Nicolas Cage has had one of the most varied careers in Hollywood, but it’s in the action movie genre that he’s had some of his most acclaimed and memorable roles. With three iconic releases in 1996 alone, including The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off, Cage has made a name for himself as a non-stop worker who’s always willing to embrace even the most outlandish of movie premises. From blockbuster smashes to later lesser-known straight-to-video releases, Cage has become a touchstone in modern popular culture and has achieved cult status among action movie lovers.
While some of Cage’s best movies were undisputed action classics, there were also some heartbreakingly low points in his long and bloated filmography. Whether he’s portraying a vengeful father, a man who has escaped from hell, or even a future-seeing action hero, Cage has consistently remained totally committed to his roles and brought his unique style and eccentricities to Hollywood’s film landscape. With releases that included truly terrible movies, so-bad-it’s-good films, or beloved classics, Cage’s action movie career has been an undeniable part of the actor’s strange and enigmatic legacy.
20 Arsenal (2017)
Nicolas Cage as Eddie King
It boggles the mind why Nicolas Cage decided to reprise his role from the 1993 box office flop and critically reviled movie Deadfall for yet another lackluster film that bordered on offensive in its dullness. In Arsenal, Cage played the sleazy mobster Eddie King, a wig-wearing, mustache-clad, prosthetic-nosed caricature whose outrageous nature was a little too on the nose, even for lovers of Cage’s unique acting style. Arsenal was a painfully mediocre action movie about gangsters and kidnappings that was best avoided altogether.
19 211 (2018)
Nicolas Cage as Mike Chandler
As just one in a long line of forgettable Nicolas Cage action movies, 211 followed a police officer and teenager stuck in a bank during a violent shootout and was loosely based on the real 1997 North Hollywood shootout. As a disjointed mix of action movie tropes strung together by an uninspired plot, 211 was truly the bottom of the barrel regarding Cage’s many direct-to-video releases. With very little going for it, 211 was a generic heist movie that totally lacked the unique charm and originality of Cage’s greatest action offerings.
18 Rage (2014)
Nicolas Cage as Paul Maguire
Disappointedly, Rage never managed to quite meet the so-bad-its-good criteria of Nicolas Cage action movies and instead stood as a lackluster kidnapping story. With Cage as a former reformed criminal whose kidnapped daughter forces him to gather his old crew and resume his old habits again, this was a movie done ten times better in the countless Taken rip-offs out there. While this kind of violence-filled story of pure vengeance has been a franchise starting in the past, here it was just a forgettable retread of action movie cliches.
Rage
was released under the title
Tokarev
in most of Europe and Australia.
17 Outcast (2014)
Nicolas Cage as Gallain
The American-Chinese-Candian co-production Outcast paired Nicolas Cage with Hayden Christensen for a universally panned period action movie set during the Crusades. Outcast was slated by critics, with Glenn Kenny of Rogerebert.com rightfully noting that it represented Cage moving out of his “entertainingly eccentric phase” and into his “genuinely befuddling and perhaps sad phase.” This was one best left for Cage-completionists only, as this tale of Chinese Emperors and mysterious warriors failed to connect with anybody and boasts an abysmal 4% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
16 Grand Isle (2019)
Nicolas Cage as Walter
Grand Isle saw Nicolas Cage play a hard-drinking Vietnam veteran haunted by his past in a depressing story that saw a young man trying to prove his innocence against accusations of murdering Cage’s wife. With a slowly unfolding narrative of sad and sinister characters, Grand Isle contained glimpses of Cage’s unique talents as his dark characterization kept things interesting. Although there was enough intrigue in this neo-noir tale to make this one worth recommending to casual Cage fans, unfortunately, the weak script and structural issues of Grand Isle stop it from achieving greatness.
