8 Films That Prove Reality Is Never Expendible

Did you think watching old men hobble around a green screen was an action classic? Think CGI does the job just as well as a squib? These are the action movies where the impact mattered.

1. La Femme Nikita

One of the great action movies, a masterclass in tension as feral wild-child becomes government assassin. Spawned a series of remakes and TV series that were travesties.

2. Way of the Gun

From Silverman's filth through Lewis' stomach by way of Phillipe's sperm and Del Toro's blood this is one action movie you don't walk away from untouched.

3. The Getaway

Simmering anger and relationship breakdowns, alcoholic binges and hacked apart scripts. The mistakes and confusions behind the scenes create one of Peckinpah's greats.

4. A Better Tomorrow 2

Curing mental illness through gun play and cutting a bloody path right to Alabama's heart, Woo and Chow Yun-fat double fist their way to movie immortality.

5. 44 Minutes

The shootout that changed the world. From those cops on the corner that look like the army to the video games you play, the events covered here still leave their mark.

6. Extreme Prejudice

Somewhere during a long dark night there was a producer who told John Milius to throw everything at a typewriter. Bloody, exhausted and down to one bullet, this was what staggered out.

7. Mad Max

Because everyone in Mad Max 2 now looks like they were dressed by the X-factor

8. Rob Roy

When the wigs come off, the swords come out