With its reliance on spectacle over substance, the action genre churns out more sub-standard fare than most counterparts. It’s then no surprise that the majority of action stars have at least a few stinkers under their belts. And we’re not just talking about obvious names such as Nicolas Cage, the reigning champion of this particular phenomenon. Indeed, even someone as consistent as Tom Cruise stars in the occasional turkey. Remember 2017’s “The Mummy?”
To identify the worst action movies by America’s top action stars, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. We considered data for the more than 22,000 movies with more than 5,000 reviews on IMDb. (Action performers don’t necessarily do better with films in other genres. Here are the worst non-action movies from Hollywood’s top action stars.)
For a number of movie stars, the worst material comes later in their careers. For example, Sylvester Stallone’s lowest-rated action movie is “Escape Plan 2: Hades,” the sequel to his blockbuster prison thriller “Escape Plan” from 2013. And while Stallone’s original co-star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, didn’t return for the second adventure, don’t take that to mean he’s off the hook. Not only has the former California governor headlined a number of clunkers over the last few years, but his 1997 franchise-ender “Batman & Robin” is among the most famous bad movies ever made. (These, on the other hand, are the 50 best action movies of all time.)
Reputable actors such as Kurt Russell and Denzel Washington have likewise appeared in lackluster action fare. For Russell, it was the 2006 disaster film “Poseidon,” while Washington starred in the campy 1995 technothriller “Virtuosity.” For Washington’s co-star in that film, Russell Crowe, the worst action movie would come over a decade later in the form of 2012’s “The Man with the Iron Fists.”
25. Christian Bale
> Worst action movie: Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
> Index score: 0.60
> Co-stars: Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Sigourney Weaver
> Directed by: Ridley Scott
24. Kevin Costner
> Worst action movie: 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
> Index score: 0.59
> Co-stars: Kurt Russell, Courteney Cox, Christian Slater
> Directed by: Demian Lichtenstein
23. Kurt Russell
> Worst action movie: Poseidon (2006)
> Index score: 0.57
> Co-stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum, Josh Lucas
> Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
22. Liam Neeson
> Worst action movie: Wrath of the Titans (2012)
> Index score: 0.57
> Co-stars: Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Ralph Fiennes
> Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
21. Pierce Brosnan
> Worst action movie: Survivor (2015)
> Index score: 0.55
> Co-stars: Milla Jovovich, Dylan McDermott
> Directed by: James McTeigue
20. Denzel Washington
> Worst action movie: Virtuosity (1995)
> Index score: 0.54
> Co-stars: Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch, Stephen Spinella
> Directed by: Brett Leonard
19. Tom Cruise
> Worst action movie: The Mummy (2017)
> Index score: 0.53
> Co-stars: Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe
> Directed by: Alex Kurtzman
18. Mel Gibson
> Worst action movie: Attack Force Z (1981)
> Index score: 0.53
> Co-stars: John Phillip Law, Sam Neill, Chris Haywood
> Directed by: Tim Burstall
17. Harrison Ford
> Worst action movie: Hollywood Homicide (2003)
> Index score: 0.52
> Co-stars: Josh Hartnett, Isaiah Washington, Lena Olin
> Directed by: Ron Shelton
16. Russell Crowe
> Worst action movie: The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)
> Index score: 0.52
> Co-stars: Cung Le, Lucy Liu, RZA
> Directed by: –
15. Clint Eastwood
> Worst action movie: Pink Cadillac (1989)
> Index score: 0.52
> Co-stars: Bernadette Peters, Timothy Carhart, Tiffany Gail Robinson
> Directed by: Buddy Van Horn
14. Chris Hemsworth
> Worst action movie: Red Dawn (2012)
> Index score: 0.52
> Co-stars: Isabel Lucas, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck
> Directed by: Dan Bradley
13. Keanu Reeves
> Worst action movie: The Bad Batch (2016)
> Index score: 0.51
> Co-stars: Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Jayda Fink,
> Directed by: Ana Lily Amirpour
12. Vin Diesel
> Worst action movie: xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
> Index score: 0.51
> Co-stars: Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Kris Wu
> Directed by: D.J. Caruso
11. Dwayne Johnson
> Worst action movie: Doom (2005)
> Index score: 0.51
> Co-stars: Deobia Oparei, Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike
> Directed by: Andrzej Bartkowiak
10. Mark Wahlberg
> Worst action movie: Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
> Index score: 0.51
> Co-stars: Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock
> Directed by: Michael Bay
9. John Wayne
> Worst action movie: Paradise Canyon (1935)
> Index score: 0.49
> Co-stars: Marion Burns, Reed Howes, Earle Hodgins
> Directed by: Carl Pierson
8. Bruce Willis
> Worst action movie: The Cold Light of Day (2012)
> Index score: 0.47
> Co-stars: Sigourney Weaver, Verónica Echegui, Henry Cavill
> Directed by: Mabrouk El Mechri
7. Gerard Butler
> Worst action movie: Dracula 2000 (2000)
> Index score: 0.47
> Co-stars: Justine Waddell, Jonny Lee Miller, Christopher Plummer
> Directed by: Patrick Lussier
6. Will Smith
> Worst action movie: After Earth (2013)
> Index score: 0.46
> Co-stars: Jaden Smith, David Denman, Sophie Okonedo
> Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
5. Jackie Chan
> Worst action movie: The Killer Meteors (1976)
> Index score: 0.46
> Co-stars: Jimmy Wang Yu, Yu-Li Lan, Ling Lung Yu
> Directed by: Wei Lo
4. Sean Connery
> Worst action movie: The Avengers (1998)
> Index score: 0.34
> Co-stars: Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Patrick Macnee
> Directed by: Jeremiah S. Chechik
3. Sylvester Stallone
> Worst action movie: Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018)
> Index score: 0.34
> Co-stars: Dave Bautista, Xiaoming Huang, Jesse Metcalfe
> Directed by: Steven C. Miller
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger
> Worst action movie: Batman & Robin (1997)
> Index score: 0.33
> Co-stars: George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman
> Directed by: Joel Schumacher
1. Nicolas Cage
> Worst action movie: Left Behind (2014)
> Index score: 0.25
> Co-stars: Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson, Chad Michael Murray
> Directed by: Vic Armstrong