Buzzworthy Suggestions for Action Awards

Awarded to the favorite Action/Adventure Film that fits the award’s subcategory.

Favorite Action/Adventure Film of All Time

Awarded to the film deemed by Cosmo voters to be the best Action/Adventure film, regardless of subgenre. This winner of this award at the first Cosmos, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is not eligible.

Not Eligible: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Buzzworthy: The 39 Steps (1935) • The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) • The African Queen (1951) • Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) • Aliens (1986) • All Is Lost (2013) • Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) • Apocalypse Now (1979) • Avengers: Endgame (2019) • Avengers: Infinity War (2018) • Baby Driver (2017) • Back to the Future (1985) • Badlands (1974) • Black Panther (2018) • Blade Runner 2049 (2017) • The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) • Bullitt (1968) • Captain America: Civil War (2016) • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) • Captain Marvel (2019) • Casino Royale (2006) • Chicken Run (2000) • Coco (2017) • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001) • The Dark Knight (2008) • Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014) • Deadpool 2 (2018) • Doctor Strange (2016) • Dunkirk (2017) • A Fistful of Dollars (1964) • The French Connection (1971) • The Fugitive (1993) • Ghostbusters (1984) • Goldfinger (1964) • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) • Henry V (1989) • The Hobbit: An Desolation of Smaug (2013) • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) • Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) • The Hurt Locker (2009) • Incredibles 2 (2018) • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) • Iron Man (2008) • Isle of Dogs (2018) • Jaws (1975) • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) • The Jungle Book (2016) • Jurassic Park (1993) • King Kong (1933) • Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) • The Lego Batman Movie (2017) • The LEGO Movie (2014) • The Lion King (1994) • Logan (2017) • Looper (2012) • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) • Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) • Metropolis (1927) • Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) • Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) • Moana (2016) • No Country for Old Men (2007) • Onward (2020) • Paths of Glory (1957) • The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) • The Princess Bride (1987) • Ran (1985) • Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) • Rio Bravo (1959) • The Searchers (1956) • Seven Samurai (1956) • The Seventh Seal (1957) • Shazam! (2019) • Sicario (2015) • Skyfall (2012) • Soul (2020) • Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) • Stagecoach (1939) • Stalker (1979) • Star Trek (2009) • Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) • Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) • Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) • Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) • The Suicide Squad (2021) • The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) • The Terminator (1984) • Thor: Ragnarok (2017) • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) • True Grit (2010) • Up (2009) • WALL-E (2008) • War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) • Wolfwalkers (2020) • Wonder Woman (2017) • X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) • Zootopia (2016)

Favorite Disaster Movie of All Time

Whether it’s crashing vehicles (airplanes, ships, or submarines), or surviving natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis), Americans love tales of survival. Disaster parodies are handled under Comedy, though we won’t bar their entry here if they’re among your favorites.

Buzzworthy: Airport (1970) • Airport 1975 (1975) • Airport ’77 (1977) • Alive (1993) • The Andromeda Strain (1971) • Armageddon (1998) • Avalanche (1978) • Backdraft (1991) • The Big Bus (1976) • Black Sunday (1977) • The China Syndrome (1979) • City on Fire (1979) • The Concorde … Airport ’79 (1979) • Contageon (2011) • Dante’s Peak (1997) • The Day After Tomorrow (2004) • Deep Impact (1998) • Deluge (1933) • Earthquake (1974) • The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) • Flood (2007) • Gray Lady Down (1978) • The Hindenburg (1975) • Hurricane (1979) • The Impossible (2012) • Into the Storm (2014) • Krakatoa, East of Java (1969) • Meteor (1979) • A Night to Remember (1958) • Outbreak (1995) • The Perfect Storm (2000) • Pompeii (2014) • Poseidon (2006) • The Poseidon Adventure (1972) • San Andreas (2015) • San Francisco (1936) • Snakes on a Plane (2006) • Survive! (1976) • The Swarm (1978) • Titanic (1997) • The Towering Inferno (1974) • Turbulence (1997) • Twister (1996) • Two-Minute Warning (1976) • Volcano (1997) • The Wave (2015) • When Time Ran Out (1980)

Favorite Escape Movie of All Time

Plenty of action movies deal with daring escapes from prisons, fortresses, or other places – either as a plot for the entire film, or as an important subplot for part of the film. Which are your favorites?

