In the modern age of Hollywood, CGI and special effects have become a go-to for many filmmakers and studios, yet there is simply nothing like watching an epic action movie on the big screen and knowing that the stunts and electrifying sequences are authentic and real. Some of the most acclaimed action flicks utilize practical stunt work and employ the best of the best to get the job done, with these experts and coordinators relying on thrilling combat styles and various martial arts to dazzle the masses.
Matt Damon became a certified action superstar when he took on the iconic role of Jason Bourne in the sensational Bourne series, just like Keanu Reeves thrilled his fans when he starred as the titular assassin in the John Wick franchise, with both esteemed actors fully committing themselves to their roles and tackling the demanding physical training that came with the lucrative projects. Here are 10 of the best action films where the stunts are all real.
10 Atomic Blonde (2017)
In David Leitch’s 2017 action thriller Atomic Blonde, Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron dazzled audiences with her powerhouse performance as the tough and resilient MI6 field agent Lorraine Broughton, who is sent to Berlin in 1989 just days ahead of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in order to recover a crucial dossier and investigate the murder of a fellow agent. Lorraine partners with MI6 Berlin station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) on her valiant quest, taking down lethal threats at every turn.
Theron’s Fiery Full-Throttle Performance
Theron worked with eight personal trainers to help her prepare for the fierce role, and she even trained with Keanu Reeves while he was preparing to film John Wick: Chapter 2, with the duo frequently sparring with one another and ultimately developing a competitive relationship.
The actress cracked two teeth and bruised her ribs while filming the many combat scenes featured in the flick, and Atomic Blonde is jam-packed full of jaw-dropping stunts like Theron’s character leaping from a third-story building as well as the brutal stairwell fight and scene where Lorraine takes down a kidnapper with the help of her trustee red high-heel.
9 The Killer (1989)
Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential action movies of all time, John Woo’s 1989 masterpiece The Killer famously follows professional assassin Ah Jong (Chow Yun-fat) as he sets out to retire and walk away from his involvement with the Triads, though after a beautiful nightclub singer is blinded during a hit gone wrong, Jong sets out to do one final job to help pay for surgery to restore her vision.
When Jong is double-crossed, he reluctantly teams up with a determined policeman to take down his formidable foes.
Woo Crafts a Certified Action Masterpiece
Woo improvised all of the thrilling action sequences featured in The Killer, bypassing traditional storyboards and instead allowing the actors and stuntmen to come up with ideas on the spot. The director later said in the DVD commentary that he prefers to
“work as an artist, like a painter. I want to show where my mood takes me.”
The final action scene in the film, which took place within a church, took 36 days to shoot because of how complicated the sequence was, and the shootout at the beach house lasted 28 days. Woo’s devotion to crafting unforgettable stunts, exhilarating shoot-outs, and brutal violence are just some of the many reasons The Killer remains an undisputed classic.
8 Spectre (2015)
For decades, fans have been completely captivated by the dapper and deadly MI6 agent 007 and the many formidable foes and threats he’s encountered while saving the world, and when Daniel Craig took over as the iconic super spy, the action and thrills were amped up exponentially.
In 2015’s Spectre, James Bond goes head-to-head with the titular nefarious international crime organization and its mysterious mastermind, Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), who is also the cause of some unfortunate events in the agent’s life.
Spectre Opens With an Exciting Bang
All of the stunts featured in Spectre are extremely realistic and intended to showcase how high-stakes the action and danger truly is for Bond, with the opening scene of the adrenaline-pumping flick starting off with a major bang as Bond brutally fights with his target while hovering over Mexico City in a helicopter. The chopper spins and spirals out of control in the electrifying sequence, as Bond hangs on for dear life while duking it out with his attacker.
The complicated stunt work in the scene garnered immense praise from fans, and Spectre remains lauded for its intricate and exciting action, hand-to-hand combat, and sensational car & aircraft sequences.
7 Who Am I? (1998)
No stranger to performing death-defying stunts and fully committing himself to the craft, action legend Jackie Chan took his dazzling stunt work to the next level when he starred in the 1998 Hong Kong action comedy Who Am I?, in which he portrayed a man suffering from amnesia following a helicopter crash and who sets out to discover his true identity while being pursued by a corrupt CIA agent.
Chan is celebrated for his exceptional martial arts skills and innovative performances, both of which were on full display in the thrilling action flick.
Chan’s Daring & Dangerous Free Fall
Always one to get his hands dirty and outdo himself when it comes to jaw-dropping stunts, Chan’s character had to make a hasty getaway from a rooftop building and opted to slide down a steeply sloped structure to get the job done.
What resulted was one of the most dangerous stunts performed on-screen, as Chan careened down 21 stories on the slick surface with no safety net or wire to protect him, twisting and tumbling his way down to the bottom. His fearless dedication to crafting pulse-pounding stunts is just one of the many reasons Chan and his films continue dazzling audiences, as the daring stunt could have easily gone horrifically wrong.
6 Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Hollywood leading man Tom Cruise has established himself as one of the silver screen’s most fearless action superstars, proving there is no extreme he won’t go to in order to deliver an electrifying action moment.
While any of the Mission Impossible films could be included for their epic stunts, Cruise’s work in 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is arguably some of his finest. The entry once again follows Ethan Hunt and his elite team as they square off against the sinister group known as The Syndicate, consisting of rogue government agents.
Cruise’s Unmatched Devotion to Action Stunts
There’s no denying that Cruise will risk life and limb to get a sensational action shot and he’s notorious for performing his own stunts, and he did just that when he clung to the side of a cargo plane in hot pursuit of his target when Rogue Nation for kicks off.
