You can hear the metal screech against metal so much that your ears ache bittersweetly.

You can hear guns firing off bullets with such split-second accuracy that your eyes pop.

Welcome to Hollywood. Where action is synonymous with death-defying stunts. Where action is synonymous with the busy ticking of cash registers at the box office.

Yes, box office records have it that films with mindblowing collections have been -- you got it right -- action and adventure-based.

And why not. Action icons Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Keanu Reeves, Kurt Russell and Bruce Willis owe their phenomenal success to these wham-bang-slam movies.

Directors like James Cameron and John Woo have metamorphosed action into a fine art by executing well planned and coordinated daredevil stunts. And so you have car chases, helicopter chases, train chases, bus chases...

And the kill? A thumping good action film.

Rediff.com takes you on a tour of some of our favourites.

Click for slide show

Text: Sukanya Verma
Design: Dominic Xavier