The 50 Best Action Stars in Movie History

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Best Movies: Four Brothers (2005), Shooter (2007), The Italian Job (2003), Planet of the Apes (2001)

Most Badass Moment: Settling business with Chiwetel Ejiofor in Four Brothers man-to-man, hand-to-hand...in the middle of a frozen lake.

Hate on him all you want, but humor us first. Look up Marky Mark's filmography—you might be embarassed when you realize you actually fuck with at least three of his movies. Now that the stick up your rear is removed, we can just come out and say it: Mark Wahlberg has the reliable action star niche on lock these days, in all his clever but tough protagonist glory.

Whether January B-movie or a mid-year thriller that's slightly more reputable, he rarely disappoints, and if Entourage taught us anything it's that when Wahlberg does take a bad movie, we have Ari Gold to blame. *cough* Max Payne *cough*

Best Movies: The Fifth Element (1997), Resident Evil Series (2002 - 2010)

Most Badass Moment: All of her Resident Evil kills are G, but her knife work in Resident Evil: Extinction's human convoy vs. super zombies fight is an extra level of awesome. 

When you can't get Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich is your next call. The Resident Evil movies have become a bit predictable, but she sure kicks excessive amounts of undead ass in that financially reliable franchise. We prefer Jovovich in The Fifth Element, however—it's just as much her show as it is Bruce Willis', and, unlike Angelina, Milla's toned physique and endurance level have us convinced that if we squared off with her in a dark alley, she'd win. Which, of course, is very hot.

Best Movies: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992)

Most Badass Moment: Cinematic martial arts don't get much better than this. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang reconcile their differences with a dazzling four-minute sword fight.

Now, onto the Hong Kong version of Angelina Jolie: Michelle Yeoh. Her United States popularity took off after she wowed Pierce Brosnan and snagged the coveted "Bond Girl" position in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies and kicked ass in 2000's instant martial arts classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Which led to...The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008)? We're just bummed she wasn't able to take the Wachowski brothers up on their offer to play Seraph in the Matrix sequels.

Best Movies: Batman Begins (2005), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Dark Knight (2008)

Most Badass Moment: Using the projectiles on his arm to give The Joker a brand new set of scars to brag about in The Dark Knight.

Christian Bale was a meh John Connor in Terminator Salvation (just blame that guy who walked through the set and triggered that infamous rant), but dude is the centerpiece of the best Batman trilogy of all time (this summer's The Dark Knight Rises seems foolproof at this point).

No matter what genre he's dabbling in, Bale always brings it with his trademark intensity, a trait that makes him a viable action hero commodity. While we love his meatier, more dramatic performances, such as Dicky in The Fighter, we hope his awards won't dissuade him from doing more action roles in the future.

Best Movies: Casino Royale (2006), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Munich (2005)

Most Badass Moment: The parkour foot chase in Madagascar that kicks off Casino Royale has more action and thrills than most films do during their whole running time.

Quantum Of Solace was a dud, but Casino Royale has us forever sold on Daniel Craig's action chops. Screw the haters—he's definitely not the best Bond (Sean Connery), but Craig is a fantastic, times-appropriate, brooding 007. Last year's Cowboys & Aliens was, admittedly, a weak support to the theory that he can carry other action films, but the A-list actor's career is still on the upswing (see: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Skyfall). 

Best Movies: Desperado (1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Once Upon A Time in Mexico (2003)

Most Badass Moment: Strolling into a bar crowded with angry Mexican goons, Banderas' nameless hero in Desperado opens up his guitar case, shows his set of firearms, and then slides a pair of smaller pistols out of his sleeves and unloads.

It's been a while since Antonio Banderas has gotten down and dirty on the big screen, but we'd be hard-pressed if we left the star of Desperado off of this list. Robert Rodriguez's bloody saga of a vengeful Mariachi fit Banderas like a glove. Unfortunately his later stabs at the genre, like Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, just gave us fits. For what it's worth, we've always felt that his interpretation of Zorro (The Mask Of Zorro, The Legend Of Zorro) was deserving of a lasting franchise treatment.

