10- Star Wars (1977)
Dir- George Lucas
George Lucas might have anticipated somewhere in his relentless businessman mind that his space-scorching adventure would spawn a whole alternate of religion. But what he would not have expected that it was his modest little first film that would be remembered the most for being a most splendid spectacle for all ages. 'Star Wars' might be ticking off every single well-worn Hollywood cliche; all of it merely about a golden-haired boy who rescues a princess and defeats an evil ruler. But Lucas, then a fresh-faced visionary and armed with a thrilling, almost breakneck narrative that none of the latter films can match for pacing, made sure that we celebrated every single moment ripe for predictability in all its vivid, wide-eyed wonder. The endlessly iconoclast cast of characters (Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford's Han Solo, Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia and Darth Vader, himself) enlivens everything superbly but there is also enough of a kick to get from those blazing blaster shootouts and dogfights.
9- Goldfinger (1964)
Dir- Guy Hamilton
What would a James Bond film be without the action? Sure, glamour, gadgets and girls are necessary but you cannot imagine even one of them without a grand explosion or a nifty car chase. And while 'From Russia With Love' had already laid down the groundwork, especially with that uncomfortably close-quarters squabble inside the Orient Express, there is something truly special about the film which brought in the best goddamn car from Q's garage. The Aston Martin DB5, a sexy, svelte vehicle, features superbly in the film's memorable chase, laying on a delicious layer of oomph that even all the beautiful dames of the series put together cannot beat. But this is just one of the many highlights in this glossy, superbly streamlined outing that ranks among the finest in the series. From Shirley Bassey's voice to Ken Adam's grandly perfect replica of Fort Knox to the scene with the laser right down to Oddjob's lethal bowler hat, everything in 'Goldfinger' is, well, pure gold.
8- The Great Escape (1963)
Dir- John Sturges
No matter how many films you might call as your personal favourites, John Sturges' rattling WW2 POW escape yarn beats them all in terms of endlessly ecstatic repeat viewings. Pick a weekend or a vacation and you can spend an entire afternoon watching the brave and determined English and American airmen plot to escape from the brand new camp Stalag Luft III to freedom and life. The meticulous planning and preparations, doused superbly with camaraderie and humour, are almost a buzz. But it is when the best-laid plans get really rolling, with pursuits, some foolhardy and some successful, on foot, airplane and a rusty German motorcycle, that the film reaches the level of an evergreen entertainer that never ever lets one up. A stellar cast delivers heroism and heroics in equal measure, including Richard Attenborough's almost suicidal Big X and James Garner's crafty yet big-hearted Hendley. But it is Steve McQueen's baseball pitching 'Cooler King' Hilts who rides the epic finale with heart-pounding and ultimately poignant glory.
7- The French Connection (1971)
Dir- William Friedkin
Prior to 'The French Connection', cop thrillers were only about bang, bang, shoot, shoot. Then, William Friedkin, one of the most under-appreciated action filmmakers of all time, decided to adapt Robin Moore's real-life account of how disgruntled, unglamorous New York narcotics detectives busted a French drug shipment with a blend of intelligence and smart plotting. The story itself was hot stuff in those years but what 'The French Connection' does is to turn into a sensational, riveting cops and criminals potboiler that pulsates with raw urban flavour and sophisticated thrills and spills. The documentary-style shooting is absorbing, the performances are legendary (Gene Hackman's viciously funny cop Popeye Doyle pitted against Alain Charnier's charismatic suave smuggler) and the scenes of stealth, street pursuits and, yes, that breakneck car and elevated train chase are still capable of plunging the viewers to the edge of their seats. Add to those things a brisk, no-nonsense and tightly edited plot and you get a rare action thriller worthy of Oscar gold.
6- Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Dir- James Cameron
It is enough for all of us fans of both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harley Davidson that we will always have the quintessential cinematic moment of the handsome, rugged hunk riding a classic chopper through the streets of Los Angeles, all poised to rock and roll. If James Cameron's first film sent chills down our spines by the mere sight of the titular android T-101, the superlative sequel makes him an extraordinary hero, one who knows how to land both punches and punch-lines and who also has a heart beneath all that metal. 'Judgement Day' is not just an extraordinary sequel that broadens the plot and blends in more humanity and emotion into an otherwise lean and mean science fiction yarn. It is also a bigger, busier and ballsier action spectacle to behold. The relentless chases, gunfire and explosions, including a breathless truck pursuit and that drop-dead gorgeous finale in a steel mill, are meshed superbly by Cameron with the state-of-the-art effects that still stun the mind.
5- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Dir- George Miller
Do not be surprised if you found 'Mad Max: Fury Road' to be so refreshingly unlike the usual stuff served in the name of action cinema. After all, its creator George Miller had been there and done that more than 35 years ago. While I am not denying the recent film's scorching pace and freaked-out imagination, there is something particularly intriguing, gritty and seminal about watching 'The Road Warrior' even today. Rarely has there been an action film so dedicated utterly to the onslaught of crazy gears and berserk engines so that even the minimalistic plot feels profoundly, if nihilistically, poetic. On the surface, this is pure and simple; burned-out survivor Max (a simmering Mel Gibson) offers to help a community under constant siege by a bunch of devilish scavengers to find a way out. But Miller, armed with master lensman Dean Semler and the toughest vehicles in cinematic history, makes that getaway into one, full-throttle chase down the post-apocalyptic highways that roars like a demented, charging beast.
