Nicolas Cage has made a name for himself in just about every genre on the map, but none more so than the action genre. Like Keanu Reeves, Harrison Ford, and, of course, the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Sylvester Stallone, it’s his true comfort zone. And, of his theatrical actioners, some have been great and some have been, well, not so great. Those are the movies that follow, his leading man theatrical action films. Meaning, no direct-to-video movies here. Furthermore, movies like 8MM and Snake Eyes skew more thrillers than action, meaning they were excluded, as was Windtalkers, considering it skews more toward the war genre than straightforward action.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Not to mention, they had to have a wide theatrical release (so, no Mandy) — after all Cage made a lot of smaller movies between 2012 and 2023. With those parameters set, here’s every Nicolas Cage-led wide-release action movie, ranked.
10) Season of the Witch
Starting in 2006, the quality of Cage’s projects dropped considerably. 2006 had The Wicker Man, 2007 had Next, 2008 had Bangkok Dangerous, 2009 had Knowing (a box office hit but a broken film), 2010 had The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and 2011 had Season of the Witch. None of those films were particularly good, but they were still leading man projects, and they still received wide theatrical distribution.
It’s surprising that was the case for Season of the Witch, though. It deserved to go direct to video or video on demand as Rage, Outcast, Dying of the Light, The Runner, Pay the Ghost, Dog Eat Dog, USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, or any of the other seemingly innumerable micro-budgeted forgettable fare the actor churned out between 2014 and 2020.
Stream Season of the Witch for free with ads on Tubi.
9) Ghost Rider
Perhaps it’s for the best Ghost Rider didn’t show up in Deadpool & Wolverine because Johnny Blaze is a role best left in Cage’s rearview mirror. As written (particularly in the first film), it’s a role that just about any actor could have played. A dour film that both fits within the early days of Marvel cinema while simultaneously standing a bit too far from the likes of X-Men and Spider-Man, Ghost Rider is more of an ugly duckling of that era than even Hulk or director Mark Steven Johnson’s other devoid-of-personality superhero movie, Daredevil.
The acting across the board is pretty weak, and in terms of action sequences, the only particularly memorable one is Blaze’s ascension of a tall building, leaving flaming tracks in his wake. Toss in a bland soundtrack and a noticeable age gap between Cage and Eva Mendes (whose character is supposed to be the same age as his) and the only saving grace in Ghost Rider is the presence of Sam Elliott.
Stream Ghost Rider on AMC.
8) Gone in 60 Seconds
The weakest of Cage and Jerry Bruckheimer’s collaborations (including The Rock, Con Air, the two National Treasure movies, G-Force, and the nearly-as-bad The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Gone in 60 Seconds is the very definition of style over substance. It honestly makes similar car heist movie The Fast and the Furious from the following year look like high art.
The difference is that The Fast and the Furious had a soul. It also had performances that all seemed unified in understanding just what kind of pulpy movie they’re in. Gone in 60 Seconds is played as blandly as it is darkly lit. It’s a shame, too, because the cast is outstanding. Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, Will Patton, Delroy Lindo, Vinnie Jones, Timothy Olyphant — they’re all here. And they’re all given roles as compelling as cardboard.
[RELATED: Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Man Show May Release in Black & White (and That’s Perfect)]
Stream Gone in 60 Seconds on AMC+.
7) Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance isn’t a significant improvement over the first film, but it is an improvement. Like Drive Angry (more on that in a bit), it contains a certain B-movie charm that forever prevents it from being a particularly effective superhero film, but it never stops it from being one with a personality.
And, unlike the 2007 movie, Spirit of Vengeance actually tries to let Cage have some fun in the role of Johnny Blaze. Unfortunately, it often seems like he’s either sleepwalking through the project or just playing his eccentric self.
Rent Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance on Amazon Video.
6) National Treasure: Book of Secrets
It is a little strange that there’s never been a third National Treasure movie because even National Treasure: Book of Secrets isn’t half bad. It’s not quite as solid as the first film, which wasn’t exactly high art yet it is still a lot of fun, but it still did too well commercially to be a franchise killer.
