Well-armed and bulging at the biceps, action movies often get a bad rap. Sure, they prioritize brawn over brains, but the best ones speak to something primal about our attachment to cinema. As we researched the 100 best action movies of all time, the richness of the genre snuck up on us like a swarthy henchman with a knife clenched between his teeth. We found Oscar winners, sci-fi masterpieces, foreign films and Academy Award-winning all-time classics. And while it was a joy to return to action's '80s heyday, when Hollywood stars ruled the roost, we were also happy to quantify the global impact of Asia's martial-arts movies, the massive influence of John Woo's gun fu and the world-shaking cottage industry of Hong Kong's stunt cinema.
{Order reversed: What is #1 on this list was #100 on the time out list, and vice-versa)
