This is a list for all you thrill seekers looking for a adrenaline boost with movies and franchises that you may have never seen before in the action and adventure genre, but you should definitely check out as soon as possible. In this list I am excluding anything Marvel and DC, as well as Star Wars too, I want to broaden peoples minds to other fantastic and thrilling universes.

NUMBER FIVE - INDIANA JONES

Of course Indiana Jones had to be on this list, one of the original characters that would stop at nothing to get the job done. Indi would travel all over the world, capturing mystery, history and adventure while mixing it with the mythological aspect to create a thrilling masterpiece across all the films. Indiana Jones is one of the most captivating and engaging franchises when it comes to it’s locations, making every set feel grand and more adventurous every time we turn the movie on, you just can’t help but to feel instantly hooked while watching.

One of the main reasons why Indiana Jones works so well is because of his iconic lead actor, Harrison Ford. In his early days and mainly during these blockbuster’s, he was the most charming, charismatic, cool yet full of mistakes that he would have to try and work his way out of. Indiana Jones was the guy you always wanted to be, but also quite realistic due to amazing character work. It’s always nice to put on an action and adventure film, and to see that the main character isn’t invincible and is actually flawed, enough to make errors and work his way out of situations due to his intelligence and physicality.

The main reason we are writing this is to highlight the action and adventure aspect, and of course these movies have some of the most insane and iconic sequences. The main historic scene is of course from Raiders of the Lost Ark where he is being chased by the boulder and he is running away for dear life. Some people may mention the Tank Battle as their favourite sequence from The Last Crusade.

To top it all off if you love action and adventure, but also are a fan of mythology and relics then this is the perfect blend for you as featured in all these films are mythological artefacts that Indi wants to find such as The Holy Grail, The Ark of the Covenant an the Sankara Stones.

These movies are iconic and if you haven’t watched these before, do it now!

NUMBER FOUR - THE HUNGER GAMES

The Hunger Games franchise is a whole lot more than just action and adventure, of course it is one of the main factors as to why it is on this list but their is so much more as to why you NEED to put this franchise on as soon as possible.

First of all we will talk about the action. The whole franchise is full to the top in action set pieces, The first and second film have two separate hunger games to sink your teeth into. It’s two separate islands where 24 tributes have to fight to the death to win for their districts. The adrenaline and suspense that is created in these films are like no other, we follow a strong headed and fierce Katniss Everdeen who just wants to win the games for her sister Prim, but along the way she goes through pain and turmoil. Throughout the first two we see some gruelling tactics, environments being shifted so the game hosts can kill more people as well as deadly traps and creatures to make the contestants stumble. Every competitor has to use their own skills to try and survive, like Katniss with he bow and Peeta with the art.

Not only should you watch this because it has some of the best action and thrilling moments in the 21st century, but it has such a deeper connection with audiences and has many though - provoking moments that will get you thinking. The Hunger Games franchise is more of a social commentary on how the upper class treats the lower class, and how the media is affecting the world. Such as many would believe governments are acting in the real world, the Capitol strike the districts with feat tactics to keep them under control. Katniss is used as a symbol throughout this whole franchise as he mockingjay fingers in the air and whistle becomes a symbol of hope and sign to not fear the powers above, while starting a revolution with the districts and President Snow’s Capitol and Government. One of the great parts about this franchise is not only does it challenge social dilemmas, but it also tackles the dilemmas of how far does it have to go until you are creating a problem yourself. What I mean by this is that Katniss is trapped in a corner and has to decide on whether the revolution turning violent is for the greater good and how far do they have to go to fight the oppression put against them. This all adds some great complexity and though provoking moments for the audience to engage in and care about even in the real world.

The Hunger Games is one of the best dystopian worlds ever created, everything feels so real. The stark contrast between all of the district and the Capitol is strikingly shocking. The Capitol is filled with tall buildings and colour while the districts are just dull with warn down and half built buildings. They do a fantastic job at setting the difference and making the world even feel lived in. This is all matched with some fantastic cinematography and camera work. Go watch this franchise and get hooked.

NUMBER THREE - JOHN WICK

Now, John Wick is hands down, one of the greatest action and adventure franchises, and is high up in this list due to some of the best choreography work I have ever seen. The Hand to hand combat genuinely sets this franchise apart from any other. When these films first come out people were in awe and hadn’t seen fight sequences like these before. The martial arts aspect mixed with brutal usage of weapons is so unique, people started naming John Wick’s seamless technique as ‘Gun-fu’, now that is epic for a franchise to have connected to it. The main reason as to why these scenes translate to the big screen so perfectly is because of Keanu Reeves dedication and commitment to the character. He put so much time and effort into the fight sequences and full mastered the choreography before filming the final shot, and boy did it pay off.

Keanu Reeves has created the true action man in these films. John Wick is probably the coolest and most brutal assassin in the world, yet Reeves and the people behind the film have created a extremely relatable character that we can all route for and only hope that he gets what he wants. John Wick is a man that is so calculated and knowledgable, he knows what to do at any moment, even with no time at all to think which makes him so cool. That’s not everything about Reeves performance and character work. Wick is so driven by loss and revenge, he is a man who is in deep pain after loosing the love of his life, he is a emotionally tormented man who wants to set everything right, doing whatever it takes to do so. These films are so deep and emotional, not only some of the coolest action moments, but it hits you right in the feelings when you least expect it. This films explores consequences of your actions, despite Wick getting revenge, he has to deal with what he has done to get to that point and truly accept his fate.

