The fifth entry in the increasingly convoluted Terminator series gets some mileage out of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s turn as an aging T-800, but the franchise has exhausted its creative energy.

While the French New Wave gets all the attention from cinephiles, the popular films of the day get left out of the conversation. A new double feature of escapist Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicles offer a glimpse.

While the French New Wave gets all the attention from cinephiles, the popular films of the day get left out of the conversation. A new double feature of escapist Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicles offer a glimpse.

The director of the twisted Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale tries his hand at the Big Dopey Action Movie, casting Samuel L. Jackson as a U.S. president running from hunters in the Finnish wilderness. If only it were as crazy as it sounds. 

A long-awaited third sequel to Jurassic Park attempts new twists on some old thrills.

With this trio of early-to-mid-’70s blaxploitation films, Pam Grier carved out a unique niche for herself and became one of the biggest stars in America while working entirely outside the studio system. 

With this trio of early-to-mid-’70s blaxploitation films, Pam Grier carved out a unique niche for herself and became one of the biggest stars in America while working entirely outside the studio system. 

With this trio of early-to-mid-’70s blaxploitation films, Pam Grier carved out a unique niche for herself and became one of the biggest stars in America while working entirely outside the studio system. 

An in-name-only continuation of one of Jackie Chan’s most popular series finds the star facing the limitations of age by going the gritty, Die Hard-inspired route.

Hong Kong action stalwart Tsui Hark updates a popular Chinese opera into a half-square/half-bizarre historical war movie about the fight between the People’s Liberation Army and a thousand-strong horde of bandits. 

A trained-from-birth teen spy faces her toughest assignment when she tries to pass as a normal teen in a comedy that strains to do right by its high-concept premise.

An action film starring Mickey Rourke and Don Johnson attempted to define the state of cool for 1991. It didn’t.

Director George Miller returns to his post-apocalyptic series for the first time since 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, setting a new standard for action while addressing tough philosophical questions. 

A script hampered by quasi-theological lectures and a reluctance to deliver the goods spoils this Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle, despite the can’t-miss premise of Van Damme going after kidney thieves. 

Michael Cimino’s terrific 1974 debut feature casts Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges as an outlaw buddy team in the American West who gear up for a big heist and share a bond that cannot be articulated.

Dolph Lundgren stars in and co-writes a throwback action film with a smidgen of social consciousness and a cast stacked with colorful co-stars.

 John Frankenheimer’s 1964 WWII film sends the black-and-white action film out in style.

Writer-director Joss Whedon improves on the first Avengers movie with an exciting, fast-paced superhero adventure that serves its many characters while weighing the difficulties of doing the right thing in a complicated world. 

The uneasy aftermath of a clash between two Maori tribes erupts into total war in this New Zealand thriller, which could be mistaken for a 1970s Hong Kong action movie. 

The seventh entry in the Fast & Furious series adds more cast members and more intrigue to a franchise that’s morphed into an unstoppable beast, but its thrilling setpieces and borderline-giddy tone make it hard to resist.