Best Movies: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Mr. And Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010)

Most Badass Moment: The siege on Croft Manor in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

There are other actresses doing it, but none of them are killing their action roles quite like Angelina Jolie. Simply put, she made the aughts her bitch and held it down with the boys as the First Lady of Ass-Kicking. Her steamy voice combined with that magnetic screen presence has made it unnecessary to ever question how a woman of her weight and lithe figure was capable of thrashing dudes left and right, and she remains one of Hollywood's deadliest sex symbols.

Obviously, 2010 was a mixed bag, after she followed up the tremendous spy action flick Salt with The Tourist, which is most politely described as a movie that exists, but they can't all be winners. 

Best Movies: Taken (2008), Darkman (1990), Batman Begins (2005), The Grey (2012)

Most Badass Moment: Shooting his enemy's innocent wife in the leg to get him talking in Taken. When women and children are fair game, you know shit is real.

Five years ago, Liam Neeson would've been ineligible for this list. But then, enter the hard-body box office shocker Taken, and everything changed. Now you can't look at the marquee without seeing a Neeson-headlined flick that should be named Find That Person And Bring Them Back, and he's already spawning copycats.

Neeson's ability to switch from warm mentor/dad to intense, determined one-man wrecking machine has transitioned him into the Jack Bauer of cinema. And we couldn't be happier for him. Why should the youngsters have all the fun?

Best Movies: Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Predator (1987), Action Jackson (1988)

Most Badass Moment: In the awesome Action Jackson, Weathers crushes an enemy with his red sports car, and then speedily maneuvers the vehicle up a staircase and through the hallways of a building to save the luscious Vanity. Physically impossible, yes, but also incredibly badass.

With the exception of Action Jackson, Carl Weathers has made a career out of being that awesome black sidekick who naturally bites the dust sooner or later, holding down Rocky as Apollo Creed, and helping Schwarzenegger battle the Predator until the bitter end. For what it's worth, though, his death is always honorably avenged.

Best Movies: Coffy (1973), Women In Cages (1971), The Arena (1974), Foxy Brown (1974), Jackie Brown (1997)

Most Badass Moment: Posing as a go-getter prostitute, Coffy looks to impress the pimp, King George, by slapping an especially arrogant blonde hooker around, smashing a wine bottle over the head of another, and slicing the blonde's hands open with razorblades stashed in her hair. Mission accomplished.

Back in the mid-1970s, Pam Grier took the Blaxploitation movement and owned it, coming out as one of the defining faces of the genre, as well as the first African American female action star. The bulk of her career is defined by playing decidedly independent, cunning opportunists, never left holding the bag but always holding all of the cards.

Is it just us, or is there a glaring absence of no-nonsense, ass-kicking African American women in Hollywood right now? Zoe Saldana valiantly tried in Colombiana, but the film itself was run-of-the-mill. We need a modern-day Pam Grier, stat.

Best Movies: The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Most Badass Moment: The brutal, raw, and naturalistic Tangiers fight sequence in The Bourne Ultimatum.

Early on in his career, you would've never thought that Matt Damon had it in him, so his Bourne Identity casting was a real head-scratcher. Then he jumped down a stairwell, using a dead guy as his cushion the whole way down while shooting someone in mid-air, and we didn't question his toughness ever again.

Each Bourne movie is packed with a plethora of show-stopping, badass stunts; yet, the trilogy cemented Damon as a bonafied action star not because of fight scenes but, rather, for a now patented intensity and focus that made viewers forget that 2002's The Bourne Identity was actually his first action film.

Best Movies: Rocky IV (1985), Universal Soldier (1992), The Expendables (2010)

Most Badass Moment: It takes a supreme kind of badass to intimidate Rocky Balboa, and in Rocky IV, Ivan Drago (Lundgren) does just that with four simple, coldly delivered words: "I must break you."

"I must break you." With those four badass words, Dolph Lundgren exploded onto the action scene, and also provided, next to the classic training montage, the most memorable moment of the Rocky series.