15 Primal (2019)
Nicolas Cage as Frank Walsh
Primal had the exact kind of over-the-top concept that makes a great Nicolas Cage action movie, although for how fun it was, it fell short of this honor and was more of a guilty pleasure in Cage’s filmography. With Cage as Frank Walsh, a big game hunter who caught a 400-pound white jaguar, all hell broke loose when the big cat was shipped on the same vehicle as a skilled assassin who sets the animal free. Like the beast, Primal was wild and unhinged but lacked the B-movie energy and urgency found in Cage’s best action offerings.
14 Vengeance: A Love Story (2017)
Nicolas Cage as John Dromoor
Vengeance: A Love Story, adapted from a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, tells the story of a policeman investigating the rape of a single mother who was forced to take the law into his own hands after the attackers were acquitted. While Vengeance had a disappointingly formulaic revenge movie structure, the incredible performance of Talitha Bateman as the daughter elevated this film into something more than the sum of its parts. Sadly, Cage never seemed to connect with his role fully and struggled with the film’s slower pace, which, from a performance perspective, made it one of his weaker works.
13 Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
Nicolas Cage as Joe
Bangkok Dangerous was a remake of the Pang brothers’ own 1999 Thai film that cast Nicolas Cage as a professional contract killer who was forced to violate his personal code for the good of those he loves. While it may not have a profoundly complex storyline, for those looking for solid action-movie fun and a long-haired Cage shooting his way through Bangkok, it more than delivered. Cage also acted as a producer on this American remake that walked the fun line between entertainment and pure ridiculousness.
12 Dog Eat Dog (2016)
Nicolas Cage as Troy
Dog Eat Dog was worth watching just to see two of the most interesting actors in Hollywood, Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe, sharing the screen together. From the acclaimed director Paul Schrader, Dog Eat Dog doesn’t quite live up to his best work, such as the screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, yet its thrilling story of three ex-cons holding a kidnapped baby for ransom remained engaging and witty throughout. With plenty of talented people involved, Dog Eat Dog had great chemistry, a farcical story, and a strong sense of humor.
11 Stolen (2012)
Nicolas Cage as Will Montgomery
It’s a tale as old as time; a former thief has 12 hours to track down $10 million dollars and save his daughter from imminent danger in Stolen. Although it bombed at the box office when it was first released, looking back on Stolen, it was a high-octane thriller that kept intensity going throughout in a classic race-against-the-clock style story. There’s nothing much deeper than that in Stolen, but everything came together incredibly well, and, in typical Cage fashion, he gave his all to a script that a lesser actor would have phoned in.
10 Drive Angry (2011)
Nicolas Cage as John Milton
The exploitation action horror movie Drive Angry ticked all the right boxes for an outrageous Nicolas Cage film. As John Milton, Cage stole Satan’s personal shotgun and escaped from Hell to save his granddaughter from the man who killed his daughter in an over-the-top exercise in total excess. Cage was perfectly cast as the vengeful man who had spent ten years in Hell, and while he had no issue enduring the pain that was inflicted upon him there, having to watch a video feed depicting his daughter’s murder continually was unbearable.
9 A Score To Settle (2019)
Nicolas Cage as Frank Carver
Nicolas Cage played Frank, a mobster who took the fall for a crime he didn’t commit for $450,000 and with the promise that his son would be protected while he’s incarcerated. However, a six-year sentence quickly turned to life, and when Frank was released for medical reasons, he had old scores to settle with the crooks who broke their promise. A Score to Settle was plenty of fun for what it was, as Cage helped elevate what could have been a forgettable film into pure B-movie action fun.
8 Next (2007)
Nicolas Cage as Cris Johnson
Next was adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick and starred Nicolas Cage as a man who can see into the future and must evade a group of terrorists who wish to use his powers for evil. With a star-studded cast that included Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel, Next was a high-intensity popcorn flick with thought-provoking sci-fi undertones. As a box office flop, despite being a lot of fun, Next represented Cage’s faltering reputation as a major movie action star and signaled his gradual decline into many lackluster straight-to-video releases in subsequent years.
