The Worst Action Movies Ever Made

Action is the ultimate film genre. The reason why is right there in the name. Motion pictures. Movies are about movement. Action provides it.

As a result, the old truism about pizza also applies to action movies: When they’re good, they’re great, and when they’re bad, well, they’re still pretty good. A poorly written and poorly acted action movie can deliver on the level of excitement and spectacle. (Case in point!) An outstanding action movie with high stakes and rich characters is better, but sometimes a dopey thriller with solid stunts and effects and nothing else is precisely what the doctor ordered.

(Wait, do we need a dopey action movie about a martial artist/doctor? Does that movie exist? What brave filmmaker will give us The Doctor Is In, the tale of a butt-kicking gastroenterologist who gets pushed past his breaking point and takes revenge against the evil goons who destroyed his clinic?)

While we wait for someone to make that surefire cinematic classic, let’s take a look at 20 films that failed to even clear the “dumb, but fun” threshold — 20 of the absolute worst action movies ever made. These movies contain atrocious writing, baffling editing, hideous cinematography and — worst of all — unexciting action performed by actors who were clearly out of their element. In this genre, that’s pretty much inexcusable. And so are these movies.