For better (Universal Soldier) or for worse (Masters Of The Universe, The Punisher), the intimidatingly tall Swede has been a mainstay within the action genre, mostly playing soldier and mercenary types before languishing in the direct-to-video abyss, much like fellow lover of the spin-kick Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Best Movies: Pitch Black (2000), The Fast And The Furious (2001), xXx (2002), Fast Five (2011)

Most Badass Moment: The flashy climax of Fast Five gets all of the attention, but the train heist in the beginning left us breathless.

Find Me Guilty (2006) proved that, beneath the monosyllabic, baritone delivery and blank stares, Vin Diesel has real acting chops. But high-octane thrillers with a thematic twist like, say, extreme sports (xXx) or streetracing (The Fast And The Furious) are what pay his bills, and the masses expect—and prefer—the XXX and Dominic Toretto roles from him. Who can blame the masses, as he fits the musclebound action star bill quite well. At this rate, we wouldn't be surprised if the Fast & The Furious series eventually reaches the double digits.

Best Movies: Operation C.I.A. (1965), Smokey And The Bandit (1977), The Cannonball Run (1981), Malone (1987), The Fugitive (1993)

Most Badass Moment: In Smokey And The Bandit, with the button-cute Sally Field riding shotgun, Reynolds' evades the fuzz in his vintage Trans-Am by jumping a busted-up bridge.

Burt Reynolds' later roles were mostly a reflection of his good looks and mythical charm, but let's not forget films like Smokey And The Bandit or Cannonball Run, which gave the moustache-rocking tough guy the reputation of being a rebellious enforcer that has endured to this day.

Best Movies: Walking Tall (2004), The Rundown (2003), Fast Five (2011)

Most Badass Moment: It's a tie between the climax of The Rundown/the breathless rooftop chase with Vin Diesel in Fast Five.

We sure would like to know what Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was thinking when he tried to make the family movie niche his personalized lane. Oh, that's right: dollar signs.

Still, as he displayed when he breathed new life into the Fast & Furious franchise, Johnson was born to do action. His acting prowess was initially written off as just another wrestler using his fists and not much else (we see you, Scorpion King), but back-to-back wins wth The Rundown (2003) and Walking Tall (2004) made the critics recognize.

Well, until that damn Disney sabbatical, at least. It seems like he's recommitted now, though. We smell what you're cooking, Rock—and we approve.

Best Movies: Bad Boys (1995), Men In Black (1997), Bad Boys 2 (2003), I Am Legend (2007), Independence Day (1996)

Most Badass Moment: The foot chase in the middle of Bad Boys marked his official transition to big screen action stardom.

Will Smith is, without a doubt, one of Hollywood's most reliable go-to actors when they want to knock an actioner out of the park, if not the go-to guy. With 1995's Bad Boys, director Michael Bay was the first to show the world that the Fresh Prince's affable charm could mix well with bullets and high-speed chases to result in box office gold, and no one has doubted him since. Maybe that's why the mythical Bad Boys 3 is the threequel we really can't wait to see.

Best Movies: Point Break (1991), Speed (1994), The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Most Badass Moment: Before the 14-minute, bullet-time Matrix sequence that made everybody drool, Neo whet our appetites with a kick-ass sword fight in the Chateau.

Maybe you know what career-defining role we're talking about when we think of Keanu Reeves and action: Constantine! Just kidding. But seriously, even before he was The One, Reeves had clout. A little bus ride with Sandra Bullock, in Speed, heralded an action career that peaked with The Matrix trilogy.

With that franchise under his belt, Reeves has the freedom to come back to the genre whenever he wants. (HELLO John Wick!).

Best Movies: Goldfinger (1964), From Russia With Love (1963), The Untouchables (1987), The Rock (1996), First Knight (1995)

Most Badass Moment: Jim Malone, Connery's character in The Untouchables, gets riddled with Tommy gun bullets and still manages to bloodily crawl around and gather information for his boy.

Sean Connery is the premier senior citizen of action. Or at least he was. When the formidable team of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg couldn't even convince Connery to come out for their fourth Indiana Jones movie (good for him, in retrospect), the world knew that the Scottish legend's retirement was very real.

At least he left us with a wide spectrum of work to enjoy, from bodying the James Bond role as a relative youngster (he's still the best 007, by the way) to playing wise mentor to the new class of action heroes (joyously hamming it up with Nicolas Cage in The Rock; helping Kevin Costner get Capone in The Untouchables).

