Northern Irish actor Liam Neeson made his film debut more than 40 years ago and returns to cinemas in February with Cold Pursuit.

A leading man in Schindler’s List (1993) and Rob Roy (1995) and a quality supporting player for the likes of Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan, Neeson has done it all, appearing equally at home in lavish blockbusters such as George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels as he is playing a Portuguese Jesuit missionary tortured into apostasy in feudal Japan in Silence.

Most recently, he brought his suave authority to two of this awards season’s most critically acclaimed dramas: Steve McQueen’s Widows and the Western anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs from Joel and Ethan Coen.

Aside from voice acting, his real bread-and-butter in recent times has been the action genre, in which he has led some of the most ludicrous mid-market thrillers ever shot, many with Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra at the helm.

Here’s our selection of his 10 most implausible outings.

Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films Show all 10 1 /10 Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 10. Clash of the Titans (2010) This remake of the 1981 romp through the annals of Greek mythology replaced Ray Harryhausen’s celebrated stop-motion effects with iffy CGI. Neeson stands in for Sir Laurence Olivier as Zeus and only an actor of his calibre could successfully suppress a smirk after bellowing: “Release the Kraken!” Warner Bros Pictures Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 9. The A-Team (2010) This reboot of the cult 1980s action series about a fugitive commando unit didn’t particularly need to exist but when did that ever stop Hollywood? Neeson led the pack as cigar-chomping John “Hannibal” Lynch. Bradley Cooper has come a long way since. 20th Century Fox Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 8. Battleship (2012) Following the commercial success of Michael Bay’s Transformers (2007), executives naturally wondered which other toy franchises might be adapted into lucrative CGI blockbusters. This laboured expansion of the Hasbro travel game saw Neeson squandered as a disapproving admiral blasting alien ships in the Pacific. Only the presence of Rihanna redeems Battleship as a curiosity. Universal Pictures Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 7. A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) In this moodily directed (but cheap) serving of neo-pulp from Scott Frank, Neeson stars as haunted ex-cop turned unlicensed private eye Matthew Scudder. He is hired by a drug boss to find out who murdered his wife and is inevitably drawn into a tangled web of intrigue. See also Denzel Washington’s Equaliser franchise. Universal Pictures Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 6. Run All Night (2015) Jimmy “The Gravedigger” Conlon must save his son (Joel Kinnaman) after Ed Harris’s grieving Irish mobster takes out a hit on him in revenge for the killing of his own boy. Jaume Collet-Serra delivers a pacey chase narrative with plenty of “Danny Boy” sentiment. Myles Aronowitz/Energy/Vertigo/Kobal/Rex Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 5. The Grey (2012) Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller casts Neeson into the snowbound Alaskan wilderness, his suicidal corporate marksman forced to fend off lupine adversaries after he and a team of anxious oil drillers are brought down in a plane crash. Universal Pictures Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 4. Taken (2008) The film that marked Neeson’s transition to lethal veteran with “a very particular set of skills”. In his original outing as ex-CIA man Bryan Mills for director Pierre Morrel, Neeson races to rescue his daughter kidnapped by Albanian traffickers in Paris. The original bad guy’s father seeks revenge in the sequel, before Mills is framed for the murder of his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) in the third. A fourth entry arrives later this year. The Mills family apparently has no luck whatsoever. Europa Corp/Kobal/Rex Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 3. Unknown (2011) Dr Martin Harris (Neeson) suffers a car accident in Berlin. Waking from a coma, he is shocked to find his wife (January Jones) no longer recognises him and that he’s been replaced by an imposter. Collet-Serra here revives an atmosphere of Cold War paranoia and riffs on Roman Polanski’s Frantic (1988). Warner Bros Pictures Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 2. The Commuter (2018) Everyman insurance salesman Michael MacCauley (Neeson) is tasked with finding a person who “does not belong” on a busy morning train in exchange for $75,000 cash prize by a mysterious stranger (Vera Farmiga), only to become embroiled in a murderous conspiracy. Jay Maidment/StudioCanal/Kobal/Rex Liam Neeson's 10 most ludicrous films 1. Non-Stop (2014) In what must be his silliest undertaking so far, Neeson plays Bill Marks, a US marshal on a transatlantic flight who receives threatening texts from a killer warning he will take out a passenger every 20 minutes unless a $150m ransom is paid. Trying to track down the terrorist, Marks finds himself the chief suspect. While these films often carry surprisingly-impressive supporting casts, having Julianne Moore slumming it here is surely luxury to the point of decadence. Gloriously ridiculous. Moviestore/Rex

“They’re still throwing serious money at me to do that stuff,” the actor told an audience at the Toronto Film Festival in 2017, with refreshing honesty. “I’m like: ‘Guys, I’m sixty-f***ing-five.’ Audiences are eventually going to go: ‘Come on.’”

Interpreted as a hint he was about to holster his Beretta for the final time, Neeson delighted fans when he subsequently clarifed the remark: “I’m going to be doing action movies until they bury me in the ground. I'm unretired.”