Best Action Movies of 1990

The highest-rated action films from 1990, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Action 1989 Action 1991 All Time Action

Comedy Drama Horror Science Fiction Thriller Romance Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

The Hunt for Red October

1990

A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. Lone CIA analyst Jack Ryan has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find Ramius, too. The hunt is on!

7.4

Total Recall

1990

Construction worker Douglas Quaid's obsession with the planet Mars leads him to visit Recall, a company that manufactures memories. When his memory implant goes wrong, Doug can no longer be sure what is and isn't reality.

7.3

Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku

1990

Bardock, Son Goku's father, is a low-ranking Saiyan soldier who was given the power to see into the future by the last remaining alien on a planet he just destroyed. He witnesses the destruction of his race and must now do his best to stop Frieza's impending massacre.

7.6

Bullet in the Head

1990

Three childhood friends from the slums of Hong Kong flee to war-time Saigon after accidentally murdering a gang leader, but their troubles only escalate.

7.6

Nikita

1990

A beautiful felon, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a policeman, is given a second chance – as a secret political assassin controlled by the government.

7.1

Die Hard 2

1990

One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.

7.0

Tremors

1990

Val McKee and Earl Bassett are in a fight for their lives when they discover that their desolate town has been infested with gigantic, man-eating creatures that live below the ground.

6.9

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1990

A quartet of humanoid turtles, trained by their mentor in ninjitsu, must learn to work together to face the menace of Shredder and the Foot Clan.

6.7

Memphis Belle

1990

The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe. The crew only have to make one more bombing raid before they have finished their duty and can go home. In the briefing before their last flight, the crew discover that the target for the day is Bremen.

6.7

#10

God of Gamblers II

1990

Sing finds Michael "Dagger" Chan in order to become Ko Chun's next disciple, but the two must put aside their differences when they discover that a gang boss is bent on ruining the God of Gamblers' name.

6.9

#11

Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest

1990

The evil Dr. Kochin uses the dragon balls to resurrect his mentor, Dr. Wheelo, in an effort to take over the world. Dr. Wheelo, his body having been destroyed by the avalanche that killed him fifty years before, desires the body of the strongest fighter in the world as his new vessel. Believing Roshi to be the world's strongest warrior, Dr. Kochin abducts Bulma and forces Roshi to surrender himself to save her. When Goku hears of their abduction, he goes to their rescue.

6.6

#12

Lionheart

1990

Lyon Gaultier is a deserter in the Foreign Legion arriving in the USA entirely hard up. He finds his brother between life and death and his sister-in-law without the money needed to heal her husband and to maintain her child. To earn the money needed, Gaultier decides to take part in some very dangerous clandestine fights.

6.6

#13

A Chinese Ghost Story II

1990

In this installment of a phenomenal saga of the super natural, four young people are caught in a tug-o-war of evil between an Imperial Wizard and a corrupt General. Outrageous special effects galore.

6.7

#14

Werner and the Wizard of Booze

1990

Comic artist Brösel trades a magic pen that helps him come up with funny stories for the promise to fulfill one of Rumpelstiltskin's wishes. The resulting animated films show episodes of the life of Werner, a plumber apprentice and motorbike enthusiast and his friends. They are interspersed with the live-action portions.

6.6

#15

The King of the Kickboxers

1990

Jake, a New York policeman poses as an actor to expose the making of martial-arts death movies in Thailand.

6.6

#16

Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might

1990

Goku and friends must stop a band of space pirates from consuming fruit from the Tree of Might before it's destructive powers drain Earth's energy.

6.5

#17

Narrow Margin

1990

An L.A. District Attorney attempts to take an unwilling murder witness back to the United States to testify against a top-level mob boss. Frantically attempting to escape two deadly hitmen sent to silence her, they board a Vancouver-bound train only to discover that the killers are onboard with them. For the next 20 hours, as the train hurls through the beautiful but isolated Canadian wilderness, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues in which their ability to tell friend from foe is a matter of life and death.

6.4

#18

Darkman

1990

Dr. Peyton Westlake is on the verge of realizing a major breakthrough in synthetic skin when his laboratory is destroyed by gangsters. Having been burned beyond recognition and forever altered by an experimental medical procedure, Westlake becomes known as Darkman, assuming alternate identities in his quest for revenge and a new life with a former love.

6.4

#19

Nightbreed

1990

A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.

6.4

#20

Island of Fire

1990

Someone in a prison run by a corrupt warden fakes the deaths of convicts to later use them as expendable assassins. A police officer is sent into the prison to gather evidence of the corruption.

6.2

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Best Action Movies of 1990

This ranking features the top action movies released in 1990, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1990 or see the best action movies of all time.