In the middle of a summer movie season like the one we’re in now, it can be hard to stand out. There is a lot of competition. The BFG and The Legend of Tarzan open this Friday; Independence Day: Resurgence opened last Friday. Big blockbuster pictures like X-Men: Apocalypse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Warcraft, Captain America: Civil War, and The Jungle Book are all still playing in theaters. From a distance, a lot of these films begin to blend together; Big CGI Stuff Go Boom: The Movie.

One way to break from the pack, besides great content (which, based on the evidence in theaters this year, is not a huge priority for a lot of Hollywood studios) is great marketing. A perfect movie poster doesn’t just sell a work of art, it becomes a work of art in its own right. The 25 action movie posters above, ranked in order of greatness (at least according to one guy’s very subjective opinion), all clear that threshold. Our choices come from movies as recent as last year and others at least a half a century old. But they’re all fantastic. In some cases, they’re way better than the movie they’re advertising. (Looking at you, Maximum Risk.) But they all stand out in a crowd, even when that crowd is a gallery of other great action movie posters.

For more poster fun, check out our gallery of the best disaster movie posters ever:

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