Back in Action: May 1991

This year, I’m taking a month-by-month look at the action movies released globally in 1991, talking about the trends and individual titles that made the year in the genre and comparing them to the releases in 2026. You can read the previous monthly entries here.

Let’s take a look at the state of action in May 1991 and May 2026, with expanded thoughts on specific movies at the bottom for paid subscribers.

The numbers

I found 43 action movies in May 1991 from 11 filmmaking nations. (Here’s a Letterboxd list.)

In May 2026, I found 33 action movies from 11 filmmaking nations. (Here’s another Letterboxd list.)

This is the first month since I started this project where I found more action movies in the 1991 month than in the 2026 month. Part of that is a higher-than-usual output from Hong Kong and Philippines – two nations that had been very active in other 1991 months, but not quite this active. I think it’s easy to attribute that to the start of summer movie season, but I would have expected a similar increase in 2026. Instead, I found less new action movies in May 2026 than in April 2026, even as the American and Indian industries continued to pump out new movies – just more of them were horror movies, comedies, or music movies. (The same caveat for previous months re: the surprisingly low number of new Chinese action movies apply – I have to imagine there were more than four, but at least now we’re comparing similar data sets).

Crime was the most popular sub-genre for action movies released in May 1991 and May 2026, but made up a significantly higher percentage of the 1991 crop. There was more variety among the May 2026 offerings in the genre. including spy thrillers, multiple fighting tournament movies, and multiple historical movies about national heroes.

Who were we fighting?

In May 1991, just shy of 40% of action protagonists were cops, an increase from the previous month. Criminals were also a popular protagonist type, with a few movies about thieves or warring gangs, and there were a few vigilante movies as well. The most unique action hero job this time around was “special effects expert” (F/X 2). Criminals were by far the most common antagonist type, although eight movies in May 1991 focused on defeating corrupt officials.

In May 2026, only 6% of action protagonists were cops. That’s significantly lower than other months this year, but also tracks with the general downward trend we’ve seen when it comes to cops as action protagonists. Instead, the most popular job for an action hero in May 2026 was secret agent, with a little under 20% of action protagonists fitting that description. Once again there was way more variety on display in May 2026 than May 1991, with action heroes from many walks of life (drag queen, clown busker, flight attendant, dog groomer, just to name a few). Criminals were once again the most common antagonist type (and corrupt officials were also common), but May 2026 also saw multiple action movies with bigots as the antagonists (Lone Star Bull and One Spoonful of Chocolate).

When I looked at April’s action movies, I put together a new catch-all category for jobs not normally associated with action: the “Normal Joe.” That inspired a new piece of data we’ll be tracking – the percentage of action heroes who do violence for a living vs. those who don’t. In May 1991, 79% of action heroes had jobs containing violence, while 21% didn’t. In May 2026, 65% of action heroes had violent jobs, while 35% didn’t.

One more stat we’ll be keeping an eye on: For the second straight month, there were more female action protagonists in 1991 (13%) than in 2026 (7.5%).

America

May 1991

Backdraft led the way for action movies at the Hollywood box office, as the firefighter blockbuster ended up #11 for the year (and fourth among action movies released in 1991). The other significant American action release at the box office was F/X 2, the sequel to a 1986 movie about a Hollywood special effects master who gets pulled into a conspiracy thriller.

Outside of the big theatrical players, there were multiple motorcycle action movies (Stone Cold starring Brian Bosworth and Born to Ride starring John Stamos), a handful of DTV movies (including Martial Law starring Cynthia Rothrock), and a Knight Rider TV movie. 

May 2026

The total release numbers made it look like May 2026 was a smaller month for action than previously this year, but we actually had multiple bona fide Hollywood action blockbusters come out in the same month – a real rarity in 2026 so far. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu has been the biggest hit at the box office (with a major asterisk when grading against the Star Wars box office curve), followed closely by Mortal Kombat II and not so closely by the Guy Ritchie action thriller In the Grey.

Beyond the box office, Prime Video released a movie installment of their long-running Jack Ryan series (Jack Ryan: Ghost War), RZA’s new movie One Spoonful of Chocolate had a limited theatrical release, and there were a handful of DTV movies, including Lone Star Bull (a bouncer at a gay bar and a drag queen team up for revenge), and Lion Fist, featuring ‘80s/’90s martial arts stars Kurt McKinney and Gary Daniels.

East Asia

May 1991

After a quiet April, May 1991 was a big month for Hong Kong releases, most notably Robotrix, an R-rated sci-fi erotic thriller starring sex symbol Amy Yip. It features way more nudity than other Hong Kong movies of the time, and was an early example of a Hong Kong genre movie being restricted to 18+ viewers (John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow, in 1986, led to the establishment of the Hong Kong motion picture rating system).