Connery can't go out on an underwhelming note like The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, though, right? Just do one more (better) movie, sir!

Best Movies: Road House (1989), Point Break (1991), Red Dawn (1984), Steel Dawn (1987), Next Of Kin (1989)

Most Badass Moment: In one of the best bar fights ever caught on film, Patrick Swayze sends Road House into guy movie infamy by, first, kicking a dude threw his office window and further battering the guy out on the drinking hole's mainroom floor.

Although best known for his dirty dancing, Patrick Swayze, who lost his battle with cancer in 2009, has left behind a top-quality collection of action flicks. Innovative films like Steel Dawn still entertain, while no one can forget his villainous turn in Point Break, in which he went up against Keanu Reeves (to see who had the waviest hair, once and for all). However, his biggest action turn was and still is the ultimate bar fight B movie, 1989's Road House. With a mix of his typical coolness and some honky tonkin' face-mashing, he made himself a mainstay in every action-loving guy's movie collection.

Best Movies: Face/Off (1997), The Rock (1996), Gone In 60 Seconds (2000), Con Air (1997)

Most Badass Moment: Can we call every action scene in Face/Off a moment?

Nicolas Cage basically makes any movie he's offered nowadays. Such is the grind if you wan to be on the streets flaunting dino skulls and own seven mansions. But you can't deny that he's got his fair share of solid action flicks to his name.

With Cage's extensive filmography, it'd be impossible to not have a few diamonds among the rough, although most of them debuted way back in the '90s, particularly the one-two punch of The Rock and Con Air, which solidified his stance as a reliable blockbuster headliner. Dull, more recent flops like Next, Bangkok Dangerous, and Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance aren't helping his stats, though.

Best Movies: Executioner (1974), The Streetfighter (1974), The Storm Riders (1998), The Bullet Train (1975) Shogun's Samurai (1978)

Most Badass Moment: Wearing what looks like a cheap prom tuxedo, in 1974's Executioner, Chiba decimates a gang of hoods using only his fists and a sai (think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's Raphael).

Attention, kiddies: Behold Sonny Chiba, the martial arts wizard who capitalized off of Bruce Lee's wave and also offered a nice counterbalance to Mr. Enter The Dragon's catalog.

While Lee was an honorable ass-kicker, Chiba was less about the scruples and more about the money in his most famous film, The Streetfighter. Quentin Tarantino paid Chiba serious homage with the role of renowned swordsmith Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill: Vol. 1.

Best Movies: Death Wish (1974), The Dirty Dozen (1967), The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Mechanic (1972)

Most Badass Moment: A casual, calm ride on a subway train takes a physical turn when Death Wish's Paul Kersey (Bronson) shoots a mugger who slashed his newspaper in half, and his equally vile friend, down with a previously concealed handgun.

Charles Bronson, better known as one of the original bad motherfuckers, had an icy staredown and a dizzying list of old-Hollywood classics under his belt, and, for several decades, he was the reigning king of revenge flicks (see: Death Wish). Most of the B-level action films you see Hollywood pulling out of its proverbial ass these days are little more than reheated versions of Bronson's filmography's gems.

Best Movies: L.A. Confidential (1997), Gladiator (2000), 3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Most Badass Moment: Defeating Commodus despite being near-death in Gladiator.

If you want a stout protagonist as capable of conveying complex emotions as he is whooping ass, Russell Crowe is the man for the job. That's been the case ever since he broke a couple faces in 1997's L.A. Confidential. Few have the grace to simultaneously put a red-blooded audience and blue-blooded Oscar voters in a tizzy. In terms of A-list actors, the guy's truly one of a kind.

Best Movies: Passenger 57 (1992), Boiling Point (1993), Money Train (1995), Blade (1998), U.S. Marshals (1998), Blade II (2002)

Most Badass Moment: The opening 10 minutes of Blade, where he battles a club full of vampires, remain the coolest 10 minutes Marvel has ever produced on film.

