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The best action movies of all time
The highest-rated action movies, ranked by Lantern Score, with where to watch each one. Top three right now: Seven Samurai (9.7), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (9.6), The Dark Knight (9.4). How the score works.
- 1
Seven Samurai9.7 - 2
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King9.6 - 3
The Dark Knight9.4 - 4
Ran9.4 - 5
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring9.3 - 6
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers9.3 - 7
The French Connection9.3 - 8
Star Wars9.2 - 9
Mad Max: Fury Road9.2 - 10
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon9.2 - 11
The Odyssey9.1 - 12
Raiders of the Lost Ark9.1 - 13
The Incredibles9.1 - 14
Dunkirk9.1 - 15
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse9.1 - 16
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse9.1 - 17
Platoon9.1 - 18
The Fugitive9.1 - 19
Aliens9.0 - 20
Goldfinger9.0 - 21
Sinners8.9 - 22
Mission: Impossible - Fallout8.9 - 23
The Empire Strikes Back8.9 - 24
Letters from Iwo Jima8.9 - 25
The Man from Nowhere8.9
About this list
Best action movies of all time lists the 25 highest-rated movies in the genre, ranked by Lantern Score: one number on a 10-point scale that combines IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, so a title has to impress audiences and critics alike. Seven Samurai leads with 9.7, and the list runs from 1954 to 2026, with an average score of 9.2. Only titles with plenty of votes qualify, so a film rated by a handful of people can't crowd out proven favourites. Open any title for its full score breakdown, cast, and where to stream, rent or buy it.