Every Gerard Butler Action Movie, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Plane)
Plane sees Gerard Butler doing what he does best but how do his many other action movies – including the Has Fallen trilogy – rank beside each other?
How does every Gerard Butler Action Movie rank beside each other, including Plane? Butler originally trained to become a lawyer before a change of heart saw him pursue acting inside.
Oddly, his breakthrough role came as the titular bloodsucker in Dracula 2000 – which is the most painfully 2000s horror movie ever made. He always seemed on the cusp of stardom without fully tipping over. That changed in a big way thanks to Zack Snyder’s 300 in 2007, where his mega turn as King Leonidas instantly propelled him to the A-list.
Over the years, Butler has made everything from tender dramas like Dear Frankie to rom-coms with P.S. I Love You or even animation with Watchmen horror spinoff Tales of the Black Freighter.
However, action has become Butler’s stock-in-trade, be it fantasy blockbusters or gritty cop thrillers. The star had cornered the market in terms of fronting modestly budget, R-rated action flicks with unique hooks – as Plane itself proves.
He has more action outings on the way too, including Night Has Fallen and Den Of Thieves 2. Here’s how Gerard Butler’s Action Movies rank beside each other.
14. Gods Of Egypt (2016)
Director Alex Proyas was behind two of the ’90s biggest cult hits The Crow and Dark City. At his best, he was able to merge his unique style with rich themes, but sadly, Gods Of Egypt found him at his worst.
While it boasts inventive visuals and creatures, it’s a tedious, weirdly dull mash-up of Egyptian deities and mythology with a fantasy blockbuster. Butler brings a full plate of ham as the villain Set and it features a solid cast, but where Gods Of Egypt should be a goofy guilty pleasure, it’s just an utter bore.
13. Geostorm (2017)
A disaster film in the vein of Roland Emmerich flicks, Geostorm finds Butler as the designer of a series of weather-controlling satellites. Naturally, these satellites are hacked and Butler and his bland brother (played by Jim Sturgess) team up to find out what’s gone wrong.
Like Gods Of Egypt, Geostorm was more proof that Butler doesn’t really belong in PG-13 blockbusters. Despite a fun hook, Geostorm lacks memorable setpieces or even the b-movie thrills of disaster epics like The Day After Tomorrow. The cast is also largely wasted, and Geostorm proved to be a financial dud.
12. London Has Fallen (2016)
The second outing in Butler’s Has Fallen movie series, London Has Fallen saw hero Banning trying to keep the President/his best bro Asher (Aaron Eckhart) safe during a terrorist attack.
The sequel suffers from some poor CG for a major release, in addition to over-edited action sequences, weak villains and an overall lack of polish. It does boast one cool setpiece with its “one shot” shootout on the streets of London while Butler gets some fun one-liners, but London Has Fallen is easily the low point of the saga.
11. Gamer (2009)
Gamer is almost an impressive example of how a film with a great concept can be totally squandered. The movie stars Butler as a human avatar for a gamer (Logan Lerman) who will be freed from his real-life deathmatch game after 30 matches.
Gamer has all the ingredients to be an action gem like co-helmers Neveldine and Taylor’s Crank, but the humor is too broad and crass, while Gamer – which Butler felt was “genius” – the action is so badly cut together it’s almost headache-inducing. Outside of Michael C. Hall’s delightful turn as the bad guy and his bizarre dance scene in the finale, Gamer is very skippable.
10. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003)
In the second Tomb Raider movie The Cradle Of Life, Lara (Angelina Jolie) team with an ex-lover (Butler) to find Pandora’s Box. The sequel was something of an introduction to Butler for American viewers, with the actor being charming, funny and sharing great chemistry with Jolie.
The film around them is the issue, with The Cradle Of Life being a shaky, hollow mishmash of Indiana Jones and Romancing The Stone. It does have a couple of well-executed action beats, but the response to it killed hopes for a third Jolie Tomb Raider.
9. Hunter Killer (2018)
If Olympus Has Fallen was Gerard Butler’s take on Die Hard, then submarine movie Hunter Killer was his Hunt For Red October. Once again, he’s surrounded by a terrific ensemble (Gary Oldman, the late, great Michael Nyqvist, etc) but it’s in service of a rote action thriller.
