Aliens Die Hard Raiders of the Lost Ark Terminator 2 Lethal Weapon Face/Off Speed True Lies

Here's my list of 10: Die Hard Raiders of the Lost Ark Aliens The Hurt Locker Lawrence of Arabia Bourne Identity The French Connection Last of the Mohicans (1999) Spartacus Inception

Hard Boiled Hard Rain Face/Off Aliens Bourne Supremacy The Raid Inception Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Qualifying a movie as just an "action movie" is hard since action crosses so many genres and isn't really a genre by itself. I tried to pick movies where the main point of watching the film was the action, and they also had to be great films (most "action movies" are not that great). North by Northwest (the first modern action film) Goldfinger (the action movie template, and Thunderball fits here too) Raiders of the Lost Ark (the perfect action movie) Die Hard (the other perfect action movie) The Road Warrior (the ultimate car chase) The Terminator (sci-fi wrapped in action, and arguably better than Terminator 2) Aliens (action wrapped in sci-fi) Hard Boiled (Hong Kong has produced many great pure action films. I picked my favorite.) Bourne Identity (a return to the James Bond template, despite the sequels) It's an 80s heavy list. Needless to say, I find most modern action films wanting, or so beholden to another genre (war, sci-fi, fantasy, or comic book) that I wouldn't call it an action movie.

Die Hard Raiders of the Lost Ark Terminator Face Off Hard Boiled Goldfinger The Matrix Lethal Weapon The Dark Knight The Rock

Aliens Die Hard The Matrix Terminator La Femme Nikita Lethal Weapon Empire Strikes Back Raiders of the Lost Ark The Professional Kill Bill Vol. 1

From Twitter: Fast and Furious 5

So hard to narrow it down to 10. Lots of them that are franchises with the sequel being better than the first. A few were just game changers that revolutionized the genre. Die Hard (The perfect action movie - contained thriller) Raiders of the Lost Ark Terminator 2 (CGI wow!) Empire Strikes Back Hard Boiled (Before there was Face Off there was Hard Boiled) Predator The Matrix (How many bullet time copy cats came out after this?) Lethal Weapon Aliens Bourne Identity (Changed our view of a spy from 007)

There are so many great action films, I've listed the ones I feel are the most influential. Raiders of the Lost Ark Lethal Weapon Die Hard Bourne Identity The Killer Aliens The Matrix Kill Bill Vol 1 Terminator 2 Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (I felt this list needed something more contemporary as we also have to keep our finger on the pulse of today. This is one of the few modern films to get it right. Brad Bird's "The Incredible's" is even better, but as animation and a superhero film didn't feel it was appropriate.) Honorable mention: Akira Kurasawa's Seven Samurai. Slow by today's standards, but an incredible film any aspiring filmmaker, action or otherwise should see.

I banged these in on the 2nd, but thought I'd put them up again: Films My Top 10 (in the order they came to me) Aliens Raiders of the Lost Ark The Matrix Gladiator Die Hard The Terminator Predator Face/Off The Rock Robocop Scripts Aliens Raiders of the Lost Ark The Matrix Gladiator Die Hard Lethal Weapon Last Boy Scout The Long Kiss Goodnight The Wild Bunch Inception I can see quite a lot of overlap already.

Some wonderful suggestions! A few more possibilities not yet mentioned, so hard to choose just a few: Galaxy Quest (pdf available?), Long Kiss Goodnight, Taken (more thriller?), Source Code, Serenity, Salt, Fight Club, Chronicle, Blade Runner (more scifi?), Red, Last Boy Scout, Fifth Element (pdf?), Hell Boy (pdf?).

I noticed a lot of the films mentioned, although awesome, tend to lean towards 'American Cinema' as opposed to international tastes. It can be argued a film like Taken was a french film as it was produced by Luc Besson. I would also like to add that most of these people's lists are of films we have seen time and time again, not quite the have to see variety. So after careful thought - 1. Taken 2. Man from Nowhere (Korean) 3. Lethal Weapon 4. Die Hard (both 3 and 4 had SOUL) 5. Raiders of the Lost Ark 6. The Matrix I and II 7. Of course - Kill Bill 8. City of God (Brazil) 9. Wanted (can be said to be Russian!) 10.How can we forget Sin City? So many to choose from. Like all your lists!

