“A good ending is vital to a picture, the single most important element, because it is what the audience takes with them out of the theater,” said Walt Disney, once upon a time. Truer words have never been spoken. A movie might be highly engaging, but if the ending is weak, audiences are likely to be highly disappointed. This is even more important in theactiongenre, where screenwriters and filmmakers normally have to offer more than standard fights, stunts, and chases to ensure their work stands out.
Most iconic action movie endings require a certain suspension of disbelief. They are absurd, over-the-top, and hilarious at times. But genre fans are unlikely to care. Escapism is what matters most, and the larger percentage of audiences would be happy to press the rewind button once the credits start rolling. Most importantly, these denouements do a perfect job of wrapping up all plot points that have been unraveling throughout the running time.
Here are the 10 most explosive action movie endings of all time.
10Inspector Tequila Shoots Gangsters While Holding a Baby
‘Hard Boiled’ (1992)
Hard Boiledwas John Woo’s last Hong Kong film before his transition to Hollywood, and it’s quite a treat. It follows Inspector “Tequila” Yuen (Chow Yun-fat), a fearless Hong Kong lawman determined to dismantle an arms-smuggling syndicate. He eventually befriends an undercover cop, Alan (Tony Leung), and together, they go after crime boss Johnny Wong (Anthony Wong), who likes to wear fleecy orange suits and makes elongated remarks like, “Everything goes out of faaaa-shen, except waaaarrrr!”
Best Baby Sitter
The film’s cat-and-mouse games end in a hospital that’s being used as a front by the arms dealers. During the iconic moment, Tequila defends himself with a gun for several minutes while holding a baby in one arm. Slow-motion scenes are blended with fluid long takes, a high point in motion picture choreography. So good is the scene that it inspired countless others, includingJason Statham’s plane fight inThe Fate of the Furious. The chaos ends with Wong dead and Alan leaving Hong Kong to start a new life.
9Chelios Recharges and Catches Fire
‘Crank: High Voltage’ (2009)
Speaking of Jason Statham, the actor gives his craziest performance as the hitman Chev Chelios inCrank: High Voltage. He miraculously survives a nasty fall from a helicopter, only for Chinese gangsters to steal his heart and replace it with a temporary artificial one that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep functioning.
Ghost Rider?
The sequel’s wild finale is cartoon-like, with afourth-wall-breaking momentthat elevates it above standard 2000s action flicks. Chelios finally catches the dude who did this to him (stole his heart). Afraid that he might be slowing down, he climbs an electric pole and grabs the terminals of a transformer to recharge. In the process, he is set ablaze by the current and blown off the pole. He then stands up, walks around ablaze, and beats the villain to death before walking towards the camera and giving the audience the middle finger. What did we do to you, Chev?
8Wick Gets Fatally Wounded
‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ (2023)
Tired of dodging assassins, Wick (Keanu Reeves) takes his fight to the bosses inJohn Wick: Chapter 4. He travels to Morocco and murders The Elder, aka The One Who Sits Above the Table. This only makes things worse, as more people are sent after him, including Caine (Donnie Yen) — a blind, semi-retired High Table assassin.
John “Weak”
Did Wick really die inChapter 4?No one knows yet, and that’s part of what makes the ending so good. A pistol duel against Caine ends with the protagonist fatally wounded. He then reflects on his life on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur before seemingly dying. The scene is not only visually poetic (with the sunrise and all), but is also emotionally powerful since Wick was depicted as invincible throughout the series. Never did audiences expect that someone would defeat him.
7Wesley Kills McAvoy
‘Wanted’ (2008)
Wanted’s Wesley (James McAvoy) is a disgruntled white-collar worker, so he is quite thrilled when a mysterious organization offers him a chance to be an assassin like his father. But his new colleagues, led by Mr. Sloan (Morgan Freeman), are hiding things. When Wesley finds out the truth, he starts meting out punishment.
World’s Best Sniper
It was only fitting for a movie with pivotal scenes, such as Wesley shooting wings off an insect and smashing a keyboard into a colleague’s face, to end the way it does. The conclusion sees Wesley tricking Sloan into thinking he has returned to his desk job. Turns out he has used a decoy. When Sloan steps into the office, Wesley sends a bullet flying from hundreds of miles away. He then tells the audience, “This is me taking back control of my life. What the f* have you done lately?”*The accuracy of the shot, coupled with the arrogance in the fourth-wall-breaking moment, makes the scene unforgettable.
6The T-800’s Sacrifice
‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 cyborg from the future returns in a kinder form inTerminator 2: Judgment Day.We learn that it has been reprogrammed and sent back in time to protect future resistance leader, John Connor (Edward Furlong). But the shape-shifting T-1000 (Robert Patrick) has also been tasked with killing John. Now what?
