Best Action Movies of 1972

A recently released ex-convict and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes wrong.

When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.

Arthur Bishop is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks himself an artist. It's made him very rich, but as he hits middle age, he's so depressed and lonely that he takes on one of his victim's sons, Steve McKenna, as his apprentice. Arthur puts him through a rigorous training period and brings him on several hits. As Steven improves, Arthur worries that he'll discover who killed his father.

In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, a chimpanzee named Caesar resurfaces after almost twenty years of hiding from the authorities, and prepares for a revolt against humanity.

Report reaches the US cavalry that the Apache leader Ulzana has left his reservation with a band of followers. A compassionate young officer, Lieutenant DeBuin, is given a small company to find him and bring him back; accompanying the troop is McIntosh, an experienced scout, and Ke-Ni-Tay, an Apache guide. Ulzana massacres, rapes and loots across the countryside; and as DeBuin encounters the remains of his victims, he is compelled to learn from McIntosh and to confront his own naivity and hidden prejudices.

In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?

A group of Chicago mob ruthless enforcers are sent to Kansas City to settle things with the owner of a slaughterhouse who has taken money that is not his to keep.

An idealistic rookie cop joins the LAPD to make ends meet while finishing law school, and is indoctrinated by a seasoned veteran. As time goes on, he loses his ambitions and family as police work becomes his entire life.

Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker, Judge Roy Bean, rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradually grows, under his iron fist, into a thriving town, while dispensing his his own quirky brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by.

Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...

In the sixteenth century, Miguel de Cervantes, poet, playwright, and part-time actor, has been arrested, together with his manservant, by the Spanish Inquisition. They are accused of presenting an entertainment offensive to the Inquisition. Inside the huge dungeon into which they have been cast, the other prisoners gang up on Cervantes and his manservant, and begin a mock trial, with the intention of stealing or burning his possessions. Cervantes wishes to desperately save a manuscript he carries with him and stages, with costumes, makeup, and the participation of the other prisoners, an unusual defense--the story of Don Quixote.

After a failed bank robbery, an ex-con, an ex-waitress and a few of their friends train a pack of doberman dogs to rob a bank for them.

A posse pursues Pardon Chato (Charles Bronson) a mestizo indian after he killed a US marshal in self-defense. As they get deeper into Indian territory, just who is hunting who.

It seems that masked men are knocking over the floating crap games of Chalky and Pete. Chalky and Pete hire the cool, loose, elegant Mr. T to fix things. Then, the masked manipulators set up the death of a collector for a rival gang lord. It looks like it's up to T to hold a gang war from breaking out, keep the police off his back, and earn his fee from Chalky and Pete.

Imprisoned Harry Lomart is a vicious, brute of a man and yet he is prepared to do his long jail term as he is confident that on his release his beautiful wife Pat will be waiting for him, but a visit from Pat brings him his worst nightmare.

This historical drama is an account of the early life of British politician Winston Churchill, including his childhood years, his time as a war correspondent in Africa, and culminating with his first election to Parliament.

Priest (Ron O'Neal), a suave top-rung New York City drug dealer, decides that he wants to get out of his dangerous trade. Working with his reluctant friend, Eddie (Carl Lee), Priest devises a scheme that will allow him to make a big deal and then retire. When a desperate street dealer informs the police of Priest's activities, Priest is forced into an uncomfortable arrangement with corrupt narcotics officers. Setting his plan in motion, he aims to both leave the business and stick it to the man.

A CIA agent is used as a pawn in an insane woman's plan to steal a Polaris submarine.

John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.

A wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.

A man becomes a criminal in Louisiana after a plane crash. During a fight with local police, he escapes custody and kidnaps the daughter of a local millionaire.

John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.

Two veteran private eyes trigger a criminal reign of terror with their search for a missing girl.

The life of peaceful rancher John Benedict is torn apart when his family is massacred by a gang of marauding outlaws and his farm is destroyed. He assembles a team of mean, lawless convicts to act as his posse as he pursues the gang responsible for the deaths of his loved ones.

The gangs of Jesse James and Cole Younger join forces to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota, but things do not go as planned.

Grier and Haig are thieving mercenaries who engineer a prison break from the outside.

Randy has PTSD from the Army. After extreme treatment he is released into the world to make it on his own. He goes to Winnipeg to race his snowmobile cross country to St. Paul.

A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes, and demands to be taken to Russia.

Slaughter, a former Green Beret, avenges the killing of loved ones by the Mob, and after being blackmailed by the feds, is forced to head to South America to finish the mobsters off.

Marshal Chris Adams turns down a friend's request to help stop the depredations of a gang of Mexican bandits. When his wife is killed by bank robbers and his friend is killed capturing the last thief, Chris feels obligated to take up his friend's cause and recruits a writer and five prisoners to destroy the desperadoes.The last in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies.

Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy gets mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked rancher.

Eight people have to find their way out of a New York subway after being trapped following an earthquake.

Washed-up agent John Craig is given the task of proving his worth by tracking down a Russian scientist on the run. Cross and double-cross is the name of the game.

This multinational crime action film also boasts an international cast. During his childhood, a boy (Chris Mitchum) sees four men drown his father; now, the grown young man makes it his business to kill each member of the foursome. His last killing presents him with some challenges, as his victim is only wounded. He kidnaps the man's daughter (Claudine Auger) and goes to a hideout. In the meantime, an ex-cop (Karl Malden) has been tracking them down.

A trio of runaway slaves evade authorities in the Old West.

After losing eight years to prison, cowboy J. W. Coop is released to return to life as a professional rodeo cowboy in the 60's. Determined to make up for the lost 'prime' years of his career, he doggedly goes forward, and learns that not only has the business of rodeo changed during his incarceration but society as a whole has made dramatic changes as well.

A man (Chang Yi) is looking for stolen money (gold coins) and seeking revenge for the death of his master.

An over-the-hill rodeo champion is so self-centered that he ignores his wife, son, and best friend.

A break-in and sabotage attempt occurs at a top secret research institute and the culprit is cornered and captured. The problem is that he's been badly injured and claims to have lost his memory entirely. A cat-and-mouse game ensues between investigator Tuxan, the mystery intruder Welles and the people who sent him on the mission.

An American lawyer on vacation in Europe is asked by a book publisher to stop by the Austrian town of Salzburg to see a photographer who's taking pictures for a book on picturesque Austrian lakes. Upon his arrival he senses that something is wrong when the photographer seems to have vanished, leaving a near panic-stricken wife and a sinister, secretive brother. Before he knows it, the lawyer finds himself mixed up with spies, assassins, and the hunt for a list made up by the Nazis during World War II of people who collaborated with them.

Two young children, who, rather than part with an old pet lion who was once a circus performer, go on a perilous mountain trek to stay with a recluse friend.

A professional hunter is brought in to track a bank robbery suspect through a Louisiana swamp, and winds up getting romantically involved with the suspect's wife.

A Washington D.C. cop is proud to be one of the few African-Americans on the force. He is not well loved by his peers, or by people. Trouble erupts when he is overlooked for a promotion.

THE PRODIGAL BOXER features Chinese folk hero Fong Sai Yuk (aka Fong Si Yu), the subject of dozens of HK kung fu films. The role is played by Meng Fei as a callow, unschooled youth and wrongfully accused murderer. Two vicious masters of the local kung fu school, seeking revenge against Fong Sai Yuk, attack his home and kill his father while Fong is away. Fong’s attempts to avenge the death of his father result in his being badly beaten. Fong trains at the hands of his martial artist mother as she puts him through rigorous training and an herbal bath that makes him invulnerable. A trail of revenge is set in motion with Fong against the two masters, played by formidable kung fu villains Yasuaki Kurata and Wang Ching. Can a year's worth of training prepare Fong Sai Yuk for his deadly confrontation with the vicious masters?

In this action movie, a top stock-car driver causes a death on the race track and finds his career in shambles. Desperate for money, he gets a job as a driver for a drug ring.

A successful and popular nightclub owner who believes financial independence is the path to equality and success, must act as a go-between for militant-minded brother and the white gang syndicate his brother has attacked and robbed. Their involvements lead to a breathless race course chase, the destruction of a dopepusher and a violent waterfront climax.

Someone is stealing cheerleaders and other pretty girls and selling them to the highest bidder. Female super sexy spy Ginger is soon employed to investigate the disappearances. She does so by going undercover with a fellow agent and doing whatever is necessary to put an end to the operation and take down the leaders.

A life-long mercenary commander and weapons expert is commissioned to train an army for an exiled African leader. But as his conscience finally catches up to him, he is seen as a threat to the powers behind the operation.

What begins as a routine investigation quickly escalates into a heartstopping race to save millions from certain death in this taut and gripping thriller. Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, ER) "makes an impressive directorial debut" (The Hollywood Reporter) in this deadly cat-and-mouse game in which the stakes couldn't be higher! When government agent Steven Graves (Ben Gazzara) investigates political extremist James Wright (E.G. Marshall), he uncovers a diabolical plot to blast lethal nerve gas into San Diego during the Republican Convention. What's worse, a computer hacker (Martin Sheen) has provided Wright with a psychological profile to help him outwit Graves. As Wright ingeniously eludes Graves, can Graves find a way to stop him before the ultimate nightmare begins?