Action movies can be entertaining spectacles, but when there are good performances, they elevate those movies to something else... something better; a place where you’re entertained, but can also get emotionally invested in the outcome of what’s happening to the characters. It’s time to celebrate, and rank, some of the best acting performances in action movies.

9 Arnold Schwarzenegger - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

A new Terminator (Robert Patrick) goes to the past to kill a teenager, John Connor (Edward Furlong). This time, he's protected by the same model of Terminator (Schwarzenegger) that wanted to kill him in the first movie, making his mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), never trust this protector. Terminator 2 was (and still is) the best Terminator movie. That’s in big part due to Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance, as he’s as awesome as ever as the T-800, showing all his action genre talent, but also some sentimentality and understanding of human emotions. In theory, a robot can’t have feelings, but seeing the T-800 saying goodbye to John and sacrificing itself for the good of humanity, might make you feel different, and that’s all thanks to the Austrian actor.

8 Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon tells the story of a bank robbery gone wrong, as there’s not much money to steal. As they get surrounded by police, a different kind of negotiation begins, one where there are hostages. Al Pacino showed all his range in this adrenaline-fueled story. He has magnetic charisma even when he's a bad guy. He’s anxious, sad, vulnerable, faking bravery and evilness to fool the FBI, but he’s also in love and knows why he’s doing what he’s doing. It might not be the typical action movie, but this thrilling drama has literal action, but also emotional action as when the credits roll, we can finally breathe.

Related: These Are the Best Al Pacino Movies, Ranked

7 Charlize Theron - Atomic Blonde (2017)

In Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron plays an undercover MI6 agent sent to Berlin to recover a missing list of double agents and fight everyone who gets in her way. Theron had already played action characters before, but Lorraine isn’t just awesome, she also shows smarts and some vulnerability with fellow spy Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella), creating a 360 character that feels real. We can believe she's something more than a tough gal and action hero.

6 Patrick Swayze - Point Break (1991)

Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) is an FBI agent who goes undercover in a gang of surfers that might be bank robbers. Point Break is remembered for many things: a different kind of action movie; one of Kathryn Bigelow’s first films, and, especially, Patrick Swayze's acting as Bodhi. Swayze is all charisma and magnetism in the film, creating an aura where we believe Utah could fall under his spell, even after knowing he’s one of the bank robbers. His character surfs, sky dives, believes in Eastern philosophy, and can do no wrong, as Swayze makes us understand the beliefs and ideas of his character. A fun movie made great because of this performance alone.

5 Michelle Yeoh - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is an incredible movie that blends action, martial arts, romance, and drama into one unique film. It's even described by director Ang Lee as "Sense and Sensibility, but with kick-ass.” A movie with so many genres wouldn't be possible without great performances by the actors; especially Michelle Yeoh, as she shows the unspoken love she has for Chow Yun-fat’s character, while having incredible sword fights. Sometimes you need fighters who can act a little, other times you need good actors who can look like they know how to fight; Michelle Yeoh was both, making her the only choice for this character and movie, which still leaves us in awe every time we watch it.

4 Uma Thurman - Kill Bill (2003-2004)

After they try to kill her and spend four years in a coma, The Bride wants her revenge. Kill Bill is a fun bloody affair, but it’s also much more, as Uma Thurman shows us all the emotions her character goes through during her revenge tour, as her former life is lost. Thurman’s performance is one of the best in any Tarantino film, as she goes from rage, to determination, passing through desperate, scared, emotional, vengeful, and confident. Her performance is even better in the last part of her story, as she must confront the love of her life, while spending some time with her just-met daughter. We knew Thurman could kick butt from the first scene of the movie, but it’s in this ending that we see her vulnerability, understanding the price her character has to pay, and we feel with her, showing why this performance is so extraordinary.

3 Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight might be the best Batman movie ever, and that’s in big part thanks to Heath Ledger’s mesmerizing performance as the Joker. Ledger's version of the comic villain is all chaos and scary fun, as he only wants to see the world burn. That idea is shown perfectly in every interaction with the other characters; be it gangsters, the common folk, or Batman himself. Ledger’s Joker is a sociopath, who gets by on scaring people and showing them his scars, but, surprisingly, this anarchic fictional character makes us believe Gotham might be a real place, more so than any other movie. Ledger won, posthumously, an Oscar for this performance, and it was deserved. It’s a shame we could never see any of his acting again.

Related: Heath Ledger Remains the Best Batman Villain, and Here’s Why

2 Toshiro Mifune - The Seven Samurai (1954)

A village needs protection from bandits, so they recruit seven samurai to help them. That’s the plot of Seven Samurai, one of the greatest films by Akira Kurosawa, whose lead role went to Toshiro Mifune. Kurosawa’s mastery of the action sequences, with many firsts on how to shoot them and direct them, was later applied to European and American films. One of the many things that made this movie great was that it showed us how the characters interacted and prepared for the battle. In those kinds of moments, having an incredible actor like Mifune reaps its rewards, as he gives his character courage, dignity, spirit, nobility, and honor while being a badass and having incredible charisma.

Steven Okazaki made a documentary about Mifune and told Indiewire about the actor: “He’s very Japanese and very un-Japanese at the same time. He was shy and brash, funny and cool, silly and deadly serious. That’s what made him so dynamic. But it’s his integrity as an artist and a person that made people love and respect him.”

1 Bruce Willis - Die Hard (1988)

John McClane is an NYPD officer in Los Angeles, who has to save his wife once a group of German terrorists takes them hostage at Nakatomi Plaza. Die Hard made Bruce Willis a star because of his everyman qualities; someone who is in an action movie, although he would prefer to be in any other place. The brilliance of this movie is that McClane gets tired, scared, and bloody, just like a real human would, while cracking jokes and showing his smarts by taking out a group of tough guys. Some of those qualities were lost in the franchise's next movies, but we’ll always have Willis' performance as the right guy in the worst place possible, who only wants to save his wife.