Thirty-three years ago this month, John Woo’s crime thriller “Hard-Boiled” had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and immediately rewrote the action-movie playbook.

If you're after ambitious and groundbreaking action movies, classics like The General, Seven Samurai, and A Touch of Zen are all worth checking out.

The 1990s were a golden era for action stars and a time when fast-paced and outrageous releases dominated the box office. While the 1980s were ruled by muscle-bound heroes, the 1990s refined the genre ...