fighting words
These are the top 20 action stars. You say something?
Some unkind critics of “The Expendables 2” say Sylvester Stallone and his band of ’80s and ’90s action stars are dinosaurs. Well, if the combat boot fits ... The stars of the R-rated shoot-’em-up are part of an endangered species dating back to a time when real men — and a handful of badass women — wandered the movie landscape. Today actual humans are threatened with extinction by the evolution of CGI.
So to honor these butt-kicking heroes, a small unit of movie nerds was given a mission (and we chose to accept it): come up with an official list of the Daily News’ top 20 action movie stars of all time. esacks@nydailynews.com
1 Jackie Chan Before ever breaking into Hollywood, Hong Kong’s greatest export broke several bones and nearly died from falling off a tree while performing his own breathtaking stunts. Blending comedy and action in ways never seen before or since, no prop was safe in his hands. Unfortunately, the language barrier lulled him into joining clunkers like “The Tuxedo” and “The Spy Next Door” on this side of the Pacific. “What he does is harder than doing straight fighting,” says martial arts movie veteran Cynthia Rothrock. “He does a lot of acrobatic tricks and uses props and just makes it work. Watching him, I truly believe it really would work in a fight.” Must-see: “Police Story,” “Dragons Forever,” “Drunken Master 2.”
2 Arnold Schwarzenegger Nobody has dominated the action movie genre like the seven-time Mr. Olympia-winning bodybuilder turned actor, whether we’re basing things on box-office muscle or real muscle, body counts or spent bullet casings.
In recent years, he has gone from being a punching machine in movies like “Conan the Barbarian,” “Commando” and “The Running Man” to a gossip rag punch line, after fathering a love child with his family’s housekeeper. But there’s still hope that the 65-year-old former governor of California can recapture his action mojo starting with “The Expendables 2.”
Must-see: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “True Lies.”
3 Douglas Fairbanks The undisputed master of the budding action genre during the silent era, Fairbanks set the standard for actors performing their own stunts.
“Fairbanks was generally considered the first action hero, that’s indisputable,” says movie historian Leonard Maltin. “But action had a different definition back then.
“He inspired a whole generation of boys, many of whom went on to become moviemakers, actors and athletes.”
Must-see: “The Mark of Zorro,” “The Thief of Bagdad”
4 Sylvester Stallone He’s often overshadowed by his contemporary Schwarzenegger, who in fairness is 3 to 4 inches taller. But Stallone may have been wrestled out of the top spot by some regrettable movie choices. After all, for every “First Blood,” he made a “Specialist” or a “Get Carter.” Still, the guy is leader of “The Expendables” for a reason — and does have an Academy Award (“Rocky”) on his mantel.
Must-see: “First Blood,” “Cliffhanger.”
5 Bruce Lee He entered as a dragon and left far too soon. But no one left a bigger fist imprint on the action movie business in Hong Kong and in Hollywood than the jeet kune do creator, who died at age 33.
Must see: “Enter the Dragon,” “Fists of Fury.”
6 Charles Bronson Hollywood’s go-to tough guy looked the part in a soldier’s uniform because he was a World War II B-29 tail gunner in real life. Nobody did revenge flicks better.
Maltin says of Bronson: “He was the strong silent type who spoke with his guns more than his words.”
Must see: “The Magnificent Seven,” “Death Wish,” “The Mechanic.”
7 Harrison Ford The textbook example of a great actor who could convince audiences that he’s a great action star. Ford handled most of his stunts in the Indiana Jones movies and the former carpenter embodied the rugged type that women wanted and men wanted to be.
Must-see: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Fugitive.”
8 Clint Eastwood Even as a 77-year-old in “Gran Torino,” he could grit his teeth as hard as during his spaghetti Western days.
Must-see: “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Dirty Harry,” “The Outlaw Josey Wales.”
9 Jet Li A five-time wushu champion by the time he was 16, Li could probably wipe the floor with everyone else on this list in real life. Spoiler alert: The martial arts expert’s five-minute frying-pan wielding solo in the opening scene of “The Expendables 2” is the single best part of the movie.
Must-see: “Fist of Legend,” “Fearless,” “Once Upon a Time in China.”
10 Errol Flynn Though his era’s action is a lot less exciting by today’s standards, the “Tasmanian Devil” (hey, he was Australian) earned his title as the king of swashbucklers.
Must-see: “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “The Sea Hawk.”
11 Michelle Yeoh A former Miss Malaysia, Yeoh stumbled into the Hong Kong movie industry and relied on her professional dance training to sell herself as a martial artist on screen. It worked. Western audiences know her best as Jackie Chan’s partner/foil in “Supercop” and the most self-sufficient Bond girl of all time in “Tomorrow Never Dies.”
“In a movie, that’s the only time when you’re allowed these kind of fantasies to be lived,” she told The News in 2007. “Being able to look so cool and be able to fight five bad guys and take them down. When can you do that? I mean, if I was put in a situation like that in real life, I would run away real fast.”
Must-see: “Supercop 2,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
12 Bruce Willis Not as muscled as his former Planet Hollywood co-owners Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Willis nevertheless mastered the cold, hard stare and how to fire a gun convincingly.
Must-see: “Die Hard,” “Last Man Standing.”
13 John Wayne Davy Crockett may have been the king of the old frontier, but the Western movie belonged to American icon Wayne for three decades.
Must-see: “Red River,” “The Longest Day,” “The Searchers.”
14 Steve McQueen No one could brood or simmer on screen like the steel-eyed McQueen. The closest modern heir to his brand of cool may be Daniel Craig.
Must-see: “Bullitt,” “The Great Escape,” “The Getaway.”
15 Jason Statham At 44, the former British national team diver is the kid in the “Expendables” crew, but he may be one of the best hopes for the future of the genre.
“You can’t be doing martial arts movies when you’re in your 60s,” Statham said in 2007. “At some point you have to hang up your hat and let the others do it. But the others haven’t come through.”
Must-see: “The Transporter,” “The Bank Job.”
16 Vin Diesel The deep-voiced New Yorker would have scored higher on this list if not for “The Pacifier.” We want those 95 minutes of our life back. Must-see: “Pitch Black,” “Fast Five,” “xXx.”