Classic movies like Bullit, Easy Rider, The French Connection, amongst others, are guy movies, but our list is a modern guide (past 20 years). The movies in this list are pretty much everything that chick flicks are not: any or all of bad ass cars, ass-kickings, kick-ass girls, scary monsters, super creeps, outrageous or immature comedy, with the occasional bit of real emotional or intellectual depth. It’s not necessarily about an award-winning film, though we’ve included lots of those. It’s about the elements of a guy movie. Some of these should be seen for the actors/ acting, some for the story, others for the cinematography or special effects, and still others for more obscure reasons that are harder to define well.

Enjoy, and feel free to commend us or tell us how dumb we are for forgetting YOUR fave guy movie. But beg, borrow, torrent, buy, rent, pay per view, and pass the buttered Orville, please. In each of the five main sections (#50-41, #40-31, etc.), to see a larger poster, trailer, and movie details, please click on the movie title.

Please also note that much of the content in these movies, and sometimes the video trailers, is intended for adults and might be occasionally be NSFW. View with discretion.

Browse 50 Guy Movies: A Modern Guide

• 50-41 of 50 Guy Movies: A Modern Guide.
• 40-31 of 50 Guy Movies: A Modern Guide.
• 30-21 of 50 Guy Movies: A Modern Guide.
• 20-11 of 50 Guy Movies: A Modern Guide.
• 10-1 of 50 Guy Movies: A Modern Guide.

Bonus Features:

• Bonus: 10 Guy Comedies.
• Bonus: 10 Guy-Fi Movies.
• Bonus: 50 Guy Movies Directors List.

Notes: Revolver is yet another Guy Ritchie film starring Ritchie mainstay Jason Statham, and packed with nudity and violence – which might be why Ritchie is often misunderstood as a filmmaker. Statham is Jake Green, an ex-con who gets out of jail and becomes a successful gambler, thanks to a special “formula” given to him by two other mysterious cons, Zach (Vincent Pastore) and Avi (André Benjamin), who break out of prison. Jake’s success gets the better of his common sense, and when he and his two brothers beat crime boss Macha (Ray Liotta) in a game, Macha puts a hit out on him. But he has Zach and Avi to help him out – sort of.

Director: Guy Ritchie.
Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller.
Writer(s): Luc Besson, Guy Ritchie.
Cast: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, André Benjamin (Andre 3000).
Runtime: 115 min.

Trailer:

Notes: Terence Stamp has had a long film career as a character actor, starting in 1962, but you might know him best from appearances in films such as Superman I and II, the Smallville TV series (as Superman’s real father, Jor-El), Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, or Alien Nation, amongst others. Stamp might look weathered but as the ex-con Englishman Wilson in The Limey, he’s dangerous – and not particularly happy, thanks to the death of his daughter. He sets out to Los Angeles to find the man responsible. He learns, with the help of another ex-con (Luis Guzman) and an actress (Lesley Ann Warren), that his daughter had been having an affair with a record producer (Peter Fonda), whom he feels is responsible. The movie has its slow moments, but when it picks up, the action is intense. It also apparently uses a clip of a 1967 film, to show Stamp when he was younger.

Director: Steven Soderbergh.
Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller.
Writer(s): Lem Dobbs.
Cast: Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Fonda, Luis Guzman, Barry Newman.
Runtime: 89 min.

Trailer:

Notes: Detectives Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are sent to Alaska to investigate the murder of a teen girl. The time of year is such that the sun doesn’t set, and during the investigation, Dormer accidentally shoots and kills Donovan. Dormer is suffering from guilt, not to mention insomnia, and is now being investigated by a local detective, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), as well as being taunted over the phone. Walter Finch (Robin Williams), a local man, provides clues.

As producer Steven Soderbergh says in an interview (below), the movie – which is remake of a 1997 film – transforms from a whodunnit to a “how and whydunnit.” (Paul Junger Witt and George Clooney, amongst others, are also producers and executive producers.)

Director: Christopher Nolan.
Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller.
Writers: Hillary Setize, based on a 1997 screenplay by Nikolaj Frobenius and Erik Skjoldbjærg.
Cast: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank.
Runtime: 118 min.

