1992 Film Was Just Ranked the 'Greatest Action Movie' of the Last 90 Years

Over the last nine decades, action films have been consistently popular among movie-goers. While not every action movie is a masterpiece, there are quite a few that can be considered high cinema. Collider recently released a list of the “10 greatest action movies” released after 1936. The ranking, published on April 20, featured hit action films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from 2000, 1988’s Die Hard, 1954’s Seven Samurai, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, released in 1991.

The 1992 John Woo film Hard Boiled secured the list’s top spot. Collider reported that the film, which stars Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, is the greatest action movie since 1936 because of its impressive action sequences and unexpected comedic undertones.

Hard Boiled currently has a score of 92 on Rotten Tomatoes.

John Woo Said Chow Yun Fat Was in Danger During Infamous Hospital Scene in ‘Hard Boiled’

Hard Boiled is known for its iconic and very violent hospital scene. In a January 2026 interview with GKIDS Films, Woo revealed that Yun-Fat, who played Inspector “Tequila” Yuen Ho-yan, was in genuine danger while filming the movie. He explained that he had “set up five bombs” around Yun-Fat while his character is “holding the baby and holding the gun” and “running towards the camera.” Woo said he was disappointed when the bombs went off when Yun-Fat “almost ran out of the frame” during the first take.

“I said ‘What the hell is that?’ I said, ‘There’s no danger,'” recalled the director, now 79.

According to Woo, the special effects supervisor informed him that they were using real dynamite for the scene and “didn’t want to kill” Yun-Fat. Woo said that he insisted on filming the scene again and told the special effects supervisor to start the explosions when he gave him the cue.

Woo said the cue was given “one second before [Yun-Fat] started to run.”

“[Yun-Fat] didn’t expect that and then he was so scared and then he threw the gun away, and kept running,” said Woo in the January 2026 interview.

Woo said that while he was “so happy” about how the shot ended up looking, Yun-Fat was less than thrilled.

“He turned to the producer [and said], ‘F–king John tried to kill me,” said Woo, who worked with Yun-Fat in several films like 1986’s A Better Tomorrow and its sequel, A Better Tomorrow II, per IMDb.