Honestly, there aren’t many good action movies that aren’t also somewhat rewatchable, or at least it’s hard to think of examples. Maybe something particularly brutal or heavy-going might not be the easiest thing to revisit, but honestly, good action movies basically always make for good entertainment, and good entertainment is worth going back to, time and again, for hopefully obvious reasons.
There’s also a fair amount of subjectivity when it comes to declaring a set of movies as more rewatchable than other movies within the same genre, so that makes the following a little difficult to do. These are very rewatchable action movies, and indeed, some of them are also among the very best action movies ever made (and a few do cross over into other genres beyond “just” action, if that’s worth mentioning as a disclaimer of sorts).
10
‘Die Hard’ (1988)
Die Hard makes the act of making an action movie look easy. There are so many choices here that feel like no-brainers, as in, like, of course the villain should be charismatic, and of course the hero should feel like an underdog, and of course a confined setting keeps things tense, and of course you should build to the most impressive action moments (and have them happen near the end), and of course you should keep all the side characters engaging and distinguished from one another.
Yet not all action movies get all these things right, which is plain to see, as more than 99% of action movies are inferior to Die Hard (including all the sequels to Die Hard, though that third one is fun, and the fourth has its moments to a greater extent than some people like to make out). Die Hard (1988) is just everything an action/thriller film should be, and even if you can get so much out of it from just one viewing, it is, nonetheless, greatly rewarding to watch again and again.
9
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
This is one of those movies that might well demand repeat viewings, since there’s an almost overwhelming amount of stuff going on in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It is admittedly more than just a straightforward action movie, since it’s got a good many science fiction elements, and if you want to count “animation” as a genre (which is a little iffy, but you do you), then yes, it’s a work of animation.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduced the idea of the multiverse, as it relates to Spider-Man, and was already pretty maximalist, but then Across the Spider-Verse blows it up even more, and explores it all further. There are so many things going on in the background, non-stop jokes and references, and also a plot that never really stops barreling forward, so there’s more than enough here that might well only be noticeable on a second (or third, or fourth, etc.) viewing.
8
‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)
Possibly James Cameron’s finest achievement so far, as a director (if you don’t consider Titanic his best, at least) is Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Now, the first Terminator still delivers some good action with its time-travel story, but it’s not quite as grand as Terminator 2, and there is a bit more of a focus on horror over action. The sequel, on the other hand, has its tense (and occasionally scary) moments, yet there’s more of a budget here, and everything’s a good deal more explosive.
The premise is sort of the same in both movies, since villainous forces from the future want to stop John Connor from one day leading the human resistance against the machine uprising, and then the resistance sends back someone (or something) for protection. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is paced so well and proves remarkably entertaining, both when things are getting blown up/destroyed/shot at, and when there’s more of a focus on the surprisingly engaging characters, too.
7
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2022)
Everything Everywhere All at Once deals with the multiverse, a bit like the aforementioned Spider-Verse films, but there is a different approach taken here, not to mention a more adventurous mix of genres tackled within this single movie. It begins as a family dramedy of sorts, and then the main character is thrown into a massive conflict regarding the fate of the multiverse, and the viewer is supposed to feel just as overwhelmed and confused.
There’s so much chaos throughout, but you do get a handle on it at a point, or find certain things in Everything Everywhere All at Once starting to click, to some extent. If you watch it more than once, things’ll probably click sooner, and then there’s the capacity for further clicking to take place; for things that might not have clicked before to do so. Or watching it again will be another dizzying and overwhelming experience. In that instance, at least it’s all chaotic, dizzying, and overwhelming in a surprisingly enjoyable way.
6
‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)
That Steven Spielberg guy seems like a pretty capable director, you know? Knows what he’s doing, in other words, to put it mildly. To drop the biggest understatement of all time. Sorry, dropping the bit. It’s a silly bit. Spielberg is Spielberg. Spielberg does not deliver perfection 100% of the time, but he’s directed more perfect movies than the vast majority of filmmakers out there (be they currently active or iconic directors who worked in the past).
So, yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark is an absolute classic. It’s Spielberg’s purest action movie, and maybe his most entertaining, even if it has some competition with other films when it comes to crowning what Spielberg’s best blockbuster is (he did, after all, direct Jaws and Jurassic Park). There’s a simple adventure story here, with the hunt for a MacGuffin and all, but the craft found in Raiders of the Lost Ark is undeniably good, and makes the whole movie a very easy one to revisit time and again.
5
‘The Raid 2’ (2014)
The Raid already felt about as good as modern-day martial arts movies could be, and then along came The Raid 2, which arguably exceeded the original in terms of quality. The first was more direct, and perhaps better-paced, admittedly, but The Raid 2 was even more ambitious, had more action, and, perhaps most importantly, also made sure to have a much greater variety of action than the first movie.
You can see The Raid as a proof-of-concept for what would then become The Raid 2. There’s a bit of a convoluted story about going undercover to take down people involved with organized crime, and it’s serviceable enough, but mostly works because it gives the film an excuse to have a large number – and wide variety – of action scenes. The action sequences here are all incredibly rewatchable, so the fact that there are so many such scenes makes the movie as a whole easy to revisit, if you’re a big action/martial arts movie fan.
4
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ (2003)
Okay, this is the last movie that’s not first and foremost an action film, but The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King still feels like it belongs here. There is a ton of action in this movie, with more of a focus on battles than was seen in the other two (still quite action-packed) films, and even with it primarily being a fantasy movie, and so much time spent on the Hobbits and their journey, it’s still big on action.
If you’re rewatching The Return of the King, it’s probably because you’ve also recently rewatched The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers… so, you know, maybe they should be here too.
It’s also a little strange to single out one film in this trilogy, since they’re all needed to tell the overall story that is The Lord of the Rings, but The Return of the King is the one with the most action. If you’re rewatching The Return of the King, it’s probably because you’ve also recently rewatched The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers… so, you know, maybe they should be here too. Oh well. Consider them honorably mentioned.
3
‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (2018)
The Mission: Impossible series is technically a spy-related one, though there was a definite shift toward bombastic action as early as the original movie’s first sequel, and it’s never really looked back since then. Things might’ve gotten a bit too grand by the time of the eighth(!) movie, in 2025, but the build was fun and rewarding for a good many years there, with the series reaching its peak, in this department, with the sixth overall movie, Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
This one just has everything you could want out of a spy/thriller/action/adventure movie, with a plot that is more or less about saving the world, just done in a way that works, and supported with some of the best action ever seen in a movie made on this kind of scale. It all just keeps going and going, building and building, perfectly going right up to the line of too much, and thankfully never quite crossing it. The balance here is undeniably perfect, and it’s honestly hard to come up with even nitpicky ways in which Mission: Impossible – Fallout might be flawed.
2
‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1’ (2003)
With Kill Bill, it’s Vol. 1 that feels the most like an action movie. Vol. 2 has a couple of memorable moments of action, and it does still feel like a martial arts movie at times, thanks to the extended flashback showing the protagonist’s training, but most of her fighting done throughout the saga is kept in Vol. 1, which is the bloodier and more exciting part of her overall quest for vengeance.
You don’t really need to rewatch the first Kill Bill to understand the basics or anything, but it’s more just the film being so much fun – and such a blast – that makes it rewatchable. There are also things that can be appreciated if you watch it for a second or third time, knowing the full story, which is worth acknowledging (again, there are flashbacks in Vol. 2 that take place before the events seen in Vol. 1).
1
‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Sure, the idea of revisiting something that’s over three hours long sounds potentially daunting, but it’s more than worth doing when the movie is as great as Seven Samurai. There’s an argument to be made that it invented the modern-day action film, perfectly telling a very compelling story about the people of a village hiring a group of warriors to defend themselves against an incoming bandit attack.
That attack is what the climax of Seven Samurai focuses on, and, yes, it does have to be acknowledged that before the final act, there isn’t a ton of action, yet Seven Samurai remains very engaging as a drama. And it’s the dramatic elements that get you to care about – and feel more invested in – the action that the film presents in its final hour or so. Everything’s perfectly paced and in its right place, with Akira Kurosawa making the act of directing such a huge and ambitious movie look remarkably effortless.