One of the few black actors who actually owns black belts, Wesley Snipes is, of course, best known for portraying the comic book vampire Blade and dusting Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive's 1998 follow-up U.S. Marshals, but the airplane thriller Passenger 57 is widely considered his action coming-out party.

Unfortunately, Snipes is a little preoccupied with serving prison time these days. Yes, Blade met one enemy he couldn't conquer: the IRS. Which, fortunately, doesn't erase the fact that he's both the most stylish vampire of all time and the coolest black super-hero in cinematic history.

Best Movies: The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Most Badass Moment: In the action classic Hard Boiled's best scene, shot in one long, continuous take, Fat takes out dozens of enemies with his sawed-off shotgun.

You wouldn't know it from his filmography, but Chow-Yun Fat would much rather take on dramatic roles that require more emoting and less ass-kicking. But can you blame Hollywood for trapping him in the stereotype when he's given us such hardcore gems as Hard Boiled?

Interestingly enough, the Academy Award darling Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon displays one of Fat's lighter roles. What sets him apart from dudes like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan is his affinity for hard-edged, no-nonsense characters. And when it comes down to it, Fat favors the simplicity of a bullet just as much as his hands, if not more.

Best Movies: The Getaway (1972), Bullitt (1968), The Great Escape (1963), The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Most Badass Moment: Tie between his two most famous car stunts: the San Francisco chase scene from Bullitt and the famed barbed wire fence motorcycle jump from The Great Escape.

The name Steve McQueen is synonymous with words like "cool," "classic," and "badass." His movies defined much of the 1960s and '70s, but, most importantly, they stand just as tall today.

In addition to his supreme fighting skills, McQueen is one of the reigning kings of the car chase; almost all of his classics feature death-defying auto stunts that make modern-day Hollywood sequences seem like Hot Wheels playtime. Not to mention, countless men have wanted to become cops just so they can rock their gun holster like McQueen's titular hero in 1968's Bullitt.

Best Movies: Fist Of A Legend (1994), Romeo Must Die (2000), Kiss Of The Dragon (2001), Unleashed (2005), Fearless (2006)

Most Badass Moment: His stunt-tastic dojo faceoff in Fist Of A Legend.

Every generation has to have at least one working, all-purpose kung fu superstar, and, as Jackie Chan began to wind down, Jet Li stepped up. He gets extra G points for working with both Aaliyah and DMX (in Romeo Must Die), but one of Li's most underrated works is definitely the vastly entertaining Unleashed.

Some argue that he's not an innovator like Lee and Chan before him. So you mean he's just a badass martial arts master? How boring of him! In 2006, Li declared that Fearless would be his last "martial arts epic," but, thankfully, he's still putting his skills to good use in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables movies. 

Best Movies: Lethal Weapon Series (1987 - 1998), Braveheart (1995), Mad Max Trilogy (1979 - 1985), The Patriot (2000)

Most Badass Moment: Years before Mel and Gary Busey went batshit crazy, the former memorably subdued the latter with a vicious triangle chokehold in one of the best hero-villain final fights ever, in 1987's Lethal Weapon.

It's easy to let present-day insanity make you forget past greatness. Between the Lethal Weapon and Mad Max franchises (the latter of which re-wrote the post-apocalyptic movie handbook), the now universally reviled Mel Gibson has two action landmarks under his belt, as well as timeless one-offs like The Patriot, and directorial efforts such as Braveheart and Apocalypto. Yes, he's a nasty misogynist and racist, but you can't argue with his action star status.

Best Movies: Bloodsport (1988), Cyborg (1989) Universal Soldier (1992), Timecop (1994)

Most Badass Moment: In Bloodsport's epic final showdown, Frank Dux (Van Damme) enters the ring to grapple with Chong Li (Bolo Yeung), who blinds Dux with quicklime and pummels him, making Dux's inevitable recovery and subsequent thrashing of Chong Li all the more satisfying.

"The Muscles from Brussels" shined bright in the early '90s with hits like Universal Soldier and Timecop, action films that made excellent mainstream use of Jean-Claude Van Damme's kickboxing background and black-belt-level karate chops; the man sure does love his roundhouse kick.

