Photo credit: Universal (Getty).
It’s been several months since the surprise Netflix hit Stranger Things spawned rabid excitement among an audience hungry for all out edge-of-your seat science fiction fun. And although the series was led by a pair of adults, it was the cast of youngsters who brought out the best in each episode. When it comes to action/adventure movies, most are steered by capable adults drawing power from their life-experiences and skills. Though once in awhile, it will indeed be a group of in-over-their-head school-aged heroes who are tasked with finding victory by story’s end. Here we rank the top 10 best of such movies starring kids.
The Top 10 Best Action & Adventure Movies Starring Kids:
Also: The Greatest Quotes From Your Favorite ‘Sixteen Candles’ Characters
Best Action & Adventure Movies Starring Kids
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No. 10 - Toy Soldiers (1991)
In terms of pop culture, we never thought the title of this movie could rise above Martika’s soulful '80s one-hit wonder released two years prior. But like a tiny army man thought lost at a play date way across town, it marched back to us in this surprisingly entertaining action flick. Thanks to the impact of the Bruce Willis blockbuster, the multitude of imitators that soon followed needed only a blank to complete their premise -- e.g. Die Hard on a ___ or Die Hard in a ___. Here, boarding school fills the blank. A boarding school for delinquent rich boys is held hostage by a militarized group of Colombian terrorists. But with their backs against the wall and a trick or two up their sleeves, the group of five “Toy Soldiers” conspire to rise up and fight back. Since three of the actors who played them will appear again on this list, the bad hombres keeping them captive didn’t stand a chance.
Photo credit: Universal (Getty).
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No. 9 - The Monster Squad (1987)
The monster under the bed or hiding in the closet is usually a terrifying concept for the tween set. But here, high up inside one particular treehouse, hails the Monster Squad, a regular group of kids whose love of classic movie monsters has made them experts in the field. It is humanity’s luck, then, that when the classic monsters intrude into real life to pull the world into darkness, it happens right inside their town and these whipper snappers know exactly what to do. All they need are their bikes, some wooden stakes, a silver bullet or two, and a bunch of curfew-forgiving parents.
Photo credit: TriStar Pictures
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No. 8 - Kick-Ass (2010)
If you like your comic book adaptations ultraviolent with profanity that would make a sailor blush, then Kick-Ass is just what the doctor ordered. In keeping with the subject of this list, both are delivered and sustained by kids young enough to make all that plays out slightly discomforting. In the comic book world, the school-aged misfit is often our hero who goes on to behave in ways that you wouldn’t expect in a holy text -– or maybe you would, it just wouldn’t come in candy-colored drawn panels. But evil is evil no matter how old its avengers are, and there is certainly pleasure in watching Kick-Ass and his cohorts kick ass even if it comes paired with a heaping dose of guilt.
Photo credit: Lionsgate
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No. 7 - Red Dawn (1984)
In Red Dawn, a regular high school morning turns into a nightmare as WWIII begins in the US with a surprise Soviet invasion of armed paratroopers raining from the sky. As their town falls in the siege, a small group of students retreat to the woods to avoid capture. When they discover that their families and community will all likely die in re-education camps and the country at large has suffered unimaginable destruction, they decide that it is their duty as Americans to fight back. Though Red Dawn possesses the intensity and triumph that comes with an action film, this is first and foremost a war movie, with the mournful tone and horror that normally accompanies one. It’s a cold and bleak portrait of what international conflict can lead to, and its stark violence and themes made it the perfect recipient for the first ever PG-13 rating.
Photo credit: MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
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No. 6 - Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
Perched atop a couch in front of the tube is how we’d ordinarily expect to spend time with our babysitter.. But in this comedy adventure, that normalcy is quickly thrown right out the window. Instead, due to a series of wild circumstances, a Thor-obsessed young girl, her babysitter-obsessed older brother, and his antic-obsessed best friend are pursued through the mean streets of Chicago by a flank of determined criminals. Keeping her eye on all these moving parts --way beyond her hourly pay grade -- stood guardian Elizabeth Shue, who quickly became every boys’ desired protector in 1987. Besides saving her charges’ lives and getting them to bed on time, her greatest accomplishment was somehow nabbing the title of world’s sexiest babysitter without ever removing her bulky, camelhair overcoat.
Photo credit: Buena Vista Pictures
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No. 5 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
As the sequels unfold, we see the students of Hogwarts show all kinds of heroism as their school is threatened by dark forces. But it all began with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. At the center are three pint-sized wizards and a witch, eager new arrivals at this enchanted school, and unknowingly its future saviors. The first step in that undertaking is finding the Sorcerer’s Stone before you-know-who-must-not-be-named gets it first, even though he’d seemed to be vanquished a decade before. That climactically entails a trip to the basement where they have to make it past a poisonous plant, a swarm of winged keys, and life-sized chessmen that would have frightened both Gary Kasparov and Bobby Fischer into taking up checkers instead.
Photo credit: 7831/Gamma-Rapho (Getty).
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No. 4 - Attack the Block (2011)
We’ll see what happens when well-mannered kids discover an adorable, loving alien stranded in their neighborhood next on this list. First, however, let’s remember Attack the Block. Here, the kids are not well-mannered nor the aliens adorable and loving. Instead they are a band of teenage thugs blotting their London projects with crime and hairy, fluorescent fanged, murderous beasts, respectively. When the beasts bring bloody mayhem to their block, the hoodlums -- joined by a novice nurse, college stoner, and two younger admirers -- take it upon themselves to defend it at all costs. Hilarious, with tense action and glorious sci-fi effects, Attack the Block comes at you fast and furiously, or as one delinquent hero describes, with “too much madness to explain in one text!”
Photo credit: Sony Pictures
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No. 3 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
He’s got a big head, like a cross between the open-air portion of a periscope and an overstuffed calzone. He’s got a long skinny neck that telegraphs even higher at certain pivotal moments. Then there's his long magic finger that doesn’t shake motel beds, but does light up Rudolph bright and can instantly heal cuts and scrapes -- and perhaps more. This funny little alien took the world by storm when his otherworldy buddies left him behind in Spielbergland suburbia in 1982. His kid caretakers -- led by the sensitive Elliott -- saw him simply as a foreigner in need and snapped quickly and purposefully into action to set up a call into the heavens to try and snag him a lift home. It was perhaps the first Uber ride ever seen on film.
Photo credit: Universal (Getty).
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No. 2 - Stand By Me (1986)
Not necessarily an action film, but certainly an adventure. Not to mention both somber and inspiring at the same time. Four curious young boys take off into the countryside to find the dead body of another missing boy. A journey filled with unexpected peril, pursuers, and life-defining self-discovery unfolds from there. Framed by the reflections of one member of the quartet, now an adult with young boys himself, Stand By Me invited its enrapt audience to recollect their own life’s journeys through its meditations on friendship, family, drive, and the growing pains that accompany leaving your childhood behind.
Photo credit: Columbia Pictures
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No. 1 - The Goonies (1985)
The ultimate lesson of The Goonies is arguably, "when life provides you a treasure map, go out and find the treasure." The best action/adventure flick starring kids on our list is 150 percent action, 150% percent adventure, and maybe the most fun a movie’s price of admission could ever possibly buy. Other lessons include: even if your first kiss wasn’t meant for you, that doesn’t mean it can’t be awesome; bats sometimes live behind big boulders; and just because you look like a monster doesn’t mean you aren’t Superman. We’ve only just scratched the surface of all that The Goonies has bestowed upon our grateful universe. Remember that “Goonies never say die” and your fortune will be right around the corner. But first you might need to check the path leading to it for booby traps just to be safe.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. (Getty).