Raiders and Die Hard are the top two on my list. The other 8 are debatable: Aliens and The Matrix I feel fall into the Sci-Fi category; Inception is hard-to-define, and a questionable inclusion, although I liked it very much; and, The Bourne Identity, to me, is a preferential call, but one I would prefer everyone share because it's such an incredible film! Question: Is either Rocky or Saving Private Ryan considered Action? If so, I think they need to be included.

Please go here to comments where there are some other action movies listed including two great lists [with links!!!] by Shaula Evans.

It's hard to define an action movie (or a thriller). Lots of movies of every genre have action, but action is rarely the reason the movie exists. The Matrix has great action but I'd call it sci-fi, Saving Private Ryan is a war movie, Rocky is a drama, Inception is a brain teaser, Robocop is sci-fi satire, Bullit is a cop movie with a car chase in it, Lawrence of Arabia is an epic, as is Lord of the Rings, and Face/Off is just bad (why to people like that movie?) I wouldn't call any of these movies "action movies" because they exist for other reasons. Raiders seems only to exist so Indy can get into hair-raising action scenes. Die Hard is a heist movie, but few people would call it that. It's really about the action. Aliens is sci-fi, but really only as a path to great action. Bourne Identity is a spy movie, but what makes it work is well-done, realistic action (and Franka Pontente). The Road Warrior is ultimately about car chases. These are action movies.

In no particular order... Die Hard Gladiator The Terminator Alien Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Bourne Trilogy Lethal Weapon Bad Boys Bond Movies Transporter 2

Bryan wrote: > Qualifying a movie as just an “action movie” is hard since action crosses so many genres... I found the same thing, Bryan: hard to find a "pure" action flick. I hope the Action Genre series will include some discussion of the major action subgenres. Scott wrote: > Are there other Sub-Genres or Cross Genres we should add? All of this discussion is toward writing better, more saleable spec scripts, yes? Then I'd love to see discussions of A) any of the sub-genres or cross-genres of ACT (Action-Comedy-Thriller), and B) especially highlighting any sub- or cross-genres that you see currently trending well in spec sales or having good potential for spec sales. E.g., if Action Adventure Westerns are a dead end for spec scripts, and Heist movies and Buddy Cop movies fall in hot spec territory...let's prioritize the discussions accordingly.

I've been trying to think with a broader view, too, Ken--which is why I've been happy to see some Luc Besson films and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon popping up on these lists. In my mind, there are really few different kinds of films that fall under must see / must study: - the films everyone else has seen and talked about that you need to be familiar with--meaning genre classics, genre hits, and what's generating buzz in the genre today; - the films that everyone else *hasn't* seen, that can expand your ideas of what's possible and what represents excellence in the genre. This list doesn't just include international films but also older films that have fallen out of popular consciousness. The first list is about achieving industry competence and fluency, and the second is about developing a breadth of vision and a competitive edge. In the second category, I'd firmly place the first two films of Timur Bekmambetov's unfinished Night Watch trilogy, Nochnoy dozor / Nigth Watch (2004) and Dnevnoy dozor / Day Watch (2006). The films cross genre with action, thriller, and fantasy elements, but they are EPIC in scale, include incredible action sequences, and are fresh and unique in the field of action films. There is some really exciting stuff going on in South Korean and Thai cinema these days, too, and much of it in the action genre.

Thanks, Scott. Happy to help.

Die Hard The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Dark Knight Seven Samurai Gladiator Kill Bill Rocky The Incredibles Hero Taken

@MysteryExec chimes in with these: Ricochet. Die Hard. Lethal Weapon. Commando.

