The Top 10 Action Films Ranked by Metacritic

The Top 10 Action Films Ranked by Metacritic

For the last few weeks, we hope you’ve enjoyed our lists of the top action, sci-fi, and virus and pandemic films by box office receipts, and Metacritic and IMDB rankings. We’ve seen many of the same popular movies showing up on each list, but this week we finally have some new movies for you. This week, we looked at Metacritic to bring you the Top 10 action films. In some cases, several films had the same score, so we broke the score by looking at their user rating. Grab some popcorn and check out the list. You might find a new movie to watch!

The Top 10 Action Films Ranked by Metacritic

10. Dunkirk (Metacritic score: 94)

This 2017 war film, directed by Christopher Nolan (he also directed Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio, Memento, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight trilogy), ranks 94 on the Metacritic scale of 100. The movie earned Nolan his first Academy Award nomination for directing at the 90th Academy Awards. The movie is set during May 1940 when Germany advanced into France and trapped troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Now the French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers had to be evacuated.

9. Zero Dark Thirty (Metacritic score: 95)

This 2012 film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, also known for directing Strange Days, K-19: The Widowmaker, The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, and Detroit. The film centers on the manhunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the attacks on September 11. Zero Dark Thirty was nominated in five categories at the 85th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The movie earned a 95 score on Metacritic, tying it with the eighth-place movie The Hurt Locker (which is also directed by Kathryn Bigelow). The movie received a lower user review score than The Hurt Locker (6.9 with 1197 reviews).

8. The Hurt Locker (Metacritic score: 95)

Another fantastic movie by the talented director Katherine Bigelow, The Hurt Locker came in at eighth place with a Metacritic score of 95. The Hurt Locker won six Academy Awards and grossed $49.2 million. It includes an incredible cast, including Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. This war movie focuses on the Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who is targeted by insurgents and, after the death of their Staff Sergeant, there is a new team leader which changes things very quickly. The movie tied with Zero Dark Thirty, but took the lead with a 7.3 user rating with 1479 reviews.

7. Ran (Metacritic score: 96)

This 1985 film was directed, edited and co-written by Akira Kurosawa, who is also known as the director of Seven Samurai. Ran is based on William Shakespeare’s King Lear and, according to Kurosawa’s history, he Kurosawa directed Throne of Blood, which is also based on Shakespeare (Macbeth). Movie critic Roger Ebert awarded the film a perfect four out of four stars.

6. The Wild Bunch (Metacritic score: 97)

This 1969 black-and-white — and extremely graphic of its time — Western film was directed by Sam Peckinpah and stars William Holden, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O’Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The outlaw gang on the border of Mexico and the United States that is trying to change to the modern world. The film scored a 97, tying it with Dragon Inn and The Adventures of Robin Hood, but it’s 7.5 user rating puts it in the middle of the other two movies.

5. Dragon Inn (Metacritic score: 97)

Dragon Inn is a Taiwanese film that debuted in 1967 and has earned a great 97 out of 100 Metacritic score. Directed by King Hu, the film’s plot focuses on Tsao, who bested General Yu, his political opponent.  Yu’s four children go missing and the race is on to find them. The movie tied with The Adventures of Robin Hood as well as The Wild Bunch, but it’s user rating is 7.9.

4. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Metacritic score: 97)

Rounding out the three action movies that scored 97 on the Metacritic scale is The Adventures of Robin Hood, which debuted in 1938. It stars legends of the time — Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains. In 1995, the film was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. The movie scored a 97, but leads the pack of movies with a 97 because of it’s 7.9 user rating.

3. North By Northwest (Metacritic score: 98)

Alfred Hitchcock directing Cary Grant in this action-packed thriller from 1959 can’t get much better than this. The movie also stars Eva Marie Saint and James Mason and it’s about mistaken identity, with Grant being pursued. The movie is a must-see and scored a 98 on the Metacritic score, tying with Metropolis and Seven Samurai. The movie came in with 124 user reviews and an average of 8.1.

2. Metropolis (Metacritic score: 98)

Sometimes some of the best action-packed movies aren’t created in the last decade, but back in the 1920s. In this case, the sci-fi silent film Metropolis debuted in 1927 and was directed by Fritz Lang. It stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Brigitte Helm. It was filmed in Germany and set in a futuristic urban dystopia. You can watch the entire film on YouTube. It scored user rating of 8.6.

1. Seven Samurai (Metacritic score of 98)

Last, but also number one, is the 1954 Japanese film that was directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa. The film is about a village of farmers that hire seven samurai to combat bandits who will steal their crops. It scored a Metacritic score of 98 and is considered one of the greatest films ever made. Will you think so?

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