5 Great 1990s Action Movies Nobody Talks About

There will never be a greater decade for action cinema than the 1990s. Backdraft, Point Break, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Hard Boiled, Con Air, Face/Off, The Rock, Die Hard 2, they all came out in the ’90s. It was the decade when Steven Seagal’s movies actually went to theaters, with the likes of Under Siege and Out for Justice all finding an audience. It was also the decade when the acrobatic Jean-Claude Van Damme was a bonafide movie star, whether he was the sole lead in something like Sudden Death or sharing the poster with Dolph Lundgren in Universal Soldier. Then there were the more niche actioners like Darkman, RoboCop 2, and Demolition Man, which have found a following over time.

There were even some not-so-great movies that nonetheless have accumulated a cult following, e.g. Kuffs, Passenger 57, Judgment Night, and the like. The movies that follow fall somewhere between these aforementioned categories. They’re all-around solid movies, though not masterpieces, that deserve to have their fanbase increased.

5) Blue Steel

Blue Steel is nearly grim and tense enough to rank amongst Jamie Lee Curtis’ extensive horror filmography. She stars as a rookie NYPD officer who shoots a robber dead on her very first day of the job. Then, a witness to the crime begins to torment her, and not even from a distance, as he’s the very man she is currently dating. And now, his behavior is escalating.

It may not be the most fun movie on this list, but Blue Steel is an action thriller worth checking out, nonetheless. It requires an extremely dynamic performance from Curtis and she delivers, as does Clancy Brown as her true friend on the force and Ron Silver doing what he did best: playing a terrifying villain.

Stream Blue Steel on Prime Video.

4) The Last Boy Scout

Any buddy actioner scripted by Shane Black is bound to at least have its moments and The Last Boy Scout is no different. It’s not as iconic as Lethal Weapon or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but it does feature a crackling sense of humor and a few enthralling action sequences.

Bruce Willis was fully in his element as checked-out former secret service agent turned private investigator Joe Hallenback, but this is a film that could just as well coast on the strength of its supporting. The final product isn’t what either Black or director Tony Scott wanted, but it’s fun more often than not.

3) Nowhere to Run

An underrated entry on Jean-Claude Van Damme’s quite mixed quality filmography, Nowhere to Run has a charmingly small plot. Van Damme plays a convict who knows of cash stashed somewhere around a farmhouse. Now that he’s escaped, he heads to that farmhouse only to become fond of the single mother and two kids who now live there. The farmhouse is really all they have, and now a cruel land developer (Lethal Weapon 2‘s Joss Ackland) is threatening that.

A Van Damme or Seagal actioner is only good as its villain and Nowhere to Run has a memorable pair in Ackland and The Silence of the Lambs‘ Ted Levine. Furthermore, a young Kieran Culkin plays one of the single mother’s two kids, so that alone is reason enough for a pop culture curiosity watch.

Stream Nowhere to Run for free with ads on The Roku Channel.

2) Congo

While nowhere near as powerful as another Michael Crichton adaptation, Jurassic Park, Congo is a very fun ’90s Saturday afternoon movie, nonetheless. It’s perpetual mish-mash of tones and genres (is it trying to be action, science fiction, horror, comedy, or adventure) is technically a flaw, but 30 years later serves as a charm.

This is also a film that features the great Tim Curry putting on a baffling accent and finding himself at the business end of a nasty white gorilla’s pummeling fists. Then the other characters use diamonds to power up laser guns and blast the other vicious super gorillas to pieces as lava overtakes them all. What a nonsensical delight.

Stream Congo on fuboTV.

1) Rumble in the Bronx

It may mostly take place in New York, but Rumble in the Bronx was actually a Hong Kong film, and it was a record-smashing success in its home country. However, it also was a massive success here in the United States and it wasn’t long before he was co-headlining the even bigger Rush Hour.

But this remains the greatest display of Chan’s acrobatic capabilities, be it in terms of his combat skills or his way of dishing out comedy with seeming ease. It’s a simple story of a cop against a gang, but it works, serving as one of the definitive star vehicles of the ’90s.

Stream Rumble in the Bronx on Kanopy.

10 ’90s Action Movies That Actually Hold Up (And Where to Stream Them)