If anything really holds Book of Secrets back, it’s that it seems a bit too comfortable treading the same path its predecessor did. Tonally they’re practically identical and, in terms of narrative, there’s still not much that separates them. In other words, some of the novelty has worn off, but not enough to keep it from being a fun time at the movies.
Stream National Treasure: Book of Secrets on Disney+.
5) Drive Angry
Drive Angry is a goofier movie than A Goofy Movie and, oddly enough, that’s just what it required. It’s a movie about a man who escapes from Hell to take down the cultists who have kidnapped his still Earthbound daughter.
Like some other Cage films of the era, as he was working his way down towards the direct-to-video market, its budgetary constraints show and the actor is a bit low energy, but there’s enough B-movie style to keep it afloat. What really helps Drive Angry breeze by is the antagonistic performance by William Fichtner as Hell’s “Accountant.”
Stream Drive Angry on fuboTV.
4) National Treasure
Cage had a good time making National Treasure and its sequel, and that’s quite apparent. His heart really seems to be in both the project and the character Benjamin Franklin Gates. Gates is essentially Cage’s Indiana Jones, and his obvious relishing of that helps National Treasure stay afloat even when it can be a bit too goofy (or shoddily written) for its own good.
National Treasure also skates by thanks to its trademark Jerry Bruckheimer bombast. As a PG-rated movie, it can only go so far with the intensity of its action sequences, but it makes do with what it has. Not to mention, it’s always fun to see Sean Bean play a villainous role.
Stream National Treasure on Disney+.
3) Con Air
A ’90s action movie that still holds up, Con Air is one of the definitive adrenaline-rush movies. It’s a very swift two hours, with everyone playing up their roles and more explosions than can be counted on a dozen hands. The ace in the hole is its casting. Cage and John Malkovich, in particular, are perfect in their roles. They both clearly know they’re in a silly movie, but they never perform as if they’re looking down on the material, even when they’re turning it up to 11.
Of the three movies Cage made between 1996 and 1997, all of them action, Con Air is the weakest, but that’s not as much of a slight as it sounds like. It’s just that the same goofy tone that serves as an asset also restrains it from being a truly great film. Great fun? Sure. But a great film? Not quite.
Stream Con Air on Hulu.
2) The Rock
It’s difficult to say which of Cage’s three action hero movies between 1996 and 1997 is the best, because it’s actually fairly close. On one hand, The Rock gets points for the novelty of having Cage as the co-lead of a mega-budget straightforward actioner. Prior to this, he was known far more for his roles in rom-coms like Valley Girl, Peggy Sue Got Married, Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, and Honeymoon in Vegas than for holding a machine gun in standoffs with terrorists. The closest he had really come was as a man on the run from those with guns in Red Rock West or as an unstable and talkative gangster in Kiss of Death.
Perhaps that’s what makes The Rock so special as a Cage actioner: he’s not really even the action hero. That place is reserved for Sean Connery. Cage’s Stanley Goodspeed is instead something of a nerd dragged into a dangerous situation. He’s out of his element and in over his head. Even by the end of the film, Goodspeed is still not fully comfortable during the set pieces. It was the perfect role to get Cage into the genre and it’s quite nearly still his best. And it would be, if there weren’t a high-concept John Woo film in his filmography.
Stream The Rock on Hulu.
1) Face/Off
One of the best summer blockbusters of the ’90s, John Woo’s Face/Off is an inventive, energetic, and very well-acted rollercoaster ride. With a nearly two-and-a-half-hour run time, it might be too much violence in one sitting for some people, but the novel core concept and enthusiastic performances from Cage and John Travolta are more than enough to keep just about everyone interested.
It’s amazing how well Face/Off works given how easily the face-swapping thread could have come across as just silly. Naturally, it still comes across as a little silly, but the movie is aware of that, and kudos to Cage especially for never playing the material like it shouldn’t be taken seriously. He makes some great faces here or there, but for the most part, he convincingly sells the notion that he’s truly Travolta’s Sean Archer stuck in a position where he can’t even convince those he loves most that he’s genuinely the one they love most.
Stream Face/Off on Paramount+.
What’s your favorite Nicolas Cage action movie? Let us know in the comments below!
