Action as a cinematic genre is one of the most open and wide-reaching, featuring an enormous variety of different experiences and stories. Action is also the genre that is most propelled by big-name movie stars, but action heroes beyond the muscle-bound supermen of the 80s have risen to fame in the modern day.
Brad Pitt's career began in the late-80s, with bit parts in films like Less Than Zero and No Man's Land, and TV projects like Another World. By the 90s, he was portraying a vampire alongside Tom Cruise and solving nightmarish crimes with Morgan Freeman. Now, thirty years later, he's one of the biggest box-office draws in Hollywood. As his new movie Bullet Train is set to hit theaters in a few short months, it's the perfect time to look back at some of his best action roles.
Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
It's been 23 years since Brad Pitt portrayed the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity, and it's still one of the most compelling and iconic performances of his career. Pitt is perfect in the role, and a huge percentage of the enduring popularity of this film comes from the way he delivers his unhinged parables.
The hardcore fanbase for Fight Club has largely ruined public enjoyment of David Fincher's iconic adaptation, but the film remains extremely well-executed. From cleverly grounded fistfights in a grimy bar basement to mad acts of terrorism, Durden is an extremely compelling action presence. This is one of the roles that made Pitt's career, and regardless of the reputation of the larger script, Pitt's performance as the sexy devil on Ed Norton's shoulder is note-perfect. Pitt doesn't get to play the villain often enough, and even though the film doesn't frame him as the bad guy for the first ninety minutes, it's still a great performance.
John Smith (Mr. and Mrs. Smith)
Pitt plays opposite his then-partner and future wife Angelina Jolie in this fun action thriller about a married pair of assassins tasked with eliminating each other. The duo was enveloped in the public spotlight, making the film part of a distasteful marketing blitz about the two celebrities. Despite its vastly different cultural impact in the modern age, Pitt's role as the bored husband and unstoppable killing machine is excellent.
Screenwriter Simon Kinberg, best known for work on the X-Men franchise, puts enough cocky one-liners in Pitt's mouth to fill the average Schwarzenegger vehicle. Sharp critique of modern marriage and upper-middle-class life is juxtaposed against the fast-paced action to great effect. Pitt is a charismatic and compelling lead, and his excellent chemistry with Jolie makes this 2005 action film an enjoyable romp.
Jackie Cogan (Killing Them Softly)
Andrew Dominik's 2012 neo-noir gangster film was an underrated gem. Dominik worked with Pitt previously in the grim western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and put him into the role of another stellar gunman. Cogan is a contract killer with a peaceful philosophy, tasked by his mob bosses with killing a trio of small-time crooks. The film is set against the economic crash of 2008, and it's packed with social commentary alongside its vicious gun violence.
Cogan is debatably the main character of the work, his slightly kind philosophy making up its title. Pitt makes a meal out of the limited dialogue and hard-nosed action scenes; he feels right at home in the modern take on classic gangster drama. Few people saw this film, but Pitt brings in an excellent performance.
Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Fury)
Five men in a Sherman tank struggle against impossible odds to survive behind enemy lines in the final weeks of World War II. The premise feels like it could be stodgy and dull, in the vein of movies made primarily for older people like Bridge of Spies, but David Ayer turns it into a non-stop thrill ride. Pitt portrays the crew's commander, Staff Sergeant Collier, whose strong will and gallows determination make him a dominating presence.
Much of the narrative of the film concerns the new member of the crew, and Collier's immensely dark lessons are the cold voice that the film uses to convey its war is hell message. Pitt is perfect in the role of a battle-hardened commanding officer, and his grim performance is one of the highlights of this excellent film.
Lt. Aldo Raine (Inglourious Basterds)
Aldo the Apache is simultaneously extremely similar to Wardaddy and the direct opposite. He's another American Army man, commanding a ragtag bunch behind enemy lines in the last act of the Third Reich, yet very different in tone. Aldo Raine is a charismatic leading man with the swagger of a movie star and the reverence of a folk hero. His southern drawl, upbeat attitude, and unstoppable competency make him one of the most likable characters in Pitt's career.
Aldo Raine preaches a simple philosophy and enforces its tenets through overwhelming force and hard-forged camaraderie. Inglourious Basterds may not be the role that's most representative of Pitt's career, but it might just be his most enjoyable performance to date.