Liam Neeson has one of the strangest career arcs I’ve ever witnessed. Up until 2008, he was a highly regarded actor who typically appeared in dramatic and important fare. Then, at the ripe age of 56, with one swift neck snap in Taken, he became Hollywood’s most bankable action star– a position he has held since then. In this time, he’s also helped rejuvenate a genre humorously dubbed “geriaction” – films about old guys kicking ass. In honor of Neeson’s action star glory, and the release of his latest action vehicle, Taken 3 (I’m very disappointed that they changed the title from Tak3n), here are some other important geriaction stars, as well as a few we may see in the future.
1. Charles Bronson
Before we had the word “geriaction,” we had Charles Bronson. Bronson single-handedly paved the way for older guys to manifest their virility as if they were several decades younger. Bronson had been handing out beatdowns throughout his long career, but one film established his dominance in geriaction. In 1974, he starred in the classic Death Wish at the prime age of 52. The film earned back almost four times its budget and launched a five-film franchise in which Bronson continued to kick ass until he was 73. You can’t have a conversation about old action heroes without Bronson, because he started the conversation.
2. Denzel Washington
Believe it or not, Denzel Washington is 60, which is a good 15 years older than he looks. It also feels like he’s just now starting to fully realize his action star potential. His reign began just over a decade ago with Man on Fire, and he’s largely held a steady grip of successful action films since. In the time since, Washington’s lowest-grossing action film made $50 million. That’s Washington on a bad day. What’s amazing is how, despite his surefire ability to land an action film, he’s never really thought of as strictly an action star. He’s done the near impossible: found fame in one genre without getting pigeonholed. That he’s done such a thing at his age is even more impressive.
3. Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger
The first reason I lumped these two together for this list was so that I could post the above photo. The second reason is that these two kings of ‘80s and ‘90s action cinema have become codependent upon each other in their advanced age. As I’ve written in the past, these two have used their histories to keep their careers alive, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The only time either makes money is when they milk franchises from their prime. With the nostalgia-fueled “remember these guys?” Expendables series, Arnold’s upcoming Terminator: Genysis, and Stallone’s recently-announced Rambo: Last Blood (side note: that film now has the greatest title, since Tak3n is gone), neither is slowing down on the beatings, even while nearing 70.
4. Steve McQueen
You’re probably wondering why Steve McQueen is on this list. He died at the age of 50, so we never got to see him kick ass as an old guy, and our world is lesser for that. He is on here so that we can take a moment to ponder what could have been. We were tragically robbed of Steve McQueen before his twilight action years. Many argue (correctly) that McQueen in Bullitt was the first action hero. It’s hard to imagine that wouldn’t have had a similar impact on geriaction, had he lived long enough.
5. Possible Future Geriaction Stars
Nicolas Cage isn’t getting any younger, but he is making like six action films a year, so hopefully those two roads will meet in a celebratory geriaction phase. I’m pretty sure Jason Statham will still have the physique he does now in 20 years, and he churns out a steady amount of action films, too. Tom Cruise is 52, and he’s been creating a heavy output of great action material, so hopefully that will continue as he ages. And I’m willing to bet that The Rock will only accumulate muscle mass with age, so prepare to see the most ripped 60-year-old action star ever someday.
