A Glean movie guide
Hidden Gems: 90s Action Essentials
Beyond the blockbusters.
High-octane thrillers and cult classics that deserve a second look.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Last Boy Scout
A razor-sharp Shane Black script meets peak Bruce Willis in this cynical, high-stakes buddy-cop thriller.
Somewhere in Los Angeles, the city of broken dreams, a stripper is murdered. Now, the private detective she had hired and her ex-footballer boyfriend are going to find her murderer... if they don't kill each other first. But the more they dig, the deeper they become enmeshed in a web of extortion, blackmail and corrupt politics hidden beneath the surface of professional football.
- 02
Hard Boiled
John Woo’s Hong Kong masterpiece features some of the most influential and breathtaking gunplay ever filmed.
A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.
- 03
Strange Days
A visionary cyberpunk thriller that blends gritty noir with high-concept sci-fi and intense first-person action.
In the last days of 1999, ex-cop turned street hustler Lenny Nero receives a disc which contains the memories of the murder of a prostitute. With the help of bodyguard Mace, he starts to investigate and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of murder, blackmail and intrigue.
- 04
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Geena Davis delivers a powerhouse performance as an amnesiac assassin in this witty, explosive cult favorite.
Samantha Caine is a small-town schoolteacher and mom with no memory of her life before washing up on a beach eight years ago. After a car accident and a violent home invasion trigger flashes of her past, she discovers she used to be a deadly CIA assassin. Teaming up with a wisecracking private investigator, Samantha must return to her old ways to take down the people who tried to erase her.
- 05
Ronin
Famous for its visceral, realistic car chases, this heist thriller is a grounded and gritty genre standout.
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
- 06
Breakdown
A masterclass in tension that turns a simple highway breakdown into a relentless, high-speed survival game.
On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff and Amy Taylor, experience car trouble after their SUV breaks down. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver offers Amy a ride to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, but Amy isn't there. He tracks down the trucker ― who tells the police he's never seen Jeff or his wife before. Jeff then begins a desperate, frenzied search for Amy.
- 07
Hard Target
Jean-Claude Van Damme shines in John Woo’s stylized American debut about a deadly hunt through New Orleans.
When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.
- 08
Deep Rising
This fun, fast-paced creature feature combines mercenary action with terrifying man-eating sea monsters.
A group of heavily armed hijackers board a luxury ocean liner in the South Pacific Ocean to loot it, only to do battle with a series of large-sized, tentacled, man-eating sea creatures who have taken over the ship first.
- 09
The Quick and the Dead
Sam Raimi brings his signature kinetic style to this star-studded, high-noon tournament western.
A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.
- 10
Judgment Night
A tense urban survival story where a wrong turn leads to a night-long pursuit through a dangerous city.
Four young friends, while taking a shortcut en route to a local boxing match, witness a brutal murder which leaves them running for their lives.
- 11
Payback
Mel Gibson is at his grittiest in this stylish neo-noir about a thief determined to get his stolen money back.
With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
- 12
Executive Decision
A claustrophobic and surprisingly smart thriller that trades typical heroics for high-altitude suspense.
Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant (Kurt Russell) suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers.