Where can you watch Liam Neeson at his biggest and baddest?

Liam Neeson has spent years cultivating a reputation as one of the top rugged action heroes in Hollywood. Sure, he’s known for his dramatic roles too, but sometimes we just want to see him hunt down some bad guys and punch them in the face. Ideally, Neeson’s movies offer a little bit of both elements.

Neeson is back in action as ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills in Taken 2. Once again, he’s going to have to muster his particular set of skills to beat up some kidnappers and rescue his family (and himself).

In celebration of that sequel, we’re looking back on Neeson’s long career and picking out his 10 best action-oriented roles. These aren’t necessarily his best films, but they’re the ones that do the greatest job of highlighting Liam Neeson: Action Hero.

 

10

Seraphim Falls

Released 2007
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Seraphim Falls is, in many ways, a throwback to the gritty Westerns of the 1960s and their themes of violence and revenge. Neeson plays a man named Carver, who single-mindedly pursues Pierce Brosnan’s Gideon across the desert.

Much like Ahab, Carver is a man consumed by his desire for revenge, and viewers are constantly forced to question which of the two men is the real villain. It was a nice change considering that Neeson so often plays the tragic hero figure. Unfortunately, both actors struggle to mask their accents for most of the movie, ruining the drama a bit.

 

9

Michael Collins

Released 1996

In Michael Collins, Neeson takes on his biggest opponent yet – the British Empire. Neeson plays the titular leader of the IRA in the film during a period of tumultuous relations between England and Ireland in the early 20th Century.

 

Rather than his fists, Neeson’s voice and charisma are called upon to convey Collins’ passionate battle for the future of Ireland. And in the end, even Neeson can’t change the course of history, but his Collins put up a damned good fight until the end.

 

8

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

One of many things Star Wars fans learned in this first prequel adventure is that Obi-Wan Kenobi was really mentored by a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn.

As Qui-Gon, Neeson had all the stately grace of Alec Guinness’ older Obi-Wan, but also a rebellious streak that put him at odds with the rest of the Jedi Council.

It’s just too bad the Jedi fight with lightsabers rather than bare fists, or maybe Qui-Gon would have won his final duel with Darth Maul and survived to see the Clone Wars.

Qui-Gon ultimately had the last laugh, though. Episode III revealed that he was the one to teach Yoda and Obi-Wan the secret of living through the Force after death. Without him, Luke would never have known to go to the Dagobah System.

 

7

The A-Team

Everything from the ’80s has to return sooner or later, and 2010 was The A-Team’s turn. Neeson played John “Hannibal” Smith, the debonair leader of this band of outlaws.
He captured the charm of the late George Peppard while bringing his own gruff charisma to the part. It helped that the characters were actually allowed to kill and maim their enemies this time rather than just shoot holes in buildings and cause cars to flip over.

Neeson and friends delivered a fun, silly action romp that is still open for a sequel should Fox ever feel the urge. We love it when a plan comes together.

Neeson only appeared in the opening moments of Gangs of New York. The fact that it still ranks this high on the list should tell you all you need to know.

Neeson plays Father Vallon, a priest who leads a gang of Irish-Catholic immigrants in a turf war against Bill Cutting and his “Natives.” Being a man of the cloth doesn’t prevent Vallon from kicking a lot of ass in their opening clash.

Cutting eventually kills his rival and temporarily ends the war, but the stage is set for Vallon’s son (Leonardo DiCaprio) to return and pick up his father’s crusade.

Though Vallon lost the battle, in many ways he won the war. Throughout the movie, Cutting is perpetually haunted by the death of the man he considers to be the last worthy opponent he ever faced.

There’s a crushing burden that comes from killing Liam Neeson, whether you’re Daniel Day-Lewis or Darth Maul.