Whether you’re looking to take a new home theater setup for a test drive, or if you’re just searching for an armrest-gripping good time, we recommend these action-packed favorites! These are the best, most exciting action movies you can watch on Netflix right now. We’ve even included some honorable mentions. This list is regularly updated as films come and go from Netflix’s library.
Best action movies on Netflix right now
1. Army of the Dead (2021)
Hot on the heels of a long-in-gestation triumph with Zack Snyder’s Justice League this spring, the fan-favorite director returns (without studio meddling) with a successor to his first (and arguably best) feature, 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead. Dave Bautista stars in the action/zombie/heist hybrid that’s already a ratings hit for the streamer.
2. Extraction (2020)
One of the most popular Netflix movies ever stars Chris Hemsworth as a notorious mercenary tasked with rescuing the kidnapped son of an international crime lord. Extraction has received mostly positive reviews, and debuted on Netflix to massive viewership.
3. The Sleepover (2020)
Malin Akerman and Joe Manganiello star in this family-friendly Netflix original, about tween siblings who discover their seemingly normal mom is actually a badass in the witness protection program. The action comedy was directed by Trish She, screenplay by Sarah Rothschild. The Sleepover was a bona fide hit for Netflix, one of the top programs on the service since its release.
4. Project Power (2020)
Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in a Netflix original supernatural action thriller about a drug that gives its users temporary superpowers. Project Power garnered marginally positive reviews from critics, and it was Netflix’s top-streamed film in its debut weekend this summer.
5. Triple Frontier (2019)
A rather stunning A-list cast including Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal, Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund. All is Lost and A Most Violent Year helmer J.C. Chandor’s thriller (story by Mark Boal). sees U.S. Army colleagues reunite for a heist of a South American crime lord.
6. The Old Guard (2020)
Greg Rucka adapted his own comic book for the screen, and Gina Prince-Bythewood directed this well-reviewed shoot-em-up. The ever-impressive and screen-commanding Charlize Theron stars alongside KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts and Chiwetel Ejiofor as an immortal mercenary out for vengeance.
7. Red Notice (2021)
Netflix’s biggest movie ever received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, but continues to direct massive traffic for the streamer. Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot star in the comic actioner about an Interpol agent pursuing the world’s most wanted art thief.
8. Ava (2020)
Jessica Chastain’s remarkable charisma and impressive action chops go a long way in redeeming Tate Taylor’s action crime thriller about an assassin marked for death. Co-starring John Malkovich, Geena Davis and Colin Farrell.
9. Skyfall (2012)
This is not how it’s supposed to work. Conventional wisdom tells us a movie franchise surely won’t be better–much less more intimate—than ever, a full half-century into its run. But that’s what happened with Bond in Skyfall. In 2012, James Bond steps into our modern world, where enemies aren’t as easy to see, and the fight is in the shadows. Skyfall is frightening, fun, deeply funny at times, and touching. This is an entertainment that’s confident, sophisticated and wise enough to know that hearing Judi Dench recite Tennyson in a courtroom can be just as stirring as watching James rip open a train car with a Caterpillar digger. Sam Mendes’s direction is crystalline; he knows he has us in the palm of his hand every step of the way.
10. The Ice Road (2021)
Released late in the boom of Liam Neeson’s formidable, leggy career comeback post-Taken, thoroughly implausible but fun The Ice Road stars the action favorite as an ice driver spearheading a rescue mission over frozen water. This Netflix hit is a modernized take on The Wages of Fear (famously adapted as Sorcerer in 1977).
11. Rambo (2008)
If you enjoy 80s-style excess it is a scientific fact that you will be entertained by 2008’s astonishingly gory Rambo, where Sylvester Stallone’s title character reluctantly comes out of a solitary retirement on the Thai border to rescue captives of the Burmese army. Directed and co-written by Stallone himself.
