Bruce Willis’s too-early retirement has us reflecting on the distinctive qualities of the greatest action movie heroes. We’re not talking Marvel/DC superheroes, but the business end of the action spectrum: the get-it-done types, reluctant heroes, supercops, and wrong-place-right-time everymen and women. They get back what’s been taken, speed through rush hour while under siege, before making the great escape. It’s judgment day: list your top ten action stars, representing each by your favorite film in which they appear first in the Letterboxd cast list—because vengeance is all you have left. (The results of this Showdown will be calculated based on the first-billed actor in each film. Films in your list that have a first-billed actor you’ve already included will be ignored.)
