John Wick is a well-known, popular franchise; almost everyone has heard of these movies, even if they haven't seen them. These violent action epics follow master assassin John Wick, played by Keanu Reeves, as he tries and fails to leave the hitman business and live a normal life. The series has continued to gain traction ever since the first movie gained critical acclaim and box office success in 2014, with ever-increasing budgets and financial returns developing for the sequels. Despite John Wick: Chapter 4 being delayed until March 2023, a fifth movie has already been confirmed, so it looks like these action-thriller movies won’t end anytime soon.

Related: John Wick: Chapter 4: Everything We Know

What's interesting about this franchise, in relation to other action blockbusters, is just what's inspired it. Everyone in a creative industry gets their inspiration from something they’ve watched, seen, or read, and it's no different for director (and former Matrix stunt coordinator) Chad Stahelski. There are several movies he drew on for inspiration when making the franchise, and each of these action and crime movie classics have influenced the John Wick franchise in their own respective ways.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Two men facing each other in graveyard with wooden crosses
Produzioni Europee Associati | United Artists

Though it may not seem it at first, Sergio Leone's classic Spaghetti Western film (a genre of Italian-based movies which appropriated Hollywood Westerns) has indeed influenced the John Wick franchise. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is set during the American civil war in the late 1800s and features some of the most iconic music, cinematography, and shootouts of the Western genre. The unnamed bandit known as “Blondie” (played by Clint Eastwood) uses his partner Tuco (played by Eli Wallach) to con profits by repeatedly turning him in for a bounty and then saving him just before his execution. When they find out about $200,000 worth of confederate gold buried in a graveyard after it was stolen, they work together and against each other to claim the gold for themselves.

The biggest influence for John Wick in this movie is Eastwood's character, Blondie. Stahelski claimed that the unknown backstory of Blondie is what drew him in. There is no explanation for what Blondie did before the movie or how he stumbled into this life of crime; the film simply jumps right into Blondie as a sheriff-swindling bandit. In a similar way, the character John Wick wasn’t explained or given a detailed backstory—in fact, he was already trying to retire from his assassin life. The movie didn’t go into the details of his youth, training, or profession, but merely focused on his love life and how everything went downhill after his wife died. It was meant to leave the background up to the viewer's imaginations, resulting in more mystery and ambiguity (perhaps for future sequels). Additionally, Stahelski has inserted several visual cues which point toward the classic Spaghetti Western.

Related: Here's Why John Wick's Action is Mostly Shot in Wide

Point Blank

Lee Marvin exits a car holding a gun in Point Blank
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

One of the biggest influences in the John Wick franchise is Point Blank, John Boorman's super-stylish and endlessly influential crime thriller. Walker, played by Lee Marvin, works with his friend Mal Reese, played by John Vernon, to rob a major crime operation, but Reese takes the money for himself and leaves Walker for dead. Walker recovers and hunts down Reese, aided by the mysterious Yost, played by Keenan Wynn. The plot mechanics, however, are nearly superfluous to the film's brilliant action sequences, tough performances, unique direction, and ice-cold thrills.

Related: Carrie-Anne Moss Teases Joining Keanu Reeves in the John Wick Franchise

The crime and mystery surrounding the plot of Point Blank is what influenced John Wick. A revenge plot centering around the morally dubious but wronged protagonist is exactly what both movies have in common, not to mention their ensuing crime and violence, of course. The film team even left a few references and easter eggs in the movie to pay their respects to one of their main inspirations.

The Killer

Chow Yun-Fat points a gun out of frame in The Killer
Film Workshop

Though The Killer didn’t do so well in its initial release in Hong Kong, it received critical acclaim in the Western world and has now influenced many directors, including Stahelski. In John Woo's masterpiece, hitman Ah Jong, played by the incomparable Chow Yun-Fat, accidentally blinds a singer in a nightclub on one of his jobs. Feeling guilty, he begins to visit her regularly and help her home; he doesn’t want to be in the business anymore, but takes one last job in an attempt to save his conscience and use the money to help the nightclub singer get surgery to fix her eyes. Things go awry when he isn’t paid for the job and is instead ambushed. After that, he must fight through the men of the Triad in an attempt to keep his life and get the money he was due. Sound familiar?

The Killer is the closest movie to John Wick that he made, with its "hitman trying to leave his job and live a normal life" storyline, so it is referenced and compared with Stahelski's films often. John Woo is the real source of inspiration for John Wick here, though, despite the similarities between the film's plots. With his action-packed scenes and thrilling fight sequences which turn bullet battles into brilliant ballet, it’s easy to see the comparisons between his movies and this American franchise. Woo's usage of sympathetic but violent protagonists engaged in unwanted, gang-related violence (and the artistic way in which he directs them) is wholly influential to the John Wick franchise.

Related: Top 10 Best Revenge Movies, Ranked

Le Cercle Rouge

Three characters in The Red Circle sitting in a car together.
Rialto Pictures

Le Cercle Rouge, also known as The Red Circle, is a little different from the rest of this list. Corey, played by the legendary Alain Delon, is recently released from prison for good behavior, but before he left he was given a tip about a good jewelry store to rob. Jean-Pierre Melville's ice-cold crime films (including Le Samourai, also with Delon) were extremely influential on the gangster and hit-man subgenres, and John Wick deliberately reference this with a club in the second film called 'The Red Circle.' The ultra-cool, deeply wounded, but incredibly resourceful protagonists of Melville's film (with its own intricate network of gangsters) has been clearly influential to the Wick franchise.

John Wick has elements which were greatly inspired by the film noir of movie's like Le Cercle Rouge, what with it's rainy neo-noir composition. The franchise also obviously lifts from some of Stahelski's favorite stunt scenes from Chinese 'gun-fu' films like Woo's The Killer; it appropriates the hyper-stylized look and feel of the similarly revenge-themed film Point Blank; it utilizes the mysterious backgrounds and super-cool gunfights and killers of Spaghetti Westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. All in all, John Wick finds inspiration is some of the best films ever made, and assimilates them into an unforgettable whole which continues to influence the action genre.