By Thomas Sellers Jr.
On March 19 former American actor Chuck Norris was offered a newly issued fourth seat at the Throne of God to make it a Holy Quartet.
Norris humbly declined the offer and accepted his role as an all-time legend. In recent years, Norris was known as a meme and for his facts.
I am the proud owner of the book ‘Chuck Norris Cannot Be Stopped,’ which provides 400 proven feats of the karate champion.
For example, “Jack was nimble, Jack was quick, but Jack still couldn’t dodge Chuck Norris’ roundhouse kick.”
Norris’ roundhouse kick almost became its own legend like, “Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light.”
One more, one more: “Chuck Norris plays Jenga with Stonehenge.”
Norris’ passing has inspired me to rank my favorite actors as action heroes of all time. Not characters, my selections are made based on the actors who took on the various roles and how they breathe life into their characters.
Here are a few of my honorable mentions: Cynthia Rothrock, Kurt Russell, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Jackie Chan, Keanu Reeves, Clint Eastwood, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Sean Connery, Dwayne Johnson, Wesley Snipes and even Steven Seagal.
10. Bruce Willis
Iconic Role: Die Hard
Bruce Willis reaches the top 10 solely for the Die Hard franchise. He was iconic back in 1988 bringing John McClane to life in Die Hard. Willis did such an awesome job, he went from a leading man to an action hero overnight.
The Nakatomi Plaza became McClane’s playground fighting terrorists. His toys were his machine gun, mid-life crisis and sarcasm. McClane didn’t have a ton of muscles but he was armed with the anger of a 32-year-old man and a wise-cracking persona. Willis was later cast in films like Pulp Fiction, Armageddon, and The Fifth Element.
9. Will Smith
Iconic Role: Bad Boys
Before he became a Hollywood disgrace, Smith earned an Oscar for Best Actor taking on epic roles. Prior to that phase of his career, Smith transitioned from comedic actor to action hero.
Films Independence Day and Men in Black made him a box office draw. Smith had two major blockbusters before making the movie that made him an action hero to me.
Bad Boys and the franchise feature Smith as Mike Lowrey. Alongside his partner Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), they protect Miami from major criminals. Smith used his comedic skills, physical stature and amazing acting skills to be a bankable action star.
8. Sigourney Weaver
Iconic Role: Aliens
Rothrock brought China O’Brien to life in films and is an all time great action hero. But her low budget movies keep her out of my top 10. Representing the women is Sigourney Weaver for the Aliens films.
She cracks into the boys’ club with an impressive performance and kicks some major out-of-this-world butt.
Weaver used her world-class acting skills to make Ellen Ripley an action movie legend.
She had the right tempo throughout the movie from the dramatic parts to delivering those funny lines. She was believable throughout the 2 hours and 17 minutes.
7. Sylvester Stallone
Iconic Role: First Blood
OK, I can admit that for overall work, Sylvester Stallone will be placed on the Mt. Rushmore of action heroes. He belongs there, but he doesn’t crack my top 4 because I don’t classify Rocky as action movies. Those classics are sports movies.
Factoring out the Rocky franchise, playing Rambo and racking up all those kills earns Stallone a place firmly in my ranking.
Sly was a go-to action hero in the 80s with his physique and cool delivery. He went on to make films like Cobra, Demolition Man and Cliffhanger.
6. Chuck Norris
Iconic Role: The Delta Force
A real-life karate champion, Norris got his big break into film when he took on the iconic Bruce Lee. Then one beard later, Norris went from man to myth. He was always in on the joke about his legendary feats.
Outside of the “jokes,” Norris racked up an impressive filmogofy with The Hitman (1991), The Delta Force (1986) and Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990). He also starred in Missing in Action (1984) and its sequels, Firewalker (1986) and Sidekicks (1992). A generation knows him from Walker Texas Ranger.
One more Norris Fact: “When Chuck Norris’s parents had nightmares, they would come to his bedroom.”
5. Mel Gibson
Iconic Role: Lethal Weapon
Some people don’t think of Mel Gibson when it comes to action heroes. Well character names like Martin Riggs (Lethal Weapon), Max Rockatansky (Mad Max) and William Wallace (Braveheart) should help you realize Gibson has an impressive resume to rank as one of the best in the genre.
His Oscar-winning triumph Braveheart was powered by the epic battle sequences. Mad Max has a devoted following. But my favorite Gibson action-hero movies come from the Lethal Weapon films.
He has a great chemistry with Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh. They are salt and pepper bringing the right flavor to those movies. The yin and yang was so good in the first movie that it led to three more iterations.
Gibson brings intensity and comedy to Riggs. Then you buy into his pain that motivates his insanity.
4. Jean-Claude Van Damme
Iconic Role: Bloodsport
The Muscles from Brussels was hard to understand but that has never stopped America from supporting an action hero.
Van Damme popped onto the scene in the mid-1980s and stole our hearts with a great performance in Bloodsport. When Van Damme hit his iconic split, we believed he was a level-1 butt kicker.
He had the ideal body type and skill set to make his moves in a fight unbelievable. Ranking right next to Bloodsport for his best movie is Kickboxer. It’s not a sports movie because Van Damme had to beat up some folks outside of the ring.
3. Bruce Lee
Iconic Role: Enter the Dragon
Another myth on this countdown is the late, great Bruce Lee. He left us far too soon but in his short time on this earth, Lee left his legendary mark.
He passed away tragically at the age of 32. Prior to his earthly departure, Lee used his mastery of martial arts to author roles in The Green Hornet, Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connection, and Return of the Dragon.
His magnum opus was Enter the Dragon. This five-star classic is beloved by action-movie, martial art and movie lovers.
Lee inspired countless tropes in those genres, video game characters and actors like Taimak, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
2. Liam Neeson
Iconic Role: Taken
When I saw Liam Neeson take on the role of Hannibal in the A-Team movie, he officially became one of my all-time favorites. I must confess that 90 percent of this ranking is based on Bryan Mills from the Taken series. He is a man with a very particular set of skills. Those skills he acquired made him awesome in all three films. I still want to be like Bryan Mills when I grow up.
Neeson created a second chapter in his Oscar-worthy career, moving from powerful leading man to top-level action hero.
Neeson took advantage of his smooth accent, poise and physical strength to be an amazing action hero.
Other notable films on his resume are Star Wars, Batman Begins, and Clash of the Titans.
1. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Iconic Role: Commando
Any doubt who was my No. 1? He should be everybody’s best action hero of all time.
Schwarzenegger did the bad accent thing before Van Damme. He did the period pieces before Gibson with Conan the Barbarian. The father seeking revenge to get his daughter back (Commando), Arnie did it before Neeson. Eraser and True Lies validated Arnold as a leading man and killing machine.
Rambo and Riley got nothing on Schwarzenegger because he did the jungle killing thing and wiped out a supernatural being in Predator.
Did I mention The Terminator (and Judgement Day). That places him in a league of his own.
If the movie had a comedic element to it like Kindergarten Cop, Twins, or Jingle All the Way, Schwarzenegger mixed in a little action to stay true to his calling.
Other notable films on his amazing resume are Total Recall, Last Action Hero and The Running Man.
With this legend, you’re going to laugh and get your money’s worth with his kills.
THOMAS SELLERS JR. is the editor of The Millington Star and both the sports editor and a weekly personal columnist for West 10 Media/Legacy Media. Contact him by phone at (901) 433-9138, by fax to (901) 529-7687 and by email to thomas@legacy-media.net
