Over twenty films spanning five decades, Ian Fleming’s 007 is the grand champion of movie action franchises. Ranging from thrilling suspense sequences to over the top gadgets, characters, and one-liners, the Bond movies have always been a unified yet fluid continuity that has delivered everything from top tier studio blockbusters to cheesy B-level movies. But, every one of them is a treasure worth watching over and over again.
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Based on the fact that they have been able to make a dozen films, all interconnected, with plans for a heck of a lot more, plus TV series and other media, all while delivering movies better than a heck of a lot other films out there, earns Marvel the right to be this high on the list.
I was ready to write off Steven Spielberg’s series after two lackluster sequels, but last week’s JURASSIC WORLD showed that it could still be resurrected by a new generation on screen and off and still be a worthy summer blockbuster.
There are only four LETHAL WEAPON movies but they are all really, really good. Even now, with the cast and crew at retirement age, they could still make a phenomenal fifth film. There are really no missed beats in this entire series and that is why it gets such a high ranking here. LETHAL WEAPON is the template for many movies to come.
Another series with three great entries and a couple of really bad ones, DIE HARD still remains a top tier franchise with a lot of potential. I mean, is it really that hard to figure out? Combine McClane and Jack Bauer and you have a movie worthy of the classic trilogy.
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With eight movies in, including two spin-offs and a pair of rebooted movies, the X-Men series is still as fresh and enjoyable as it has ever been. Only two of the films would be considered subpar but the future is looking very bright with several spin-offs coming after a third WOLVERINE and X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
Each Bourne film seemed to improve over it’s predecessors until the Jeremy Renner led spin-off. While it was still a pretty damn good action movie, the impending return of director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon, plus a potential cross-over with the two super-spies, could make for one hell of an event picture.
With two classic films and two not so classic, this series is aiming for a resurgence with Alan Taylor’s TERMINATOR: GENISYS. Currently, fans seem lukewarm to the revisionist sequel but the quality of James Cameron’s first two movies holds this series at a higher level than most others.
While STAR WARS may not strictly be action movies, the George Lucas sextet of films rank as some of the best of all time. While I am a fan of the prequels, this series gets a lower ranking until we can see if Episodes VII and beyond can live up to the magic of the Original Trilogy.
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Technically, this is a trilogy and a fourth movie. Most want to discount KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL even though it was still a pretty fun movie. Until a fifth movie is made, this will maintain a low ranking on this chart. A stellar trilogy with a lost of open potential for more.