7 Fire Birds (1990)
Nicolas Cage as Jake Preston
There’s no denying that Fire Birds wasn’t a total Top Gun ripoff that switched out Tom Cruise’s naval aviator Maverick for Nicolas Cage as the helicopter pilot Jake Preston. With some impressive visuals, a romantic subplot, and a mentor-mentee relationship between Cage and Tommy Lee Jones, Fire Birds rehashed much of the same story beats as Top Gun and failed at the box office as a result. However, looking back, the stunts and visuals were impressive, the air battles looked great, and the world’s better off for having a Cage action movie set in the sky full of corny dialogue.
Fire Birds
was also released under the title
Wings of the Apache
.
6 Amos & Andrew (1993)
Nicolas Cage as Amos Odell
The highly underrated 1990s action-comedy Amos & Andrew was a buddy movie with insightful racial themes as Samuel L. Jackson played a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright while Nicolas was a two-bit thief tasked by police to take the fall for their mistakes. When Jackson’s white neighbors mistook him for a burglar, all hell broke loose when they opened fire on his home and recruited Cage to make it look like a kidnapping. As a light-hearted exploration of race, class, and racial profiling, Amos & Andrew was a hilarious, thought-provoking examination of prejudice and how friendships can be formed in the most unlikely places.
5 Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)
Nicolas Cage as Randall “Memphis” Raines
As a loose remake of the 1974 movie of the same name, Gone in 60 Seconds starred Nicolas Cage as a former car thief who comes out of retirement to steal 50 cars in one night in exchange for his brother’s life. With an excellent premise for delivering over-the-top action and intense car chase sequences, Cage, Angelina Jolie, and Robert Duvall kicked it into hypergear for this outrageous heist. While Gone in 60 Seconds was badly received by critics, its over $237 million take at the box office (via Box Office Mojo) proved audiences were happy to go along for the ride.
4 The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (2022)
Nicolas Cage as Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage fully embraced his meme-able persona for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a satirical action movie where he played a down-on-his-luck fictional version of himself. With Cage as both a struggling Hollywood actor and as Nicky Cage, a figment of his own imagination who represented the bizarre glory days of his career, this surreal, action-packed adventure saw Cage caught between a criminal superfan and the FBI hoping to take him down. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was a special treat for Cage lovers and featured incredible chemistry between himself and his co-star Pedro Pascal.
3 Con Air (1996)
Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe
The year 1996 was truly transformative for Cage, as he proved his potential as an action-hero leading man in three iconic movies and never looked better than as the long-haired convict Cameron Poe in Con Air. With an intense story set in the sky, Poe found himself caught in the middle of a hijacked plane full of criminals as he worked with authorities to reclaim the flight and enjoy his parole. With impressive visual style, consistent wit, and a truly over-the-top plotline, Con Air represented all that was great about Cage action movies in the 1990s.
2 The Rock (1996)
Nicolas Cage as Dr. Stanley Goodspeed
Michael Bay’s iconic action thriller The Rock saw Nicolas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris embroiled in a story about an FBI chemist and former SAS captain breaking into Alcatraz, where a rogue group of Marines has held the tourists of the islands hostage. This was a top-tier thriller full of plenty of style that stood as perhaps Bay’s greatest achievement as a director. With incredible pacing, perfect casting, and a story that likely inspired false descriptions of the Iraqi chemical weapons program (via Guardian), The Rock was one of Cage’s most iconic movies.
1 Face/Off (1996)
Nicolas Cage as Castor Troy/Sean Archer
Nicolas Cage has made a career for himself by fully embracing truly outrageous concepts and giving his all the narratives that must be seen to be believed. This was certainly the case for Face/Off, Cage’s very best action movie, which saw Cage swapping faces with John Travolta as he played both the hero and the villain in an intense game of cat-and-mouse. With two massive movie stars at the helm, a mind-bogglingly bizarre concept, and an incredible direction from John Woo, Face/Off was truly peak Nicolas Cage and one of the best action movies ever made.
Sources: Rogerebert.com, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, Guardian
