Skip to content
Curated category

English-language science fiction action films

  • Captain America: Civil WarCaptain America: Civil War arrived in theaters on the 6th of May 2016, carrying a question that no superhero film had seriously asked before: what happens…
  • Avengers: EndgameAvengers: Endgame begins with a family disintegrating on screen. In its opening scene, Clint Barton loses his wife and children to Thanos's snap.
  • Justice League (film)Justice League spent part of its 2017 reshoot schedule removing a mustache. Henry Cavill, who played Superman, had grown facial hair for Mission: Impossible…
  • Avengers: Age of UltronAvengers: Age of Ultron arrived on the 1st of May 2015, carrying a price tag that few films in history had matched: a net production budget of $365 million.
  • Star Wars (film)Star Wars opened on the 25th of May 1977, in just 32 theaters across the United States. The cast and crew believed it would be a failure.
  • The Avengers (2012 film)The Avengers opened on the 4th of May 2012, in the United States, and within 19 days it had passed $1 billion in ticket sales, matching a record previously…
  • The TerminatorThe Terminator arrived in American cinemas on the 26th of October 1984, and it began with a nightmare. Director James Cameron had fallen ill in Rome during…
  • RoboCopRoboCop arrived in American theaters on the 17th of July 1987, and it was not what anyone expected. The title alone put people off.
  • Deadpool & WolverineDeadpool & Wolverine almost went by a different name. In February 2024, a title leaked online: Deadpool & Friend. Ryan Reynolds later claimed it had been the…
  • Transformers: Dark of the MoonTransformers: Dark of the Moon opens with a secret. In 1962, according to the film's premise, a spacecraft called the Ark crash-lands on the far side of the…
  • Mad Max 2Mad Max 2 opened in Australian cinemas on the 24th of December 1981, a release date that gave holiday audiences something far removed from seasonal cheer.
  • InceptionInception begins with a question that Christopher Nolan first put to paper around 2001: what if someone could steal your secrets while you slept?
  • Star Wars: The Last JediStar Wars: The Last Jedi is dedicated to Carrie Fisher, who played General Leia Organa and died on the 27th of December 2016.
  • The Empire Strikes BackThe Empire Strikes Back opens with a single haunting image: probe droids scattered across the galaxy, hunting. It was the 21st of May 1980, and audiences…
  • Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom MenaceStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was still shooting in the Tunisian desert outside the city of Tozeur when disaster struck.
  • Rogue OneRogue One: A Star Wars Story ends with two lead characters trapped in a citadel on Scarif, unable to escape a demolition beam.
  • Star Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker carried a net budget of about $490.2 million. That made it the second most expensive film ever produced.
  • Flash Gordon (serial)Alex Raymond launched the Flash Gordon comic strip in 1934, introducing readers to a hero who would soon conquer cinema.
  • Star Wars: The Force AwakensStar Wars: The Force Awakens arrived in theaters on the 18th of December 2015, carrying a weight that almost no film in history had to bear.
  • Mad Max (film)Mad Max, the 1979 Australian film directed by George Miller, was made for roughly A$400,000 and went on to earn more than US$100 million worldwide.
  • Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the ClonesStar Wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones premiered on Sunday, the 12th of May 2002. The screening took place at the BMCC Performing Arts Center in New…
  • Everything Everywhere All at OnceEverything Everywhere All at Once was originally written for a man. The script's first version had a male lead, conceived specifically with Jackie Chan in…
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)Star Wars: The Clone Wars opened not in a galaxy far, far away, but in a boardroom decision that surprised nearly everyone involved.
  • Men in Black 3Men in Black 3 began as a conversation between two men stuck on a film they weren't sure they wanted to make again. Will Smith pitched the idea for a third…
  • Solo: A Star Wars StorySolo: A Star Wars Story premiered in Los Angeles on the 10th of May 2018. It carried a budget of nearly $300 million, one of the largest ever committed to a…
  • Alita: Battle AngelAlita: Battle Angel existed as nothing more than a registered domain name years before it became a movie. Around June 2000, 20th Century Fox registered…