Not only should you watch these films for the action sequences, but if you are a film buff like most of us, you will get along with these films. John Wick has some absolutely beautiful cinematography and set pieces, they mainly use lighting and colours to make every scene stand out better than the last. They use plenty of long takes with different angles to really show off the epic use of cinematography. Some amazing scenes is the long take at the night club in the first John Wick and when John is running away from all his hunters at the beginning of the Third film. Another fantastic franchise!

NUMBER TWO - LORD OF THE RINGS

Now before anyone hunts me down, the only reason why this isn’t at the number one spot is because the number one spot is made for pure adrenaline moments, you will see, despite this probably being the best trilogy of all time.

Lord of The Rings is truly magical. This franchise has the best world building and I actually don’t think anything will ever beat it. Peter Jackson careful nature in crafting every corner of Middle-earth is unmatched, he captures the stunning landscapes of New Zealand and transforms them into a fantasy world full of wonder and adventure. The set pieces and locations that we visit throughout from the beautiful and peaceful shire for the Hobbits or the slick and majestic Rivendell for the elves, it’s so incredible. You can’t help but to feel immersed because of the Mise-En Scene in every aspect. The costumes are crafted perfectly down to every last button and the props looking identical to what you would expect them to look like when reading J.R.R Tolkiens iconic books.

The Battles is why we are reading this list however, the action. The Lord of The Rings has the greatest battle sequences in the whole of cinema. The Lord of The Rings The Two Towers has one of the most epic scale battles of all time, The Battle of Helms Deep, this is that iconic that people who have never witnessed the scale and spectacle of this will still know of it. Not only that but they follow up with one of the greatest battles in history, with another one in Return Of The King with the Battle of Pelennor Fields. These battles are full of incredible fighting moments, but it’s all about the stakes that it riding on, The Lord of The Rings franchise builds everything up as to why we are here and what is at stake if our Fellowship lose which just adds more reasons to care during the battle. Even the first film makes us care about the stakes, with Frodo screaming he going on an adventure, to Sam stopping at nothing to get Frodo across that line. The power of friendship and companionship is beautiful during this trilogy, and it only makes us care more to see our heroes win the battles. All capped of with the greatest score of all time, a score that people listen too on Spotify to this day, simply wonderful and magical.

The Visual Effects used in this trilogy were so ahead of its time. The battles had so much CGI involved, you actually couldn’t really tell if it was or wasn’t as it looked that perfect. Of Course Gollum was created with CGI with Andy Serkis in a motion capture suit, something we hadn’t seen much of at the time, these films were groundbreaking and innovating even back in the early 2000’s.

I believe that the reasons we love this franchise so much correlate with why so many new fans come and get hooked into the films to this day, there is just such a cultural impact and its made everyone stick and love these characters forever. People quote this film, they dress up as the characters, they buy memorabilia, they watch the extended cuts for hours on end. Everyone loves this franchise, for great reasons.

NUMBER ONE - MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Your mission if you chose to accept it, is to watch all of these films as soon as you can, this message will self destruct in five seconds.

Of Course the Mission Impossible films are the greatest action and adventure films of all time. This is Action and Adventure if the genre made a movie. I can’t stress it enough how epic and how mighty these films are in this genre. The MI films hands down have the greatest moments that will make your jaw drop to the floor and ask questions like “did Tom Cruise actually do that” or “is this real” and shockingly every answer would be absolutely yes, Tom Cruise is just insane in the most perfect way.

Mission Impossible has stunts that you didn’t even know could be done by an actor, the fact that he does these epic stunts, while staying in character and performing his lines is beyond me. Tom Cruise performs all his stunts and doesn’t rely on CGI to get him through. Cruise has scaled up the tallest building in the world, The Burj Khalifa. He engages in high speed car and motorbike sequences in every film, he hangs off of cargo planes and normal planes without harnesses. He jumps off of Motorbikes and glides off a cliff, the list just goes on and on. Don’t get me wrong, these stunts would mean nothing if we didn't care for the characters and the story, and my goodness does the story do a fantastic job at making the stakes some of the highest in cinema history, from nukes to deadly AI, it has it all. The Characters for most are where we care the most however. Tom Cruise makes Ethan Hunt the coolest man on earth and you can help but to bite your nails when he gets into danger. Simon Pegg is the funniest and heart warming companions in any franchise, bringing the comic relief while also being in the action making us worry about his safety. Not to forget to mention Isla and Luther too.

The Emotion in these films are mainly elevated by the standard of villians across all these films. Whether is the tormented and calculated Phillip Seymour Hoffman or the brute who is all muscle and can beat anyone up even Ethan Hunt with Henry Cavill in MI Fallout. Each Villain posed as a different threat either wanting world domination or even just ultimately making Ethan Life hell by hunting down his wife, causing life altering situations.

Mission Impossible will officially chance cinema forever. The standard of action movies will never be the same again, people will compare the work that they have created in this franchise crossing 8 films that has non stop action and scenes that make you just sit there clenching and not blinking once and you can’t believe what you are actually witnessing. Christopher McQuarrie deserves a round of applause for the later films as to how he even films these sequences is beyond me, capturing camera angles from mid air and places where you can even be to capture, its incredible work and I don’t think anyone will be able to replicate his work.

So there we have it, please let us know at TheRatedReel what you think of this list, of course there are plenty of other franchises that could have made this list but I chose a few of the definitive action thrillers.

Top five franchises full of action and adventure

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