5 90s Action Match-Ups That Still Deliver Pure Adrenaline

If you were hanging out in multiplexes during the 80s and 90s, you know what I’m talking about: action movies were everywhere, and studios could never resist the urge to stack their films with star power. Some of these match-ups were basically cinematic boxing cards — two giant movie names squaring off, all but promising a heavyweight brawl right there on the poster. The movies weren't just about blowing stuff up (though, of course, plenty got blown up); they were about who would win in a showdown, and we all wanted to see it.

It’s not like we ever really got Schwarzenegger and Stallone in their prime standing toe-to-toe (unless you count The Expendables, which, let’s be real, was more nostalgic wink than true face-off), but the 90s still managed to pull off some pretty exciting actor-versus-actor battles. Not every movie fits the bill—sorry, Under Siege, but Tommy Lee Jones wasn’t exactly a box office titan at that point. To qualify, both stars had to be a real draw, and the whole pitch had to be 'you’re about to see two big names go at it.' Here are the five best examples from that decade:

• 5. Broken Arrow — John Travolta vs Christian Slater
  Let’s start with a throwback to when Travolta had one of the all-time Hollywood comebacks thanks to Pulp Fiction. The guy went from dancing with Uma Thurman to chewing scenery as the villain in this John Woo action flick, opposite a younger Christian Slater. Slater was already familiar with shootouts thanks to movies like True Romance and Young Guns II, so pairing him up with a swaggering, post-Tarantino Travolta was a smart move. The whole thing builds up to a satisfyingly over-the-top set piece (because it’s John Woo, of course) where they finally go at it, fists flying and egos on full display. If you’re here for Travolta playing cocky and unhinged, this is your movie.
• 4. Universal Soldier — Jean-Claude Van Damme vs Dolph Lundgren
  Action fans in the early 90s knew these two by their first names: Van Damme had just broken out of those cheesy Cannon Films and was hitting the big leagues, while Lundgren had already landed a punch (literally) on Stallone in Rocky IV and kept his rep going with all sorts of martial arts/sci-fi mashups. Universal Soldier sets them up as Vietnam vets brought back to life for a government experiment (it was the 90s, after all), setting the stage for a bunch of explosions and a very unbalanced hit count. The real highlight? Lundgren getting to go full psycho, which is actually a pleasant surprise if you’re used to him just standing around looking menacing. And Van Damme somehow becomes the sensitive one. Weird, sure, but it’s a blast.
• 3. Demolition Man — Sylvester Stallone vs Wesley Snipes
  Demolition Man is one of those sci-fi/action hybrids where the movie can’t decide if it wants to make you laugh or blow your face off — and it mostly succeeds at both. At the heart of it is Stallone (playing, basically, a human wrecking ball) going up against Snipes, who is having the time of his life as a cartoonish villain named Simon Phoenix. Stallone’s the cop unfrozen in a future he doesn’t understand, and Snipes is the evil genius also let loose on this peaceful, Taco-Bell-sponsored utopia. Snipes turns the villain dial up past eleven and reminds everyone how much a movie can improve when the bad guy is actually having fun. The Stallone/Snipes chemistry is the real reason this movie keeps popping up on late-night cable.
• 2. Face/Off — John Travolta vs Nicolas Cage
  If you want to talk about 90s action movies getting truly weird, Face/Off is the conversation-ender. Travolta and Cage are a cop and a terrorist, respectively, but (wait for it) they swap faces thanks to nutty sci-fi surgery. What makes it work — beyond John Woo’s love of white doves and slow-motion gunfights — is that both actors get to play both hero and villain, and their rivalry basically becomes a psycho duel with the volume cranked all the way up. Travolta, fresh off his bad guy stint in Broken Arrow, gets to out-crazy Cage, which is not something you say every day. The final 20 minutes are pure, glorious chaos.
• 1. Heat — Al Pacino vs Robert De Niro
  Okay, this one’s technically a crime drama, not an explosion-fest — but when you get Pacino and De Niro on the same bill, you don’t nitpick genres. Both stars had only ever been in the same movie once before (The Godfather Part II, but never in a scene together), so this was the moment fans had been waiting forever to see. Michael Mann makes the most out of it, throwing them on opposite sides of the law: Pacino as the relentless cop, De Niro as the master thief. The two circle each other all film, and for a while there, conspiracy theories flew that they never actually filmed together — which is nonsense. The real magic comes in a diner scene: no gunfire, no chase, just two actors at the top of their game playing a barely-contained duel of respect and rivalry.
  
  'For me, the action is the juice.' (Tom Sizemore, bonus points if you shouted that aloud.)

There you have it — not just a list of loud movies, but a tribute to a time when for two hours, the entire theatrical experience hinged on the promise that your favorite star might finally meet his match. If only Hollywood would let them punch each other in the face a little more often these days.