Agreed, hard to define "action." Terminator 2 The Matrix The Matrix Reloaded The Rock Con Air Rumble in the Bronx Bourne Trilogy Face/Off Predator

imho, the action movies that you have to see must define or typify some sub-genre and be truly classic. Therefore any 10 from the following: From Russia with Love Ben Hur Dirty Harry Bullitt Dirty Dozen Star Wars Raiders of the Lost Ark 48 Hrs Lethal Weapon Die Hard Matrix Terminator Bourne Identity French Connection Wild Bunch

After the first six I went off the reservation. Lethal Weapon Die Hard Terminator 2 The Rock The Matrix The Long Kiss Goodnight Kung Fu Hussle (cross genre but I'm putting it in anyway) Independance Day (Must be mentioned for it's pure staying power due to formulaic properties.) Spider-Man 2 (Tobey Maguire version) The Incredibles

> – 10 Books [Fiction] You Must Read In January 2009, the Guardian's Review team and a panel of expert judges built up a list of the best novels from any decade and in any language: 1000 novels everyone must read: the definitive list It's a good starting point for compiling the top 10 fiction lists for the genres under discussion, and the second subsection of the Guardian List, on crime novels, has some great titles for action film writers--many but not all of which you'll recognize from their film adaptations.

The Bourne Identity (2002) Lethal Weapon (1987) Bullitt (1968) RocknRolla (2008) Hard Boiled (1992) Die Hard (1988) Léon: The Professional (1994) Rambo (2008) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Seven Samurai (1954)

Seven Samurai (1954) Alien (1979) Die Hard (1988) Mission Impossible (1996) The Matrix (1999) Gladiator (2000) Oldboy (2003) The Bourne Trilogy (2003-2007) Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2 (2004/2004) Elite Squad (2007) The Dark Knight (2009) Inception (2010)

Rumble in the Bronx! LOL...Jackie's 2nd foray into America. All the folks who put Crouching Tiger, you are dating yourselves! Samo Hung's 'The Victim' and then there is 'Shaolin vs. Lama' and one of the ultimate end fights of all time - '8 Diagram Pole Fighter'!!

Yeah, the Night/Day Watch films were... different. Has anyone seen 'Brotherhood of the Wolf'? From France. Crouching Tiger, to me, should have beaten out Gladiator that year. If anyone has seen 'Spartacus' or 'The Vikings' or even the 'The Three Musketeers' from the 50-60's, you would have seen Gladiator. But again, if you had seen any of the Hong Kong 70-80's movies, you could say the same about Crouching Tiger. I remember seeing Thunderball in a drive-in with my parents. I think that was the first film I ever saw! All I remembered was the underwater fights. Wow...I'm getting old.

Heat - Mostly for the bank heist. But there are other great action scenes too.

Franks Potente! Agreed!

Good addition with RocknRolla, David. It's good to see some Guy Ritchie on the list--he certainly shook up the genre with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998.

The French Connection Raiders of the Lost Ark Die Hard The Fugitive Speed Supercop (aka Police Story 3) The Mask of Zorro Enemy of the State The Bourne Identity Casino Royale

> Has anyone seen ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’? Ha! Yes. In an interview on the DVD extras for Crimson Rivers, Vincent Cassel (who is in both CR and Brotherhood of the Wolf) refers to the latter as "le BLEEP des loups"... Crimson Rivers has its own plot issues but it's a fun action movie and teams Cassel with Jean Reno.

the one study that's really fun for me to do is Exiled. It's so economical and so bare, it's beautiful to figure out how the director can make something with tension ratcheted so high with such minimalist elements. another one is Three Kings - in which characters develop in the midst of the action scenes. Three Kings really uses the action to tell the story.

The Magnificent Seven (1960) From Russia With Love (1963) The French Connection(1971) The Terminator(1984) Lethal Weapon (1987) Die Hard (1988) Saving Private Ryan (1998) The Bourne Identity (2002) The Dark Knight (2009) The Avengers(2012)

A couple of 'lesserlights' that deserve a mention. Eagle Eye. Unstoppable. Assault on Precinct 13

Off the top of my head: The Raid The Matrix Hard Boiled Fist Of Legend Predator Aliens T2 The Rock The Big Hit The Man From Nowhere

I put together a big list with links yesterday, and hoped it got snagged in the moderation queue or a spam filter. I don't see it today so I'm going to try to repost in several smaller blocks. I apologize for how many comments this will make and if the admins want to consolidate into one long comment or do anything else to clean up the formatting, please do so with my thanks and blessing.

