Jason Bourne, the secret agent with amnesia, burst onto the screen in 2002 and has become the definitive action star of this decade. Although the sequels have been great, the first one is still the best. Watching Bourne (Matt Damon) unravel his sordid past while taking on everything the CIA can throw at him is a riveting experience, especially when he’s scaling embassy buildings or driving cars down staircases.

Manliest Moment: As if jumping off the top of a staircase and using a bad guy to break his fall wasn’t enough, Bourne puts a bullet between the eyes of another bad guy on the way down.

 

Why Women Hate It:They don’t. Come on, it’s Matt Damon.

Best Quote: The Professor: Look at this, look at what they make you give.

Spiritual Take-Away:You can’t beat (or train) morality out of someone.

The standard by which all war movies are measured and possibly one of the greatest films of all time, Saving Private Ryan brought the power and the horrors of war to the theater while paying tribute to the sacrifices made by so many. Tom Hanks and a stellar cast portray the soldiers of World War II in all their glory and weakness. Lots of movies feature “heroes” who kill a bunch of bad guys and win the girl, but this film depicts the men who were real heroes.

 

Manliest Moment:Private Jackson takes out a German sniper by shooting a bullet through his scope while quoting Old Testament verses.

 

Why Women Hate It:Probably the most realistically violent movie ever.

Best Quote: Captain Miller to Private Ryan:James, earn this… earn it.

Spiritual Take-Away:Sending eight men to save one reminds us of Jesus’ parable about the shepherd who leaves his flock to search for the one lost sheep.

 

 

Francis Ford Coppola’s mafia masterpiece about the inner workings of an organized crime dynasty remains a classic guy’s movie. Although the characters weren’t the beefy action stars typical of this list, Don Corleone and his sons (except for Fredo, of course) are some of the toughest, coolest, most macho characters you’ll ever see. Without The Godfather, we wouldn’t know what it means to “sleep with the fishes” or “go to the mattresses.”

 

Manliest Moment:At the end of the movie, Michael takes out all of the family’s enemies in one fell swoop with a series of simultaneous assassinations.

 

Why Women Hate It:No good female roles.

Best Quote:Don Corleone: I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.

 

Spiritual Take-Away:The Corleone family’s complex value system shows a sharp contrast to God’s truth.

Director James Cameron’s follow-up to Terminator ramped up the action and visual effects, exploding onto screens and becoming a box-office smash. Schwarzenegger’s Terminator is sent back through time once again, this time reprogrammed to protect a young John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance in the war between man and machine. The new model, the T-1000, arrives in the form of Robert Patrick, a liquid metal robot in relentless pursuit of the boy.

 

Manliest Moment: With police surrounding the office complex, the Terminator launches a casualty-free escape plan making Swiss cheese out of the police cars and liberal use of a tear gas gun.

 

Women Hate It Because:It’s science fiction with guns, fights and killer robots.  

Best Quote: Terminator: Come with me if you want to live.  

Spiritual Take-Away: Everything is done to save John, emphasizing how important one person with a purpose can be.

When a local power-mad sheriff decides to pick a fight with a drifter, he bites off more than he can chew, considering the drifter is Vietnam Vet and former Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone). With a power struggle that escalates into an all-out war between him and the entire police department with help from the National Guard, Rambo uses his training to single-handedly disable his opponents. 

 

Manliest Moment: Rambo crawls through a collapsed mine shaft full of rats and steals an army jeep with a machine-gun, which he quickly puts to use on the town’s buildings.

 

Women Hate It Because:It’s dark and violent. 

 

Best Quote: Rambo: In town you're the law, out here it's me. Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go. Let it go.

Spiritual Take-Away: Representing the castoffs of society, Rambo searches for connection and isn’t treated with open arms.

 

 

As one of the most popular and greatest fictional characters of all time, Rocky Balboa embodied the underdog spirit as he made his way through the boxing world, fighting champion Apollo Creed. His shy girlfriend, Adrian, is a source of strength for him, as is his coach, Mickey. The 1976 film won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and spawned five sequels.

 

Manliest Moment: Rocky goes toe-to-toe with champion Apollo for 15 rounds.

Women Hate It Because:It centers on a sport where men hit each other with gloves until their faces are unrecognizable and bloody. 

 

Best Quote: Rocky: I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.

Spiritual Take-Away: Stallone has said the film was written as a spiritual allegory and points to the film’s first scene which includes an image of Christ. 

 

Pretty much as good as it gets for epics, Gladiator is a remarkable film that features one of the truly great heroes in movie history. Russell Crowe’s Maximus may be the deadliest man in ancient Rome, but he also has leadership, wisdom, honor and virtue. The story of his fall from grace and his quest for justice grabs the heart of every man who watches this remarkable movie.

 

Manliest Moment:Maximus taking down the best gladiator in the world and a bunch of tigers at the same time.

 

Women Hate It Because:Multiple mutilations and the use of maggots to clean wounds..

 

Best Quote: Maximus: My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

 

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s highest entry in our list is a highly revered film about a U.S. Special Forces led by Major “Dutch” Shaeffer who encounter a highly advanced alien in a Guatemalan jungle. The Predator uses a variety of weapons to stalk the team members, which include Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers. In the end, only the alien and Dutch remain to duke it out in a no-holds-barred final battle.

 

Manliest Moment: The alien removes its mask to fight Dutch in hand-to-hand combat at the end of the film.

 

Women Hate It Because:It’s an alien but it’s not quite E.T.

 

Best Quote: Blain (Ventura): I ain't got time to bleed.

 

Spiritual Take-Away: No lessons here, just survival and fighting.

The second manliest movie on our list fell just short of the top spot but is just as deserving. Simply put, Braveheart is arguably the best epic film of all time featuring arguably the greatest hero of all time. William Wallace is everything men want from a hero: He’s an unparalleled fighter, has a way with the ladies, is smarter than everyone else, improvises inspiring speeches and owns a freaking huge sword. The long-haired Scotsman even fights for a lost love and a worthy cause: freedom. It just doesn’t get better than this.

 

Manliest Moment:Covered in blood and blue war paint after a victorious battle, Wallace lets out a savage scream before throwing his sword into the ground in triumph.

 

Women Hate It Because:The final torture scene makes both women and men cry (not that we’re admitting to anything).

 

Spiritual Take-Away:“Every man dies, not every man really lives.” The only way to really live is with Christ.

 

Best Quote:William Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live ... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance—just one chance—to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take ... OUR FREEDOM!

 

Director John McTiernan’s 1988 blockbuster not only catapulted Bruce Willis from television comedic actor to action hero but also set the action-movie trend for years to come, giving subsequent entries a constant comparison (Die Hard on a bus, Die Hard on a plane, Die Hard on a boat). Willis’ John McClane, the get-the-job-done New York cop caught in the wrong place at the wrong time while trying to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly. One by one, he thwarts the plans of a group of European terrorists, saving Holly and her co-workers.

 

Manliest Moment: After the villains shoot out the glass in the offices trying to catch McClane, he’s forced to run across broken glass to escape.

 

Women Hate It Because:Hand-to-hand combat, machine guns, blood and explosions.

 

Best Quote: McClane (written on shirt of dead terrorist) Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho. 

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