Man this is a tough topic, mainly because what is action, not as easy to pin point as horror because horror transitions into sub-genres much more smoothly. Take Armageddon and Independence Day, to me not true action movie's I would put it into more of a disaster movie genre but where's the line. Westerns, are they action if so it's hard to argue against John Wayne in the top spot, but wait. Do I include Martial Arts flick, if so Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, what do I do with them, it's tricky but I'm gonna take my time and what I think I'll do is rank each sub-genre a spot on the list and highlight the stars that put it there I think that is the most fair and just way to do it. There are a bunch of action movies and it's a tricky, yet fun way to really get you thinking about the angles of action cinema, which brings me to number 9. Which I was gonna wait till later to drop but after all that above it helped me work it out a bit. So here we go.
Number 9 is gonna go to the ladies of action and while there are many in the world of martial arts alone like Kelly Wu which I will touch on later on in the list, there are only 3 to really talk about in this context of the 9 spot. Women action hero's are starting to grow in number, and while semi action hero's like Jessica Alba ( Fantastic Four ) and Sarah Michelle Gellar ( Buffy ) are good if not great stars I can't put them ahead of say Uma Thurman or Lucy Liu who both did really great action movies in the Kill Bill's Alone, and even they are not worth mentioning in the same breath as my three I have in mind, Kate Beckinsale ( Underworld ), may get there some day but not yet. And before you all start getting ahead of me here I do not consider Halle Berry worth mentioning despite being a Bond Girl and the X-Men Movies because well she just didn't do much in them, that does not mean I don't think she is very talented but lets be honest she got booted off my radar the second Cat Women dropped into theaters and died a big floppy death. What was she thinking. And while there are many women that have kicked ass over the years there are few that have sustained success in the Genre, which leads me to.......
My Number 9 spot starts with Sigourney Weaver, Aliens need I say more, she kicks 4 movies worth of ass and laid the ground work for the other 2 on this list. While her star has faded in recent years her impact as a pioneer for women in the genre has not. Next up is Angelina Jolie, Salt, Wanted , Tomb Raider, Mr & Mrs Smith and many more make it hard to touch her, with her beauty and on screen charm she is a staple in the Action world, but there is one that in my mind far surpasses her just on talent alone, Model turned action sex symbol Milla Jovovich, she has a great set of movies and I feel range is much greater than Jolies. The 5th Element is a great movie and she stole it hands down, which is hard to do when working with Bruce Willis a funny man scene stealer Chris Tucker but she did, and did it with out saying much for most of the film, then for me she clinched it with the Resident Evil Movies, which yes I know does tread into those sub-genre areas I talked about before. But the resident Evil movies FEEL like true action movies that happen to have Zombies in them rather than the other way around. The movies come from a strongly developed hit Video game series, yet Mila takes a new person never before mentioned in the games and gives her life and substance and takes over the Resident Evil name and latches hers to it in the same breath and that above all is why she is our rep. for the Ladies at number 9. Hope that clears some things up as well as sets the tone for the rest of the list eye listeners.
Dave's Top Ten Action Stars.
!0. Bruce Campbell
9. Ladies of Action - Milla Jovovich***
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