Also notable: Touch and Go, an action comedy from heroic bloodshed legend Ringo Lam (City on Fire), starring the great martial artist and choreographer Sammo Hung. Other Hong Kong releases from May 1991 include the sixth installment in the once-great In the Line of Duty series (the first, second, and fourth are all all-timers), the directorial debut of frequent Hong Kong movie villain Dick Wei (Visa to Hell), and a new Simon Yam movie (The Plot).

In mainland China, director He Ping made his first of three movies mixing the wuxia and spaghetti Western genres (Swordsmen in Double Flag Town). In Japan, there was the usual crop of V-Cinema productions, most notably Female Prisoner Scorpion: Death Threat, a reboot/sequel to the 1970s franchise.

May 2026

The most notable East Asian action release of May 2026 was, for a change, from Japan (by way of South Korea). The Korean “Crime City” franchise – a fun police thriller series starring the hulking Ma Dong-seok – has expanded with Tokyo Burst. Ma is an executive producer, but does not appear in the movie. Speaking of Korea, Train to Busan filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho is usually good for one or two movies a year, and 2026 is no exception, releasing the virus action-horror thriller Colony in May.

I found just four Chinese action movies released in May 2026, which once again feels low. Most notable from the DTV scene was a new movie from prolific director Chris Huo (The Great Money Robbery).

South Asia

May 1991

The Telugu box office record was broken in May 1991 by Gang Leader, a crime thriller about an easygoing, unemployed man who takes revenge when his older brother is murdered. Other significant new Indian releases of the month include a new Sanjay Dutt movie (Do Matwale) and a new Salman Khan movie (Kurbaan).

May 2026

Multiple South Asian blockbusters have been delayed due to the attacks by the US and Israel on Iran and the fallout in neighboring countries. The Kannada language Indian gangster movie Toxic, starring Yash (with action by stunt legend J.J. Perry) got moved from March to June, and then again from June to an undisclosed future date. Then the Pakistani blockbuster Khan Tumhara, scheduled for release in May, also was pushed back due to the conflict.

There were still a few significant action releases. Karuppu, starring Suriya (Retro) as a god who disguises himself as a lawyer, became the highest-grossing Tamil film in 2026 so far (and #4 overall in India). The historical action drama Raja Shivaji (featuring both Sanjay Dutt AND Salman Khan, to bring this full circle) also hit the top 10 at the 2026 Indian box office and became the highest-grossing Marathi movie ever. The action comedy Athiradi, starring Tovino Thomas (Thallumaala), was also a hit as one of the top 5 Malayalam movies at the box office so far this year.

Everywhere else

May 1991

Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came out in June 1991, so a competing British version was rushed to come out first. It stars Uma Thurman as Maid Marian and a whole host of familiar faces from British television shows, and was directed by John Irving (the BBC’s celebrated Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy miniseries). It’s also rife with political commentary and was explicitly made as an anti-Thatcher Robin Hood.

The Philippines had its biggest action month of 1991 so far in May, with seven new movies coming out. Most notable: Batas ng .45, a vigilante cop movie led by action star and future presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr., as well as Bingbong: The Vincent Crisologo Story, a biopic about the criminal-turned-local politician before his ascendance into national politics.

Over in Thailand, the glorified stunt reel Brave Tiger was an early showcase for the great Panna Rittikrai, who would transform the Thai action industry and later become known as Tony Jaa’s mentor and lead action choreographer.

May 2026

The two most significant action movies from May 2026 that weren’t from the regions mentioned above both came from Egypt – the historical drama/slave rebellion movie Asad, and 7 Dogs, an explosive action thriller from Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah.

Remember that clown busker I mentioned earlier? That’s the main character of the Indonesian martial arts/fantasy horror movie Dance of the Damned. In Thailand, the hitman romance My Dearest Assassin landed on Netflix internationally (I’m looking forward to checking it out). And in Malaysia, the underworld fighting movie Tarung: Unforgiven became one of the biggest local hits in the history of Malaysian cinema.

Best poster:

I do really like Stone Cold’s poster, especially because it came out two months before Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Backdraft’s is also very strong:

For paid subscribers, I’ve written some thoughts about all the action movies I watched from May 1991 (F/X 2, Stone Cold, Touch and Go, Backdraft, and Robin Hood). I’m also keeping lists ranking the 1991 action movies and 2026 action movies I’ve watched while doing this project. And here’s a preview of the movies I’ll be looking at for June 1991.