Hard Target is without question Woo's best American film. There is a 2 hour work print out there of Hard Target in which all the action scenes are more violent, hence its original NC-17 rating.

Looks spot on except for 2005 for Dark Knight, 2006, which will be Casino Royale and the maybe the Raid sequel in 2014.

Quick word about Tombstone: Costamos did not direct this masterpiece. Kurt Russell stepped in after original writer/director Kevin Jarre was fired. For insurance purposes, they brought in a well known director for hire that would support the star on set (much like he did for Stallone). It's a minor miracle that it…

After seeing Executive Decision, I was convinced that Kurt Russell should have been up for Jack Ryan. He would have crushed it. Then again, I think that if you swap out Russell for Ford in most films you have a better film.

Unfortunately McTiernan seems to be on the blacklist for the foreseeable future. But he had one of the best runs in history (87-90). DHWAV, Thomas Criwn and 13th Warrior are also amazing. Would love to see him get a comeback.

Trivia: Seagal is on-screen for like 40 minutes of that film. They knew they had gold with Jones and Busey and kept Seagal on the fringes of his bigggest film.

Lam needs more love around here: Full Contact, Maximum Risk, all of the "In Fire" films, Full Alert. He is also the first director to truly elevate Van Damme's acting. See In Hell for proof.

1993 also has Van Damme's best film (Hard Target), In the Line of Fire and Tombstone, arguably the greatest cast assembled of the past 25 years.

Die Hard with a Vengeance for 1995. The last gasp of old school action filmmaking. The last time that franchise wasn't a joke. And the last time John McTiernan knocked it out of the park.

I'm not going to lie, this got harder and harder as the years went on. Where have all the great action movies gone?

Can Sly recruit some action stars that would actually relish the opportunity to be in this series as opposed to has-beens like Willis that sleep walk their way through every gig?
I'm sure Dudikoff and Biehn are available.

Just watched Fink again on Netflix and still find it incredibly overrated. Miller's is still their masterpiece IMHO. Top 5 Cohen Brothers: Miller's, No Country, Fargo, Blood Simple, Simple Man

Spot on. The Kenzie Gennaro books are still his best. Pulpy, compulsively readable and yet compelling in their depiction of class warfare in New England.

Millers Crossing = Best Cohen Brothers film ever.

Bummer. Since Gone Baby Gone is still the best Lehane film adaptation, I had high hopes for Affleck taking another crack at him.

91 may be the pinnacle/last gasp of old school action films. All of the films in the article belong to a bygone era. By 93/94, major Hollywood action films started to feel safer, generic, more PC. Hell, Seagal's film in 1994 ended with a monologue about the environment rather than a boss fight.

Ringo Lam and Full Contact better get some love when 1992 rolls around. Thank you Mr. Van Damme for introducing 90s teenagers to Woo and Lam's HK films.

The foot chase in "Point Break" was the highlight of all the action movies I saw in 1991. And I saw almost all of these films in the theatre as an 8th grader. That movie has aged very well and is incredibly re-watchable. The entire "Fast and Furious" franchise cannot hold a candle to the original "Point Break."

Great call on Tombstone.

1992: Hard Boiled
1993: Fugitive or Hard Target or Cliffhanger
1994: Timecop or True Lies
1995: Heat? DHWAV?
1996: The Rock
1997: Face/Off or Con Air
1998: Ronin
1999: Matrix