The Aroundtable is proud its latest series entitled The Greatest Action Heroes. So here go with some of the most pivotal actors in the action genre.

Best Movies: Escape From New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Big Trouble In Little China (1986), Tequila Sunrise (1988),Tango & Cash (1989), Backdraft (1991), Unlawful Entry (1992), Tombstone (1993), Stargate (1994), Executive Decision (1996), Breakdown (1997), Bone Tomahawk (2015).

Honorable Mentions:, Elvis (1979),3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), Dark Blue (2002), Death Proof (2007)

Undoubtedly one of the most underrated actors in the history of cinema. The man never won an Oscar, nor does he draw an audience as big as the other ‘80s action heroes like Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone. But Kurt Russell can out-act nearly every one of them. Consistently providing a solid performance in each and every film that he was in.

The reason that Kurt Russell is on the Aroundtable’s list of the greatest action heroes of all time is simple, he was and is ahead of his time, and it looks like the world has finally picked up on Russell’s’ awesomeness.

Let’s start with Snake Plissken: A badass before badass was ever used in action movies. But what truly made Snake such a legend in the genre, is that he was one of the first anti-heroes with a smart-ass attitude that would go on to define heroes or anti-heroes for years to come. Without a doubt, Russell’s portrayal of Snake inspired the creation of Bruce Willis’s Die-Hard character, John McClane.

Then we have Big Trouble In Little China, not only did it introduce American audiences to Hong Kong cinema, the film threw the typical lead/sidekick dynamic upside down. Was Russell’s Jack Burton character the lead or was it Dennis Dun’s Wang Chi? The problem: Hard to say because Jack was way in over his head and had no idea what he was doing. Basically, blundering his way from one moment to the next while Wang possessed all the skill and did most of the heavy lifting.

Let`s not forget,The Thing: which was and is a masterpiece of paranoia-fueled horror. The Thing is scary because it shows that the monsters people are capable of becoming are actually scarier than the monsters themselves. Again, the film was ahead of its time and perhaps misunderstood.

I could go on and on, but Russell deserves to be on this list. Russell has it all, he’s charismatic yet humble, serious but funny, handsome yet approachable. He is and always will be one the ground breakers yet underdog of the action genre. Thankfully and rightfully so, it looks like Russell is in a career revival and has become part of The Fast and the Furious and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises. YES! It looks like the rest of the world has finally caught up to the greatness of the most famous cult actor in the world.