Top 40 Badass Movies of the Last Ten Years
I’m sure you’ve come across this kind of movie. The one where right from the beginning you know it will be know no-holds barred. The gritty, in-your-face, relentless, gasp-for-air kinda films that can come from many genres, be it horror, action, suspense, or what have you. Wanton and careless disregard for life is often a common trait throughout. Violence, gore, cursing, and multiple headshots, yeah they’re here too. And you normally have a single character whose extreme attitudes and behavior are admirable. Think classics from the Schwarzenegger oeuvre, such as from his Commando days. Other classics include The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Scarface, Dirty Harry, and many of John Woo’s earlier works such as The Killer or Hard Boiled.
I’ll grant you, these aren’t always the best movies from an artistic standpoint, but they can be highly entertaining. And here are some of the best examples from the last decade. Sure, there are better action movies out there. And sure there are better overall movies. But these kind of movies make you think the individuals are just Jack Bauer/Chuck Norris-style badass.
40. Rambo (2008)
Rambo’s heyday may have been in the 1980s, but the latest installment doesn’t disappoint with this one man killing machine. For example, Stallone rigs a nuclear bomb and then outruns the blast radius and also single handedly ends the Burmese civil war with a truck mounted machine gun. If you ever wanted to see a guy’s head turn into a scrambled egg, then this is for you.
39. Payback (1999)
Sometimes, you just like to watch a badass do his thing. Gibson plays Porter, who’s basically just a total bad ass, doesn’t care about anything or anyone and is hell bent on revenge. I guess that’s what happens when you’re shot by your wife and best friend and are left to die.
38. Man on Fire (2004)
Teaming up Christopher Walken and Denzel Washington in a movie is never a bad thing. Having it happen in this extremely violent movie about kidnapping and corruption in Mexico City only sets itself up for Denzel to kick ass.
37. Exiled (“Fong juk”) (2006)
Exiled reminds you a bit of those Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, except set in Macau circa 1998. Plenty of gunfights are present, and it shows Hong Kong still leads the trend in innovative action film-making.
36. Collateral (2004)
Michael Mann directed Collateral, and you can see that this is the same man that brought us awesome movies like Heat. Tom Cruise stars in this one as Vincent, an ice cold contract killer ready to burst forth at a moment’s notice with lightning quick reflexes to bring about sudden violence. As an utterly ruthless hitman, Cruise is excellent as he picks people off in the Los Angeles night.
35. Running Scared (2006)
This is the kind of movie that will get your pulse running out of control. In addition to extreme graphic violence, this film uses the f-bomb at least 315 times, features a chick killing people at point blank, a shot of someone getting their nuts blow off, and a final shootout at a hockey rink with glow in the dark paint. It has it all: drug addicts, hookers, mobsters, wife beaters, pedophiles, crooked cops, and pimps
34. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Zack Snyder know how to make entertaining films, and this Romero remake launched his film career that we now enjoy. Would you like to see fast zombies? Check. Head shots? Check. Dismemberment? Check. It is chock full of bizarre creepiness, like when a zombie baby gets shot, plus it adds on Ving Rhames and plenty of guns.
33. Smokin’ Aces (2006)
Any movie that kills of Ben Affleck can’t be all bad. If you hadn’t had the opportunity to watch Smokin’ Aces yet, then do yourself a favor and get that popcorn popping! The sole point of the movie is a bunch of hitman attempt to pour pour boxes of bullets into one man, played by Jeremy Piven. In addition to the gun play, it also adds touches of grim humor and a dash of eye candy. Sounds like a fine recipe.
32. Open Range (2003)
Nothing says badass like an old-fashioned western. They don’t make that kind of film much anymore, but Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall team up for one of the better modern incarnations. There’s only one gunfight in the picture, but it is worth the wait and it makes you hearken back to stuff from Sam Peckinpah or Clint Eastwood.
31. Road to Perdition (2002)
Come see Tom Hanks wipe out almost an entire mob by himself. Irish mob movies don’t get much better than this 1930s gangster flick. For an added bonus, Jude Law’s performance as the psychopathic hitman Harlen Maguire was chilling.
