Greatest Summer Action Movies

We got a lot of big "block-buster" type summer action movies this year. While there was only one, The Bourne Ultimatum, that really stood out it got me thinking about how much I love the action movie genre and how great the summer is, becuase there is usually a collection of really good action movies. With this thought in mind I did what any reasonable person that maintains a blog and has a serious problem with watching movies would do; I made a list. Below are the 25 greatest action movies from the last twenty years.

By way of explanation, in order for a movies to be qualified as a summer action movie it has to have been released some time during the summer which is defined as May, June, July and August. It has to be classified as an action movie (loosely defined) and it has to have made a lasting impact. For some of the movies below it is a bit too early to tell, but in my best estimation I believe they have made an impact that will last. Without further ado, The 25 Greatest Summer of the last twenty years -

1. Terminator 2 (July 1991)
2. Independence Day (July 1996)
3. Batman (June 1989)
4. Jurassic Park (June 1993)
5. Die Hard (July 1988)
6. Gladiator (May 2000)
7. Braveheart (May 1995)
8. Saving Private Ryan (July 1998)
9. The Matrix Reloaded (May 2003)
10. Spiderman (May 2002)
11. X2 (May 2003)
12. X-Men (July 2000)
13. Spider Man 2 (June 2004)
14. Mission Impossible (May 1996)
15. The Bourne Identity (June 2002)
16. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (July 2006)
17. Face/Off (June 1997)
18. Men In Black (July 1997)
19. Batman Begins (June 2005)
20. Blade (August 1998)
21. The Bourne Supremacy (July 2004)
22. Lethal Weapon 4 (July 1998)
23. The Bourne Ultimatum (August 2007)
24. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (June 2001)
25. I, Robot (July 2004)