Buzzworthy: Cool Hand Luke (1967) • The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) • The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) • Cube (1997) • The Defiant Ones (1958) • Down by Law (1986) • Escape from Alcatraz (1979) • Escape from L.A. (1996) • Escape from New York (1981) • Escape from Pretoria (2020) • Face/Off (1997) • Felon (2008) • The Grand Illusion (1937) • The Great Escape (1963) • I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) • The Island (2005) • King of Devil’s Island (1994) • Law Abiding Citizen (2009) • Life (1999) • A Man Escaped (1956) • The Maze Runner (2014) • Midnight Express (1978) • Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) • Papillon (1973) • Papillon (2017) • The Poseidon Adventure (1972) • The Raid (2001) • Rescue Dawn (2006) • The Running Man (1987) • The Shawshank Redemption (1994) • Snowpiercer (2013) • Tango & Cash (1989) • Toy Story 3 (2010) • Unbroken (2014) • The Way Back (2010)

Favorite Espionage and Spy Films

Ian Fleming, John Le Carré, Ken Follett, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and so many authors have had their spy novels turned into terrific espionage films. Which are your favorites?

Buzzworthy: The 39 Steps (1935) • Anna (2019) • Argo (2012) • Atomic Blonde (2017) • Black Widow (2021) • The Bourne Identity (2002) • Bridge of Spies (2015) • Burn After Reading (2008) • A Call to Spy (2019) • Casino Royale (2006) • Citizenfour (2014) • Cloak and Dagger (1946) • The Conversation (1974) • The Courier (2020) • Criminal (2006) • Enemy of the State (1998) • From Paris With Love (2010) • From Russia With Love (1964) • The General (1926) • GoldenEye (1995) • The Hunt for Red October (1990) • The International (2009) • The Ipcress File (1965) • The Lady Vanishes (1938) • The Little Drummer Girl (1984) • The Lives Of Others (2006) • The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) • Marathon Man (1976) • Mata Hari (1931) • Miss Congeniality (2000) • Mission: Impossible (1996) • Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) • A Most Wanted Man (2014) • No Way Out (1987) • North By Northwest (1959) • Notorious (1946) • The November Man (2014) • Patriot Games (1992) • Quantum of Solace (2008) • Red Sparrow (2018) • Salt (2010) • Skyfall (2012) • Spectre (2015) • Spione (1928) • Spy Game (2001) • Spy Kids (2001) • The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) • The Sum of All Fears (2002) • The Third Man (1949) • Three Days Of The Condor (1975) • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011) • Top Secret! (1984) • True Lies (1994) • Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Favorite Quest Movies

Quest movies typically involve the characters being sent out on a mission. While “rescue films” are a sort of a quest, for our purposes, we’ll use this category to focus finding or returning treasure or a physical object.

Buzzworthy: The Adventures of Tintin (2011) • Cutthroat Island (1995) • The Da Vinci Code (2006) • DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) • The Fisher King (1991) • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) • The Goonies (1985) • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) • Jewel of the Nile (1985) • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2000) • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) • Lust for Gold (1949) • The Maltese Falcon (1941) • Moana (2016) • Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) • The Mummy (1999) • Muppet Treasure Island (1996) • National Treasure (2004) • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) • Romancing the Stone (1984) • The Rundown (2003) • Sahara (2005) • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) • The Road to El Dorado (2000) • Three Kings (1999) • Titan A.E. (2000) • Treasure Island (1950) • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) • Treasure Planet (2002) • Without a Paddle (2004) • The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Favorite Rescue Films

Favorite films involving searching for and rescuing one or more people, either as the plot of the entire film or as an important subplot for part of the film.

