Top 50 action movies

It is slated as the action blockbuster of the year. While audiences worlwide decide if Iron Man 2 is a worthy successor to the original that released in 2008, we bring you a lineup of the 50 finest action films ever seen on the silver screen. They are presented in chronological order, according to date of theatrical release. Get, Set, Action!

Iron Man (2008): Directed by Jon Favreau. Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Faran Tahir, Shaun Toub. Memorable Quote: "I never got to say goodbye to my father. There's questions I would've asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did, if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of man we remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero-accountability." (Tony Stark)

The Dark Knight (2008): Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman. Memorable Quote: "Oh, you. You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever." (The Joker)

Taken (2008): Directed by Pierre Morel. Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace, Xander Berkeley, Holly Valance, Katie Cassidy. Memorable Quote: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." (Bryan)

Transformers (2007): Directed by Michael Bay. Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving, Mark Ryan. Memorable Quote: "And the human race will be extinguished. Sam Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival." (Optimus Prime)

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007): Directed by Paul Greengrass. Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen. Memorable Quote: "No. This is where it started for me. This is where it ends." (Jason Bourne)

300 (2007): Directed by Zack Snyder. Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Vincent Regan, Rodrigo Santoro. Memorable Quote: "The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed." (King Leonidas)

Mission: Impossible III (2006): Directed by J. J. Abrams. Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Billy Crudup, Laurence Fishburne, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Keri Russell, Eddie Marsan. Memorable Quote: "I'll die unless you kill me!" (Ethan Hunt)

Casino Royale (2006): Directed by Martin Campbell. Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright. Memorable Quote: "The name's Bond. James Bond." (James Bond)

The Incredibles (2004): Directed by Brad Bird/Bill Wise (Technical). Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Peña, Brad Bird. Memorable Quote: "No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit? I feel like the maid; I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for... for ten minutes!" (Mr Incredible)

Spider Man 2 (2004): Directed by Sam Raimi. Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J. K. Simmons, Daniel Gillies, Dylan Baker. Memorable Quote: "Sometimes, to do what's right, we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams." (Peter Parker)

Kill Bill - Vol 1 (2003): Directed by Quentin Tarantino /Mamoru Oshii (animated sequence). Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sonny Chiba. Memorable Quote: "(in Japanese) Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now." (The Bride)

The Transporter (2002): Directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen. Starring: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze, François Berléand. Memorable Quote: "Monsieur Frank, people with this kind of firepower do not make mistakes about who they visit. Who would want you this dead?" (Tarconi)

Black Hawk Down (2001): Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring: Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Ron Eldard, Ewen Bremner, Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Piven, Sam Shepard, Jason Isaacs, Ioan Gruffudd, Johnny Strong. Memorable Quote: "You know a friend of mine asked me before I got here; it's when we were all shipping out. He asked me "Why are you going to fight somebody else's war? What, do you think you're heroes?" I didn't know what to say at the time, but if he'd ask me again I'd say no. I'd say there's not way in hell. Nobody asks to be a hero." (Eversmann)

Enemy At the Gates (2001): Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Starring: Jude Law, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz, Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Gabriel Thompson. Memorable Quote: "He doesn't know you exist, but at that moment you're closer to him than anyone else on earth. You see his face through the sign. You see whether he shaved or not. You can see whether he's married if he's got a wedding ring. It's not like firing at a distant shape. It's not just a uniform. It's a man's face. Those faces don't go away. They come back and they get replaced by more faces." (Vasilli)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000): Directed by Ang Lee. Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen. Memorable Quote: "A faithful heart makes wishes come true." (Lo/ Dark Cloud)

Gladiator (2000): Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Richard Harris. Memorable Quote: "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." (Maximus)

The Road Warrior (2000): Directed by George Miller. Starring: Mel Gibson, Michael Preston, Bruce Spence, Vernon Wells, Kjell Nilsson, Virginia Hey, Emil Minty. Memorable Quote: "What is it with you, huh? What are you looking for? C'mon, Max, everybody's looking for something. You're happy out there, are you? Eh? Wandering? One day blurring into another? You're a scavenger, Max. You're a maggot. Did you know that? You're living off the corpse of the old world. Tell me your story, Max. C'mon. Tell me your story. What burned you out, huh? Kill one man too many? See too many people die? Lose some family?" (Pappagallo)

