As a genre, action provides fertile ground for experimentation and outlandish storytelling. While action films aren’t necessarily famous for their plot twists or particularly thought-provoking narratives, more than a few are well known for just how unhinged they allow themselves to get. Indeed, there is no shortage of great action movies that end on a wild note.
For some films, like Cold Pursuit, the madness of the ending is brought about by the seemingly tame first act of the film. Meanwhile, other films like Yakuza Apocalypse and Why Don’t You Play in Hell? are savage from the jump, and only get more out of control as their conclusions approach. This list will deal with the action movies that descend into pure bonkers chaos, leaving audiences gasping for breath.
10
‘Cold Pursuit’ (2019)
Directed by Hans Petter Moland
Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) has been awarded Citizen of the Year due to his contributions as a snowplow driver in Kehoe, Colorado. Shortly after receiving this honor, Nels learns that his son has died from an apparent drug overdose. Nels refuses to believe the cause of death and digs further. What he learns pulls him into the criminal syndicates of Denver, and puts a crime boss called Viking (Tom Bateman) on his radar.
Upon its release, Cold Pursuit understandably gave the impression that it would essentially be Taken on a snowplow. Thankfully, the pitch black action comedy is much more than that. What begins as an intimate portrait of a grieving father eventually descends into chaos as an all-out gang war between multiple factions with competing interests breaks out. While Neeson is the heart of the film, Tom Bateman’s performance as a dangerous crime boss with anger management issues is the standout.
Cold Pursuit
- Release Date
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February 7, 2019
- Runtime
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118 minutes
- Director
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Hans Petter Moland
9
‘The Raid 2’ (2014)
Directed by Gareth Evans
After narrowly surviving the botched raid orchestrated by his corrupt superiors, special forces agent Rama (Iko Uwais) goes undercover to try and topple the entire organization behind the conspiracy. To gain credibility and get access to key players, Rama goes to prison. While incarcerated, he befriends Uco (Afirfin Putra), the spoiled son of a mob boss. Upon his release, Uco hires him as a bodyguard, and Rama gets direct access to the vast criminal empire of Uco’s father.
For those in the know, The Raid is one of the most influential and important martial arts action movies of the 21st century. While The Raid 2 had a bigger budget and more opportunities, the sequel from Gareth Evans also had big shoes to fill. It is sleeker and story-focused than its lean and scrappy predecessor, but the bigger budget allows for bigger fight scenes and more spectacular stunt work. The energy and fight choreography are present throughout, but the film’s concluding action set pieces are a cut above the rest.
8
‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007)
Directed by Edgar Wright
Police Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) works for the Metropolitan Police in London. Sergeant Angel is so exceptional at his job that his bosses reassign him to a quiet country town so he stops making his London colleagues look bad in comparison. Sergeant Angel’s new partner, Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), is a bumbling drunk who is the son of the town’s Police Inspector, Frank (Jim Broadbent). Despite the quiet appearance of the town, Sergeant Angel begins to think there is a dark underbelly that only he can see.
Despite being a wildly unconventional buddy cop film, Hot Fuzz is undoubtedly one of the best to ever do it. The film from director Edgar Wright treats the buddy-cop relationship almost like a romantic one, and gets into the hilarious quirks of small-town policing. Every aspect of Hot Fuzz is perfect, but one of the film’s strongest features is the bonkers conclusion to the underpinning mystery that runs throughout.
7
‘Death Proof’ (2007)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Arlene (Vanessa Ferlito), Shanna (Jordan Ladd), and Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poitier) catch up at a Texas bar to celebrate Julia’s birthday. There, they run into Pam (Rose McGowan), one of Julia’s old friends. Julia works as a radio DJ and has stated on air that anyone who approaches her in public today, buys her a drink, and recites a code word, will receive a lap dance from Arlene. Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) claims the offer. Later, he drives Pam home, proudly showing off his car, which he claims is so safe, it’s death-proof.
Quentin Tarantino lives out his grindhouse dreams with Death Proof, a grimy ode to exploitation that casts Kurt Russell as a serial killer who murders women with his car. The film is slow to start, but once it gets going, the director’s love of car chases and stunts is on clear display, emphasized by a great stunt performance by Zoë Bell. The film was originally released as one half of a double-feature with Robert Rodriguez‘s Planet Terror. As part of the double-feature package, trailers for fake movies were played between the two films (one directed by Edgar Wright). Of these five fake trailers, three have since been adapted into feature films: Hobo With a Shotgun, Machete, and Thanksgiving.
Death Proof
- Release Date
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May 22, 2007
- Runtime
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113 minutes
6
‘Sisu’ (2022)
Directed by Jalmari Helander
Aatami (Jorma Tommila) is a lone prospector who searches for gold in the wilds of Lapland in 1944. Aatami has only his horse and loyal dog for company. After discovering an enormous gold deposit, he loads up his horse and makes his way to the nearest city to deposit his findings. Along the way, Aatami passes a convoy of Nazis, who are taking a scorched-earth approach to their retreat from the region. The Nazis rob Aatami, kill his horse and leave him for dead. Thankfully, the Nazis have no idea who they’re messing with.