Buzzworthy: 7 Days in Entebbe (2018) • Act of Valor (2012) • Aliens (1986) • Argo (2012) • Black Hawk Down (2001) • Captain Phillips (2013) • Die Hard (1988) • Django Unchained (2012) • Dragonslayer (1981) • Dunkirk (2017) • Escape from New York (1981) • Extraction (2020) • The Finest Hours (2016) • The Great Raid (2005) • The Himalayas (2015) • In Her Line of Fire (2008) • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) • Infini (2015) • Jurassic Park III (2001) • Jurassic World (2015) • King Solomon’s Mines (1950) • King Solomon’s Mines (1985) • Lockout (2012) • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) • The Martian (2015) • Missing (1982) • The President’s Man (2000) • The Princess Bride (1987) • Rambo (2008) • Rambo III (1988) • Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) • Redcon-1 (2018) • Rescue Under Fire (2017) • The Rescuers (1977) • The Rescuers Down Under (1990) • Romancing the Stone (1984) • San Andreas (2015) • Saving Private Ryan (1998) • Star Trek (2009) • Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) • The Suicide Squad (2021) • Taken (2008) • Tears of the Sun (2003) • Toy Story (1995) • Without a Trace (1983)

Favorite Swashbuckling Film

Per Wikipedia, swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterized by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-cut, heroic characters are clearly heroic and even villains tend to have a code of honor (although this is not always the case). There is often a damsel in distress and a romantic element.

Buzzworthy: The Adventures of Don Juan (1948) • The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) • Against All Flags (1952) • The Beloved Rogue (1927) • The Black Pirate (1926) • The Black Swan (1942) • The Buccaneer (1958) • Captain Blood (1935) • Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) • The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) • The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) • The Court Jester (1955) • The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983) • The Crimson Pirate (1952) • Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) • The Duellists (1977) • En garde (2004) • The Flame and the Arrow (1950) • The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge (1974) • The Iron Mask (1929) • Ivanhoe (1952) • The Legend of Zorro (2005) • The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) • The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) • The Mark of Zorro (1920) • The Mark of Zorro (1940) • The Mask of Zorro (1998) • A Modern Muskateer (1917) • The Muskateer (2001) • The Pirate (1948) • Pirates (1986) • The Pirates of Penzance (1983) • The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) • The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) • The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) • The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) • The Princess Bride (1987) • The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) • Revenge of the Musketeers (1994) • Rob Roy (1995) • Robin and Marian (1976) • Robin Hood (1973) • Robin Hood (2010) • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) • Scaramouche (1952) • The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) • The Sea Hawk (1940) • The Sign of Zorro (1958) • Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) • The Three Musketeers (1921) • The Three Musketeers (1939) • The Three Musketeers (1973) • The Three Musketeers (1993) • Treasure Island (1950) • The Vikings (1958) • Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981)

Favorite Wilderness & Nature Films

Man against nature is a common theme for adventure films: fighting the elements, battling hungry animals, surviving against the indifferent cruelty of nature itself.

Buzzworthy: The 33 (2015) • 127 Hours (2010) • Adrift (2018) • Against the Sun (2014) • Alive (1993) • All Is Lost (2013) • Arctic (2019) • As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001) • Backcountry (2014) • Big River Man (2009) • Cast Away (2000) • A Cry in the Wild (1990) • Deep Water (2006) • Deliverance (1972) • The Edge (1997) • Essential Killing (2010) • Everest (2015) • The Grey (2011) • Grizzly Man (2005) • How I Ended This Summer (2010) • In the Heart of the Sea (2015) • Into the White (2012) • Into the Wild (2007) • Jungle (2017) • Kon-Tiki (2012) • Leave No Trace (2018) • Life of Pi (2012) • The Martian (2015) • The Mercy (2018) • The Mountain Between Us (2017) • Never Cry Wolf (1983) • Open Water (2003) • The Reef (2010) • Rescue Dawn (2006) • The Revenant (2015) • The Road (2009) • The Snow Walker (2003) • Southern Comfort (1981) • The Summit (2012) • The Survivalist (2015) • Touching the Void (2003) • Tracks (2013) • The Way Back (2010) • Wild (2014)

Buzzworthy Suggestions for Other Awards

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