The 10 best action scenes of 2023

polygon.com:

After a 2022 that gave us RRR, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Top Gun: Maverick, it was hard to imagine this year could match that level of action excellence. But 2023 came through.

Mainstay action franchises like John Wick and Mission: Impossible released scintillating new entries, long-running genre auteurs like Michael Mann and Guy Ritchie breathed new life into their evolving style, and nations around the world contributed their own depictions of kick-ass cinematic violence. Even television stepped its game up this year, with a bevy of exciting action series.

I love action movies, and spent much of this year catching up on them. This list isn’t the best action movies of the year (although many are included), but rather the best action scenes of the year — including both movies and TV. If you want the best action movies of the year, you can find them among the best movies of the year.

This list only includes movies that had theatrical or at-home releases in the US in 2023 (so festival releases like Mayhem! aren’t eligible, but will be next year). It was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to 10, so I’ve included some honorable mentions at the bottom. I also haven’t seen Napoleon yet, which likely has strong contenders, and the brilliant Mayhem! is technically a 2024 release, so it is unfortunately not eligible here.

Here’s our list of the standout action and fight scenes of the year for you to enjoy at home. We’ve got the 10 best at the top (in no particular order), followed by some top honorable mentions and others for you to consider. Where possible, we’ve included a link to watch the scene. Let’s get into it.

Where to watch the movie: Starz, or for digital rental/purchase

OK, I said no specific order, but we have