IrishAg said:

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Zombie Jon Snow said:

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Ulrich said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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My reasoning for Reeves above Willis was, taking their main franchises out (Matrix and Die Hard), who has the better action resume?

Reeves has Point Break, Speed, and the John Wick series. Bruce Willis has... Looper?

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You're going to stop at Looper? Bruce Willis has 5th Element, 12 Monkeys, Armageddon, Tears of the Sun, Unbreakable, and The Jackal.

Besides, The Matrix is a better movie but Die Hard has more good movies. When you look in the dictionary under "action movie" it says "see: Die Hard". The Matrix has action but it's not really an action movie.

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Umm..... RED....1 and 2 .......anyone????

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Sin City? He has a ton of borderline action movies too: Lucky #Slevin, The Whole Nine Yards, The Siege.

But also, most of all, Pulp Fiction!

I think a lot of people here are suffering from distance to the 80s and 90s action scene, your Mount Rushmore of Action is

Arnold
Stalone
Willis
Ford

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I agree that Willis is way up there but you cannot take out Cruise....he has like 30 action movies.
And Pulp fiction while a great movie is not as much an action film and as an ensemble Willis is only 20% of that movie.

I stick with

Cruise
Stallone
Arnold
Ford

Heck if you wanna debate one - Ford has fewer action films then Willis and many more dramas. I'd put Willis in except Ford is so iconic and 2 all-time great characters anchoring 2 huge franchises or 3 if you want to count Jack Ryan.

Sex Panther said:

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Pulp Fiction fiction is incredible, but it isn't an action movie

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Sorry, had to type fast and didn't mean to have that big of a break on the borderline action movies (was including Pulp Fiction in borderline)...which I've seen a lot of borderline ones mentioned in this threads.

Cruise is the only person I would rotate with Willis and Ford. Willis has more of an action movie line, but Ford probably has dibs on 2 of the 5 most iconic characters. Maybe we just have the 5th person on Rushmore and call it a day with Cruise?

Overall, to really define this list, you have to ask what constitutes an action movie? Is it something that people would say is an action movie first (if so Star Wars probably doesn't fall in that genre), or is it more of any genre movie that has a ton of action in it? Or is it the character in any genre of movie represents the idea of an action star?

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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IrishAg said:

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Zombie Jon Snow said:

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Ulrich said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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My reasoning for Reeves above Willis was, taking their main franchises out (Matrix and Die Hard), who has the better action resume?

Reeves has Point Break, Speed, and the John Wick series. Bruce Willis has... Looper?

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You're going to stop at Looper? Bruce Willis has 5th Element, 12 Monkeys, Armageddon, Tears of the Sun, Unbreakable, and The Jackal.

Besides, The Matrix is a better movie but Die Hard has more good movies. When you look in the dictionary under "action movie" it says "see: Die Hard". The Matrix has action but it's not really an action movie.

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Umm..... RED....1 and 2 .......anyone????

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Sin City? He has a ton of borderline action movies too: Lucky #Slevin, The Whole Nine Yards, The Siege.

But also, most of all, Pulp Fiction!

I think a lot of people here are suffering from distance to the 80s and 90s action scene, your Mount Rushmore of Action is

Arnold
Stalone
Willis
Ford

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I agree that Willis is way up there but you cannot take out Cruise....he has like 30 action movies.
And Pulp fiction while a great movie is not as much an action film and as an ensemble Willis is only 20% of that movie.

I stick with

Cruise
Stallone
Arnold
Ford

Heck if you wanna debate one - Ford has fewer action films then Willis and many more dramas. I'd put Willis in except Ford is so iconic and 2 all-time great characters anchoring 2 huge franchises or 3 if you want to count Jack Ryan.

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Missed your post, agree completely on Ford.

Cruise over Stallone. MI is a better franchise than Rambo. Actually, it's much better.

Okay, so of the folks we're putting on Mt Rushmore, who's in place of which President? Is Arnold the Washington analogue?

What a resume:

Terminator
Predator
True Lies
Commando
Navy Seals
Aliens
Stripes
Apollo 13
Tombstone
U571
2 Guns
MCU
Edge of Tomorrow
Twister

Put anyone against that resume, I dare ya.

After this let's do one of A&M's most disappointing football coaches.

The Debt said:

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What a resume:

Terminator
Predator
True Lies
Commando
Navy Seals
Aliens
Stripes
Apollo 13
Tombstone
U571
2 Guns
MCU
Edge of Tomorrow
Twister

Put anyone against that resume, I dare ya.

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Patriot Games
Jurassic Park
Die Hard 3
The Negotiator
Star Wars I
Star Wars II
Star Wars III
Deep Blue Sea
Shaft
Unbreakable
xXx
SWAT
T3
Kill Bill 2
The Incredible
Snakes on a Plane
Jumper
Iron Man
Inglorious *******s
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America
Fury
Avengers
Django Unchained
Robocop
Winter Soldier
Kingsmen
Age of Ultron
Hateful Eight
Kong
Infinity War
Incredibles 2

The Debt said:

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What a resume:

Terminator
Predator
True Lies
Commando
Navy Seals
Aliens
Stripes
Apollo 13
Tombstone
U571
2 Guns
MCU
Edge of Tomorrow
Twister

Put anyone against that resume, I dare ya.

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Bill Paxton yeah.....ok but

He wouldn't be the lead in any of those except maybe Twister.

Greatest action sidekick maybe. Sure.... except for SLJ as noted above. lol.

Bruce Almighty said:

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caleblyn said:

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How about we solve this with one of those tournament bracket things? Do a top 32?

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Are you volunteering?

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Uh...no! Don't remember the site!

Quote:

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And no offense, but Matrix 2 and 3 royally sucked.

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Are you suggesting the Die Hard sequels have been great?

Also, Matrix Reloaded >>>>> any Die Hard sequel.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Quote:

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And no offense, but Matrix 2 and 3 royally sucked.

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Are you suggesting the Die Hard sequels have been great?

Also, Matrix Reloaded >>>>> any Die Hard sequel.

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The only Die Hard sequel worse than Matrix 2 or 3 is A Good Day to Die Hard.

I don't understand why so many are ignoring Kurt Russell. The ONLY person with more iconic roles is Harrison Ford. Kurt is ranked higher in my book than Willis or Reeves. We also continue to ignore the stars of Western movies and martial arts movies.

I think 99% of us can agree the top 3 are Stallone, Ahnold, and Mr Scientology but none of us will agree on that 4th spot.

Kurt Russel has a more iconic role than John McClane, Neo, and The Terminator?

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kurt Russel has a more iconic role than John McClane, Neo, and The Terminator?

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Jack Burton, Snake Plissken, Wyatt Earp are pretty high up there.

Also Stargate, Backdraft, and one of my all time favorites Captain Ron

Cstrickland05 said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kurt Russel has a more iconic role than John McClane, Neo, and The Terminator?

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Jack Burton, Snake Plissken, Wyatt Earp are pretty high up there.

Also Stargate, Backdraft, and one of my all time favorites Captain Ron

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Is this a joke?

Not every movie where someone throws a punch is an action movie. An action movie is a vehicle for fights, chase scenes, explosions, and one liners. It might ALSO have some drama and deeper themes, but they are ancillary. The Matrix is a lot more than that. If you find yourself pondering the nature of reality, odds are it's not an action movie.

bearamedic99 said:

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I think 99% of us can agree the top 3 are Stallone, Ahnold, and Mr Scientology but none of us will agree on that 4th spot.

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Ehh...Stallone doesn't really do it for me. His greatest achievement is a sports film. And he has very few massive action blockbusters, especially compared to some other contenders. If you want to put him fourth, I guess that's fine. But no way does he compare to Ford, Cruise, or Schwarzenegger.

I agree it's deeper than a standard action movie, it's what makes it so great. But just because there's that doesn't negate it from being an action movie.

When you think of The Matrix, what image pops to mind? Odds are you're thinking of an action scene.

double aught said:

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bearamedic99 said:

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I think 99% of us can agree the top 3 are Stallone, Ahnold, and Mr Scientology but none of us will agree on that 4th spot.

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Ehh...Stallone doesn't really do it for me. His greatest achievement is a sports film. And he has very few massive action blockbusters, especially compared to some other contenders. If you want to put him fourth, I guess that's fine. But no way does he compare to Ford, Cruise, or Schwarzenegger.

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Agree, Stallone is 4th at best, but I'd still put Bruce Willis above him.

I think of red pill blue pill and the moment when Agent Smith starts making his mouth morph shut. After that I start getting to bullet time and Morpheus teaching Neo (through the vehicle of physical combat) that the reality he knows is an artificial construct that can be manipulated.

Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.


Watching The Matrix as an action movie is selling it short.

He's the guy that pretty much defined the modern action genre, don't know how someone could debate against him here.

Aw hell, I was going to type out a long essay that would make you all briefly think of Fast Fred and rue that he's not around to keep me from posting.

Arnold, as either the Terminator, or Conan.
Cruise, as Maverick.
Willis, as McClane.
Stallone, as Rambo.

HM: Ford, Connery, Gibson

New blood: Keanu Reeves, Jason Statham, Vin Diesel

Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Jet Li get their own martial arts mountain.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I agree it's deeper than a standard action movie, it's what makes it so great. But just because there's that doesn't negate it from being an action movie.

When you think of The Matrix, what image pops to mind? Odds are you're thinking of an action scene.

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Farmer1906 said:

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Cstrickland05 said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kurt Russel has a more iconic role than John McClane, Neo, and The Terminator?

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Jack Burton, Snake Plissken, Wyatt Earp are pretty high up there.

Also Stargate, Backdraft, and one of my all time favorites Captain Ron

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Is this a joke?

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No, just showing that Kurt Russell has a strong resume

Cstrickland05 said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Kurt Russel has a more iconic role than John McClane, Neo, and The Terminator?

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Jack Burton, Snake Plissken, Wyatt Earp are pretty high up there.

Also Stargate, Backdraft, and one of my all time favorites Captain Ron

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no love for soldier?

I think Mel Gibson is being sold short. I haven't seen anybody mention Mad Max. He has two iconic film franchises in that and Lethal Weapon.