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 1) Here are action scripts broken out by William Martel's 30 Action Sub-Genres. In some cases he's looking at action-thriller cross genre scripts; I'm skipping those for now in the hopes we'll look at action-thrillers specifically, or else revisit those films under the Thriller genre. In other cases, such as Spoofs, I'm passing on categories that I expect we'll be more likely to consider when we look at comedy. 1. Straight Action Hard Boiled (1992) A Better Tomorrow (1986) Commando (1985) - script Shaft's Big Score! (1972) 2. Adventure Vertical Limit (2000) K2 (1991) Mountains on the Moon (1990) The White Dawn (1974)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 2) 3. Action-Adventure Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - script Where Eagles Dare (1968) The Guns of Navarone (1961) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 4. Chase Thrillers The Fugitive (1993) - script Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries) (1968) The Naked Prey (1966) North by Northwest (1959) - script The Big Steal (1949)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 3) 5. Heist Films Heat (1995) - script Charley Varrick (1973) The Killing (1956) 5 Against the House (1955) 6. Caper Films Entrapment (1999) - Dec 2, 1996 first draft, february 22, 1998 eighth draft, & may 8, 1998 revised tenth draft The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999) & (1968) - 1968 script 11 Harrowhouse (1974) Bank Shot (1974) The Hot Rock (1972) Topkapi (1964)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 4) 7. Buddy Cops Rush Hour (1998) - script 48 Hrs. (1982) - script Lethal Weapon (1987) - script Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 8. Cops & Robbers Code of Silence (1985) - script Dirty Harry (1971) Bullitt (1968) - script The Lineup (1958) The films of director Don Siegel

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 5) 9. Procedurals Manhunter (1986) - script The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) The French Connection (1971) - multiple scripts The FBI Story (1959) Call Northside 777 (1948) T-Men (1947) 10. Detective Mysteries Chinatown (1974) - script Harper (1966) The Big Sleep (1946) - script Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 6) 11. Techno Thrillers Steel Sharks (1997) - script Patriot Games (1992) The Hunt for Red October (1990) - multiple script links Blue Thunder (1983) - script 12. Die Hard Derivatives Air Force One (1997) - script Crash Dive (1997) Sudden Death (Die Hard at the Stanley Cup finals) (1995) Beverly Hills Cop 3 (Die Hard at Disneyland) (1994) Under Siege (Die Hard on a battleship) (1992) Desperate Hours (Die Hard in a house) (1990)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 7) 13. Doomsday Thrillers The Crazies (2010) - script Fail Safe (2000) The Peacemaker (1997) Outbreak (1995) - script The Satan Bug (1965) 14. Erotic Thrillers / Film Noir [I'm skipping these as they fall more under Thriller than Action] 15. Medical Thrillers [Likewise filing these under Thriller] 16. War Movies Saving Private Ryan (1998) - multiple script links Platoon (1986) - script The Big Red One (1980) The Boys in Company C (1978) A Bridge Too Far (1977) The Dirty Dozen (1967) The Great Escape (1963) Hell Is For Heroes (1962) The Longest Day (1962) Fixed Bayonets! (1951) The Steel Helmet (1951) They Were Expendeable (1945)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 8 ) 17. Sci-Fi Action Filing these under "Sci Fi" 18. Western Action The Wild Bunch (1969) - script The Professionals (1966) The Wild Wild West (1965-1969) Ride the High Country (1962) The Magnificent Seven (196) 19. Mob Films Scarface (1983) - script The Valachi Papers (1972) The Sicilian Clan (1969) Pay or Die (1960) The Big Combo (1955) The Roaring Twenties (1939) The Public Enemy (1931)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 10) 23. Undercover The Base (1999) Donnie Brasco (1997) - script Deep Cover (1992) - script No Man's Land (1987) House of Bamboo (1955) The Street With No Name (1948) 24. Revenge Ms. 45 (1981) Death Wish (1974) Get Carter (1971) - script Point Blank (1967) The Big Heat (1953)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 11) 25. Disaster Movies Armageddon (1998) - script Deep Impact (1998) - script The Towering Inferno (1974) Airport (1970) San Francisco (1936) 26. Spoofs [skipping as Comedy crossgenre] 27. Spies The Bond films True Lies (1994) - script The Ipcress File (1965) The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)