The Matrix (1999): Directed by Wachowski brothers. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano. Memorable Quote: "I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you." (Neo)

Saving Private Ryan (1998): Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg. Memorable Quote: "You want to leave? You want to go off and fight the war? All right. All right. I won't stop you. I'll even put in the paperwork. I just know that every man I kill the farther away from home I feel." (Captain Miller)

Blade (1998): Directed by Stephen Norrington. Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Sanaa Lathan. Memorable Quote: "You better wake up. The world you live in is just a sugar-coated topping! There is another world beneath it - the real world. And if you wanna survive it, you better learn to *pull the trigger!*" (Blade)

Con Air (1997): Directed by Simon West. Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Mykelti Williamson, Nick Chinlund, Monica Potter, Steve Buscemi. Memorable Quote: "They somehow managed to get every creep and freak in the universe onto this one plane. And then somehow managed to let them take it over. And then somehow managed to stick us right smack in the middle." (Cameron Poe)

Face/Off (1997): Directed by John Woo. Starring: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola. Memorable Quote: "It's like looking in a mirror. Only... not." (Castor Troy)

Independence Day (1996): Directed by Roland Emmerich. Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Mary McDonnell, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox. Memorable Quote: "Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!" (President Thomas Whitmore)

The Rock (1996): Directed by Michael Bay. Starring: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, William Forsythe, Vanessa Marcil. Memorable Quote: "And what might that be? I've been in jail longer than Nelson Mandela, so maybe you want me to run for president." (John Mason)

Desperado (1995): Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Starring: Antonio Banderas, Joaquim de Almeida, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Quentin Tarantino, Tito Larriva, Danny Trejo. Memorable Quote: "It's easier to pull the trigger than play guitar. Easier to destroy than create." (El Mariachi)

Braveheart (1995): Directed by Mel Gibson. Starring: Mel Gibson, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen, Brendan Gleeson, Sophie Marceau, Ian Bannen, James Cosmo, Catherine McCormack, David O'Hara, Brian Cox. Memorable Quote: "Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!" (William Wallace)

Speed (1994): Directed by Jan de Bont. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, Jeff Daniels, Alan Ruck, Glenn Plummer. Memorable Quote: "A bomb is made to explode. That's it's meaning. It's purpose. Your life is empty because you spend it trying to stop the bomb from becoming. And for who? For what? You know what a bomb is, Jack, that doesn't explode? It's a cheap gold watch, buddy." (Howard Payne)

True Lies (1994): Directed by James Cameron. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Eliza Dushku. Memorable Quote: "Well, you see, this is the problem with terrorists. They're really inconsiderate when it comes to people's schedules." (Harry)

Hard-Boiled (1992): Directed by John Woo. Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Teresa Mo, Philip Kwok, Anthony Wong, Bowie Lam. Memorable Quote: "Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God." (Superintendant Pang)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): Directed by James Cameron. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick. Memorable Quote: "Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The terminator wouldn't stop, it would never leave him. It would never hurt him or shout at him or get drunk and hit him or say it was too busy to spend time with him. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers that came over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only thing that measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice." (Sarah Connor)

The Last Boy Scout (1991): Directed by Tony Scott. Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Danielle Harris, Halle Berry. Memorable Quote: (Jimmy has just survived being thrown off an overpass and is now trying to calm startled motorists) "It's okay. It's okay, folks. It's okay. It's okay. Thank you. Thank you. Danger is my middle name. Don't try this at home, folks. I'm a trained professional. There's me, and there's Super Dave." (Jimmy Dix)

The Hunt for Red October (1990): Directed by John McTiernan. Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Joss Ackland, Courtney B. Vance, Larry Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeffrey Jones, Timothy Carhart, Fred Dalton Thompson, Daniel Davis, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Gates McFadden. Memorable Quote: "Once more, we play our dangerous game, a game of chess against our old adversary - The American Navy. For forty years, your fathers before you and your older brothers played this game and played it well. But today the game is different. We have the advantage." (Captain Ramius)

Die Hard (1988): Directed by John McTiernan. Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Alexander Godunov, Paul Gleason. Memorable Quote: "Just a fly in the ointment, Hans. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass." (John McClane)

