With so much to choose from on streaming services, Daniel Rutledge cuts to the chase, picking the top action movies now available to watch on Netflix.
See also:
* All new movies & series on Netflix
* All new streaming movies & series
Baby Driver (2017)
WATCH ON NETFLIXThis Edgar Wright flick has about as much infectious, gleeful fun as a modern action movie possibly can without getting too silly. It encapsulates that feeling of grooving along to music by yourself. It also delivers mint car chase action, great tunes, super cool shootouts, a stellar foot chase and loads of hilarious, quotable dialogue.
The Big 4 (2022)
Watch on NetflixNot nearly as intensely violent as most of Timo Tjahjanto’s previous flicks, this one still packs a delightful punch and careens along with the slightly mad filmmaker’s ever reckless energy. He definitely leans more into goofy comedy with this Netflix financed production rather than the sinister nastiness his fans have come to expect, but they’re sure to be satisfied by the over-the-top absurdity and inventiveness of the set pieces.
Carter (2022)
Watch on NetflixThis 2022 Korean film is very dumb, but it delivers a tonne of ultraviolence, with plenty of fantastic choreography and bursts of wonderful inventiveness. There’s loads of VFX, giving some of it a garish, ugly look. But the staging and the crazy shit they do with drone cameras results in super cool thrills that make it well worth a watch, if you’re in the right mood.
The Condemned (2007)
WATCH ON NETFLIXThis Battle Royale rip-off stars Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones as part of a group of convicted murderers made to fight to the death on an island for our entertainment. It’s not as good as the presence of those stars suggests it should be, but it is nicely over the top. It includes some violence that’s about as good as Austin ever got on film.
The Dark Knight (2008)
WATCH ON NETFLIXChristopher Nolan’s best Batman production is one of the finest action films of the 2000s, working as both a fantastic superhero movie and a dark crime saga. The opening bank heist sets the tone brilliantly, creating awesome tension and hammering home how different this is from the campy Batman your dad enjoyed in the old days. Then it just never lets up.
Django Unchained (2012)
WATCH ON NETFLIXQuentin Tarantino’s first western is a wildly entertaining slavery-themed revenge pic. Brilliant actors deliver superb performances, as we’ve come to expect from Tarantino films, this one being about as richly cinematic as movies get. It isn’t as clever as most of QT’s work, but damn it delivers cathartic, bloody as hell action thrills.
Dredd (2012)
WATCH ON NETFLIXThis vengeful dark horse of a film has tight and efficient storytelling, allowing plenty of room for the action to do the heavy lifting. It does so with intense, well-choreographed sequences and brutality-enhancing ultra-slow-motion. You don’t have to be a fan of the comics to appreciate this simple, well-crafted ride.
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Watch on NetflixOne of the best video game movies ever made, even though it’s actually based on a novel rather than a video game. Its alternate title, which was favoured by director Doug Liman and is way better, tells you a lot of what you need to know about the movie: Live Die Repeat. It’s an underrated action/sci-fi with great comedic moments, it’s Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt kicking just so much arse, it’s one of the late, great Bill Paxton’s last roles and yes, it’s time you watched this again.
The Equalizer (2014)
Watch on NetflixStop me if you’ve heard this one before—an extremely skilled killer who has retired for the simple life must once again dish out some righteous mass murder after being messed with by an evil gang. It’s a simple formula that always satisfies when done right and here Denzel Washington’s charisma and Antoine Fuqua’s inventiveness make it work. I enjoy thinking of the awesome finale during every trip to Mitre 10 Mega, too.
Extraction (2020)
Watch on NetflixThis Netflix original film boldly tries to emulate the John Wick method of turning a stunt pro into a director, with the Russo brothers producing. Sam Hargrave’s impressive, hard R-rated violence is clearly influenced by The Raid movies as well as the John Wick ones and it’s a terrific debut, with a spectacular oner as a centrepiece that absolutely rules. I had more to say about how Extraction rules in my review.
Extraction 2 (2023)
WATCH ON NETFLIXIf you like movies in which a big tough boy saves helpless women and children by wasting loads of bad guys using spectacular, as well as inventive and gory violence, this is a particularly premium example. Not quite as good as the original, but still a fantastic sequel with the same great gritty tone and flair for wildly impressive action sequences.
Fast Five (2011)
WATCH ON NETFLIXThe apex of this beloved drag races and crazy heists franchise, number five is where it fired on all cylinders and got the balance just right. It’s just comedic and ridiculous enough, it isn’t too crammed with VFX, and delivers varied and exhilarating set pieces that aren’t too cartoonish. It also contains Dwayne Johnson’s best film role to date.
Headshot (2016)
Watch on NetflixAnother post-The Raid Indonesian flick that shares some of the same talent, this is a near non-stop assault of brutality that features stunning choreography and special effects together with some highly impressive camerawork. Its story is cartoonish and silly, its characters one-dimensional, but it delivers the goods action-wise with aplomb. Again, there’s more said about the film in my review.
Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019)
Watch on NetflixThe greatest Ip Man sequel for many reasons, one of the main ones being casting Scott Adkins as the primary bad guy. Kwok-Kwan Chan also does a great job as Bruce Lee and thrillingly kicks arse, but the final fight between Adkins and Donnie Yen is the main attraction. Adkins is firing on all cylinders in it as a racist American soldier with a seriously intimidating physical presence, while Yen is as graceful and stunning as ever. Mint.
