Movie Auditor › Rankings › 1990s › Action
Best Action Movies of the 1990s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
219 action films from the 1990s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is The Matrix (1999), at 8.7 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.5. Biggest split between audiences and critics: The Boondock Saints, 7.6 on IMDb against 44 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Matrix '1999 | Action / Sci-Fi | 8.7 | 83% | 73 | 8.3 | Lana Wachowski |
| 2 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day '1991 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.6 | 90% | 75 | 8.2 | James Cameron |
| 3 | Léon: The Professional '1994 | Crime / Drama / Action | 8.5 | 76% | 64 | 8.3 | Luc Besson |
| 4 | Heat '1995 | Crime / Drama / Action | 8.3 | 84% | 76 | 7.9 | Michael Mann |
| 5 | True Romance '1993 | Action / Crime / Romance | 7.9 | 93% | 59 | 7.5 | Tony Scott |
| 6 | The Fugitive '1993 | Action / Thriller / Drama | 7.8 | 96% | 87 | 7.5 | Andrew Davis |
| 7 | Tombstone '1993 | Western / Action | 7.8 | 76% | 50 | 7.6 | George P. Cosmatos |
| 8 | Ghost in the Shell '1995 | Action / Animation / Sci-Fi | 7.9 | 95% | 76 | 7.9 | Mamoru Oshii |
| 9 | The Fifth Element '1997 | Sci-Fi / Action | 7.6 | 70% | 52 | 7.6 | Luc Besson |
| 10 | Die Hard: With a Vengeance '1995 | Action / Thriller | 7.6 | 60% | 58 | 7.3 | John McTiernan |
| 11 | Total Recall '1990 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.5 | 80% | 60 | 7.3 | Paul Verhoeven |
| 12 | The Boondock Saints '1999 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 7.6 | 26% | 44 | 7.2 | Troy Duffy |
| 13 | Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion '1997 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Drama / Fantasy / Action | 8.1 | 92% | - | 8.3 | Kazuya Tsurumaki |
| 14 | Run Lola Run '1998 | Action / Drama / Thriller | 7.6 | 94% | 79 | 7.3 | Tom Tykwer |
| 15 | The Crow '1994 | Fantasy / Action / Thriller | 7.5 | 88% | 72 | 7.5 | Alex Proyas |
| 16 | The Hunt for Red October '1990 | Action / Thriller | 7.5 | 88% | 58 | 7.4 | John McTiernan |
| 17 | The Rock '1996 | Action / Thriller | 7.4 | 76% | 58 | 7.2 | Michael Bay |
| 18 | Ninja Scroll '1993 | Fantasy / Animation / Action / Horror | 7.8 | 90% | - | 7.8 | Yoshiaki Kawajiri |
| 19 | Star Trek: First Contact '1996 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.6 | 93% | 70 | 7.3 | Jonathan Frakes |
| 20 | Men in Black '1997 | Action / Comedy / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 91% | 72 | 7.2 | Barry Sonnenfeld |
| 21 | Speed '1994 | Action / Thriller | 7.3 | 95% | 78 | 7.2 | Jan de Bont |
| 22 | Hard Boiled '1992 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 7.7 | 92% | 86 | 7.5 | John Woo |
| 23 | True Lies '1994 | Action / Thriller | 7.3 | 77% | 63 | 7.1 | James Cameron |
| 24 | Face/Off '1997 | Action / Crime / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 93% | 82 | 7.1 | John Woo |
| 25 | Point Break '1991 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 7.3 | 68% | 60 | 7.2 | Kathryn Bigelow |
| 26 | Starship Troopers '1997 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 72% | 52 | 7.1 | Paul Verhoeven |
| 27 | Enemy of the State '1998 | Action / Drama / Thriller | 7.3 | 71% | 67 | 7.1 | Tony Scott |
| 28 | Crimson Tide '1995 | Thriller / Action | 7.4 | 89% | 66 | 7.2 | Tony Scott |
| 29 | Mission: Impossible '1996 | Action / Thriller | 7.2 | 65% | 59 | 7.0 | Brian De Palma |
| 30 | Die Hard 2 '1990 | Action / Thriller | 7.2 | 68% | 67 | 7.0 | Renny Harlin |
| 31 | From Dusk Till Dawn '1996 | Action / Horror / Crime | 7.2 | 65% | 48 | 7.1 | Robert Rodriguez |
| 32 | The Negotiator '1998 | Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.3 | - | 62 | 7.1 | F. Gary Gray |
| 33 | GoldenEye '1995 | Action / Thriller | 7.2 | 81% | 65 | 6.9 | Martin Campbell |
| 34 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country '1991 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.3 | 84% | 65 | 7.0 | Nicholas Meyer |
| 35 | In the Line of Fire '1993 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 7.2 | 96% | 74 | 7.0 | Wolfgang Petersen |
| 36 | The Legend of Drunken Master '1994 | Action / Comedy | 7.5 | 85% | 74 | 7.5 | Lau Kar-leung |
| 37 | Fallen Angels '1995 | Action / Romance / Crime | 7.5 | 96% | 71 | 7.7 | Wong Kar-wai |
| 38 | Ronin '1998 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 7.2 | 70% | 67 | 7.0 | John Frankenheimer |
| 39 | The Mummy '1999 | Action / Fantasy | 7.1 | 64% | 49 | 7.0 | Stephen Sommers |
| 40 | Batman Returns '1992 | Action / Fantasy | 7.1 | 81% | 68 | 7.0 | Tim Burton |
| 41 | Grosse Pointe Blank '1997 | Action / Comedy / Thriller / Romance | 7.3 | 82% | 76 | 7.0 | George Armitage |
| 42 | Blade '1998 | Horror / Action | 7.1 | 59% | 47 | 6.9 | Stephen Norrington |
| 43 | Rush Hour '1998 | Action / Comedy / Crime | 7.1 | 62% | 61 | 7.1 | Brett Ratner |
| 44 | Sonatine '1993 | Action / Crime / Thriller | 7.4 | 93% | 73 | 7.5 | Takeshi Kitano |
| 45 | Desperado '1995 | Thriller / Action / Crime | 7.1 | 71% | 55 | 6.9 | Robert Rodriguez |
| 46 | Three Kings '1999 | Action / Comedy / War | 7.1 | 94% | 82 | 6.7 | David O. Russell |
| 47 | Nikita '1990 | Action / Thriller | 7.2 | 89% | 65 | 7.1 | Luc Besson |
| 48 | Independence Day '1996 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.0 | 77% | 59 | 6.9 | Roland Emmerich |
| 49 | Stargate '1994 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.0 | 53% | 42 | 7.0 | Roland Emmerich |
| 50 | Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan '1993 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Action | 7.3 | - | - | 7.3 | Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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Animation of the 1990s Comedy of the 1990s Crime of the 1990s Drama of the 1990s Fantasy of the 1990s Horror of the 1990s Mystery of the 1990s Romance of the 1990s Sci-Fi of the 1990s Thriller of the 1990s
Directors on this list
Lana Wachowski James Cameron Luc Besson Michael Mann Tony Scott Andrew Davis George P. Cosmatos John McTiernan Paul Verhoeven Alex Proyas Michael Bay Barry Sonnenfeld
Actors on this list
Keanu Reeves Laurence Fishburne Arnold Schwarzenegger Jean Reno Natalie Portman Al Pacino Robert De Niro Christian Slater Patricia Arquette Harrison Ford Tommy Lee Jones Kurt Russell