Needless to say, all guys are different and therefore like different things. However, there are also things that unite them all, and are intrinsic to almost all men regardless of their age, location, race, etc. This thing is the best guy movies of all time!
This article seeks to provide you with a list of those so that you could see if you have already watched all the masterpieces of male cinematography, or yet have some boxes to check.
There is no particular approach to mentioning these movies, so they are not ranked in any way. After all, all of them are different genres and can barely be compared against each other.
Fight Club (1999)
Although previously in this article it was mentioned that the movies in this list are not ranked, it will only be fair to say that Fight Club absolutely deserves to get the first position and open the list of the top 20 best guy movies of all time. Every single man who has ever watched this film claims it to be among their favorite, and those who are yet to get the Fight Club experience for the first time will definitely like what is coming their way.
First released back in 1999, over 20 years ago up to this very day Fight Club remains one of the most masculine films ever created. It has the toughness, it has strong characters and it has an outstanding plot twist that will blow your mind.
The story revolves around a sleep-deprived office clerk, Tyler Durden, played by Edward Norton, and an underground Fight Club that he is a part of. However, there are more secrets in this movie than just the physical fight club in the basement of a bar.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
No matter who you are, when and where you were born, it is almost certain that you are familiar with the works of Quentin Tarantino, or at least have heard of him and his movies. While all of his films are equally amazing and have a huge fan base, there is one particular movie that stands above all the rest and is referred to as Tarantino’s greatest masterpiece. Pulp Fiction.
It will be difficult to find a guy who is not impressed by the movies directed and produces by Tarantino, and if you are looking for a film to start your journey, look no further than Pulp Fiction is the quintessence of all the things that Tarantino is famous for neo noir crime cinematography.
It is classy, it has amazing dialogues, charismatic actors and a lot…and this article really means A LOT of sassy fighting and killing going on.
In the center of the plot, there is Marsellus Wallace, his wife Mia Wallace, Vincent Vega, Butch Coolidge, and Jules Winnfield. All of these people are connected with each other with very tight bonds. However, in order to notice those exact connections, the viewer will have to watch the film to the very end.
In the best traditions of Tarantino cinematography, the film is playing mind games with the viewer. The narration is structured in such a way, that the film shows us three separate story lines at the same time, that only ever overlap a little. Throughout the course of the film, we follow Vincent Vega, Butch Coolidge, and Jules Winnfield and their mob adventures, only to learn that they are all a part of one greater picture at the very end of the film.
The Hangover (All of Them)
Unlike a lot of other movies listed in this article, The Hangover is not merely an action film with loads of shooting, fight scenes, and all the other things so deeply beloved by guys. Nonetheless, you will still not be able to take your eyes off the screen, and most definitely will not find yourself bored.
The Hangover (2009) is considered to be a classic in the world of comedy movies, and there is definitely a good reason for this. The plot of the film is fairly simple, but it is exactly what makes it so entertaining. To some extent, all of us can plead guilty of getting in a situation similar to the one Doug and his three best friends, Phil, Alan, and Stu, perhaps just not as severe. The four friends gather in Las Vegas, America’s mecca of fun and slightly controversial activities, for Doug’s bachelor party and have a bit too much to drink. In fact, they black out completely and wake up the following day only to realize that Doug is gone, their hotel suite is trashed, there is a living tiger in the bathroom and a random baby sitting in the wardrobe, and none of them remember the night. However, with the wedding reception approaching, it becomes their mission to find their friend, and reconstruct the events of the bachelor party messy bash.
The only clues Phil, Alan, and Stu have to do work with are Doug’s mattress hanging off the statue on top of Caesar’s Palace and the car they used to get to Vegas being switched to an LVPD cruiser.
The film is filled with a lot of awkward situations, plenty of outstanding jokes, and the amazing acting of Bradley Cooper. A must-watch for everyone who is craving some drunk adventures but would rather watch those happen to someone else instead of actually getting into those themselves.
Besides, following the success of the first movie, the directors of The Hangover made it into a saga, and there are three follow-up parts that tell us all about Doug, Phil, Alan and Stu’s messy lives.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
When The Wolf of Wall Street first hit the big screens back in 2013, it instantly became one of the guys’ all-time favorite. Men all over the internet were discussing how good of a movie it was, and how they would not mind living out some of the scenes in real life. Indeed, there were a lot of reasons for the movie receiving all the recognition it got.
First of all, the movie truly lives up to the genre it is listed as a biographical black comedy crime film. View discretion is definitely advised for this one as it really has all the features it promises to have: a lot of dark adult humor, a fair deal of NSFW scenes, and, of course, a great depiction of Jordan Belfast’s triumphs and fails.
The movie is set in 1987 and follows the story of Jordan Belfast, an ambitious stockbroker who manages to get a Wall Street Job. From there, it quickly becomes a hot mess. Using rather illegal manipulations, Belfast quickly makes his career skyrocket. Along with the money that pours into his pockets, Jordan also gets a good taste of the sex- and drugs-fueled stockbroker culture, which clearly entices him. Finally getting the freedom he had been dreaming of, he quickly forgets about his wife and starts an affair with Naomi, a supermodel.
In fact, it is Naomi so masterly portrayed by Margot Robbie, that makes The Wolf of Wall Street one of the guys’ favorite. In the film, Robbie is absolutely stunning, and it is only fair to say that some of the scenes she appears in are replay button-worthy, to say the least.
