To celebrate the release of The Expendables 2 this week we have taken a look at some of the best action actors to ever grace the big screen.
Earlier in the week we look at the likes of Sly Stallone and Jason Statham and today we take a look at some other actors who have made a splash in this genre.
- Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis is a bit of an action legend as he created one of the most famous characters of all time in this genre in the form of John McClane.
Yes McClane is a guy who is never far away from trouble and in the four movies that have hit the big screen the franchise has made in excess of $1 billion.
Filming is currently underway on A Good Day to Die Hard which will once again see Willis kicking some bad guy butt.
But what has been so great about Willis' action career as he has now turned into an elder statesman of the genre.
Red and The Cold Light of Day are just some of the most recent action roles that we have seen him in while Looper and G.I Joe: Retaliation are on the horizon.
- Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan has enjoyed a career that has spanned decades and has seen him become one of the greatest martial arts actors of all time.
The actor kicked off his career in Asian cinema with the likes of Police Story and Rumble In The Bronx before making the transition into Hollywood movies.
And the U.S. has embraced the actor as Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon were major breakthroughs for the star.
Since then his career has rocketed in the States as Rush Hour was turned into a franchise and he went on to appear in Shanghai Knights and Karate Kid.
- Steven Seagal
There is no action star with more coolness and swagger than Steven Seagal who has been kicking the ass of the bad guy since 1988.
He made is debut with Above The Law and since he has gone on to star in the likes of Out For Justice, Under Siege and Exit Wounds.
And as if beating the bad guys on film is not great enough Seagal brings his no nonsense attitude to really upholding the law.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Expendables 2 sees Arnie back in his first major role since he moved into politics - he did cameo in The Expendables back in 2010.
Arnie is one of the biggest names in the action genre with the terminator franchise well and truly establishing him as an acting star.
He took on the role of the Terminator in 1984, 1991 and 2003 and 'I'll be back' remains one of the greatest lines in cinema history.
And he turned action into a career with movies such as True Lies, Predator, Total Recall and Commando all under his belt - however perhaps she should have given Kindergarten Cop a miss!
- Jet Li
We have already mentioned a couple of martial arts stars as we have looked at the greatest action stars but Jet Li is another who has enjoyed a great career.
He kicked of his acting career in Asian movies such as Fist of Legend before making the transition into American cinema.
He made his Hollywood debut in Lethal Weapon 4 and has since gone on to appear in the likes of Romeo Must Die and The One.
But he continued to work in Asian cinema with the likes of Hero and Fearless being two of his greatest movies.
The Expendables is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw