Darest I Say It, The Greatest Action Hero All Time............Arnold Schwarzenegger?

[Jimmy"The Gent"]

Wow, this is a pretty ballsy statement from myself, but coming fresh off an Arnold doulble header (Total Recall andTerminator 2), I gotta say that this guy is king when it comes to action movies. He's got the muscles, the cheesy one-liners, the endless body counts, the ice cold stare, ect., ect., ect. I mean his track record stands for itself:

The Terminator (1-3)
Commando
Total Recall
True Lies
The Running Man
Conan The Barbarian
Eraser
Raw Deal
Predator
Red Heat

These and a couple others I didn't mention were all mostly blockbusters and made a lot of money at the box office. HIs movie career has probably all but fizzled out, but I gotta say that Arnie was the king of the action flick back in the 80's and early 90's. So I leave it up to debate, is Schwarzenegger the numero uno star of the "mindless action movie".

[Gordon]

You dare say.

I am not a huge fan of his. But The Running Man was spectacular none the less.

[bluesbrother965]

For mindless action movies, I suppose you're right, but for action movies in general I think I'd go with Harrison Ford, who has:

All 3 Indiana Jones movies
The good 3 Star Wars movies
The Fugitive

Among others, I'm blanking right now.

[Rick-James]

I concur.

Arnold is the best action hero ever.

[Cronos]

Arnold is indeed the greatest action hero ever IMO and has made many films that are some of the most entertaining ever

[mcquade]

here's some competition for you-

mel gibson:
lethal weapon 1-4
mad max 1-3
we were soldiers
the patriot
braveheart
payback
conspiracy theory
ransom
maverick
bird on a wire

tom cruise:
war of the worlds
minority report
top gun
days of thunder
mi 1-2
last samuraii
collateral

bruce willis:
die hard 1-3
hudson hawk
last boy scout
tears of the sun
sin city
hostage
unbreakable
5th element
armageddon
the jackal
last man standing

sly:
rambo 1-3
rocky 1-5
get carter
daylight
assasins
judge dredd
the specialist
demolition man
cliffhanger
cobra
tango and cash
lock up
death race

[mcquade]

Originally posted by bluesbrother965
For mindless action movies, I suppose you're right, but for action movies in general I think I'd go with Harrison Ford, who has:

All 3 Indiana Jones movies
The good 3 Star Wars movies
The Fugitive

Among others, I'm blanking right now.

patriot games 1-2
hollywood homicide
k19
airforce one
devil's own
blade runner

[Gordon]

Bruice Willis has a pretty good track record.

I however honostly belive one day Jason Stathem will be the "best action hero." He just needs more roles.

[Jimmy"The Gent"]

I think Sly, Willis, Gibson, Ford, and Cruise all put up good competition for Arnie, but for the most part, these actors got "serious" with their careers (aside from Stallone) and moved away from the Action genre to branch out. IMO, Schwarzenegger always stuck true to the type of movie that made him famous, and that's why he was the best at it.

To me it's like comparing Poison, Warrant, Skid Rowe, Quiet Riot, and Motley Crue (Stallone) to Guns N Roses (Schwarzenegger). Sure those other bands had some big hits, but Guns N Roses were always on top of the mountain in the 80's.

[therealjohng]

Originally posted by mcquade
patriot games 1-2

2-3 actually.

[jaw2929]

I actually like Bruce Willis better... He's a damn good Action movie hero! :)

[bluesbrother965]

Originally posted by mcquade
patriot games 1-2
hollywood homicide
k19
airforce one
devil's own
blade runner

Thank you, sir.

[Shockwave]

Arnie all the way.

[redcunningham]

The Governator has made some really horrid action films:
COMMANDO
CONAN THE DESTROYER
RAW DEAL
RED HEAT
COLLATERAL DAMAGE
ERASER
LAST ACTION HERO

Some pretty solid ones:
CONAN THE BARBARIAN
TOTAL RECALL
THE RUNNING MAN
TRUE LIES
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY

And one bona fide masterpiece:
THE TERMINATOR

[iluvjude01]

Originally posted by bluesbrother965
For mindless action movies, I suppose you're right, but for action movies in general I think I'd go with Harrison Ford, who has:

All 3 Indiana Jones movies
The good 3 Star Wars movies
The Fugitive

Among others, I'm blanking right now.


I absolutly agree w/ you on this one. I think that there are better action movie stars than Arnold.

[ilovemovies]

My personal favorite is Kiefer Sutherland if he counts. I mean he's an action hero of sorts on tv and he has done some action movies as well (though he's played a lot of bad guys). So I guess it would be mainly for tv. But that is more than enough for him to be my favorite action star, though he's not just an action star but a great actor too.

But if Kiefer didn't count, then Harrison Ford is my favorite.


Though I think The Rock is off to a very good start. If he keeps it up, he could be up there with Ford and Bruce Willis and Arnold and Sly Stallone.

Oh and the most underrated action star is: Jean Claude Van Damme! Yep, I am a fan and I miss him. I wish he'd do another movie that will be released in theaters. Universal Soldier: The Return was the last movie he did to be released theatrically.

[Badbird]

If this were a story on Fark.com, it would get the "Obvious" tag.

Those other actors and just meer mortals. Arnold is/was larger than life. He has a screen presence unlike any other human being making movies. He commanded attention. He also has one of the most kick ass track records ever:

The Terminator, Commando, Predator, Red Heat, Total Recal, T2, Last Action Hero, True Lies... that's a man's list right there. Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, etc. may make good action movies, but nothing beats that list in my opinion.

He made a few turkeys, every actor does. His hits far, far outweighed his misses.

But you know what I was just thinking today? It would be cool to see in the future, after he's done playing with Kal-ee-for-nee-ah, and if he made movies again mind you, to see him in a serious, ensemble cast movie, like Crash, playing a small-ish, but serious role. Particularly a manipulative asshole (think Jason Patric in Your Friends and Neigbors) who was really, really mean. That would be cool. I'd like to see a gutsy director try that.

[AJAX]

Hercules in New York was a small masterpiece, but I gotta go with Harrison Ford.