The 1980s and 90s were a time of legendary action films… and to be fair, action films that were legendary awful. For every masterpiece about being chased by terrifying aliens and liquid metal Terminators, there were dozens upon dozens of flicks containing heroes that mumble their lines, punching helicopters in the face, and casually walk away as an entire neighborhood explodes in the background. We’re here to celebrate all of the good and the bad with this list of 10 action stars now and then!
Jackie Chan
With a net worth of $370 million, the Hong Kong-born actor was listed as the second highest paid actor in the world in 2016, and deservedly so. Unlike most actors, Chan performs all of his own stunts. Some of his most popular films are Drunken Master II, which was named one of Time magazine’s 100 greatest movies of all-time, and the Police Story franchise. His latest offering, SNAFU, is expected to be released in 2021 or 2022.
Sigourney Weaver
Weaver is regarded by movie critics to be one of the most important female antagonists in the history of cinema. An accomplished theatrical performer, she made a name for herself as the fearless Lieutenant Ripley in the Alien franchise. She’s also appeared in the iconic Ghostbusters movies as well as Avatar, the highest-grossing movie in history.
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis has appeared in more than 70 movies, including the popular Die Hard franchise and such critically acclaimed films as Twelve Monkeys, The Sixth Sense, and Pulp Fiction. In total, the five Die Hard movies grossed $1.4 billion worldwide, making Willis one of the most bankable stars around. He also has two Golden Globes, two Emmys, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The actor has eight (!) movies coming out in the near future, including the scheduled February 2022 release of the action-heist film A Day To Die.
Milla Jovovich
The Fifth Element, Resident Evil, Hell Boy: Jovovich has an impressive action film resume. Full confession though: when I first saw her character Alice execute a perfectly timed jump kick to the face of a charging zombie dog in the trailer to Resident Evil, my thought was, “Are you kidding me? There’s no way anybody could do that.” But upon further introspection, if you’re debating the realism of fending off a zombie dog attack, you’re probably taking the movie way too seriously. It happens to be the highest grossing movie franchise based on a video game, so she’s obviously doing something right. Her most current movie is 2020’s Monster Hunter, another film based on a video game.
