Here Are the 9 Most Bodaciously Bad-Ass Action Scenes of the Year (So Far)

The Oscars may not hand out awards for Best Stunts, but we certainly think this year's crop of admirably over-the-top action movies deserve some accolades. Below, we’ve compiled our list of the craziest, gnarliest, most adrenaline-soaked sequences so far from the year’s biggest blockbusters. Read about them, pull yourself back from the edge of your seat, then let us know in the comments what scenes we missed.

The high-revving, highly ridiculous car-dive in Furious 7
THE SETUP: The first big set piece of the action sequel is the series’ most insane stunt yet: Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew drive out of the belly of a gigantic C-130 aircraft, plummeting 30,000 feet in their souped-up muscle cars deep into the mountains of Central Asia. The craziest part? That’s just an appetizer for a high-speed chase.
THE PAYOFF: The car-diving sequence not only managed to become the most over-the-top Furious spectacle yet: It also unofficially kicked off the summer stunt season, serving as a fitting teaser for the mayhem-packed months to come. 

Watch the ‘Furious 7′ scene:

The tourist-terrifying park rampage from Jurassic World
THE SETUP: Once Indominus Rex crashes through the park’s aviary, it sets off a chain of events that ultimately liberates every flying creature on the island, leading to a furious, all-out feasting on the park goers, as Pteranodons and Dimorphodons snatch up terrified tourists (and send Jimmy Buffet scrambling for the exits). Wheeee!
THE PAYOFF: It’s three minutes of creature-horror bliss — and it features one of the most genuinely unsettling big-screen moments of the summer, when a hapless employee-turned-babysitter (Katie McGrath) gets bounced around the park like a pinball before she’s ultimately devoured by the lagoon’s Mosasaurus. How in the World did this movie earn a PG-13?

Watch a director’s commentary on the ‘Jurassic World’ aerial attack:

The bedroom battle in Ant-Man
THE SETUP: Much like its titular hero, Ant-Man shrinks down for this grand finale battle, which finds Paul Rudd’s micro-sized character facing down the evil Yellowjacket (played by Corey Stoll) not in some mammoth villain’s lair, but in a child’s bedroom. Using their super-suits, the two foes battle atop an old wooden train set — meaning that, instead of of causing entire buildings to crash down, Whedon-style, they’re knocking down a bunch of kiddie blocks. Big stakes, tiny toys!
THE PAYOFF: The scene — which also includes a cameo from Thomas the Tank Engine — is a genuine blast, providing some welcome comic relief in a genre that’s become increasingly glum.

Bing Bong and Joy’s wagon-jump from Inside Out
THE SETUP: Inside 11-year-old Riley’s head, things are getting dire: Joy must return to headquarters so that Riley can be happy again, but she’s stuck deep in a Memory Dump with Riley’s forgotten imaginary friend from toddlerhood, Bing Bong. Suddenly, she realizes that they have a means of escape: Bing Bong’s red wagon, which doubles as a song-powered rocket. Singing their hearts out, Bing Bong and Joy launch themselves into the air and attempt their flight to the control center of Riley’s brain.
THE PAYOFF: The thrilling sequence ends in one of the year’s most heartbreaking movie moments: Joy realizes that Bing Bong has leapt out of the wagon, sacrificing himself so that Joy could make the flight alone. “Take her to the moon for me, okay?” Riley’s imaginary friend calls out to Joy — cuing the entire audience to burst into tears.

The final, furious reckoning with Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road
THE SETUP: The newest Mad Max sequel hardly ever pauses for a non-action scene, but the movie saves the best bit for its roaring climax. Max (Tom Hardy), Furiosa (Charlize Theron), and crew are speeding back to the Citadel with Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) in hot pursuit. A grievously wounded Furiosa takes on Joe through his car window, while Max gets pummeled by the ripped Rictus, and Nux (Nicholas Hoult) handles the final ride of their trusty war rig.
THE PAYOFF: The sequence brings the thrills and the chills, including some mechanical mayhem, a satisfyingly gory end to Joe, and some moving moments, including Nux’s brave sacrifice (we witness you, brother!) and Max and Furiosa’s poignant, much-delayed introduction. We watch, we live, we watch again!

The epic spy-dive from Kingsman: The Secret Service
THE SETUP: As their feat-of-courage challenges get increasingly more bonkers, Eggsy (Taron Egerton), Roxy (Sophie Cookson), and their fellow Kingsman recruits are taken for a little skydiving adventure. The stakes are high: They need to jump out of a plane, stay off enemy radars, and land close to the target or they’ll be sent packing. And that’s all before they find out that one of their parachutes actually doesn’t work.
THE PAYOFF: Though the film’s super-violent church shoot-out scene got most of the attention this year, the taut, twisty sky-dive sequence is the film’s secret weapon — an exhilarating moment for the audience, and a bonding one for the recruits.

Watch the ‘Kingsman’ scene:

The mountain motorcycle chase Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation
THE SETUP: Tom Cruise’s ride on the wing of a cargo plane got all the pre-release buzz, but it was a more classic chase sequence that really revved audiences up. Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is pursuing the mysterious Ilsa Faust, played by breakout star Rebecca Ferguson. It’s a long sequences with twists, crashes, explosions, and incredible close-ups that make it feel like you’re on those screaming cycles, an especially big thrill in IMAX.
THE PAYOFF: The scene is yet another example of Cruise’s derring-do (no helmet!?) and announces Ferguson as a top-notch action star in her own right.

The epic kitchen knife-fight from Spy
THE SETUP: In this culinary-minded melee with a knife-wielding goon, Melissa McCarthy — playing a former desk clerk turned super-spy — uses everything but the kitchen sink to defend herself, from pots to pans to a French baguette; at one point, she deploys a cast-iron skillet to ingeniously avoid a deep heart-slicing cut.
THE PAYOFF: Each move is more ridiculous than the last in this scene, which is more intricately choreographed than most movie fisticuffs. But even more impressive: McCarthy shows off some serious action chops.

Watch the ‘Spy’ scene:

Black Widow’s motorcycle scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron
THE SETUP: The Avengers sequel is filled with high-flying action, from the Hulk’s mighty bunker-busting move in an early scene to Iron Man nimbly disabling an enemy-compound force field. But our favorite act of Avenging might well be when Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is dropped from the Quinjet while on a motorcycle to help Captain America (Chris Evans) from being overpowered by Ultron. 
THE PAYOFF: Black Widow saves the day (and nabs the Vision) and proves she’s the most aggressive Avenger of them all. All the more reason for her to get her own cool toys.