Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick is truly the epitome of Tom Cruise as an action movie star. Filmed 30-plus years after the release of the original Top Gun, the actor proved he could do everything young Tom Cruise could do and more in the highly-anticipated sequel. This includes, in no particular order, playing beach volleyball shirtless alongside co-stars half his age (hi, Glen Powell!), getting into bar fights, and, of course, flying fighter jets at breakneck speeds.
Polite Society
If you haven’t already seen Polite Society, you’re in for a treat. The film is an action comedy about a teenager and aspiring stuntwoman, Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), whose life is turned upside down when her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya) decides to get married to a man she hardly knows. Suspicious of her sister’s new fiancé, Ria enlists her friends to help her investigate, leading to a string of wild discoveries and, of course, impressive action scenes.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Ang Lee’s action epic Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is an absolute must-see for any action movie fan. The film blends martial arts action with mythology and fantasy as it follows the journey of Jen (Ziyi Zhang), a young woman and talented fighter who finds herself at odds with two legendary warriors, Master Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh).
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Road House
Road House, a remake of the 1989 movie starring Patrick Swayze (also available on Prime Video), is about a tortured former UFC fighter haunted by a career-ending incident who gets a second chance when he takes a job protecting the Road House from a gang of thugs. The action can pretty much be summed up as the most extreme bar fights you can imagine, plus Jake Gyllenhaal. I think I’ve said enough.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
The entire Mission Impossible series is full of heart-stopping action sequences, but only Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is currently streaming on Prime Video, hence its inclusion here. It’s also one of the best movies of the franchise—mostly because it introduces Ilsa Faust, a mysterious agent played by a kick-ass Rebecca Ferguson, but also because it’s the one Tom Cruise hung on the side of a flying plane for.
Nobody
Bob Odenkirk is the action star we never knew we needed in Nobody, a fun action movie about a seemingly ordinary family man whose past as a secret government assassin is revealed after he finds himself on the wrong side of the Russian mob.
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Fist of Fury
It’s hard to overstate the impact Bruce Lee had on the action genre, and watching his 1972 hit Fist of Fury, it’s not hard to see why. The martial artist not only starred in the revenge movie, he also acted as fight choreographer. So, yeah, I’d say he deserves the hype.
Cloverfield
This found-footage classic mixes action with science-fiction and just a little bit of horror to create one of the most gripping monster movies in modern Hollywood. The film starts out as a normal night in NYC, and ends with a group of twenty-somethings running for their lives after a giant monster begins destroying the city. In other words, it’s the stuff of nightmares—literally, I have had nightmares about this movie.
Memento
Before Christopher Nolan became known as the guy who directed The Dark Knight, he was known as the guy who directed Memento, a wildly entertaining action thriller about a man who has lost the ability to form new memories, but is committed to avenge the death of his wife, even if the only way to remember his investigation is to tattoo his own body.
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The Boondock Saints
The Boondock Saints wasn’t a massive hit when it was released in 1999, but the vigilante story has since become a cult classic among action fans. The movie follows two Irish American brothers who, after a deadly encounter with the Russian mob, decide that they’re on a holy mission from God to eradicate the mob in their hometown—by any means necessary.
F9
Sadly, none of the other Fast and Furious movies are currently streaming on Prime Video, but F9 is a pretty good place to start, if only because it is a truly bonkers epic that has everything from cars in space (yes, really) to Charlize Theron with a bowl cut. Oh, and, yeah, there are a few regular car chases too.
Sicario
Sicario is a gorgeously dark drama about an idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) who finds herself in more danger than she might have anticipated when she joins an elite team working to stop drugs from entering through the U.S.-Mexico border. The film was released in 2015, so it’s a bit dated, to say the least, but the performances by Blunt and Benicio Del Toro make up for it.
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Batman
In the 30+ years since Michael Keaton starred in Tim Burton’s Batman, four other Hollywood actors have taken up the cowl on the big screen, and superhero fatigue is real. But, if you’re on the fence about watching this 1989 action movie, let me assure you that it had one thing the newer versions just don’t: a sense of silliness (see: Jack Nicholson’s unhinged Joker performance).
Renfield
For those who like some humor with their supernatural action, Renfield is the perfect pick for move night.
Not only is the film about Dracula’s servant Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) heavy on the super-powered action, it also stars Nicolas Cage as Dracula. NICOLAS CAGE AS DRACULA!!!
My Spy
My Spy stars former WWE champion, Dave Bautista, so you know it’s going to have good fight scenes that hit all those action movie sweet spots. That said, it’s also a movie for kids, so, yeah, it’s not going to be the most gruesome watch ever. Personally, I am a fully grown adult, and I just can’t resist the “tough guy meets adorable girl that warms his heart” trope, so I love this one.
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Shotgun Wedding
Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel play a couple whose destination wedding is interrupted by armed pirates (led by Lenny Kravitz, natch). While their wedding party is being held hostage, it’s up to Tom (Duhamel) and Darcy (Lopez) to save the day.
Divergent
It wouldn’t be a list of modern action movies without at least a little bit of dystopia, right? Enter: Divergent, the adaptation of the novel by Veronica Roth, about a girl living in a society where people are separated into factions and kept apart depending on their personalities. But what the world doesn’t know is that this girl actually has the traits of multiple factions, and she just might be the one who sends the entire system toppling down.
The Host
The Host might be considered more of a monster movie than an action one, but I’m including it on this list of action movies because it’s just too good not to. Bong Joon Ho’s film about a mysterious monster that emerges from Han River in Seoul is simultaneously terrifying, entertaining, and, yes, action-packed. It follows one family’s quest to hunt down the monster after one of their own is taken.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Sure, watching actors risk their lives to perform action stunts is fun, but you know what’s also fun? Watching animated teenage mutant ninja turtles doing stunts and saving NYC from animal mutant villains! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a true animated action movie, packed with exciting fights that defy science in their awesomeness.
MacGruber
Okay, admittedly MacGruber isn’t so much an action movie as it is an action parody, but, hey, that still counts! The movie, based on the SNL sketch, stars Will Forte, Kristin Wiig, and Ryan Phillippe as agents who team up to take down MacGruber’s biggest enemy, Cunth (Val Kilmer). And believe it or not, it’s more silly than you think it is.
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