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Best Action Movies of the 2000s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
238 action films from the 2000s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is The Dark Knight (2008), at 9.1 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.9. Biggest split between audiences and critics: Elite Squad, 8.0 on IMDb against 33 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Knight '2008 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 9.1 | 94% | 85 | 8.5 | Christopher Nolan |
| 2 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King '2003 | Fantasy / Action | 9.0 | 94% | 94 | 8.5 | Peter Jackson |
| 3 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring '2001 | Fantasy / Action | 8.9 | 91% | 92 | 8.4 | Peter Jackson |
| 4 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers '2002 | Fantasy / Action | 8.8 | 95% | 87 | 8.4 | Peter Jackson |
| 5 | Gladiator '2000 | Action / Drama | 8.5 | 80% | 67 | 8.2 | Ridley Scott |
| 6 | Batman Begins '2005 | Drama / Crime / Action | 8.2 | 85% | 70 | 7.7 | Christopher Nolan |
| 7 | Kill Bill: Vol. 1 '2003 | Action / Crime | 8.2 | 85% | 69 | 8.0 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 8 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl '2003 | Fantasy / Action | 8.1 | 79% | 63 | 7.8 | Gore Verbinski |
| 9 | V for Vendetta '2006 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.1 | 73% | 62 | 7.9 | James McTeigue |
| 10 | Avatar '2009 | Sci-Fi / Action | 7.9 | 81% | 83 | 7.6 | James Cameron |
| 11 | The Incredibles '2004 | Action / Animation | 8.0 | - | 90 | 7.7 | Brad Bird |
| 12 | Kill Bill: Vol. 2 '2004 | Action / Crime / Thriller | 8.0 | 84% | 83 | 7.9 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 13 | Casino Royale '2006 | Action / Thriller | 8.0 | 94% | 80 | 7.6 | Martin Campbell |
| 14 | Iron Man '2008 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.9 | 94% | 79 | 7.7 | Jon Favreau |
| 15 | The Bourne Ultimatum '2007 | Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller | 8.0 | 92% | 85 | 7.4 | Paul Greengrass |
| 16 | Blood Diamond '2006 | Drama / Thriller / Action | 8.0 | 64% | 64 | 7.6 | Edward Zwick |
| 17 | Star Trek '2009 | Sci-Fi / Action | 7.9 | 94% | 82 | 7.4 | J.J. Abrams |
| 18 | Children of Men '2006 | Sci-Fi / Thriller / Action | 7.9 | 92% | 84 | 7.6 | Alfonso Cuarón |
| 19 | The Bourne Identity '2002 | Action / Mystery / Thriller | 7.8 | 84% | 68 | 7.5 | Doug Liman |
| 20 | Hot Fuzz '2007 | Crime / Action / Comedy | 7.8 | 91% | 81 | 7.6 | Edgar Wright |
| 21 | The Last Samurai '2003 | Drama / Action / War | 7.8 | 65% | 55 | 7.6 | Edward Zwick |
| 22 | Training Day '2001 | Action / Crime / Drama | 7.8 | 74% | 71 | 7.5 | Antoine Fuqua |
| 23 | Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith '2005 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.7 | 79% | 68 | 7.5 | George Lucas |
| 24 | Apocalypto '2006 | Action / Drama | 7.9 | 65% | 68 | 7.7 | Mel Gibson |
| 25 | Taken '2008 | Action / Thriller | 7.7 | 60% | 51 | 7.4 | Pierre Morel |
| 26 | 300 '2007 | Action / War | 7.6 | 61% | 52 | 7.2 | Zack Snyder |
| 27 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon '2000 | Romance / Drama / Action | 7.8 | 96% | 94 | 7.4 | Ang Lee |
| 28 | The Bourne Supremacy '2004 | Action / Drama / Thriller | 7.7 | 81% | 73 | 7.3 | Paul Greengrass |
| 29 | Minority Report '2002 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.6 | 89% | 80 | 7.4 | Steven Spielberg |
| 30 | Black Hawk Down '2001 | Action / War | 7.7 | 77% | 74 | 7.4 | Ridley Scott |
| 31 | Man on Fire '2004 | Action / Drama / Thriller | 7.7 | 39% | 47 | 7.5 | Tony Scott |
| 32 | Hero '2002 | Drama / Action | 7.9 | - | 85 | 7.5 | Zhang Yimou |
| 33 | Ip Man '2008 | Drama / Action | 8.0 | 86% | 59 | 7.8 | Wilson Yip |
| 34 | Watchmen '2009 | Mystery / Action / Sci-Fi | 7.6 | 64% | 56 | 7.4 | Zack Snyder |
| 35 | Kung Fu Panda '2008 | Action / Animation / Comedy | 7.6 | 87% | 74 | 7.3 | Mark Osborne |
| 36 | Spider-Man 2 '2004 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.5 | 93% | 83 | 7.3 | Sam Raimi |
| 37 | Serenity '2005 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.8 | 82% | 74 | 7.4 | Joss Whedon |
| 38 | Sherlock Holmes '2009 | Action / Mystery / Crime | 7.5 | 69% | 57 | 7.2 | Guy Ritchie |
| 39 | Spider-Man '2002 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.4 | 90% | 73 | 7.4 | Sam Raimi |
| 40 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest '2006 | Fantasy / Action | 7.4 | 53% | 53 | 7.4 | Gore Verbinski |
| 41 | The Count of Monte Cristo '2002 | Drama / Action | 7.7 | 74% | 61 | 7.7 | Kevin Reynolds |
| 42 | X2 '2003 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.4 | 85% | 68 | 7.0 | Bryan Singer |
| 43 | Elite Squad '2007 | Drama / Action / Crime | 8.0 | 53% | 33 | 8.1 | José Padilha |
| 44 | Letters from Iwo Jima '2006 | Action / Drama / War | 7.8 | 91% | 89 | 7.5 | Clint Eastwood |
| 45 | Battle Royale '2000 | Drama / Thriller / Action | 7.5 | 90% | 81 | 7.3 | Kinji Fukasaku |
| 46 | X-Men '2000 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 82% | 64 | 7.0 | Bryan Singer |
| 47 | Kung Fu Hustle '2004 | Action / Comedy / Crime / Fantasy | 7.7 | 90% | 78 | 7.5 | Stephen Chow |
| 48 | Troy '2004 | Action | 7.3 | 53% | 56 | 7.2 | Wolfgang Petersen |
| 49 | Equilibrium '2002 | Action / Sci-Fi / Thriller | 7.3 | 40% | 33 | 7.1 | Kurt Wimmer |
| 50 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End '2007 | Fantasy / Action | 7.2 | 43% | 50 | 7.3 | Gore Verbinski |
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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Other genres in the 2000s
Animation of the 2000s Comedy of the 2000s Crime of the 2000s Drama of the 2000s Fantasy of the 2000s Horror of the 2000s Mystery of the 2000s Romance of the 2000s Sci-Fi of the 2000s Thriller of the 2000s War of the 2000s
Directors on this list
Christopher Nolan Peter Jackson Ridley Scott Quentin Tarantino Gore Verbinski James Cameron Brad Bird Martin Campbell Jon Favreau Paul Greengrass Edward Zwick J.J. Abrams
Actors on this list
Christian Bale Elijah Wood Ian McKellen Russell Crowe Joaquin Phoenix Michael Caine Uma Thurman Lucy Liu Johnny Depp Geoffrey Rush Natalie Portman Hugo Weaving