Top 4 American Action Stars

Chyeah in it’s purest form has the innate capability to give birth more Chyeah worthy ideas, moments, or sayings. This top 4 list was inspired when the majority of our contributors went to see Terminator Salvation and gawked at the rough statue manliness that is Christian Bale. Bale has reached a plateau of awesome usually untouched by the modern actor. Between John Connor and Batman he has broken his way into legendary action star status. Now to be completely honest, this pisses me off. Bale is from Wales. I don’t even know what that is so let’s just call it England for the time being. It’s not like you really care anyway. These actors are coming from overseas and ruling over American cinema. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Kiefer Sutherland, the late Heath Ledger. The list goes on! It’s not our fault that people don’t like movies in other countries. We shouldn’t have to be bombarded by their pseudo American accents while they rake in dough that rightfully belongs to our homegrown entertainers. Here is a list of the men who can save us. These are the men who rightfully belong at the helm of American action cinema for today and tomorrow and now they have the official Chyeah stamp of approval to go out and kick some foreigner ass.

Before we start you may be asking why this list is a top 4 as opposed to a top 5. There is a simple answer for that. When Turbo, Kable, and I rated a list of several American actors we came up with 3 different men being tied for fifth place. I was going to just pick one based on an assumption of what Captain Planet would choose since we couldn’t get a hold of him at the time. Instead I’ve decided to just cast aside Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Jake Gyllenhaal and leave them as honorable mentions. None of them are quite special enough to have earned a spot just yet. With that being said, enjoy the Top 4 Countdown.

4. Shia Labeouf


Shia Labeouf made this list by breaking away from a usually fatal Disney start to have a serious and respected career. He climbed from co-starring under big names like Will Smith in I, Robot and Keanu Reeves in Constantine to become a leading man in his own right. By the time he was in Indiana Jones, his name was bringing in seats just as fast as Ford’s. Okay, maybe not just as fast but you get the picture. If you are still in doubt then watch Eagle Eye or Transformers. Shia is only just beginning but I put my word on it that in the coming years he will be on the top of everyone’s charts.

3. Will Smith


The list gets very close here with one spot only being separated from the next by .5 but Will Smith lands as number 3 on our countdown. Smith has distinguished himself as possibly the strongest leading actor of our time. He regularly carries movies with little to no assistance from supporting roles. This is best seen and most greatly appreciated in I Am Legend. Smith is the movie and he makes it an astounding and exciting sight to see. Each and every time he does a project it seems as though he’s not acting but giving us a look into his own life. No one knows that better than our very own Kable who happens to have Smith’s entire filmography stored away on his computer. Brits and Aussies have nothing on him.

2. Brad Pitt


We often see Pitt being so suave and smooth that we forget how he nonchalantly knocks bruisers out with a single punch in Snatch or just how generally awesome he was in Fight Club from start to finish. I admit that I wasn’t a fan of Brad Pitt. Like many I hadn’t seen many of his movies and was hating based on his unnaturally devoted droves of fans constantly drooling over him. However, not that I’ve taken a look into his body of work I can see why he has earned his celebrity and applaud him for it. Pitt’s highest grossing film was Mr. and Mrs. Smith in which he plays a secret agent. I challenge you to see it despite the less than believable premise just to watch the swag of Pitt as he attempts to murder his on-and-off-screen wife. Expect his performance in the upcoming Tarantino film, Inglourious Basterds, to be one for the books. It would be foolish of you to expect any less.

1. Edward Norton


This is the top of the list and we’ve got Norton as number one. He is easily one of the general public’s most underrated actors. After Turbo introduced me to Fight Club my interests on this marvelous talent was peaked. I’ve yet to sit through American History X but just seeing the infamous “curbstomp” scene was sufficient for knowing just how sick he can be. It is my personal opinion that he does quiet brilliance better than anything else as is seen from his portrayal of Eisenhiem the Illusionist as well as Professor Bruce Banner aka the Incredible Hulk. If you hadn’t noticed, he’s the only actor on the list to have played a super hero of any type and we can’t wait to see him in The Avengers. Norton truly engulfs himself and his audience into whatever role he’s playing. We hope to see him get the respect he deserves for all the talent and effort he brings to the table and even more importantly, brings to the States.

That’s the list. Once again I hope you enjoyed it. I also hope it surprised you a little bit. If you read that and have no idea what was stated, you have more movies to watch before you may consider yourself an acceptable human being. That being said, I won’t hold you any longer. Go check out these guys and remember that we’re in a recession. Make sure you buy and watch American. Chyeah!