Bley, Gruss and Eduardo go to war over the greatest one-person armies in movies, from unstoppable soldiers and assassins to vigilantes who can take on impossible odds without backup.
Bley’s Ranked Picks
#3 — Commando
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix turns rescuing his daughter into a full-scale private war, mowing through an island’s worth of mercenaries with exactly the subtlety you want from an ’80s action movie. (Movie / Philo or Rent/Buy)
#2 — Sisu
A Finnish prospector crosses paths with retreating Nazis and responds by becoming an almost mythic one-man death squad. Lean, nasty and gloriously excessive. (Movie / MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel or Rent/Buy)
#1 — Kill Bill: Vol. 1
The Bride tears through assassins, gangsters and the Crazy 88 with a sword and an absolutely unreasonable amount of determination. The greatest “one man army” may not be a man at all. (Movie / YouTube TV, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel or Rent/Buy)
Gruss’ Ranked Picks
#3 — Rambo
John Rambo is practically the template for the modern one-man-army movie: one highly trained soldier, impossible odds and enough firepower to make an entire enemy force regret showing up. (Movie Franchise / Select films on Peacock, AMC+, YouTube TV, Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels or Tubi)
#2 — Taken
Bryan Mills has a very particular set of skills, and Paris learns exactly what that means after his daughter is kidnapped. Lean, efficient and built around watching one extremely capable man dismantle everyone in his path. (Movie / Rent or Buy)
#1 — Jason Bourne Franchise
Jason Bourne is the spy-thriller version of a human weapon: hyper-competent, relentlessly improvisational and somehow more dangerous with whatever happens to be within arm’s reach than most people are with an arsenal. (Movie Franchise / The Bourne Identity on Philo or Starz Amazon Channel; other films vary)
Eduardo’s Ranked Picks
#3 — Batman
Batman has no superpowers, but between the training, gadgets, planning and willingness to walk into a room full of armed criminals by himself, he absolutely qualifies as a one-man army. (Movie / HBO Max, Philo or DC Amazon Channel)
#2 — Nobody
Bob Odenkirk plays a seemingly ordinary suburban dad whose buried past turns out to involve being extremely, extremely good at hurting people. The bus fight alone earns him a spot here. (Movie / Peacock or YouTube TV)
#1 — Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Eduardo agrees with Bley at number one: The Bride’s assault on the Crazy 88 is basically the purest possible demonstration of one person taking on an army and winning. (Movie / YouTube TV, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel or Rent/Buy)
Other Recommendations
Hard Boiled
John Woo and Chow Yun-fat turn a cop-versus-gangsters story into an operatic barrage of gunfire, hospital shootouts and impossible action choreography. (Movie / Criterion Channel or free on Pluto TV, Shout! Factory TV, YouTube Free or Kanopy)
Die Hard
John McClane is trapped in a skyscraper with a building full of terrorists and slowly dismantles the entire operation with no shoes, limited ammo and a lot of improvisation. (Movie / Prime Video or YouTube TV)
The Long Kiss Goodnight
Geena Davis discovers that her quiet suburban life has been hiding a very dangerous former identity, then turns back into the assassin everyone should have been afraid of. (Movie / Philo or Howdy Amazon Channel)
Streaming availability reflects U.S. services at the time this post was prepared and can change.
Episode Recommendations 