Action Scripts by sub-genre (Part 12) 28. Post Apocalypse Mad Max (1979) 29. Survival Sahara (2005) Southern Comfort (1981) - script Deliverance (1972) - script The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) Five Came Back (1939) The Lost Patrol (1934) 30. Mixed Genre Blade (1998) - script Night Hunter (1996) Streets of Fire (1984) Rollerball (1975) Joe MacBeth (1955) [To be clear, these are the films William Martel lists in his article on Action Sub-Genres; they aren't necessarily my own picks (nor could I have come up with all of them on my own). Martel's descriptions of the subgenres are in the article a the link.] # # #

kind of surprised that ya'll (transplant to the south) list the same ones I love. There are two more not mentioned maybe not up to the quality of the others but what can I say i like em. The Big Easy and Sea of Love. Possibly they would be action/romance genre.

> Some people have asked to do a Genre Essential list for Romantic Comedy. I’m fine with that. Are there other Sub-Genres or Cross Genres we should add? What about Buddy Cop movies? You've mentioned on the blog several times that you feel like Hollywood is overdue for a new Buddy Cop franchise. I'd love to explore this action sub-genre in depth, as part of the Genre Essentials series or otherwise--and I'd love it if the next great Buddy Cop movie came out of the GITS community.

This is probably my list too. DIE HARD RAIDERS T2 are staples. Any list that does not have them I will not consider a definitive list lol. Just to add a couple others that I don't see on the list. TRUE LIES POINT BREAK DEATH WISH THE FUGITIVE I love GOLDFINGER, but for historical purposes -- DR. NO really changed Action Movies. This movie single-handedly started the wave of wry one-liners. If you branch into DISASTER films at all: TITANIC is a must. It's a great example of taking a small love story and a historical incident and blowing it up to titanic blockbuster proportions (Wee, puns!). I'd leave it off a pure Action list -- for obvious reasons.

Another request on sub-genres and cross-genres to add to the mix: I was looking at your last few Spec Script Sales Analysis posts (2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008). Over those four years, it looks like the hottest categories inside Action, Thriller, and Comedy for spec sales are: Action Thriller - 23 Romantic Comedy - 13 Action Comedy - 5 Drama Comedy - 5 Action Adventure - 3 Drama Crime - 3 Science Fiction Thriller - 3 [Note: the sales for 2009 were broken out a little differently from other years so those numbers may not be reflected accurately here. Sorry about that.] I'd love to take a closer look at those 7 categories, either during their own week, or as part of the discussion of their main genres. I'd also put in a vote for contained thrillers / contained horror, which I'm seeing and hearing more and more about. Does anyone do an analysis of the Black List scripts, similarly to how analyze spec sales by year? That may provide a different useful insight into what's getting attention in Hollywood, too, in terms of genre and subgenre.

Another sub-genre request: I'd love to see a discussion of classic and modern film noir.

So would I. Most of the classic film noirs I can think of fall under Thriller rather than Action. Exceptions: "He Walked by Night" (1948) is more Action than Thriller, as are the modern film noirs "Drive" and "Sin City".

You sound like you know your way around the genre, David!

Shaula: You are kind:-) Well, "He Walked..." is a Mann film, which is famous for several reasons, including action characteristic of his style. I've been thinking though - "D.O.A." is also in the action genre, but for any unusual reason: You might think it is simply a thriller "Who killed Frank Bigelow?". However, as it is from Frank's POV (who is *dying*), it is driven by his (Frank's) attempt to live as long as possible. Thus, IMHO, *action* drives the plot, not the who-done-it issue. A very unique action-driven film noir. One of my favorites, and also in the public domain:-)

D.O.A is a favourite of mine, too. I don't know "He Walked by Night", though. I'll make a point to see it. Thank you for the recommendation. :)

Liz, I haven't seen the Transporter movies in ages. What makes II stand out for you over I and III?