12. The Gentlemen (2019)
After the notable critical and box-office failure of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, director Guy Ritchie bounced back with two hits in the same year: Disney’s Aladdin remake, and The Gentlemen, a return-to-form action comedy about schemings and double-crossings surrounding a weed empire. The ensemble includes Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant.
13. Uncharted (2022)
Where to begin with Uncharted? Why on the continental surface of Earth were critics so harsh to it? Based on the long-running, critically acclaimed adventure game series about strong-willed everyman explorer Nathan Drake, the box-office hit boasts magnetic, funny and physical performances from Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, who are in a league of their own when it comes to this kind of thing. There is only one Harrison Ford, and it’s unlikely any adventure film will ever measure up to prime Indy. Uncharted is content to be a slick, silly and self-aware homage, and its pleasurable escapism connected with audiences. As was the case with Spider-Man: No Way Home (released within weeks of Uncharted, cementing Holland as maybe the biggest box-office name in the world right now), Holland’s face is more compelling than any visual effect. This is a true star.
14. Bullet Train (2022)
After a modestly successful theatrical run, kinetic Brad Pitt action comedy vehicle Bullet Train arrived on Netflix. The picture, about an assassin who crosses paths with numerous adversaries on the world’s fastest train, quickly became a huge hit on the service. Directed by John Wick and Atomic Blonde helmer David Leitch, Bullet Train is lightweight, quirky and lightly morbid enough to provide just about anyone with a breezy diversion. Sony
15. RRR (2022)
The Rs stand for rise, roar, revolt—and international audiences have certainly risen and roared in response to this crossover hit of South Indian cinema, now streaming on Netflix. An epic buddy action musical that’s sort of about real-life Indian revolutionaries and their struggle with the Raj, RRR is funny, bloody, and kinetic, with a touching bromance between stars N.T. Rama Roa Jr. and Ram Charan. The VFX are outlandish but remarkably detailed and eye-popping. The film is genuinely spectacular for 187 minutes. Netflix
16. Spider-Man (2002)
Sam Raimi’s original blockbuster is more than just wonderful entertainment with great characters and inspired, spirited storytelling; it’s just the movie we needed in the spring of 2002. Following the devastation of 9/11, America was in need of bold optimism and a cinematic hero to look up to. Prior to the release of Spider-Man, no film in history had ever come close to a $100 million North American opening weekend. When Raimi’s film opened to $114.8 million, it sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry and executives scrambled to green-light as many superhero films as they could. Sony Pictures Spider-Man holds up quite well two decades later, thanks to great performances and a character-driven script by David Koepp (Jurassic Park). One of the biggest reasons for this trilogy’s record-setting box office success is the romance between Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). You’d be hard-pressed to find a sweeter, more relatable love story in most Oscar-winning dramas. If anything, the film works best when Spidey is out of costume.
17. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Most great films start with a great screenplay. Alvin Sargent, the two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter of World War II drama Julia (1977) and Robert Redford’s Ordinary People (1980) might have seemed an unusual choice at the time to pen a Spidey screenplay, but the result is a focused, self-contained and downright exhilarating narrative. At its heart, Spider-Man 2 is all about identity and making the tough choices in life. The Oscar-winning special effects still look great today, and in an age when you can do virtually anything with CGI, these visuals have distinction and can fill you with wonder. The sinister, slithering and possessive tentacles of Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) have more personality than any character in the DC Extended Universe before things started looking up with Wonder Woman. Sony Superhero films frequently end with a prolonged battle sequence of some kind; it’s pretty much just something we expect at this point. The climax of Spider-Man 2 is actually something of a subdued affair, and it’s a stronger film for that. It’s all about these people and the decisions they make. Don’t let the spandex fool you; this is high drama. If the 2002 Raimi film was the point when Hollywood realized this genre could be a box office goldmine, Spider-Man 2 is when we officially had proof that a superhero movie could be a work of art. Action-packed honorable mentions on Netflix: The Outpost (2020), The 2nd (2020), 6 Underground (2019), Ip Man (2008).