I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend is among the best guy movies of all time because of the public resonance it caused when it first came out. Although since 2007, a lot of similar movies have come out to repeat I Am Legend’s success, none of them managed to be as amazing and touching as this one was.
The 2007 post-apocalyptic thriller with Will Smith in the leading role is a feature-film adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, and it is truly revolutionary. It portrays the post-zombie apocalypse world in a way no other film had ever shown before. Unlike a lot of zombie movies, the creatures in I Am Legend are not slow and brain-dead. In fact, they are smart and extremely fast, so surviving is more challenging than ever.
The film tells a story of U.S. Army virologist Lt. Col. Robert Neville, who managed to survive the initial outbreak of the virus that caused the extermination of over 90% of the world’s population because of being immune to it, and now resides in the secluded area of deserted Manhattan. He is all alone with only his devoted friend, a German Shepherd Samantha and a couple of mannequins in the underground lab to talk to. Day by day, keeping his sanity becomes more difficult of a task as his routine consists entirely of experimenting on rats and trying to secure some provision for himself and his dog.
Eventually, he captures one of the zombies to try out injecting it with his blood to see if it could cure the virus, but things do not go as planned.
I Am Legend offers plenty of fight scenes, a lot of action and, to be completely honest, a couple of absolutely emotionally shattering moments that will make you shed a tear.
Final Destination (All of Them)
Do you ever blank out for a moment thinking what would have happened had you died in an accident right now? Despite sounding absolutely gruesome, it is absolutely normal to fantasize about things like that. Unless you get fixated on the subject of dying in an accident, of course. No big deal, is not it?
Apparently, it is for the main characters of The Final Destination movies. The first film came out back in 2000 and was a huge success. Mainly because of the intriguing plot and a huge variety of grim massacre scenes that, despite being very worrying for some, are difficult to take your eyes off. Since then, the film turned into a supernatural horror franchise and was followed with 4 subsequent movies with a similar plot. Although it does get a bit predictable after your watch a couple, they are still worth watching, at least for all the imaginative ways in which the directors kill their characters off.
The setup is the same for all the movies of the franchise: the main character gets a disturbing premonition about dying in a catastrophe that causes them to change their mind and try to escape the violent scenario. Without a fail, they and a couple of other people saved by them, manage to cheat death and stay alive. The question is: for how long? Eventually, death inevitably catches up, and all the characters die in the most obscure ways possible.
The Gentlemen (2019)
Unlike a lot of other movies mentioned in this article that have aged like fine wine and have earned their status of the best guy movies of all times, The Gentlemen is a fairly new addition to the list. It came out early this year, at the very beginning of 2020, after being first presented at the Curzon Mayfair Cinema in December 2019. However, it has already managed to find its way to the hearts and minds of men from all around the world, and secure a mention in this list.
In all honesty, though, as soon as the release of this movie was announced, it is already obvious that the film was bound to be a huge success. After all, it is a Guy Ritchie movie with Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam starring in the leading roles.
The Gentlemen has combined all the best traditions of the genre and turned out to be a modern interpretation of a classic action comedy film. It has the outstanding humor weaved into the course of the movie, great acting not only from the actors playing the main characters but also the supporting characters, as well as an exciting plot.
The film circles around Mickey Pearson who graduated from Oxford University, where he started his illegal marijuana business and built a drug empire. This does not align with the plans of other big businessmen, who try to cash out Pearson’s enterprise.
Gladiator (2000)
Gladiator is a 2000 historical adventure movie that tells a story about, well, gladiators and Ancient Rome. If you know anything about those times, you already know that the film is full of action, fighting scenes, and epic battles. However, under all of that, there is also an intricate, beautiful storyline that tells a tale of a Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius. Once betrayed, when Commodus, the ambitious son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, murders his father and seizes the throne, Maximus is left to serve as a slave with nothing left to his name.
However, in the case of Maximus, his character and lust for revenge is something that no one can take away. He is dedicated to rising through the ranks of gladiators to the very top in order to get close to the new emperor and his family and kill them!
Leon: The Professional (1994)
Young Natalie Portman, Jean Reno and Gary Oldman â the perfect formula for a great movie. This action-thriller film has a lot of elements of crime drama as it focuses on the story of Leon, a professional killer, and Mathilda, a teenage girl who got trapped in the cross-fire and lost her family. After Mathilda’s family was killed by a corrupted Drug Enforcement Administration officer, Mathilda has nowhere to go, so she turns to Leon and asks him to allow her to live with him. Over the course of the movie, the two become a real, although slightly dysfunctional, family.
Mathilda falls in love with Leon and begs him to teach her everything he knows about killing so that she could avenge her little brother and kill the officer.
Overall, it is an extremely touching, beautiful film that is filled with fighting scenes, a lot of gunshots, and action.
The Terminator (1984)
Back in the 90s, there was a worldwide obsession with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the role he is most famous for, The Terminator. It has already been over 35 years since the first The Terminator movie was first released, but boys from all over the world are still down to watch this classic of the action film genre and get into the world of sci-fi adventures.
Cyborgs, guns, weapons, shooting, and epic explosions … everything a guy is looking for in a film! And this is pretty much everything you need to know about the Terminator.
Part 2 will be coming soon. For more manly type movies check out our 80’s Action Film Reviews.
Sandra Manson is a passionate journalist who has been contributing to major media publications. She enjoys writing about human psychology and lifestyle. Sandra also runs her blog https://singlehearts.org where she covers topics of great interest in modern society.