Nazis have long been the perfect punching bags for period-action films, and Sisu continues that trend in gory and riotous fashion. Following in the footsteps of other “one-man-army” films like John Wick, Sisu revels in the havoc and mayhem its protagonist wages in the name of revenge. Yes, the ending of Sisu gets very bonkers, but animal-loving viewers can rest assured that the dog doesn’t die.
Sisu
- Release Date
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April 28, 2023
- Runtime
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91 Minutes
- Director
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Jalmari Helander
5
‘Bullet Train’ (2022)
Directed by David Leitch
Several assassins board a high-speed bullet train traveling from Tokyo toward Kyoto. Among them are brothers Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), anxiety-ridden former hitman Ladybug (Brad Pitt), and Mexican assassin The Wolf (Bad Bunny). All the involved parties begin to realize they may have something in common.
Since the release of John Wick over ten years ago, David Leitch has gained a reputation as an action filmmaker that stunt performers and audiences alike can enjoy. The director’s work, including Bullet Train, is responsible for a new era of action filmmaking. Gone are the days of illegible and dreary shaky cam. Instead, Lietch’s brand of modern action is slick, well-lit, and intentional. While the action in Bullet Train is a key feature, the wild plot twists and Guy Ritchie-esque rat-a-tat dialogue will appeal to lovers of quirky genre filmmaking.
4
‘Why Don’t You Play in Hell?’ (2013)
Directed by Sion Sono
A group of overzealous teenage film fanatics who refer to themselves as the “F**k Bombers Film Club” are desperate to make a movie. Through a series of coincidences, the teens stumble into the aftermath of a bloody Yakuza battle at the home of Boss Muto (Jun Kunimura) and his daughter Mitsuko (Fumi Nikaidô). Years later, the F**k Bombers reconnect with Yakuza, when wannabe actress Mitsuko convinces her father that the group are the only ones who can help make her a star.
Nothing says “bonkers” like a film with the title Why Don’t You Play in Hell?. The Japanese film certainly delivers on the promises implied by the zany title and offbeat premise. The film’s mix of filmmaking and Yakuza plots is reminiscent of One Cut of the Dead, another Japanese film which follows a film crew making a low-budget zombie movie. Part of the charm of Why Don’t You Play in Hell? comes down to the two-way exploration of the fish-out-of-water trope. The F**k Bombers are unaccustomed to the Yakuza, but the Yakuza themselves are unaccustomed to working as actors and camera crews.
3
‘Overlord’ (2018)
Directed by Julius Avery
It’s the eve of D-Day, and a paratrooper unit is set to be deployed into a small Nazi-occupied village. Before they can parachute in, their plane is shot down, and only a few of them survive, including Private Boyce (Jovan Adepo) and Corporal Ford (Wyatt Russell), who was reassigned to the unit at the last moment. Under Ford’s instruction, the group continue with their plan, which involves interrupting the radio signal from a Nazi base that has been set up in the local church. The group quickly discovers that accessing the church and completing the mission will be harder than they could have imagined.
Action, wartime, body horror and Nazis crash together to create Overlord, one of the most underrated action horror films of the 2010s. Overlord more than earns its R-rating with stomach-turning gore and psychologically troubling body horror concepts. The film sandwiches human interest and wartime espionage between its spectacular opening set piece and its wild and disgusting third act.
Overlord
- Release Date
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November 1, 2018
- Runtime
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110 minutes
- Director
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Julius Avery
2
‘Oldboy’ (2003)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
Businessman Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is spending his daughter’s fourth birthday getting drunk in the city. Before he can make it home to celebrate the event, he is kidnapped. When he wakes up, he finds himself confined to a dingy hotel room with limited facilities, including a television and a slot in the door through which food is delivered. Dae-su has no idea why he’s there, but he remains locked in the room for 15 years, at which point he is released without explanation.
Park Chan-wook defined action for the 2000s with Oldboy. The grimy yet sleek action mystery film features numerous iconic set pieces and moments. From the one-take hallway hammer fight to Dae-su’s unusual taste for seafood, the South Korean film pulls no punches. This unique approach is the truest of the film’s now-iconic third act, where the mystery of Dae-su’s imprisonment is revealed. While the ending is unexpected and genuinely shocking, it is far from pleasant. Viewers looking for a fun action experience with a killer plot twist should proceed with caution before pressing ‘play’ on Oldboy.
1
‘Yakuza Apocalypse’ (2015)
Directed by Takashi Miike
Genyo (Lily Franky) is a powerful Yakuza boss who is nearly invincible because, unbeknownst to his underlings, he’s a vampire. When priest/martial artist Mad-Dog (Yayan Ruhian) comes to town and kills Genyo, the boss uses his final moments to turn Yakuza member Kageyama (Hayato Ichihara) into a vampire. This triggers a vampire epidemic that overtakes the Yakuza and the town they live in and ultimately leads to a town-wide battle involving a martial arts assassin in a full-body frog costume.
Director Takashi Miike is never one to play by the rules. The filmmaker may be best known to American audiences for his 1999 horror film Audition. While the director is known for getting very dark, he’s equally interested in getting very silly, and that’s where Yakuza Apocalypse comes in. Whether the story really comes together to form a cohesive narrative is up for debate, but one thing is for certain: Yakuza Apocalypse is an utterly bombastic Yakuza vampire action film without an equal.
yakuza apocalypse
- Release Date
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May 21, 2015
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Takashi Miike