The movie industry has come a long way in the past decade. However, one cannot help but miss the good old real action with actual movie sets, props, and mind-blowing stunts. In the 1990s, the action movie genre reinvented itself, finding its footing and soaring to new heights. The characters had depth; the plot was gripping, while the action scenes stunned viewers with their intensity. If you’re up for a stroll down memory lane, buckle up, and we’ll take you on a wild ride recounting the top five action films from the ‘90s.
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Con-Air (1997)
We start our list with a 1990s action movie icon — Nicolas Cage. In this movie, Cage plays a former Army Ranger, Cameron Poe, a devoted husband who gets sentenced to 10 years in prison for a murder he committed in defence of his pregnant wife. Fast forward to 8 years later, and we see Cameron finally getting parole and boarding Jailbird to see his family.
Sadly, things take a turn for the worse as the plane is overrun with high-profile inmates who manage to hijack it. Led by the notorious Cyrus the Virus, a criminal mastermind, the prisoners wreak havoc as Poe tries to save his friend and get back home.
Poe has to take on the likes of Nathan Diamond Dog Jones (Ving Rhames), Johnny “Johnny-23” Baca (Danny Trejo), and the notorious serial killer Garland Greene, aka the Marietta Mangler (Steve Buscemi). After hours of nail-biting action, Jailbird crashes on the Strip, and Poe manages to leave the plane unscathed and reunite with his family. The surviving prisoners are recaptured, with one exception.
In the end, we see the Marietta Mangler alive and well in a casino playing an exciting game of craps. Because the game is loud and boisterous, we completely understand why Garland Green wants to celebrate his newfound freedom with it. If you wish to try out this exciting game or any other casino classic, you can do so from home by visiting a site like the Mega UK casino. You’ll have the time of your life without having to combat America’s most notorious criminals beforehand.
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Armageddon (1998)
No action movie list would be complete without a film tackling the apocalypse. While a meteor shower causes mayhem in NYC, NASA is faced with the harsh truth that life on Earth as they know it will cease to exist in just 18 days. In efforts to save humanity from a comet the size of Texas, the head of NASA, Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton), seeks help from the world’s best deep-sea oil driller to bore a hole in the surface of the asteroid where they plan to plant a bomb.
Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) is the man for the job and agrees to help as long as he can work with his own crew. As the state gathers Harry’s band of misfits, we get to meet some of the supporting characters — Rockhound (Steve Buscemi), Oscar Choice (Owen Wilson), A.J. Frost (Ben Affleck), and Chick Chappel (Will Patton), Harry’s best friend and a notorious gambler who gets collected from a casino and asks for a full week’s Emperor’s package at Caesar’s palace in return. Exciting, right? You might not be able to be part of NASA’s rescue team, but you can surely feel the excitement of a casino by visiting sites like Prime Online Slots UK.
Once the team is together, they undergo evaluation and extensive training. This movie will make you cry both happy and sad tears as you watch Harry and his crew trying to save the planet and everyone they love.
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Face/Off (1997)
Get ready for your skin to crawl in this bone-chilling action thriller starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) manages to survive an attempt on his life carried out by Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) but loses his son in the aftermath. This sets off a personal vendetta Archer will pursue for many years. His revenge journey culminates in a face-off with Troy, accompanied by his younger brother Pollux. Troy divulges that there is a bomb set off to explode somewhere in LA. Sadly, Archer fails to learn any more details, as Troy gets shot and goes into a coma.
In his efforts to save the city, Archer does the unimaginable and undergoes surgery where he takes on Castor Troy’s face, voice, and appearance and infiltrates a prison to try and get some intel from Pollux. Are you able to keep up? Because things get even more bizarre from here. Meanwhile, the real Troy wakes up from a coma to find his face missing and forces the doctor to transplant Archer’s face on him. If you want to learn more about this incredibly complex procedure, you can read more about it here.
From there, we see the two characters masterfully playing cat and mouse, trying to outsmart one another.
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True Lies (1994)
It would be impossible to create an action movie list without the absolute legend of Arnold Schwarzenegger. In this action comedy, the former governor of California plays Harry Tasker, a US government agent leading a double life. At home, he is a salesman and a doting husband and father. In reality, he is a spy who has to go on covert missions and save the country from terrorists.
Meanwhile, Harry’s wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) is being seduced by Simon, a car salesman pretending to be a secret agent. Suspecting his wife of infidelity, Harry employs his team to interrogate her, only to learn that she is in a mid-life crisis. In his efforts to make his wife happy, Harry stages a spy mission. Unfortunately, things go awry from there, and Harry and Helen must navigate the dangerous world of secret agents together.
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Men in Black (1997)
We end our list with a sci-fi action classic based on Marvel comics. Men in Black stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The film’s premise is the following — Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is looking for a new partner when he spots James Darrell Edwards III (Will Smith) chasing down an alien. Impressed by his skill, Agent K scouts Edward and introduces him to an organisation dealing with policing refugee aliens — Men in Black.
We follow the duo as the newly appointed Agent J tries to navigate the new landscape and solve a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. The movie is both funny and packed with exciting action sequences.
Final Thoughts
The 1990s were the golden age of action movies. The genre took on a new life, getting characters with interesting backstories and scenes that would delight action fans. From the nail-biting Con-Air and tear-jerking Armageddon to the light-hearted Men in Black, this decade has left a legacy not many movies can match. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a movie marathon to plan.
