There’s something perpetually gratifying about the “one man army” action film. You know the kind: a sole warrior pitted against insurmountable odds, cutting down foes with grit, expertise, and a helping of killer one-liners thrown in for good measure. From the excessive thrills of the ’80s to the high-gloss, meticulously crafted set pieces of today, these movies remind us why we love cheering on the unstoppable underdog. Here is a countdown of nine one-man (and one-woman) wrecking crews who didn’t merely battle their battles; they remade the action genre itself.
9. Ash Williams – Evil Dead Franchise
Ash is no ordinary action hero. He’s no hulking muscles or smooth talker, this is a man with a chainsaw as a hand, a shotgun he fondly dubs his “boomstick,” and a seemingly boundless reserve of sarcastic one-liners. Bruce Campbell’s combination of horror, comedy, and slapstick made Ash a cult favorite. When fighting demons or cracking jokes in the teeth of unadulterated terror, he showed that sometimes the unlikeliest of heroes can be the deadliest one-man army.
8. The Bride – Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
Few revenge movies strike as ruthlessly as The Bride’s. Uma Thurman’s merciless assassin hacks her way through the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad with equal parts martial arts skill and tenacious will. Quentin Tarantino’s hip reworking of samurai and kung fu classics provided us with unforgettable scenes, particularly the gore-drenched rumble against the Crazy 88. The Bride is a testament that one-woman armies can be as brutal as their male equivalents.
7. Lorraine Broughton – Atomic Blonde
Charlize Theron’s MI6 operative is brutality and elegance in one. With the Cold War backdrop of Berlin, Atomic Blonde presents us with action that is raw and tangible. The iconic stairwell battle, filmed to appear as a single, uninterrupted take, is the sort of set piece that makes you hold your breath. Lorraine gets hit as hard as she dishes out, demonstrating the progression of the genre toward more realistic, brutal battles.
6. Harry Hart (Galahad) – Kingsman: The Secret Service
Colin Firth as an elegant killing machine? It’s true. His church fight in Kingsman is a glorious spectacle of destruction, choreographed as if in one master take, in which Galahad dispatches a whole congregation in ridiculously stylish fashion. Kingsman succeeds because it marries tongue-in-cheek humor with eyeball-scarring choreography, redefining the gentleman spy as an actual one-man army.
5. Bruce Lee – Enter the Dragon
When Bruce Lee battles, you don’t consider stunt doubles or crafty editing; it’s all him. Enter the Dragon solidified Lee as a legend, demonstrating his speed, accuracy, and charisma on an international platform. While others occupy the frame, the film is really a demonstration of Lee’s unparalleled martial arts superiority. Decades on, it remains the gold standard for martial arts movies.
4. John Rambo – Rambo Franchise
Mention “one man army,” and the first figure that leaps to mind is John Rambo. From the survivalist grimness of First Blood to the action-packed sequels that established him as a near-mythic warrior, Sylvester Stallone’s creation came to provide the template for ’80s action heroes. Rambo’s blend of trauma, survival mechanism, and raw firepower set the tone for an entire generation of films.
3. Bryan Mills – Taken Franchise
Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills redefined what an action hero could look like. Middle-aged, quiet, and methodical, Mills is terrifying due to his calm demeanor while dismantling an entire criminal underworld. His “particular set of skills” turned Taken into a phenomenon and reminded Hollywood that action stars don’t have to be young; they just need to be relentless.
2. John McClane – Die Hard Franchise
Before action heroes became godlike, John McClane was a fatigued cop in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bruce Willis made him human by being clever, cranky, and vulnerable. Die Hard didn’t make McClane legendary; it remade the entire action genre, inspiring generations of copycats (“Die Hard on an airplane,” “Die Hard on a bus,” name your own).
1. John Wick – John Wick Franchise
Keanu Reeves’s John Wick is not merely another solo act; he revolutionized the entire thing. What began as a man-and-dog revenge tale blew up into a franchise that became famous for its balletic fight scenes, stylized world-building, and ruthless precision. Wick does not merely fight; he executes with surgical precision, sparing no enemy.
It also constructed an unforgettable world: The Continental, the High Table, the assassins’ economy of gold coins. Added to its Hong Kong action roots and gritty practical stunts, John Wick set the bar so high it bred a generation of imitators.
Whether it’s Rambo and his machine gun, The Bride and her katana, or John Wick and his supply of “gun-fu,” one-man army movies remind us of something primitive: the pleasure of seeing one man go up against insurmountable odds and manage to prevail. They adapt to the times, breaking from the excesses of the ’80s to the gritty, hyper-stylized dance of the present, but the appeal remains the same.