For a while there, Van Damme served his time in direct-to-DVD jail, but a comeback has long been on the horizon after his critically acclaimed, meta 2008 crime thriller JCVD. If nothing else, the Expendables franchise is a step in the right direction. Sly Stallone sure is lowering the unemployment rate for one-time action heroes.

Best Movies: Way Of The Dragon (1972), Lone Wolf McQuade (1983), Missing In Action (1984), The Delta Force (1986), Good Guys Wear Black (1978)

Most Badass Moment: J.J. McQuade (Norris' character in Lone Wolf McQuade) gets buried alive inside his Dodge truck; once he's physically able to, though, McQuade revs up the whip and drives right out of the premature grave, running over a few bad guys in the process.

Martial arts isn't just for Asian actors, as Chuck Norris, a.k.a. Mr. Walker, Texas Ranger, made quite clear in his heyday in the late '70s and 1980s. He's a devout student of the arts, down to the peace-over-violence edict, an ideal almost all of his heroes possess... That is, before laying the smackdown on some bad guys who just won't listen to reason.

Most impressive, though, is the fact that Norris, like Bruce Lee before him, actually pioneered his own type of martial art: Chun Kuk Do. Which just sounds intimidating, doesn't it?

Best Movies: The One (2001), The Transporter (2002), The Italian Job (2003), The Transporter 2 (2005), Crank (2006), The Expendables (2010), The Mechanic (2011)

Most Badass Moment: The physics-defying stunt he pulls to scrape a bomb off of the underside of his car in Transporter 2.

In addition to being one truly stylish badass, Jason Statham is the present-day B-movie champion. With training in Wing-Chun, karate, and kickboxing under his belt, the Brit is usually seen playing suave but stoic, reluctant killers in high-octane action flicks that boast ridiculous stunts—and we mean all that in the best way possible.

Think he's rated too high? Despite his relative young gun status, note that he was still called upon to bang hammers with the legends in The Expendables. Remember we called it when, in the years to come, he solidifes himself as an action movie legend on par with Stallone. Things are already in motion as evidenced by his recent casting as Parker, the antihero role previously worn by fellow Best Action Stars Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson.

10. Clint Eastwood

Best Movies: A Fistful Of Dollars (1964), For A Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (1966), Hang 'Em High (1968), Dirty Harry (1971), High Plains Drifter (1973), Magnum Force (1973), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Sudden Impact (1983)
Most Badass Moment: It's one of film's most quoted, and all-around greatest, lines: In Dirty Harry, Eastwood asks the age-old, fuck-with-me-now question, "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

Cling Eastwood is, unquestiobably, one of the greatest elder statesmen of action still active in the business today. Just check his iconic characters: "Dirty" Harry Callahan and "The Man with No Name," just to name a couple. Furthermore, he's a quadruple threat: actor, writer, director, and composer.

Eastwood's recent interest in directing Best Picture layups might have you forgetting that he's one of the most popular western movie heroes to ever do it, in addition to kick-starting the whole "rogue cop" steez with 1971's Dirty Harry. Recognize game, punk.

9. Jackie Chan

Best Movies: Drunken Master (1978), Police Story (1985), Rumble In The Bronx (1995), Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996), Rush Hour (1998), Shanghai Noon (2000), Rush Hour 2 (2001)
Most Badass Moment: In Jackie Chan's First Strike, he takes out a room full of unlucky brawlers using tables, chairs, scaffolding, parade dragon heads, and even a ladder.

A living legend in every sense of the word. Bruce Lee was the Hollywood martial arts pioneer, but Jackie Chan is also one in his own right. He built upon Lee's kick-and-punch craze by trendsetting his own cinematic style, getting his Buster Keaton on, and folding slapstick comedy into his breathtaking acrobatic stunts.

Rush Hour 2 marked the point at which Chan officially stopped doing his own stunts, and, coincidentally, his filmography has since taken a deep dive. But even, heaven forbid, Tuxedo 2 wouldn't diminish the legacy that came before it.

8. Harrison Ford

Best Movies: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi (1983), Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989), Patriot Games (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Clear And Present Danger (1994), Air Force One (1997)
Most Badass Moment: Knocking the Nazi into the propeller in Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

An authentic living legend, Harrison Ford has embodied not one but two iconic characters, and headlined a pair of timeless trilogies: Star Wars' Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Maybe you've heard of them?

