There’s tonnes of action movies to check out on Netflix—featuring assassins, cops, thieves and other purveyors of on screen carnage. Here’s the best, picked by critic Rory Doherty.
See also
* Best new movies & series on Netflix
* All new streaming movies & series
6 Underground (2019)
Watch on NetflixIn his first film for streaming and most untethered production to date, Michael Bay translated not just the style and action of James Bond into American, but their politics too. When Ryan Reynolds, once unflinchingly loyal to the state and empire, becomes a libertarian capitalist with no faith in big government, he assembles his own team of ghosts to aid him. The stunt work and destruction sets new benchmarks for Bayhem, with chases and fights expanding to stunning and impressive lengths.
Army of the Dead (2021)
Watch on NetflixAfter nearly a decade of riling up superhero fans everywhere, Zack Snyder chose to take things back to where he started—the zombie flick. His Dawn of the Dead remake came slap-bang in the middle of America’s 2000s undead obsession, and with its zombie takeover of a walled-off Las Vegas, Army is a more cynical, animalistic beast, even with a casino heist in the middle of it. Just don’t get too attached to these backstabbing crooks…
Bad Boys (1995)
Watch on NetflixMichael Bay graduated from music videos to… well, extended music videos with the first Bad Boys film, pairing Martin Lawrence and Will Smith to form a buddy cop duo with unmatched levels of chemistry. They’re sleazy, foul-mouthed, and not fans of the drudgery of police bureaucracy—and so very, very 90s. They fight in nightclubs, airhangers, and on Miami’s highways, usually with a deluge of yelling and gunfire. They also call themselves bad boys, because why wouldn’t they?
Bad Boys II (2003)
Watch on NetflixThis sequel is where, as Lawrence himself states, shit got real. Everything is bigger, more outrageous, more obnoxious—and somehow completely superior to the first. The action scenes are dialled up to an incredible level, but in the 8 years since the first film, Bay has learned how to focus the camera so it never gets overwhelming. Lawrence and Smith are again on top form, together with a surprise badass turn from Gabrielle Union.
Bullet Train (2022)
Watch on NetflixIt wouldn’t be a David Leitch film without ironic gags, dynamic whip-pans, and full-throttle close-combat action sequences—Bullet Train tops it all off with indulgent but welcome cameos and many, many improvised weapons as a high-speed Japanese train full of eclectic and deranged killers hurtle towards a bloody destiny. With Leitch, Brad Pitt reunites with his Fight Club stunt double and Deadpool 2 cameo director, proving he’s still an able and committed action star in a post-John Wick world.
Day Shift (2022)
Watch on NetflixAfter the success of the John Wick series, David Leitch’s career, and straight-to-video directors showing their great skills in cinematic releases, it’s become very clear that letting stunt performers direct films is a great idea. J.J. Perry gives vampire hunting a fresh spin with a down-on-his-luck LA hunter (Jamie Foxx) trying to get back into the vampire hunting union (go with it!) The fight scenes are gloriously choreographed and outrageously kinetic, making for a fantastically fun ride.
Extraction (2020)
Watch on NetflixOf all the times the Russo brothers have built a thriller vehicle around one of the Avengers stars (three times!) Extraction wins points for being the most violent. In the feature debut of stuntman Sam Hargrave, Chris Hemsworth stars as an operative hired to save a kidnapped druglord’s son in Bangladesh, but when the mission doesn’t go as planned, he has to brutalise his way out. Once it kicks off, the action doesn’t stop.
Fury (2014)
Watch on NetflixDavid Ayer’s most coherent film is a weirdly melancholy-infused war flick, tracing the last days of America’s campaign in WWII Europe. Germany is on the verge of falling, and a single tank unit, led by a grizzled Brad Pitt, must keep their humanity intact in a hostile Nazi country—as long as they can keep their limbs and vital organs intact first. It’s a gruesome, sadistic, and desperate battle for victory.
The Gray Man (2022)
Watch on NetflixTurning away from superheroes after 4 of the biggest Marvel smashes recorded, the Russo brothers turned to a world of secret espionage of their own design: in the process co-opting their symbol of American freedom (Chris Evans) into a representation of its worst vices. Evans plays a military individualist who assassinates and extorts a security network, dragging superspy Ryan Gosling to a lot of big blowouts across European cities. It’s hunk vs hunk!
The Guest (2014)
Watch on NetflixDan Stevens has had such an odd career for an attractive Englishman who cut his teeth on the sets of Downton Abbey. He’s been in motion-capture Disney remakes, German arthouse films, niche comedies, and most excitingly, thrilling genre fare. He first worked with director Adam Wingard (Godzilla x Kong) in this neon-dripped, blackly-comic thriller about a veteran acting on the hospitality of a bereaved family, and set the standard for the nastier entries in his filmography to follow.
The Harder They Fall (2021)
Watch on NetflixThe Harder They Fall is interested in two things: correcting the abysmal treatment of Black characters in the Western canon, and showcasing some ripper gunfights. Jonathan Majors is hellbent on a revenge mission against a villainous outlaw played by Idris Elba, and they’re surrounded by one of the most impressive action movie casts in recent memory. The guns let loose, dynamite splits whole towns apart, and horses gallop ferociously—it’s a crowd-pleasing rollercoaster that’ll leave any thrill-seeker in complete awe.