4- North By Northwest (1959)
Dir- Alfred Hitchcock
Not so long before James Bond brought down an attacking helicopter to a fiery crash, Cary Grant had already done that to a crop-duster plane hell-bent on killing him (after all, there were no crops, as we all know) and he did it without a fancy attache cache or even a beautiful babe in tow. Hitchcock's whip-smart and wisecracking chase caper is not only unforgettably iconic for inspiring almost every single action scene after that which featured the hero being pursued by something or someone with murderous intent that could not be explained. It was also the film that gave the action film genre one of its most everlasting tropes: the endearing innocence of the hero. The 'wrong man' concept was not new for the director but Grant's suavely dressed, smart-mouthed advertising executive Roger Thornhill is believably befuddled as he flies the coop after getting mistaken as a Federal agent. Eva Marie Saint's intriguing damsel, Robert Burkes' glittering visuals, Bernard Hermann's score and Ernest Lehmann's fast and funny script are further unforgettable attractions in this ride.
3- The Dark Knight (2008)
Dir- Christopher Nolan
With every big superhero movie that comes along and promises to deliver a fantastic blend of enthralling action, intelligent plotting and stunning emotion, there is only one benchmark to consider and that would be Christopher Nolan's sensational, incendiary second part of his accomplished Batman trilogy. The plot is one that is worthy of a stunning comic book itself; we find Batman ( a fine, understated Christian Bale) bothered by personal demons as he confronts the Joker who is wrecking chaos by taking down the very people supposed to guard Gotham City, including prudent Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the enigmatic D.A Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). And Nolan injected rippling energy and ricocheting pace to it by directing it with a fast, no-holds barred and sizzling approach that blended the dramatic weight of Michael Mann with the visual virtuosity of Stanley Kubrick. Gone was the celebratory mood of a typical superhero outing. Instead, what we got was a spectacular action film with brains bigger than its brawn. And in Heath Ledger's The Joker, a villain who remains the final word on pure, unadulterated evil.
2- The Wild Bunch (1969)
Dir- Sam Peckinpah
By the time 'The Wild Bunch' was released to stunned audiences at the wee end of the sixties, the Wild West genre had already arrived at an end. Gone were the days when we were lauding the exploits of the virtuous heroes of John Ford and the cocky gunslingers of Sergio Leone's 'Dollars' trilogy. And yet while most of the new-found Western yarns were busy with brooding, Peckinpah's film fired ricocheting bullets on our minds and left bloody trails on the screen; in short, it delivered a final tombstone for the genre and buried all the typical tropes of those gun-toting films for once and for all.
And yet, even as it waves an elegiac and vital farewell to both the seemingly law-abiding enforcers and the disgruntled outlaws forever on the run, 'The Wild Bunch' made sure that our sympathies lay more with the latter rather than the former, who come across in Peckinpah's savage yet exquisitely beautiful canvas as selfish and despicable. The titular gang of thieves, led by William Holden's rugged yet charismatic Pike Bishop, try to escape their pursuers and seek some refuge and also redemption after a lifetime of violence. The director charts their journey with the alternately soft and harsh beats of poignant characterisation and nihilistic brutality. The shadow of death is lingering over these damned souls forever and 'The Wild Bunch' revels in the sickening, thrilling and unhinged grit and glory of those forever iconic blast-them-up shootouts that burst with blood, bullets and bodies and set the stage on fire with unbridled fury.
1- Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
Dir- Steven Spielberg
And so, after a list of films which comprise of both splendid escapist entertainers and thought-provoking, genre-altering films, I choose the one action adventure yarn that refuses to age for even a bit even as more than 3 decades have come and gone since it first hurled its audiences into a seemingly unending roller coaster ride. Is it any surprise that 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark', the first of the four more or less enjoyable adventures about the bull-whip wielding and fedora sporting hero Indiana Jones, came from Steven Spielberg himself? The master filmmaker has always claimed to be enchanted with the idea of never really growing up. This film, while genuinely smart and even intelligent in its own right, can be called as a boy's most vivid fantasies come true.
And yet, then that is the beauty of 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark'. Even as it recycles every single trick in the book, from the quintessential beautiful dame and exotic locations from James Bond films to the other-world ghouls and creepy crawlies from Ray Harryhausen's yarns right down to the Nazi villains of those enjoyable 1960s World War 2 action films, it refreshes them all to fascinating extent with a blend of ingenious special effects, a fast yet lively pace, an endless barrage of visual humour and such miracles of designing sequences that are still unmatched today. It is hard to count off all those iconic moments and name only one true favourite. My guess is that opening prelude in South American jungles. No, it is that gunfight in that tavern in Tibet. No, no, it has to be that hilarious fight in the streets of Cairo. No, maybe that truck chase towards the end?
John Williams gave one of his most everlasting, and most bastardised, scores of all time and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe and editor Michael Kahn delivered enough marvels to enliven the film. But let's not forget equally indispensable contributions from idea man George Lucas, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and Spielberg himself firing on all cylinders with tireless energy and invention that even his other worthy films find it impossible to rival. And lest I forget it, Harrison Ford's muscular, meltingly masculine yet endearingly vulnerable Indiana Jones will always be an evergreen screen icon for ages. Tough chance, newbies.
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