Hey, folks. In our quest for a definitive list of 10 Must-See Action movies...we've collectively generated 150 suggestions. (Wow.) Now we need to winnow it down and I'd love your help. I'm pasting in the full list in alphabetical order below. 1. The Biz List A friend comes to you with great news: she has an important meeting coming up about an action project with a major, big name Hollywood executive. She can watch one action movie a day for the next day days to get up to speed for the meeting. What 10 movies do you recommend to her? Remember, her career is on the line here. 2. The Watch-And-Learn list, for writers who want to master the essentials of the action genre - What are your criteria for what to keep and what to cut? - Any films on there can would better serve a discussion of other genres? - Over in the comedy list, I've set up an experiment to winnow down that list by looking at the best films in a list of sub-genres and categories; is there a good way to do something like that here? If you have other ideas on how to cut this down...please share. Let's make this a team effort. Thank you for the help! Shaula GITS Must-See Action List, First Draft (!) 1. 300 2. 5 Against the House (1955) 3. 48 Hrs. (1982) 4. 11 Harrowhouse (1974) 5. Air Force One (1997) 6. Airport (1970) 7. Armageddon (1998) 8. The Avengers (2012) 9. Bad Boys 10. Bank Shot (1974) 11. Ben Hur 12. A Better Tomorrow (1986) 13. The Big Easy (1986) 14. The Big Heat (1953) 15. The Big Hit 16. The Big Steal (1949) 17. Blade (1998) 18. Bonnie and Clyde 19. The Bourne Identity / The Bourne Supremacy / The Bourne Ultimatum 20. Blue Thunder (1983) 21. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 22. Bullitt (1968) 23. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 24. Call Northside 777 (1948) 25. Casino Royale 26. Charley Varrick (1973) 27. City of God (Brazil) 28. Code of Silence (1985) 29. Commando (1985) 30. Con Air 31. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 32. D.O.A. 33. The Dark Knight (2009) 34. Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries) (1968) 35. Death Wish (1974) 36. Deep Cover (1992) 37. Deep Impact (1998) 38. Deliverance (1972) 39. The Dirty Dozen (1967) 40. Dirty Harry (1971) 41. Dr. No 42. Drive 43. Elite Squad (2007) 44. Enemy of the State 45. Enter the Dragon 46. Entrapment (1999) 47. Exiled 48. Face/Off 49. Fast and Furious 5 50. The FBI Story (1959) 51. Fearless 52. La Femme Nikita (1990) 53. Fist Of Legend 54. Five Came Back (1939) 55. The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) 56. Foxy Brown (1974) 57. The French Connection (1971) – multiple scripts 58. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) 59. From Russia With Love (1963) 60. The Fugitive (1993) 61. Get Carter (1971) 62. The Getaway (Peckinpah version) 63. Girlfight (2000) 64. Goldfinger 65. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 66. Gorky Park 67. The Great Escape (1963) 68. The Guns of Navarone (1961) 69. Hard Boiled (1992) 70. Hannah (2011) 71. Haywire (2011) 72. He Walked by Night (1948) 73. Heat (1995) 74. Hero 75. Hopscotch 76. The Hot Rock (1972) 77. The Hunt for Red October (1990) 78. The Incredibles 79. Independence Day 80. The Ipcress File (1965) 81. Iron Man 82. Joe MacBeth (1955) 83. Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2 (2004/2004) 84. K2 (1991) 85. The Killing (1956) 86. Kung Fu Hustle 87. Lady Snowblood (1973) 88. Last of the Mohicans (1999) 89. Lawrence of Arabia 90. Léon: The Professional (1994) 91. Lethal Weapon (1987) 92. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels 93. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1995) 94. The Lost Patrol (1934) 95. The Lineup (1958) 96. Mad Max (1979) 97. The Magnificent Seven (1960) 98. The Man From Nowhere 99. Manhunter (1986) 100. The Mask of Zorro 101. Mission Impossible (1996) 102. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol 103. Moonrunners 104. Mountains on the Moon (1990) 105. Ms. 45 (1981) 106. The Naked Prey (1966) 107. North by Northwest (1959) 108. Oldboy (2003) 109. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) 110. Patriot Games (1992) 111. Point Blank (1967) 112. Prime Cut 113. The Public Enemy (1931) 114. The Raid 115. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 116. Ricochet 117. The River Wild (1994) 118. The Road Warrior 119. The Rock 120. RocknRolla (2008) 121. Rocky 122. Rumble in the Bronx 123. The Running Man 124. Rush Hour (1998) 125. Salt (2010) 126. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 127. Seven Samurai (1954) 128. Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) 129. Sin City 130. Southern Comfort (1981) 131. Spartacus 132. Spider-Man 2 (Tobey Maguire version) 133. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) 134. Supercop (aka Police Story 3) 135. T-Men (1947) 136. Taken 137. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three 138. Terminator II: Judgment Day 139. Thunderball 140. The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999) & (1968) 141. Topkapi (1964) 142. The Towering Inferno (1974) 143. Three Kings 144. True Lies (1994) 145. Vanishing Point 146. Vertical Limit (2000) 147. Wanted 148. Where Eagles Dare (1968) 149. The White Dawn (1974) 150. The Wild Bunch (1969)