In between shooting Greedo first and murdering the archaeological style scene, Ford also has stand-alone classics like Blade Runner, The Fugitive, and Air Force One, to his credit, creating a bullet-proof filmography that has made it easy to forgive the man for flops like Firewall, Hollywood Homicide, and last summer's Cowboys & Aliens.

When it comes to Ford's action legacy, the command is simple: Get. Off. His. Plane.

7. Tom Cruise

Best Movies: Top Gun (1986), Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible II (2000), Minority Report (2002), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Most Badass Moment: The final dogfight in Top Gun. Was there really any question?

Whether you hate him or love him, you have to admit that Tom Cruise makes great action films. Not many actors pushing 50 years old could pull off as thoroughly entertaining a flick as last December's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, a refreshing return to form after the limp Knight & Day. Not to mention, the megastar's pre-Scientology classics like Top Gun still hold up.

Cruise is so pitch-perfect at playing the hero—one who's almost always wronged and on the run, usually with a sexy leading lady—that he positively shocked audiences when he switched up to play Vincent, the cold and calculating hitman in Collateral. He's already achieved the impossible, pun intended, by delivering a successful three-plus film franchise (Mission: Impossible) where none of the sequels suck.

After his triumphant return in Ghost Protocol, we're eagerly awaiting to see what Cruise does in the next stage of his career. He's certainly come a long way from hopping Oprah Winfrey's couch like a raving loon.

6. Kurt Russell

Best Movies: Escape From New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Big Trouble In Little China (1986), Tango & Cash (1989), Backdraft (1991), Tombstone (1993), Death Proof (2007)
Most Badass Moment: Take your pick. But here's one: In The Thing's mano-y-alien finale, Russell blows the shape-shifting E.T. to smithereens using dynamite.

In the '80s, no one had the anti-hero role on lock quite like Kurt Russell did. Most of his action hits (such as The Thing and Escape From New York) come from his long, fruitful collaborative relationship with auteur John Carpenter, although it took the masses a couple years to realize the genius behind now-cult-classics like Big Trouble In Little China and the aforementioned sci-fi/horror remake The Thing.

When Quentin Tarantino spoke about Death Proof, his half of Grindhouse, the double-feature ode to exploitation made with fellow genre director Robert Rodriguez, QT said he was excited to see Russell return to his badass ways after years of playing domesticated, docile roles. We couldn't agree more. Death Proof was cool, but we'd love to see Russell get back on his Snake Plissken (Escape From New York, Escape From L.A.) steez again before he hangs it up for good.

5. Steven Seagal

Best Movies: Out For Justice (1991), Under Siege (1992), Exit Wounds (2001)
Most Badass Moment: Talk about making an entrance. In 1991's Out For Justice, Seagal walks into a bar, curses up a storm, calls one of its patrons a "chicken-shit asshole," and uses pool sticks as nunchucks to body fools.

You've never seen a guy more visibly calm even in the midst of snapping necks. Steven Seagal took a nose-dive into the world of direct-to-DVD flicks for a while, but in lieu of its brevity, Seagal's moment in the sun was more memorable than some action stars' whole careers, defined by, and peaking with, the classic Under Siege.

Don't let the ponytail or the weird foray into country and reggae music fool you: Seagal knows what he's doing when it comes to kicking ass, and it's his focus on specific fighting styles that sets him apart from the pack. He's a 7th-dan black belt in the Japanese martial art aikido, implementing the style not only in his own films but also as a coordinator on the James Bond movies Never Say Never Again and A View To A Kill.

Of course, now Seagal spends most of his time upholding upholding law and order in Phoenix, but we'd love to see him unleash that aikido once more. Is it too late to petition for him to be in Expendables 2? What's really good, Mr. Stallone?

4. Bruce Willis

Best Movies: Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), The Last Boy Scout (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), The Jackal (1997), Armageddon (1998), Sin City (2005)
Most Badass Moment: We've seen Die Hard about 100 times, and the shot of John McClane (Willis) jumping off the exploding roof of the Nakatomi Plaza hasn't lost an ounce of badassness.