All of Hunter Killer’s best moments are borrowed from other films, and it overstays its welcome at two hours. It’s serviceable Wednesday night entertainment for fans of the leading man, but it soon evaporates from the memory.
8. Plane (2023)
Plane lives up to its no-frills title, and finds Butler as a pilot who must save his passengers after they become stranded on a dangerous island. Plane is ruthlessly effective in its setup, doling out just enough character development to let viewers relate to the main characters before things go to hell.
It’s more a survival thriller than a straight-up action film, but Plane – which has a great cast – is the type of mid-range, b-level action thriller theaters could really use more of. Butler also injects his hero with more pathos than he needs to, showing why he’s the current king of such fare.
7. Angel Has Fallen (2019)
Angel Has Fallen’s more grounded action and tone is welcome, though the plotting is strictly by the numbers. The film also gets a surprising amount of emotional heft out of Banning’s reunion with his estranged, survivalist father, played by Nick Nolte.
6. Reign Of Fire (2002)
Reign Of Fire is a post-apocalyptic creature feature, where Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey team to take down the dragons that scorched the world. Butler had an early role as Bale’s best mate, and the film is a forgotten gem from the early 2000s.
While it would have benefited from another setpiece or two, it’s a unique mix of Mad Max-style adventure and monster movie, with one of McConaughey’s best performances. Reign Of Fire didn’t do great business upon release but has since become a cult item.
5. 300 (2007)
300 was based on the Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name, with Butler playing Spartan King Leonidas. Zack Snyder’s pumped-up blockbuster is filled with stylish visuals and gory action, though the story and characterizations are intensely hollow.
300 is meant to serve as eye candy, from its speed-ramped fights to the sweaty bods of Butler and co-stars like Michael Fassbender. There’s little substance to Snyder’s comic book movie 300, but Butler’s full-blooded performance and Snyder’s creative camerawork propelled it to success.
4. Greenland (2020)
Greenland reunited Butler with Angel Has Fallen helmer Ric Roman Waugh, and in contrast to the CG-heavy antics of Geostorm, it told a disaster story from a more intimate scale. Greenland follows Butler’s engineer as he races with his wife and son to safety as a comet race towards the planet.
The film has some scenes of destruction, but it became a surprise hit for its focus on emotion over action. It falls prey to the occasional disaster movie cliche, but Greenland gets by thanks to its unexpected heart.
3. Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Olympus Has Fallen was one of two White House under siege movies to land in 2013, alongside White House Down. Despite having half the budget and a more restrictive R-rating, Olympus Has Fallen – which borrowed a 24 plot – won the day.
That’s because it was a throwback to ’90s action thrillers, with Butler playing Banning as a one-liner spouting badass. The film is at its best when embracing its silliness, though director Antoine Fuqua’s attempts to make it more dramatic or political often fall flat. The CGI is often weak too and it’s too long, but in the right mood, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Olympus.
2. Den Of Thieves (2018)
Den Of Thieves is essentially meathead Heat – or Meat, for short. It’s the b-movie flip side to Michael Mann’s 1995 crime epic, with Butler’s cop “Big Nick” chasing down highly capable band of thieves. Den Of Thieves gave Butler one of his best characters in years, who pictures himself as the ultimate macho detective but whose personal life is crumbling.
Den Of Thieves – which has a twist ending – isn’t a classic by any stretch and its runtime is way too long (seemingly to cement its Heat homage), the main players all do great work and the action hits hard when it arrives.
1. Copshop (2021)
Copshop is one of the more obscure Gerard Butler Action Movies, and possibly the very best. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan – who largely disowned the producer re-edited final cut – and is a ’70s-inspired thriller where Butler’s hitman gets himself arrested so he can kill Frank Grillo’s con artist inside a remote police station.
Copshop is loaded with great characters and performances – with Alexis Louder stealing the show – and is Butler’s most undersung action film. It feels destined to become a cult favorite in the years ahead too.
