Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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The 1990s was the last great decade of action cinema. Drunken Master II, Hard Boiled, Heat, Face/Off, The Matrix.

Jackie Chan crawled across burning coals for Drunken Master II. He was 40. Michelle Yeoh drove a motorbike onto a moving train for Police Story 3. John Woo brought Hong Kong choreography to Paramount and made Face/Off with $100m. In 1999, Yuen Woo-ping — the man who choreographed Iron Monkey and Drunken Master II — trained Keanu Reeves for four months to make The Matrix.

Then the Bourne template arrived. 32 cuts to show one fight. 15 cuts to show one man going over one fence.

How does the 1990s compare to the 80s practical era, the 2000s MTV-cutting school, and the John Wick / Atomic Blonde recovery?

And which decade actually had the best action cinema?

00:00 Intro
01:30 The Performers
05:00 The Choreography & Stunts
06:04 The Cinematography & Framing
07:47 The Editing
12:27 The Matrix Moment & Conclusion

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