One of the most misunderstood genres in film is action.

Of course, the general public adores them, so it never affects them financially. Highbrow cineastes frequently see action films as cheap, lowbrow junk food that sacrifices all plot and content in favor of eardrum-shattering explosions & mindless violence.

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That characterization is accurate in many instances-possibly even most of them. However, few cinematic experiences can match having your senses destroyed by the booms, blasts, and cracking bones of a truly spectacular action movie. Everyone who has ever experienced will attest.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Batman v Superman: Reign of Justice introduced audiences to Gal Gadot's Amazonian warrior. But Gadot's Diana Prince-and her indestructible bracelet–wearing, lasso–of–truth–wielding alter ego-were established as a screen heroine par excellence by Patty Jenkins' interpretation of the renowned DC Comics figure in this solo adventure.

Speed (1994)

Quick test, hotshot: On a bus, there is a bomb. The bomb is set off after the bus exceeds 50 miles per hour. It will explode if it falls below 50. How do you behave? If you're LAPD detective Jack Traven, you "steal" a passing car, get in, and then jump onto the freeway while it's moving to protect the 13 people inside from being blasted to pieces. Jan De Bont's high-concept movie is the kind of film that, when you keep the engine running at full throttle & put the right film stars in the driver's seat, manages to look positively foolish on paper (think Hard Core but on public transportation). Once they crash a bus into the 747 airplanes, it's already a blast.

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Bruce Lee only produced four films as an adult. Enter the Dragon, was released 1 month after his passing. It is the film that catapulted him to international prominence as a box-office sensation. Despite being a legendary film, it shouldn't be. Robert Clouse, the director, was a hack, & the writing, for the most part, was terrible. However, the performances elevate a mediocre sandwich to frying gold.

Gladiator (2000)

The 1958 novel Those About to Die by Daniel P. Mannix served as the basis for the blockbuster movie Gladiator, which dramatizes the adventures of Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius. Maximus is made into a gladiator. He battles through the ranks to take retribution when the opportunistic traitor Commodus murders his father (and family) and seizes the throne for himself.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Judgment in Terminator 2 with a thrilling plot that centers on a model T-800 robot. It was sent back in time to defend John Connor, the destiny of the human resistance. Day masterfully combines science fiction and action. The shape-shifting T-1000, a Terminator sent by Skynet, is sent to kill the young boy.

Kill Bill (2003/2004)

Quentin Tarantino's amazing martial arts masterpiece is best appreciated as a single four-hour piece, even though it was released in two "volumes." A professional assassin named the Wife (Uma Thurman) goes on a bloody rampage of vengeance in the first portion of the action-packed movie to kill her former comrades who left her & her pregnant child for dead. It all climaxes in the renowned Mansion of Blue Leaves scenario, where our weapon protagonist vanquishes a posse of mask-wearing foes and removes more than a few hairs from Lucy Liu's yakuza villain.

Predator (1987)

It doesn't have time to bleed, but that's because John "Die Hard" McTiernan's other action classic is too preoccupied with taking you on a fiercely visceral fun ride as its paramilitary beefcakes battle and largely fails to defeat, an interplanetary killing machine