Die Hard's John McClane. Pulp Fiction's Butch Coolidge. Can you imagine a Hollywood without Bruce Willis? He headlined arguably the best action movie of all time (Die Hard), then went on to star in several more films that contend for the title.

While there are some actors who've dominated in bigger ways, Willis is legitimately the modern-day face of the action genre, with his unflappable consistency and staying power. He transitioned from being the it-guy to an elder statesman seamlessly, and, whether it's a barefoot cop or a space-age taxi driver, his characters are always relatable.

When the wise-cracking baldhead decides to hang it up, it'll be on his own terms. Fall off? Never.

3. Bruce Lee

Best Movies: Enter the Dragon (1973), The Way Of The Dragon (1972), Fist Of Fury (1972), The Game Of Death (1978)
Most Badass Moment: In Enter The Dragon, a movie full of badass moments, Lee makes short, brutal work of a drunken opponent, letting out his signature "Waaah!" yell as his feet-of-fury land on the guy's head.

A timeless legend and the quintessential kung fu star, Bruce Lee unquestionably paved the way for your favorite martial arts stars today. Or, put it this way: He's the Rakim to every other karate-kicking action star's Nas, Jay-Z, or whichever other MC you want to use metaphorically here.

Lee's pioneering fighting style, Jeet Kune Do (also known as Jun Fan), was a hit when he debuted it. And, as evidenced by the careers of influential students like Steve McQueen and Chuck Norris, the ways Jeet Kune Do changed the martial arts cinema scene still reverberate throughout Hollywood today.

Despite his untimely death, Lee is one of the most ubiquitous names on this list, thanks to such classic works as Enter The Dragon, or the time he went toe-to-toe against Kareem Abdul Jabaar (also a student). Which, yes, did actually happen.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Best Movies: Conan The Barbarian (1982), The Terminator (1984), Commando (1985), Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994)
Most Badass Moment: His climatic battle against the titular alien in Predator.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has seemingly gone the way of Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson before him (i.e., slowed-down productivity), though his absence has largely been the result of political moves. But when Schwarzenegger was in his prime, no one could mess with him.

The former Mr. Universe's acting weaknesses may have become more apparent as his career has aged, but in the 1980s and '90s Ahnuld's action film instincts were like those of Rick Ross' beat selection, and he and frequent collaborator James Cameron made magic together with explosions and one-liners.

Even without the Conan and Terminator franchises, the Governator did his thing. Your man card isn't validated until you've seen Predator and Commando. We wouldn't be surprised if in the next two years Schwarzenegger reclaimed his action seat after relinquishing his political one. Let's just forget about that nanny sex scandal, though, OK?

1. Sylvester Stallone

Best Movies: Death Race 2000 (1975), Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Nighthawks (1981), First Blood (1982), Rocky III (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Cobra (1986), Tango & Cash (1989), Cliffhanger (1993), Rambo (2008), The Expendables (2010)
Most Badass Moment: After enduring painful electrocution and torture, John Rambo (Stallone) tells the American bureaucrat who didn't extract him and the POWs he'd saved in Vietnam that he's "Coming to get you," before using the talking device to bludgeon one of his tormentors and beating down the others.

With two iconic American heroes to his credit (John Rambo and Rocky Balboa), Sylvester Stallone has such a strong legacy that his résumé's flops (Oscar, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot) are ultimately meaningless.

So why is he the G.O.A.T.? The ranking is in large part due to Sly's (mostly) unwavering dedication to the action genre, contributing on all three major fronts: writing, acting, and directing. Though he's often seen as a meathead (a mantle taken up by Vin Diesel) there is some serious social commentary going on in the Rocky and Rambo movies. Sure, he has his misses, but when he hits the mark the results are timeless and heavily impactful within popular culture (how many rappers have used Rambo in a "huge gun" analogy?).

Stallone scored his most recent hit writing, directing and starring in 2010's enjoyably over-the-top hit The Expendables, a shameless who's who of action stars both past and present. Let's hope this summer's Expendables 2 is just as much fun.