John Wick (2014)
Watch on NetflixTwo franchises ruled the action genre in the 2010s—The Raid and John Wick. They combine virtuoso stunt work and choreography with subtle visual effects in sequences featuring nice wide shows and long takes, making every impact as explicit and visceral as possible. The first John Wick set the initial bar really high and is the best in terms of plot, stripped of the bloaty lore that bogs down the sequels. It has a wonderfully gratifying amount of headshots, some of the best of which I catalogued in this feature on the franchise’s most brutal moments.
JUNG_E (2023)
Watch on NetflixThis 2023 flick from Train to Busan filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho has been criticized for not bothering with any of the deep thematic stuff you generally get in sci-fi flicks all about AI and future war, but hey, it’s got cool action. With solid CGI and more literal sparks flying that pretty much any other movie ever, if you like seeing cyborg combat like the flash-forward scenes in Terminator 2 then this delivers a really nice dose of it.
The Karate Kid (1984)
WATCH ON NETFLIXCobra Kai is one of the best shows on Netflix, and this 1984 classic is where the “Miagi-verse” all started. So, what better time to revisit it? It’s a beautifully quaint American take on Japanese martial arts, and a quintessential coming-of-age tale. Unlike most films on this list, this one is PG family entertainment—but it still kicks arse.
Lost Bullet 2 (2022)
Watch on NetflixIf you want some truly fantastic vehicular action served up with a side of solid fist fighting, look no further than this 2022 sequel. You don’t need to have seen the first film, which isn’t as good—neither cares much about plot, instead focusing on pure thrills. Lost Bullet 2 is super straightforward and lean at 98 minutes, with car chases that are really well put together for serious viewer gratification.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2014)
Watch on NetflixEasily one of the best action flicks of the millennium so far, George Miller’s return to the franchise that made him famous is just straight up exhilarating. Its narrative is far more engaging than it needs to be and the wondrous world-building is adept in a way that’s often missing from modern movies, but driving it all is a near non-stop assault of unforgettable, breathtaking action sequences that truly raised the bar. Genre fans have this on heavy rotation for good reason.
The Night Comes For Us (2018)
Watch on NetflixA wildly over-the-top splatter action flick, this offers some wonderfully cringe-inducing uses of weapons like broken glass, craft knives and even cattle bones. Hailing from Indonesia in the wake of The Raid it boasts a bunch of stunning choreography and joyfully inventive ultraviolence. Narrative-wise there’s not a great deal to remember but if you want loads of thrilling combat served up with buckets of blood, this is the one. Let’s put it this way, in my review I said it made 2008 bloodbath Rambo seem restrained.
The Old Guard (2020)
Watch on NetflixThis comic book adaptation features a bunch of immortal mercenaries who can’t be killed doing a bunch of killing with swords, fantasy art axes and a truckload of different firearms. Like I said in my review, this might have been a lot better if it let itself have a bit more fun and it’s a bummer a lot of the actual action is hidden behind editing and digital effects, but it’s the sort of cool, easy watch that’s perfect for when you’re in a silly action mood.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
WATCH ON NETFLIXSometimes you just need to see a dumb movie with a hundred or so terrorists getting shot to smithereens, and another hundred or so getting their skulls impaled. In this jingoistic American tale, the terrorists are North Korean and they’re attacking the White House. Despite starring Gerard Butler, its hard R rating and very respectable on-screen kill count of 213 make it well worth a watch.
RRR (2021)
WATCH ON NETFLIXOne of the most flat-out exhilarating films released in the 2020s, this melodramatic, larger-than-life action bromance is outrageously fun. It’s an operatic epic weighing in at more than three hours, with plenty of variety to the eye-popping spectacle it serves up. The film reaches a pinnacle with an instantly iconic dance routine that’ll have you grinning with “naaatu naatu naatu…” running through your brain for days after.
Salt (2010)
Watch on NetflixOne of Angelina Jolie’s two best action flicks as the lead (the other being Wanted) here she’s a James Bond-esque superspy forced to act alone and waste baddies while proving she’s loyal to the CIA, not the KGB. The violence is sanitized, but the stylish excessiveness is fun. It’s also potently feminine in cool action flick ways, like when she gets a sanitary pad from a vending machine in a nightclub toilet to stop a wound bleeding.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
WATCH ON NETFLIXThe war movie genre was changed by this film’s grimly realistic look at the horrors of D-Day. Not everything about Steven Spielberg’s epic holds up, but the realism and visceral feel of the combat scenes, which raised the bar in 1998, remains as impressive as ever.
Sniper: Ultimate Kill (2017)
WATCH ON NETFLIXIt’s surprising the Sniper franchise has spawned almost as many sequels as Friday the 13th. It’s even more surprising that original stars Tom Berenger and Billy Zane star in many of them, including this seventh one. The opening scene features full frontal nudity and a head being blown in half by a villainous sniper—a Colombian drug kingpin’s assassin who is of course then battled by good guy snipers. It’s grisly but great fun.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992)
WATCH ON NETFLIXArguably the greatest action film ever made, they simply don’t come better than this. James Cameron’s masterpiece uses Arnold Schwarznegger brilliantly, delivers loads of exhilarating set pieces, and is filled with innovative effects and interesting sci-fi ideas. Thanks to my VHS-fuelled ’90s, this is my most rewatched movie of all time.
Triple Frontier (2019)
Watch on NetflixThis one is an interesting B-grade grunter with a stellar A-grade cast. It’s worth watching for its thematic oomph and unpredictable narrative rather than straight-up action thrills, but they’re not too bad in it either. There’s also mint old school Metallica used on the opening and end credits. “Two of the very best tracks recorded by any band ever,” I correctly noted in my review.
Titles are added and removed from his page to reflect changes to the Netflix catalogue. Reviews no longer available on this page can be found here.