Cruise really was gripping the door and dangling from the plane, a stunt that was heavily promoted ahead of the blockbuster’s release and one of its many standout sequences. The stunt was completed in eight daring takes and the plane hovered around 5,000 feet off the ground, with the gutsy Cruise being strapped to the side of the aircraft with a harness as a safety precaution.
5 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Thirty years after the third entry in the trailblazing dystopian action franchise first hit theaters, 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road marked a triumphant return of the unforgettable George Miller series and featured a stacked ensemble cast led by Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Nicholas Hoult.
Once again set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland where water and petrol are valued above all else, Max Rockatansky teams up with the courageous Imperator Furiosa to take down the oppressive warlord Immortan Joe and his minions.
Fury Road Dazzles & Thrills Audiences
A critical and commercial slam dunk, Fury Road was lauded for its dazzling visuals, rip-roaring action sequences, and top-tier special effects, and the fast-paced nature of the film meant Miller and the cast and crew had to carry out some extensive stunt work. Over 150 stunt performers were used in the dystopian flick and both the stunt coordinator Guy Norris and Miller wanted the action to truly deliver for moviegoers, with Norris telling Rolling Stone,
“We wanted to make it
real.
Real vehicles, real locations, real movement and real stunts.”
The buzzed-about “polecats” scene was also harrowing for Hardy, who was put through the ringer as he was actually strapped to the front of a moving vehicle.
4 The Bourne Identity (2002)
Matt Damon became a certified action hero when he took on the career-defining role of Jason Bourne in the 2002 thriller The Bourne Identity, an adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novel that follows the amnesia-plagued protagonist as he attempts to uncover his true identity while being mercilessly pursued by deadly assassins.
Despite his lack of knowledge about who he actually is, the mysterious man realizes he possesses remarkable combat and linguistic skills that hint at his dangerous background.
Matt Damon Emerges as an Action Superstar
Damon was known for his more dramatic work when he signed on to headline the entertaining adaptation, prompting the Oscar-winner to undergo three months of intense training where he learned all about stunt work, martial arts, boxing, and weaponry.
He insisted on performing a significant amount of the physical work in the thriller and did most of the hand-to-hand combat and stunts himself, and along with director Doug Liman the pair crafted swift and meticulous action sequences that highlighted Bourne’s expert fighting background. Liman also opted for tighter, quicker cuts and utilized a “shaky cam” technique that helped make the danger seem more violent and palpable.
3 XXX (2002)
Vin Diesel decided to take a brief break from illegal street racing and epic car chases to headline the 2002 action flick XXX, in which the Fast & Furious star appears as the ultimate thrill seeker Xander “XXX” Cage, an extreme sports enthusiast-turned-NSA spy who is sent on a daring mission to infiltrate a Russian terrorist group.
Cage must rely on his tenacious attitude and gutsy spirit to take down the brutal enemy and survive his covert undercover mission, performing gravity-defying stunts and tricks along the way.
Daring Stunt Work Leads to a Shocking Death
Diesel took his role in the action extravaganza extremely seriously and spent three months training for the movie, learning how to ride a motocross bike under the direction of some of the world’s top motocross bikers. He also insisted on performing most of his own stunts, and was injured during the avalanche scene after landing on his head, causing director Rob Cohen to worry Diesel had broken his neck. Cohen said of the actor,
“I think the thing is that Vin did more than he should have, but less than he wanted to.”
The bold and fearless stunt work in the film tragically led to the death of stuntman Harry O’Connor on April 4, 2002, who was killed during filming after hitting a pillar during a para-sailing scene.
2 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
Similarly to Matt Damon, America’s sweetheart Keanu Reeves returned to his status a bona fide beloved action star when he first began portraying legendary hitman John Wick in the fan-favorite franchise, showcasing his unparalleled devotion to the series with every exhilarating installment.
In 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the lethal assassin is forced to go on the run after a $14 million bounty is placed on his head, leading to Wick going on a globe-trotting journey to elude his assailants and find a way out of the dangerous mess.
Reeves & Berry Dominate Their Roles
As with the other entries in the sensational franchise, Reeves performed nearly all of his own stunts and trained heavily in preparation, as did his co-star Halle Berry; Reeves would later comment that the actress was “100 percent committed” to her role and the film and that she learned weaponry and martial arts in order to play Sofia Al-Azwar.
Both Reeves and Berry showcased their dedication and impressive physical prowess in the pulse-pounding action sequences, and Parabellum was also commended for its many extended and intricate fight scenes, as director Chad Stahelski had served as Reeves’ stunt double in The Matrix and understood what made for exciting action sequences.
1 Baby Driver (2017)
Touting an eclectic cast of Hollywood performers led by Ansel Elgort, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and Eiza Gonzalez, Edgar Wright’s 2017 rip-roaring hit Baby Driver centers on young and highly-skilled getaway driver Miles ‘Baby,’ an on-call criminal with an intense penchant for music who uses the personal soundtrack of his life to pull off bold and reckless escapes for his colorful clientele.
When Baby meets a kind waitress, he sets out to break free from his shady profession but is ultimately pulled back in after being hired by a ruthless kingpin (Kevin Spacey).
Wright wanted to make sure that Baby Driver used practical filmmaking techniques to achieve the film’s desired aesthetic, with the director drawing inspiration from hits like American Graffiti, The Driver, and Point Break.
The flick employed meticulously coordinated choreography and stunts to deliver gravity-defying action sequences with the vehicles, and second-unit director Darrin Prescott later called Baby Driver his most challenging project because of the complicated stunt work. The hard work paid off, as the action film was lauded for its technical achievements and delivered stunning visuals and realistic action that truly packed a punch.
