The original post: /r/television by /u/MrGittz on 2026-04-07 03:57:27+00:00.
So much of TV today has action sequences bigger than some movies. Disney+, Apple TV, HBO Max & Netflix spend billions on “content”. Prior to game of thrones with it’s big battles, dragons, exotic locations plus the streaming wars? This was practically unheard of. TV shows just didn’t have the resources, the time or money. Even the most popular of shows couldn’t afford big complex action sequences. Oh they tried and, yes, some fared better than others. But usually Shows of pre streaming war era like LOST spent so much on location or actor ensemble that they couldn’t have a smoke monster appear when they wanted. Maybe that made some shows better having to come up with creative work arounds.
I love looking at TV shows made prior to the big spending days of the Streaming Wars & seeing what they were able to do with limited resources.
My own opinion? Star Trek Deep Space Nine consistently blew me away while watching it for first time during the pandemic. Episodes like The Way of the Warrior with the Klingon’s attacking DS9 or bigger still, Sacrifice of Angels, where Sisko retakes a dominion held DS9. Those have incredible ambition for the time. This was the mid 90s. Episodes shot within 7-9 days. With VFX shots that rival mid budget movies. I only wish we could have the show in HD today.
So. What are some of the best action sequences made for TV prior to 2010?(again no Miniseries otherwise Band of Brothers will be the obvious choice)