Powerhouse showdowns don’t get much better than the faceoff between Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in American Gangster.

These two Oscar winners previously clashed in the little seen Virtuosity, yet it was there second pairing as brutal drug lord Frank Lucas (Washington) and incorruptible cop Richie Roberts (Crowe) in American Gangster that came through with the fireworks.

This clash of B-grade action titans came at the peak of Jean Claude Van-Damme and Dolph Lundgren’s respective careers in the sci-fi actioner Universal Soldier.

The pair played resurrected deceased soldiers who didn’t like each other in their previous lives and sure as shit hated each other as walking corpses, their “affection” presented through flying round houses and swinging punches only as Van Damme and Lundgren know how to do best.

Take a pair of acclaimed actors, have them swap identities and let action king John Woo call the shots, and you’ll find a showdown for the ages in Face/Off.

Both Travolta and Cage were game in delivering the type of action spectacle a Woo film promises, trading quips as well as gunfire in their roles as tenacious special agent and dangerous terrorist, whose purpose in life is to see one another dead.

Legendary cinema hard men Lee Marvin and Toshiro Miffune both served in WWII, giving extra weight to the roles as American pilot and Japanese Navy Captain marooned on a pacific island in Hell in the Pacific, at first fighting each other and then the elements to survive.

Directed by John Boorman, Hell in the Pacific featured only Marvin and Miffune in its cast, yet with such heavyweight talents duking it out, who needs a supporting cast?

Air Force One featured a clash of movie god proportions. In one corner you had hero of the celluloid Harrison Ford of Star Wars and Indiana Jones fame. In the other corner supreme movie baddie Gary Oldman, who starred in the likes of Dracula and Leon: The Professional.

One plays the American president, the other a Russian terrorist. Pit them against each other in a plane thousands of kilometres above the ground, and watch action glory in motion.

Christian Bale and Heath Ledger were the two best actors of their generation, so watching them go head to head as the ultimate adversaries Batman and the Joker in The Dark Knight was akin to watching the heavyweight fight of the decade.

With both actors gung-ho in their characters and Christopher Nolan calling the shots, The Dark Knight proved to be the ultimate battle between hero and villain.

There are many great moments to be found in the Tony Scott directed / Quentin Tarantino written / all-star cast ensemble True Romance, yet none can match the brilliance of watching master thespians Christopher Walken and the late, great Dennis Hopper out verbalise one another.

Both actors swallow whole and spit out Tarantino’s dialogue with ease, Hopper playing a nothing to lose dad looking out for his son (Christian Slater), pushing Walken’s mob boss with a short fuse into the red. Like with all acting, the reactions make the scene.

Has there ever been a fiercest rivalry in the history of Hollywood? To state that Bette Davis and Joan Crawford hated each other would be an understatement, and it is that powerful bitterness which fuelled their performances in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

The pair played retired movie stars living alone together in a rundown mansion, with both dispensing mental and physical abuse upon one another. Off set it was not different, with the battles between Davis and Crawford a thing of legend.

Martial arts behemoths Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris fought to the death in the Hong Kong classic Way of the Dragon.

Good friends in real life, Lee offered Norris the part of bad guy enforcer “Colt” in the film after watching Norris demonstrate his skills at a martial arts convention. The ensuing on screen fight was a thing of action movie greatness, with roundhouse punches, flying kicks and even chest hair ripping featured.

As for who would win in real life, many point to Lee. Yet don’t let Norris’ corny reputation fool you. Lee is a legend, but Norris is still the man.

When it comes down to who is the greatest actors of all time, the option is always the same: Pacino or De Niro.

That claim to greatness was put to the test in Michael Mann’s superb heist drama Heat, which saw these two masters of the method and disciples of Brando play tenacious detective (Pacino) and disciplined thief (De Niro) in a game of cops and robbers in the streets of L.A.

Both actors brought their distinctive styles to the film, with Pacino on fire with his extroverted shtick and De Niro countering with his ice cold introvert routine.

Mann’s decision to keep both actors separate came up trumps when they finally met in the now infamous “coffee scene”, where Pacino and De Niro finally shared a scene. Shot much like a boxing match, Mann gives both master actors time to prove their worth in an excellently written scene where one character counters the other, creating into a thing of greatness.