From Terminator to Protector
As expected, the T-800 whoops the T-1000’s moldable a**, and after he does that, he sacrifices himself by entering a vat of molten steel to ensure no trace of Skynet’s harmful technology remains. John begs him not to do so, but he insists: “I know now why you cry. But it’s something I can never do.” The scene is powerful on many levels. First, it confirms that the T-800 has embraced his human side. Second, an act of self-sacrifice is always the most respectable form of heroism. Even cooler is the scene where his hand rises from the lava to give a thumbs-up.
5The Rio Heist
‘Fast Five’ (2011)
Heist king Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew figure out a way to make their biggest score inFast Five: stealing $100 million that Brazilian crime boss Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) is keeping inside a vault in a Rio police station. But federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) knows what’s about to happen. How will they deal with him?
Blink and You’ll Miss Them
Fast Fivemay look a little ropey compared with later, big-budget, fully-fledged installments, but it does have numerous saving graces that changed the course of the franchise, including the unforgettable final act. The explosive sequence sees the team drag the 10-ton vault through the streets of Rio using their cars. It’s pure blockbuster mayhem, with several things getting destroyed during the chaotic chase. Wait till you see how Hobbs gets tricked. One has to watch it to truly enjoy it.
4Neo Vs. Agent Smith
‘Matrix Revolutions’ (2003)
Matrix Revolutionstransports us back to a more dreadful time and place, when the words “sentient” and “artificial intelligence” send shivers. This time, Neo (Keanu Reeves), humanity’s last hope, is trapped in a subway station that serves as a transition zone between the Matrix and the machine world. He intends to broker peace between humans and the machines, but he’ll have to confront the nefarious Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) first.
Putting Humans First
The film’s ending impresses by subverting the commonaction movie tropewhere the hero vanquishes the enemy using violence. Instead, Neo allows Smith to assimilate him, paving the way for the machines to spot and delete the virus. By doing this, he fulfills his “Messiah” destiny. But that doesn’t mean there’s no fun. Before the sacrifice, the two throw all they’ve got at each other in an iconic battle in the rain.
3The Bi-Plane Tussle
‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ (2025)
The Final Reckoningsees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF team take another shot at destroying The Entity, a sentient AI system that seeks to destroy all of humanity by seizing control of all global nuclear systems. Their eyes are also on Gabriel (Esai Morales), a villain eager to control the powerful system.
A Marvelous Conclusion to a Marvelous Franchise
In the movie’s final moments,Ethan goes after Gabriel in a bi-planeafter the antagonist flees with the Poison Pill, a malware that can target the Entity. The unhurried tussle is beautiful to see, especially after Ethan manages to climb onto Gabriel’s plane and hangs on for dear life. From close-up shots of the two characters to stunning views of the Earth below, there’s plenty to feast on. The sequence epitomizes the franchise’s reliance on stunt spectacle and presents a clear, satisfying victory for Ethan and humans at large. Even better, Gabriel dies rather cartoonishly like a Moore-era Bond villain.
2Furiosa Kills Joe
Drifter Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) has just been captured and forced into servitude by the tyrannical Immortan Joe, but even though he is put in significant danger, it’s nothing like what the tyrant’s five wives face in doggedly opposing him. Somehow, they manage to escape, resulting in a hot pursuit across the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Will they survive till the end ofMad Max:Fury Road?
Victims Become Rulers
Fury Road’s climax sees Joe confronting the escapees himself. The brutal race and fight scene ends with Furiosa killing the villain. Max then transfuses his blood to an injured Furiosa, saving her life. Everyone then returns to the Citadel. Granting the glory (of killing the villain) to Furiosa, instead of Max, redefines genre archetypes that normally involve the man bossing the proceedings. The fact that there’s almost no dialogue in the sequence helps boost its intensity, too.
1Hans Gruber Falls to His Death
‘Die Hard’ (1988)
Die Hardopens with NYPD Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) arriving at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles, hoping to mend things with his estranged wife at her Christmas office party. As soon as he arrives, German terrorists, led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), raid the building, hoping to steal the $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds from a vault.
Rickman’s Facial Expression Is Everything
Not enough can be said aboutDie Hard. The zany action gem’s ending veritably zips along thanks to Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza’s sharp screenplay and a plethora of winningly wacky and befuddled, milquetoast-leaning performances. Sergeant Al Powell is a particular standout, his cute chalk-and-cheese bromance with McClane leaving plenty to be desired. But the best moment comes when Gruber falls to his death in slow motion after a final confrontation with the protagonist. Alan Rickman’s shocked expression hoists the scene to even greater altitudes.