Here's my biz list. I took at look at Box Office Mojo, at the top movies in terms of all time domestic grosses and all time worldwide grosses (not adjusted for inflation, and in approximate order as I'm merging two lists). The Top 10 list of action movies (I recognized, anyway), including cross-genre movies is: 1. Avatar 2. The Avengers 3. Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Star Wars 5. The Dark Knight 6. The Hunger Games 7. The Lord of the Rings 8. Transformers 9. Spider-Man 10.Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Sorry, Indie fans. All I can say is it wasn't adjusted for inflation.) Wow. Indiana Jones is the only "pure" adventure movie on that list, and even at that, it's a period piece. Take-away: big spectacle movies. They're all probably smart for our friend to see before her meeting. And...almost none of them are on our suggestions list. (We're purists around here!) So if I dig deeper in the lists to find 10 "pure" (or at least "pure-ish) adventure movies...(and to do that, I think I'm going to rectify the Crystal Skull Problem and use the international list and the inflation adjusted list--I'll filter for recent-ish films), I get: 1. Raider of the Lost Ark (yeah! Take that, Crystal Skull!) 2. Thunderball 3. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid 4. Beverly Hills Cop 5. Twister 6. The Bourne Ultimatum 7. King Kong (2005) 8. Quantum of Solace 9. Sherlock Holmes (2009) 10. Terminator 2: Judgement Day Um, does anyone else think my friend may bomb in her meeting if she counts on that list? That came out as a weird looking list in my eyes. I think the first, cross-genre list is going to serve her better than this one. Also, what I learned: there are virtually NO "pure" Action movies in the top 100 lists for domestic, global, or domestic-adjusted-for-inflation. And yet it's a hot spec category. Interesting. Okay, one more try. Here come the top "pure" action movies from 2012 (so far), 2011, and 2010 (again, mixing lists by eyeball): 1. Safe House (2012) 2. Act of Valor (2012) 3. Battleship (2012) 4. Fast Five (2011) 5. This Means War (2012) 6. The Grey (2011) 7. Real Steal (2011) 8. The Expendables (2010) 9. The Book of Eli (2010) 10. Unstoppable (2010) Okay, that list is a little more interesting. I think if my friend watches it AND the first list, she's got a decent shot at acing her meeting. But...I'd like to do better by her, and I don't think these are definitive lists at all. Also...lost of these movies are NOT on the list we already came up with. *sigh* So put on your strategic business hat and tell me, how does my friend go about figuring out what to watch to prep for her meeting? And once you set up the process, what movies do you wind up with?

PS Am I the only one who's finding that the "business list" and the "learning list" are generating...two profoundly different (but complimentary) lists? Scott, how would you feel about letting us keep these two lists separate for the final wrap-up post? I'm having real trouble reconciling the two.

Here's a different take on compiling a Biz List. I went through the Academy Awards* (nominees and winners) going back 10 years, looking for action films. (If you want to win an Oscar, write a drama or a thriller, folks.) Here are the films I found: Inglorious Basterds (2009) The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) You may want to go back further for your own lists--how far back do you think is relevant? At any rate, I definitely want our screenwriting friend to check these out before her big meeting, too. *Why Academy Awards? Because these films are not just critically acclaimed, but everyone has heard of them and talked about them (whether they've seen them or not).

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this awesome master list. Please remember to come on over to the Action Essential Voting List and cast your votes for the top 10 films and top 10 scripts.