The 90s were a booming period of direct-to-video genre fare. Unlike horror, which owned shelves from the 80s onwards; action cinema kept most of its pedigree on the big screen, as it would continue to do into the 90s.

But something shifted around this period. Scrappy but exceptionally talented filmmakers, martial artists, stunt guys and whatever you call the insane specimens in front of and behind the camera in Hong Kong emerged frequently and furiously in this decade.

There were those who had burgeoning or prolific careers in the 80s, switching gears to go with the times or simply going harder on what they already knew. There were a plethora of mostly untested directors and stars, with studios like PM Entertainment becoming the 90s equivalent of Cannon films. Where you could recognise film by its studio and not just its stars.

This was the era of sequels going bigger (yet also often cheaper), better, madder and sometimes so off-the-rails its a marvel they were even greenlit.

Films included here are the not the ones every one is likely to have heard of like obvious masterpieces like T2 and Face/Off. I also excluded Jackie Chan, Jet Li and the kings of 90s action: JCVD and Steven Seagal for similar reasons. We all know their names for a reason, and a lot of that is down to this era of them pumping out action-greatness in fresh and exciting ways.

These are the lost gems, the underrated warriors, the examples of excess, schlock and unbridled action madness that may have graced a theatre screen or two, but found their true home on the video shelves and in the hearts of die hard action fans.

Whether it be because of a star, a director or simply one or two scenes of grin-inducing stunts, fights and mayhem; there is gold here for those that are willing to see it.