7 high-octane action films to watch prior to The Running Man

Children of Men (2006)

This dystopian thriller is essential viewing to appreciate brutal, efficient combat. Alfonso Cuarón`s mastery of long takes immerses audiences in the action

Hardcore Henry (2015)

The First-Person-View design is a jarring experience that forces you to experience action and violence from the inside, the closest you can get to being hunted

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Chapter 4 is the pinnacle of teaching mainstream viewers how to read clean choreography, proper spatial geography, and technique-forward combat

The Hunger Games (2012)

While less brutal than others, this dystopian spectacle stands as the most globally understood cinematic blueprint for televised death competition

Snowpiercer (2013)

A single-axis, forward narrative through a closed system. Class, power, violence compress into an inescapable inevitability as the hero moves one direction

The Raid (2011)

Arguably the single most influential modern martial action film of the last fifteen years. The choreography is logic delivered through movement and technique

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Non-stop propulsion and escalation with high velocity speed. The story exists entirely in a state of constant forward escalation. There is no time to breathe