The Best Action Sequence From Every Decade Over The Last 100 Years

Action movies have changed dramatically over the last century, and looking at the standout scenes from each decade shows just how much. Unlike comedies or dramas, which can sometimes fall flat with different audiences, great action films tend to be exciting and understandable no matter where you are in the world.

Exciting action – like car chases, shootouts, and fistfights – needs no subtitles. This is why films like Star Wars and Steven Spielberg’s early movies were so popular globally, and fundamentally changed how big-budget movies are made.

Action movies have been around almost as long as cinema itself. You can see a clear connection between classic Westerns starring John Wayne and modern action films like John Wick, both known for their intense fight scenes. However, creating a visually exciting action sequence is different from truly engaging the audience and making them invested in the story.

Great action scenes do more than just look impressive – they help move the story forward and develop the characters. The scenes on this list do both brilliantly, serving as perfect examples of how to create truly memorable action sequences.

1920s: Clearing The Track In The General

I always hear people talking about the incredible stunts Tom Cruise does in the Mission: Impossible movies, and they’re amazing, but if you really want to be blown away by physical comedy and daring action, you absolutely have to see a Buster Keaton film. His masterpiece, The General from 1926, is something else. It’s about a train engineer who has to single-handedly retrieve his stolen locomotive from Union spies, and the things he does are just unbelievable!

Though known as a comedy, the film features truly amazing stunt work by Buster Keaton – and it’s still impressive today. One particularly daring scene involves his character, Johnnie, running ahead of a train to remove obstacles from the tracks. It’s remarkable – and still a mystery – how Keaton managed to perform this stunt without getting hurt.

1930s: Stagecoach’s Apache Attack

The film Stagecoach launched John Wayne’s career and established John Ford as a leading Western director. It’s a compelling story that follows a diverse group of travelers – including Wayne’s character, the outlaw Ringo Kid – as they journey together on a stagecoach.

Ford follows this with a thrilling action scene: an Apache attack forces the coach and the main characters to fight for their lives. The sequence is visually striking thanks to clever use of rear-screen projection, but it’s the practical stunts and fast-paced editing that truly make it exciting.

1940s: The Spoiler’s Epic John Wayne Brawl

Early Hollywood action movies were very different from today’s. While modern action films are packed with chases and gunfights, movies from the 1940s usually only had one or two major action scenes. John Wayne’s The Spoilers is a good example – it doesn’t have constant action, but the final fight is definitely worth seeing.

A fight breaks out in a bar between Wayne’s character, a miner, and Scott’s character, a dishonest official. The brawl goes on for four minutes and, though it’s quite exaggerated by today’s standards, it’s surprisingly brutal for a film from the 1940s. It remains an exciting and energetic scene.

1950s: Ben-Hur’s Chariot Sequence

The film Ben-Hur is truly epic, boasting massive sets and a grand scale. When it came out in 1959, it was a huge success, largely thanks to its now-famous ten-minute chariot race – an action sequence considered a classic. Remarkably, the scene took almost a year to prepare and reportedly cost $1 million to create.

The race scene immediately throws you into the excitement, making it feel like the main character is struggling to stay in command. What’s truly remarkable is that it was achieved without any visual effects – it all came down to the skill of the actors, stunt performers, and the film crew.

1960s: The Wild Bunch’s Bloody Final Shootout

For many years, American movies avoided showing realistic blood and gore. However, films like Bonnie and Clyde and Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch, released in the 1960s, deliberately began to depict violent shootouts. Late Westerns, especially, became known for their long, slow-motion gunfights.

The ending of The Wild Bunch remains incredibly powerful. The outlaws choose a dramatic, explosive final stand to help a friend, and director Peckinpah makes every gunshot feel massive and impactful. It’s both thrilling and disturbing, perfectly capturing the group’s tendency to destroy themselves.

1970s: The French Connection’s Harrowing Car Chase

Like Bullitt, The French Connection is known for having a truly outstanding car chase. In fact, this chase was directly inspired by Bullitt. Director William Friedkin noticed that Bullitt‘s chase scene had removed all other cars and people from the streets, and he wanted to make his chase feel more dangerous by including regular civilians.

Interestingly, Gene Hackman’s chase scene in Popeye involves an out-of-control elevated train instead of a car. The famous car chase in The French Connection was filmed with very little official permission, and some of the crashes actually happened by accident, making it a remarkably intense and gripping scene even today.

1980s: Raider’s Of The Lost Ark’s Opening Sequence

Steven Spielberg was known for films that often ran over budget and took a long time to make. So, he challenged himself to create Raiders of the Lost Ark on time and within a strict budget. He not only met both goals, but also created what many consider to be the greatest adventure movie ever made.

The opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Harrison Ford’s Indy navigating a dangerous temple filled with traps like poison darts and huge boulders, is still incredibly exciting. It’s a masterfully crafted action sequence, and the rest of the films in the series never quite matched its brilliance.

1990s: The Matrix’s Lobby Shootout

The first Matrix film was incredibly innovative, blending philosophical ideas with the exciting action styles of anime and Hong Kong movies. While the film is full of amazing action sequences, the scene featuring Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) fighting through a lobby filled with gunfire is the most memorable.

The action sequence is a stunning spectacle, filled with incredible visuals like Trinity running on walls and pillars crumbling under heavy fire. It’s also the moment Neo truly starts to control his powers, and it’s incredibly exciting to see him finally embrace his potential.

2000s: Kill Bill’s Volume 1’s Crazy 88 Sword Fight

Quentin Tarantino has said he created Kill Bill as a way to improve his action filmmaking skills, and the movie definitely shows he succeeded. The highlight is the incredible House of Blue Leaves scene, a relentless battle where Uma Thurman’s character fights Lucy Liu’s army of skilled assassins.

The sword fight in Tarantino’s film blends the style of classic samurai movies with the over-the-top gore of films like Evil Dead. It’s filled with shocking violence – eyes are ripped out and body parts fly everywhere – but manages to be funny as well. While Tarantino is known for his action sequences, the battle with the Crazy 88 remains his most impressive to date.

2010s: Mad Max: Fury Road’s Final Chase

Honestly, any of the action sequences in Mad Max: Fury Road could have been chosen. The fourth film in the series is essentially one extended chase, and director George Miller handles it brilliantly. However, the final scene, where Max, Furiosa, and their group return the way they came, is particularly stunning.

Miller consistently raises the stakes with each action sequence, adding fresh threats like the Pole Cats. These scenes feel genuinely dangerous and are more physically impressive than those in films like Fast & Furious, which is part of why Mad Max: Fury Road was so instantly beloved.

2026-04-06 00:15