lee Jones one year later for the Oscar-winning "The Fugitive."
'THE MASK OF ZORRO' (1998)
Action director Martin Campbell owned the latter half of the decade, with "GoldenEye" and this spirited and funny Zorro adventure that made Catherine Zeta-Jones a star.
'TRUE LIES' (1994)
Yes, that's Arnold Schwarzenegger -- flying a Harrier jet, using his daughter as a hood ornament -- about to fire a terrorist-laced missile. More movies, nay, all of them, need scenes like this. Thanks, James Cameron.
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