The Matrix (1999)
Watch on NetflixThere’s a fair few action movie game-changers on this list, but none were more influential than this techno-spectacle vision of a hellish future that still affects the ways audiences view the world around them. Besides all the keenly observed social and political theories banded around the film, the action from Lana and Lilly Wachowski is pulse-pounding, impeccable entertainment, gathering international influences and talented stunt-performers for some next-level badassery. The gunfights are terrific, but nothing beats the martial arts duelling.
The Night Comes For Us (2018)
Watch on NetflixProbably the most violent movie on Netflix, this Indonesian martial arts film teams up several Gareth Evans collaborators for an orgiastic descent into brutality. Disparate, opposing Triad gangsters cross paths (never a good idea) after some ill-advised treachery, resulting in about a hundred people lining up to get their head smashed/stabbed/torn off. The first few fights show unparalleled martial arts choreography—made more impressive by the fact the film keeps up this level of skill and energy throughout.
The Old Guard (2020)
Watch on NetflixBefore her big-screen historical hit The Woman King, director Gina Prince-Bythewood cut her action teeth with this Netflix adaptation of a comic series. A group of faceless mercenaries risk the secret to their success being revealed—they’re all immortal, and now corporate science wants to exploit their gifts. Charlize Theron (who now boasts a robust action portfolio) leads this great cast, in a film with terrific action, a pulsing energy, and grounded and compelling relationships.
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Watch on NetflixComplaints that this sequel abandoned the craft and heft of Guillermo Del Toro’s anime-inspired mechs-versus-kaiju original weren’t exactly unfounded, but this 2018 sequel works better if you think of it as the Saturday morning cartoon continuation of the beloved first film. The action is supercharged, the creatures are nastier, the robots fight each other—and a beloved sitcom star turns to the dark side and does his best impression of Jeremy Irons from Dungeons & Dragons.
Project Power (2020)
Watch on NetflixJamie Foxx loves a high-concept Netflix action film. Here, he’s caught up in New Orleans’ addiction to a pill that grants the user volatile superpowers—but this is far from the cape-clad heroics we commonly associate with such superhuman gifts. The film packs a lot of grit and often feels like a raw nerve in energy, not to mention how aesthetically retro its slow-motion, explosive visuals are. There’s even Joseph Gordon Levitt in it! Can’t get more 2000s than that.
The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Watch on NetflixThe much more muted Western on this list (this is technically a revisionist Western as opposed to a neo-Western), director Sam Raimi still fills it with his trademark snap-zooms, Dutch angles, and visual pep to make it stand out. A quickdraw tournament in a dilapidated town brings a lot of old grudges and vengeances back to the surface, and Raimi understands that sometimes the real thrills in action films are in the tension before guns start firing. Plus, that cast!
RRR (2022)
Watch on NetflixThere were a lot of big, bombastic action films in 2022, but none were bigger, more bombastic, or as fiercely anti-colonial than RRR, a Telugu film telling the story of two Indian revolutionaries who turned the tide on the British Raj. The action scenes are electrified with striking performances and incredible choreography, making every kick, punch, and surprise wild animal charge in S. S. Rajamouli’s three-hour powerhouse film feels just as epic as they should be.
Rebel Moon – Part One (2023)
Watch on NetflixZack Snyder was desperate to make an instalment in the recently rebooted Star Wars universe, but Disney baulked at his grimdark space opera with ugly, cruel violence and grisled antiheroes. So, he staged it himself, and Rebel Moon is all the better for it. Once we get past the rag-tag heroes being laboriously recruited, Snyder delivers trademark action that many have tried to imitate without success—and sets us up perfectly for a showdown in Part Two.
Top Gun (1986)
Watch on NetflixThe “legacy” sequel dominated box office and awards conversations in 2022, leading a lot of people back to the glimmering slice of 80s cheese that is the original. A shameless slice of Navy propaganda, Top Gun pushed the boat out with its air combat spectacle sequences, which still retain a lot of their original juice thanks to director Tony Scott’s incredibly proficient technical team. If you haven’t caught up with it yet, see if it takes your breath away.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Watch on NetflixYes, we’ve all seen it four times by now, but who’s stopping us watching it for a fifth? The quality of this legacy sequel snuck up on us like a state-of-the-art stealth bomber, delivering the highest of high-octane thrills and updating the original’s daredevil stunts in a way that the Navy-funded original could never dream of. At its heart, it’s a story about the cost of striving for the absolute best, and what it feels like to go the distance.
Triple Frontier (2019)
Watch on NetflixJC Chandor made an efficient slide from highbrow, lightly existential dramas into gruff masculine thrillers with this team of mercenaries on a heist-gone-wrong mission of survival. Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Ben Affleck and more grow out the scruff and shoulder bulletproof vests in this gorgeously shot descent-and-escape from South America, à la Friedkin’s Sorcerer a number of decades before (but much more macho). Each lost bag of money hits harder than the one before.
Warcraft: The Beginning (2016)
Watch on NetflixThe first live-action adaptation of the mega-successive MMORPG World of Warcraft had the unenviable task of capturing the scope of Azaroth in all its… massively multiplayer-ness. The fact that it worked as well as this is a pleasant surprise! The brewing tensions between orcs and humans are undeniably ropey at points, but when you see the big-swinging fantasy battles—combined with some really impressive effects work—it’s hard not to be sucked in.