Trailer:

Notes: Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a Jekyll and Hyde style character. By day an investment banker; by night a cold-blooded killer. He’s got everything going for him – looks, career, money, lifestyle – but it’s not enough. In fact, he hates the world and begins to kill, with no motives other than just to kill – except maybe for materialistic envy. When he tries to hint to others about his dark nature, they think he’s joking. But Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe) suspects.

American Psycho had its own craziness to deal with. According to IMDB, initially, Leonardo Di Caprio was announced as the lead, which caused director Mary Harron to walk off, since her choice was Christian Bale. Oliver Stone took over, but when it was realized that Di Caprio wasn’t that interested, Stone dropped it and Harron and Bale returned.

Director: Mary Harron.
Categories: Drama, Horror, Thriller.
Writers: Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner, based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel.
Cast: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Jared Leto, Willem Dafoe.
Runtime: 101 min.

Trailer:

Notes: When Slevin Kelevra visits a friend in New York, what comes after is a complete surprise to him. He gets mugged upon arrival, the friend, Nick, is missing, and thugs show up at Nick’s apartment and mistake him for Nick. Now, he’s being pursued by men working for two crime bosses, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman), not to mention the hitman Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis), and Detective Brikowski (Stanely Tucci). His friend owes a lot of money to The Rabbi and The Boss, and Slevin’s having a hard time proving he’s the wrong guy. Fortunately, the next door neighbor, lovely Lindsey (Lucy Liu), comes to his aid.

Director: Paul McGuigan.
Categories: Crime, Drama, Thriller.
Writer(s): Jason Smilovic.
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci.
Runtime: 109 min.

Trailer:

Notes: Orginally filmed in Cantonese and Japanese, The Killer is about an assassin (Chow Yun Fat) who wants to retire after one last job. The money from that job will go to help a nightclub singer, Jennie, that he blinded in an early job, and whose state has troubled him since. In the process, he’s betrayed, and ends up joining with the cop who wants to arrest him, just to help Jennie.

Chow Yun Fat has the perfect facial expressions to play the role of a warm-hearted hitman. The movie won John Woo a Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and had four other nominations there, including Best Picture for Tsui Hark, a legendary filmmaker (director/ producer).

Director: John Woo.
Categories: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller.
Writer(s): John Woo.
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Danny Lee.
Runtime: 111 min (104 min USA).

Trailer: Warning: extreme violence.

Notes: In 5th century B.C., King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 elite guard defend Sparta at Thermopylae (aka the Battle of Thermopylae), in a narrow canyon, from becoming part of the Persian empire under King Xerxes. The movie is based on the graphic novel “300″, by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. It has a graphic novel feel, but in a manner different than Frank Miller’s Sin City.

Director: Zack Snyder.
Categories: Action, Drama, History, War.
Writer(s): Zack Synder, Kurt Johnstad, and Michael Gordon, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley.
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West.
Runtime: 117 min.

Trailer:

Notes: Anyone with sense knows that drugs are “bad for you.” But for some people, it’s all they have for staying sane. You just never really believe how bad things can get until they actually do. So despite a permeating humor, thanks to the narration and a couple of scenes, this is a very disturbing film about a group of lads in Edinburgh, Scotland, who get addicted to hard drugs and suffer some of the consequences of that life. But there is a point, though some filmgoers said they needed to see it a few times to “get it.”

Director: Danny Boyle
Categories: Comedy, Crime, Drama.
Writers: John Hodge, based on an Irvine Welsh novel.
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd.
Runtime: 94 min.

Trailer:

Notes: Snatch was director Guy Ritchie’s (aka Mr. Madonna) third directorial effort, after 1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (elsewhere in this list). Snatch is probably the better known of the two (not to mention 2005’s Revolver), likely due in part to both a growing profile, as well as the inclusion of actors such as Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, not to mention Jason Statham, who has his own rapidly rising star.

They and other actors collectively play a large group of colorful characters caught up in boxing match fixing, bare-knuckle fighting and stolen diamonds. There is violence in the movie, but there’s also a lot of British-style comedy as well.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Categories: Comedy, Crime, Thriller.
Writer: Guy Ritchie.
Cast: Jason Statham, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Brad Pitt, Vinnie Jones, Rade Sherbedgia, Guy Ritchie.
Runtime: 102 min.

Trailer: