Back in Action: October 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 October 1991 and October 2026, with expanded thoughts on specific movies at the bottom for paid subscribers.

The numbers

I found 40 action movies in October 1991 from 12 filmmaking nations. (Here’s a list.)

In October 2026, I found 40 action movies from 14 filmmaking nations. (Here’s another list.)

For a change, we get the same number of new action movies in both years! The usual suspects lead in 1991 (Hong Kong, USA, Japan, India, Philippines) and in 2026 (India, USA, China) – while more nations are making action movies in 2026, it’s more heavily concentrated in three dominant filmmaking nations.

Crime was again the most popular sub-genre in 1991 (15), followed closely by thriller (14, with a lot of overlap), and not so closely by comedy (8). The most popular sub-genres in October 2026 action movies were thriller (6), comedy (6), and crime (6). Since it’s October, I assumed there would be a notable increase in action horror movies. It was actually around the same as previous months, with two in October 1991 and three in October 2026.

Time to check in with 2026’s not so pleasant trend of movies made with or using significant amounts of generative AI. There were four more in October 2026 just within the action genre, but there are a few reasons to believe that trend might be winding down, including the collapse of the Chinese AI shorts market (most of the AI-generated action movies I’ve found came from China).

Who were we fighting?

The most popular action protagonist type in October 1991 was cop (7), returning to past norms for the year after criminal topped the charts in September. Next up, surprisingly, was athlete (6), followed by warrior (5), martial artist (4), and criminal (3). October 1991 was also the second straight month with a roller-skating action hero (There Goes Tomoe!, following The Roller Blade Seven). The most common antagonist type was criminal (21), followed by corrupt officials (4), and supernatural forces (3).

In October 2026, criminals were the most popular action type (6), followed by cop (4), soldier (4), and vengeful or protective family members (4). This tracks with general trends we’ve seen in 2026 action movies: less cop-led movies, more movies about “normal” people as action heroes. The most common antagonist type was also criminal (17), followed by cops (6), soldiers (4), and supernatural forces (4).

In October 1991, 73% of action heroes had a relevant job or training to being an action hero, while 27% didn’t. In October 2026, 80% did, and 20% didn’t. That’s a flip from just about every other month this year, where “normal joe” action heroes have been more common in 2026.

Out of the 40 action movies each from October 1991 and 2026, both years saw 33 men and 7 women as action heroes.

America

October 1991

It was a light month for American action movies at the box office, led by the absolutely bonkers Denzel Washington police thriller Ricochet (I didn’t have time to revisit it this month, but I highly recommend it). Ricochet broke the stronghold summer releases Terminator 2 and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves had on action movies at the box office.

Also of note: an ill-fated attempt to make Hulk Hogan a movie star (Suburban Commando), the cult classic The Taking of Beverly Hills, a Chuck Norris movie directed by his brother (The Hitman), and a movie that sounds like John McClane’s wet dream (The Last Hour, where a divorced cop has to rescue his ex-wife who has been kidnapped by the people her new husband has cheated out of money.)

October 2026

The only theatrical Hollywood action release of note this month was the latest Street Fighter movie – next-best at US box offices in the genre was the Indian movie Jailer 2. Just like Ricochet, Street Fighter is the first action movie to top this summer’s two big hits (The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day) since they came out.

Apple TV released Matchbox: The Movie, based on the toy car franchise, starring John Cena, and from decorated stunt performer and director Sam Hargrave (the Extraction movies). Also of note: a Renny Harlin-Samuel L. Jackson action movie where the president fights bad guys with his armored limo (The Beast), and the latest Liam Neeson actioner (The Mongoose). In October 1991, Jackson was coming off a Cannes nomination for Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, and Neeson had just starred in the erotic thriller Under Suspicion. Cena was 14.

East Asia

October 1991

The standout action movie of the month (and perhaps the year) is Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, an ultra-violent martial arts movie that was one of the first to get Hong Kong’s equivalent of an R rating solely for violence. That hampered the movie’s box office prospects, but it was a big hit on home video and became a cult classic beloved by generations of martial arts and splatter movie fans. More on the incredible Riki-Oh below.

In Japan, the first movie by the prolific cult filmmaker Takashi Miike came out, a cop comedy about female undercover agents investigating a murder in the world of sex work (Eyecatch Junction).

October 2026

Takashi Miike also had a new movie out in October 2026 (I told you he’s prolific!) – Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, following Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant (1992) and Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009).

In China, there doesn’t seem to have been a big action movie that took over the box office this month, but there was Go for Broke 2, described by a Letterboxd user as a "pizzagate sound-of-freedom film where jeffrey epstein is played by sammo hung” with “barrage of ai slop backdrops” and " post-credits scene where seemingly ACTUAL JEFFREY EPSTEIN is teased like he's fucking green goblin or something.” 😑

South and Southeast Asia

October 1991

Two notable box office successes worth mentioning this month, and both Telugu films: the action comedy Rowdy Alludu and the road movie Kshana Kshanam. Rowdy Allludu is about a businessman who gets framed for murder and teams up with his doppelganger to prove his innocence. Kshana Kshanam is a remarkably grounded neo-noir that won five state Nandi Awards, including Best Direction, and has become a classic of the era.

In Thailand, the great martial artist, stunt choreographer, and future Tony Jaa mentor Panna Rittikrai released one of his nearly 30 (!) movies from 1991, the ghost martial arts movie Ghost War.

October 2026

Rajinikanth remains one of the most prominent action stars in both 1991 and 2026 (we’ve got a fun 1991 one coming from him in November), this time starring in Jailer 2. It has quickly become the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time, surpassing fellow Rajinikanth movies 2.0 and the original Jailer. It’s also the third-highest grossing Indian movie of the year, following summer blockbuster Dhurandhar: The Revenge and the mythological epic Ramayana: Part 1, which we’ll cover next month. 

Also notable from Indian action cinema in October 2026: the caper Bohurupi: The Golden Daku, and the romantic action thriller Desu 7, the directorial debut by star Dev. Both are Bengali movies, and both were released on October 16 to coincide with the Hindu festival Durga Puja.

Best poster:

I love the motion in the poster for the Mexican movie Death in Tijuana.

For paid subscribers, I’ve written some thoughts about all the action movies I watched from October 1991 (Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, Kshana Kshanam, and The Taking of Beverly Hills). 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 November 1991.

October 1991 action movies

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

An extremely graphic slice of 1990s Hong Kong cinema, combining the exciting action sequences of that era with the splatter effects of the Evil Dead movies.