Bloodsport (1988): Directed by Newt Arnold. Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Bolo Yeung, Norman Burton, Forest Whitaker, and Leah Ayres. Memorable Quote: "You break my record, now I break you, like I break your friend." (Chong Li)

Lethal Weapon (1987): Directed by Richard Donner. Starring: Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Tom Atkins. Memorable Quote: "Well, what do you wanna hear, man? Do you wanna hear that sometimes I think about eatin' a bullet? Huh? Well, I do! I even got a special bullet for the occasion with a hollow point, look! Make sure it blows the back of my goddamned head out and do the job right! Every single day I wake up and I think of a reason not to do it! Every single day! You know why I don't do it? This is gonna make you laugh! You know why I don't do it? The job! Doin' the job! Now that's the reason!" (Martin Riggs)

Predator (1987): Directed by John McTiernan. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Kevin Peter Hall. Memorable Quote: "When I was little, we found a man. He looked like - like, butchered. The old woman in the village crossed themselves... and whispered crazy things, strange things. "El Diablo cazador de hombres." Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot. We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse. "El cazador trofeo de los hombres" means the demon who makes trophies of men." (Anna)

Robocop (1987): Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer. Memorable Quote: "Yeah, go ahead and do it. Dead or alive, you're coming with me." (Murphy)

Rambo First Blood (1982): Directed by Ted Kotcheff. Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy. Memorable Quote: "I recruited him. I trained him. I commanded him for three years in Vietnam. I'd say that makes him mine." (Trautman)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott. Memorable Quote: "All your life has been spent in pursuit of archaeological relics. Inside the Ark are treasures beyond your wildest aspirations. You want to see it opened as well as I. Indiana, we are simply passing through history. This, this *is* history." (Belloq)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Directed by Irvin Kershner. Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee, Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker. Memorable Quote: "Yes, run! Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice." (Yoda)

Alien (1979): Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto. Memorable Quote: "Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off." (Ripley)

Rocky (1976): Directed by John G. Avildsen. Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers. Memorable Quote: "Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood." (Rocky)

Enter the Dragon (1973): Directed by Robert Clouse. Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Shih Kien, Robert Wall, Angela Mao, Betty Chung, Geoffrey Weeks, Peter Archer, Jim Kelly, Bolo Yeung. Memorable Quote: "A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself." (Lee)

Dirty Harry (1971): Directed by Don Siegel. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, Andy Robinson. Memorable Quote: "I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking "did he fire six shots or only five?" Now to tell you the truth I forgot myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow you head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?" (Harry Callahan)

The Wild Bunch (1969): Directed by Sam Peckinpah. Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, Ben Johnson. Memorable Quote: "Tell me, Mr. Harrigan, how does it feel? Getting paid for it? Getting paid to sit back and hire your killings... with the law's arms around you? How does it feel to be so goddamn right?" (Deke Thornton)

The Dirty Dozen (1967): Directed by Robert Aldrich. Starring: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Robert Webber, Clint Walker, Donald Sutherland. Memorable Quote: "This war was NOT started for your private gratification, and you can be damned sure it's not being run for your personal convenience, either!" (Maj. Gen. Worden)

The Guns of Navarone (1961): Directed by J. Lee Thompson. Starring: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker. Memorable Quote: "Now just a minute! If we're going to get this job done she has got to be killed! And we all know how keen you are about getting the job done! Now I can't speak for the others but I've never killed a woman, traitor or not, and I'm finicky! So why don't you do it? Let us off for once! Go on, be a pal, be a father to your men! Climb down off that cross of yours, close your eyes, think of England, and pull the trigger! What do you say, Sir?" (Corporal Miller)

b>Ben-Hur (1959): Directed by William Wyler. Starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith. Memorable Quote: "No! I warn you! Rome is an affront to God! Rome is strangling my people and my country, the whole Earth! But not forever. I tell you the day Rome falls there will be a shout of freedom such as the world has never heard before!" (Judah Ben-Hur)

Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai) (1954): Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro- Mifune. Memorable Quote: "What's the use of worrying about your beard when your head's about to be taken?" (Gisaku)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938): Directed by Michael Curtiz. Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains. Memorable Quote: "Ho, varlets, bring Sir Robin food! Such insolence must support a healthy appetite!" (Prince John)