The 40 most popular 1960s action movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Harakiri
1962 · 2h 15m · JP
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.


From Russia with Love
1963 · 1h 55m · UK
Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy.


Dr. No
1962 · 1h 50m · UK
Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.


Planet of the Apes
1968 · 1h 52m · US
Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.


Thunderball
1965 · 2h 10m · UK
A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.


Goldfinger
1964 · 1h 50m · UK
Special agent 007 comes face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, and now he must outwit and outgun the powerful tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on a devious scheme to raid Fort Knox -- and obliterate the world's economy.


You Only Live Twice
1967 · 1h 57m · UK
A mysterious spacecraft captures Russian and American space capsules and brings the two superpowers to the brink of war. James Bond investigates the case in Japan and comes face to face with his archenemy Blofeld.


On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1969 · 2h 22m · UK
With the help of Marc-Ange Draco, head of the Unione Corse crime syndicate, and Draco's troubled daughter Tracy, James Bond tracks his archnemesis, Ernst Stravro Blofeld, to a mountaintop retreat in the Swiss Alps, where he is training an army of beautiful, lethal women.


The Great Spy Chase
1964 · 1h 48m · FR
A cold-war spy parody. After the death of an armaments manufacturer, an international group of spies is drawn into a high-stakes battle of wits to obtain the valuable military patents which have been inherited by the lovely widow.


The Dirty Dozen
1967 · 2h 29m · UK
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.


Invasion of Astro-Monster
1965 · 1h 36m · JP
Astronauts Glenn and Fuji investigate Planet X and encounter mysterious aliens known as the Xiliens, who ask Earth's people to help save their world from "Monster Zero". In exchange for borrowing Godzilla and Rodan, the Xiliens offer a cure for cancer. As Glenn investigates, he develops a romance with Miss Namikawa and uncovers the Xilien's true intentions.


Casino Royale
1967 · 2h 11m · US
Sir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH. In order to trick SMERSH, James thinks up the ultimate plan - that every agent will be named 'James Bond'. One of the Bonds, whose real name is Evelyn Tremble is sent to take on Le Chiffre in a game of baccarat, but all the Bonds get more than they can handle.


Bullitt
1968 · 1h 53m · US
Senator Walter Chalmers is aiming to take down mob boss Pete Ross with the help of testimony from the criminal's hothead brother Johnny, who is in protective custody in San Francisco under the watch of police lieutenant Frank Bullitt. When a pair of mob hitmen enter the scene, Bullitt follows their trail through a maze of complications and double-crosses. This thriller includes one of the most famous car chases ever filmed.


Battle of Britain
1969 · 2h 12m · UK
In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.


Batman
1966 · 1h 45m · US
The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.


Flygplan saknas
1965 · 1h 29m · SE
Two pilots must fly together in spite of the strong dislike of each other. At a training mission the aircraft wrecks over open water and they have to save themselves by parachute.


The Bridge at Remagen
1969 · 1h 57m · US
In March of 1945, as the War in Europe is coming to a close, fighting erupts between German and American troops at the last remaining bridgehead across the Rhine.


Django
1966 · 1h 32m · IT
A coffin-dragging gunslinger and a prostitute become embroiled in a bitter feud between a Klan of Southern racists and a band of Mexican Revolutionaries.


King Kong vs. Godzilla
1962 · 1h 37m · JP
The advertising director of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, frustrated with the low ratings of their sponsored TV program, seeks a more sensationalist approach. He orders his staff to Faro Island to capture King Kong for exploitation. As Godzilla re-emerges, a media frenzy generates with Pacific looking to capitalize off of the ultimate battle.


Mil Máscaras
1969 · 1h 29m · MX
A committee of four wise men trains the masked hero Mil Máscaras to defend the world. When someone kidnaps the members of the committee, the hero stops at nothing to rescue them.


Sanjuro
1962 · 1h 36m · JP
In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Organización criminal
Organización criminal
1968 · MX
A summit meeting of rival gangs, one predominantly Italian and the other a mix of Polish, Irish, and Italian mobsters, fails to resolve their differences, and gang war breaks out.


Ho !
1968 · 1h 43m · FR
Race driver who has lost his membership card becomes the chauffeur of a gangsters pack


The Professionals
1966 · 1h 57m · US
An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.


The War Wagon
1967 · 1h 41m · US
An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.


El Cid
1961 · 3h 7m · IT
Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz ("El Cid" to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour, still succeeds in taking the initiative and driving the Moors from Spain.


Destroy All Monsters
1968 · 1h 29m · JP
At the turn of the century, all of the Earth's monsters have been rounded up and kept safely on Monsterland. Chaos erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleash the monsters across the world.


Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
1964 · 1h 33m · JP
After a meteorite unleashes a three-headed beast upon Tokyo, Mothra tries to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat.


Deadfall
1968 · 2h · UK
Cat burglar Henry Clarke and his accomplices the Moreaus attempt to steal diamonds from the chateau of millionaire Salinas.


Coogan's Bluff
1968 · 1h 34m · US
Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff goes to New York to pick up a prisoner. While escorting the prisoner to the airport, he escapes and Coogan heads into the city to recapture him.


The Heroes of Telemark
1965 · 2h 11m · UK
Set in German-occupied Norway, resistance fighter Knut Straud enlists the reluctant physicist Rolf Pedersen in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant in rural Telemark.


Mothra vs. Godzilla
1964 · 1h 29m · JP
Journalists Ichiro Sakai and Junko cover the wreckage of a typhoon when an enormous egg is found and claimed by greedy entrepreneurs. Mothra's fairies arrive and are aided by the journalists in a plea for its return. As their requests are denied, Godzilla arises near Nagoya and the people of Infant Island must decide if they are willing to answer Japan's own pleas for help.


P.J.
1968 · 1h 49m · US
Reluctant New York City private eye P.J. Detweiler is hired as a bodyguard to protect Maureen Preble, the mistress of shady millionaire William Orbison. In truth, Orbison plans a deadly intrigue in which P.J. is to play a central part. Meanwhile, complications ensue as P.J. gradually falls in love with Maureen.


Hellfighters
1968 · 2h 1m · US
The adventures of oil well fire specialist Chance Buckman (based on real-life Red Adair), who extinguishes massive fires in oil fields around the world.


Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
1966 · 1h 27m · JP
Searching for his brother, Ryota stows away on a boat belonging to a criminal alongside two other teenagers. The group shipwrecks on Letchi island and discover the Infant Island natives have been enslaved by a terrorist organization controlling a crustacean monster. Finding a sleeping Godzilla, they decide to awaken him to defeat the terrorists and liberate the natives.


İngiliz Kemal
1968 · TR
Istanbul is under enemy occupation. A group of nationalists from Istanbul try to support the liberation movement in Anatolia. Kemal, who had previously lived in England for a while, is assigned to gather intelligence. Kemal replaces a British officer who has just been appointed to Istanbul. While spying, he falls in love with Elizabeth, the daughter of a British general he meets.


Istanbul Express
1969 · 1h 40m · US
An art dealer on a special mission is pulled into dangerous intrigue while railway detective Cheval tries to help and pursues criminals on the Istanbul Express.


Killers Three
1968 · 1h 28m · US
America's DJ Dick Clark and Robert Walker Jr. star as two country boys who decide to rob a pile of cash from a bootlegger, assisted by the man's restless wife (Diane Varsi). But the heist doesn't go as planned and takes a tragic turn. The trio of would-be thieves then takes off for California, but with the police already on their tail, it's clear that a trail of blood and death is going to follow them all the way there.


Mackenna's Gold
1969 · 2h 8m · US
A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.
Stranglehold
Stranglehold
1962 · 1h 13m · UK
A movie star is typecast as a ruthless gangster. His troubles begin when he gets reality confused with his job and becomes deluded into believing that he really is a mobster.
The 1960s broke the old rules everywhere at once — the French New Wave, the collapse of the Hollywood Production Code, and new waves across Europe and Japan reshaping what a film could show and say.
Action cinema runs from the stunt-driven spectacle of Hollywood blockbusters to the choreographed precision of Hong Kong and Korean thrillers. The best of it treats physical performance as storytelling — chases, fights, and set pieces that reveal character rather than pause for it.