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The best action movies currently streaming online
Get your blood pumping with these energetic classics.
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Online streaming services can help you get your fix for car chases, epic battles and explosions, anytime, and almost anywhere. With a selection of both modern and classic action films available, you can catch the action to your heart’s content.
Here’s our list of the best action movies available across several streaming services that everyone should be watching. So sit back, click “Play” to enjoy a private festival of action-packed films.
Mad Max: Fury Road
IMDb rating: 8.1| Runtime: 120 minutes
Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the few late sequel movies to outdo its predecessor that boasts exhilarating action scenes with a meaningful narrative. One of the best parts about this movie is it can stand alone — you can skip watching the previous movies to fully enjoy this film.
Set in the future, the story follows Max (Tom Hardy), a survivor in the wasteland. He is captured by the warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and brought to his stronghold, the Citadel.
One thing leads to another and Max escapes again, but this time he is not alone. Forging an alliance with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and “The Wives,” they make an escape in a fortified truck called the War Rig and attempt to outrun Immortan Joe and his henchmen.
The Dark Knight
IMDb rating: 9 | Runtime: 152 minutes
Director Christopher Nolan presents arguably the best combination of Batman and the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Batman (Christian Bale) alongside Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) have been cleaning up Gotham City and making it a safe-ish place until the Joker (brilliantly played by Heath Ledger) shows up. Wasting no time, the Joker begins tearing Gotham apart with explosions, robberies, mobsters and more explosions.
Breathtaking set pieces throughout the film combined with a fantastic narrative and excellent cinematography earned The Dark Knight well-deserved high ratings across the board. Easily one of the best action movies out there.
The Bourne Identity
IMDb rating: 7.9 | Runtime: 109 minutes
The Bourne Supremacy represents Damon’s breakout role as an action hero and was both a major step in his overall superstardom and the catalyst of a five-movie strong franchise. It’s an action spy thriller that has aged incredibly well, too — because who can’t get behind the fantasy of an amnesiac everyman slowly realizing he’s a natural badass?
The other side of the coin: His dodgy CIA handlers assume he’s a $30-million weapon gone rogue. They’ll do everything they can to get him back “on the reservation” — or bury him in it somewhere.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
IMDb rating: 8 | Runtime: 133 minutes
Rogue One is the first in the Star Wars “stories” series — spin-offs that delve further into the wider canon. This film takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, movies from the original Star Wars franchise. Years after the main story, we learn why the Death Star had such a glaring weakness.
Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is the daughter of a lead imperial engineer, Galen Erso, who was kidnapped and forced to oversee the Death Star construction. To get revenge on the Empire for ruining his life, Galen puts a flaw in the final design of the Death Star. Jyn and her merry band of misfits make it their mission to steal the Death Star plans to give to the Rebel Alliance.
This film is visually stunning, with gruelling battles between the Rebels and the Empire. The air and land battles on Scarif alone are reason enough to check out this addition to the series.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
IMDb rating: 7.7 | Run time: 147 minutes
You don’t need to watch the first film to get into this storyline, but it’s recommended if you want to at least feast your ears on one of the greatest movie soundtracks in ages. That said, Vol. 2 is where the Guardians of the Galaxy series really nails it.
Unfettered by an origin story, the crew of the Milano expands to include a bunch of fresh, blue faces and the bond of the legacy characters is strained when they learn of their Captain’s mysterious heritage.
Great drama meets the snappiest script in the Marvel universe and that’s bolstered by a visual feast of CGI moments and a soundtrack that — somehow — manages to up the ante over Vol. 1.
The Terminator
IMDb rating: 8 | Runtime: 107 minutes
In probably the most iconic action movie of all time, artificial intelligence machine-army Skynet sends a terminator robot from 2029 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to present day to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Sarah’s unborn son, John Connor, will become the leader of the resistance against Skynet, which conquers the human world.
To protect Sarah from the terminator, her son John has also sent back to the present a resistance fighter by the name of Kyle Reese. With the terminator chasing them, Kyle and Sarah attempt to make their escape to ensure that John Connor can be born and keep fighting in the future.
Through excellent fight scenes and iconic movie lines that you still hear today, The Terminator gives a unique movie experience, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Kill Bill: Volume 1
IMDb rating: 8.1 | Runtime: 111 minutes
An assassin known as the Bride (Uma Thurman) tries to escape her life as a killer upon discovering she is pregnant. However, her jealous ex-lover Bill (David Carradine) attempts to murder her on her wedding day, but instead kills her unborn child and puts her in a coma for four years. Once awoken from her sleep, the Bride vows revenge on those who tried to kill her by devising her own hit list.
As this film is directed by Quentin Tarantino you can expect crazy set pieces, intense bloodshed and a fantastic storyline. Kill Bill: Volume 1 is an absolute must-watch for anyone not faint of heart.
Snowpiercer
IMDb rating: 7 | Runtime: 126 minutes
Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, Snowpiercer is set in a post-apocalyptic near future where the only survivors from a global ice age live on a train spanning the Earth. Society is divided on the train, where the rich live in the front and the poor in the back. Curtis (Chris Evans) becomes tired of the way the back passengers are treated and leads a rebellion to take control of the train, car by car until they reach the engine.
This unique take on a dystopian society is a breath of fresh creativity. The thrilling, fast-paced set pieces — particularly the axe battle between the rebels and the soldiers — make this one of the most exciting action movies online.
Sicario
IMDb rating: 7.6 | Runtime: 121 minutes
Sicario is a film based on the drug war at the US-Mexico border. The film follows Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an FBI agent who has been picked up by a government task force fighting in the drug war. The task force goes back and forth over the border throughout the movie while attempting to carry out their plan of using a cartel boss to capture an even bigger cartel boss, with intense shootouts and explosions along the way.
Though obviously dramatized, this film brilliantly brings to light some of the atrocities still happening within this drug war today. This film’s cinematography is excellent and the narrative makes for an action-packed flick worth watching.
The Matrix
IMDb rating: 8.7 | Runtime: 136 minutes
Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is an average office worker by day but turns into hacker Neo by night. His actions have captured police attention as well as that of a mysterious figure by the name of Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), a legendary hacker.
Morpheus reveals that humans have been enslaved by a race of machines and that the world Neo lives in is a computer simulation called the Matrix. Neo joins Morpheus and a bunch of hacker rebels to try to free humanity.
The Matrix is a classic that holds up to today with impressive fight scenes and special effects. Perfect for a kick of nostalgia or those who never caught it the first time around.
Saving Private Ryan
IMDb rating: 8.6 | Runtime: 169 minutes
The opening D-Day invasion sequence in Saving Private Ryan is one the most realistic movie war scenes to this day – this alone is worth the watch. After the landing, a group of soldiers from the 2nd Rangers led by Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) are given a dangerous mission to complete. They must retrieve Private Ryan, a paratrooper who is behind enemy lines, and bring him home.
His three brothers have died in the war so he has earned a ticket home. The soldiers see this as a waste of time and can’t understand why he gets a ticket, but they fight their way across Europe regardless.
This film depicts the gruesome reality of war in a way never done before, showing how difficult it was to come out alive. Earning five Oscars plus another 74 awards, Saving Private Ryan deserves every one of them.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
IMDb rating: 8.5 | Runtime: 105 minutes
When a problem comes along for an “acquirer of rare antiquities” he whips it good — or casually shoots it in the face with his Webley Revolver. Either way, this is Indiana Jones’ first adventure, a timeless classic that has aged incredibly well and went on to inspire a bunch of other properties — gamers: think Tomb Raider and Uncharted.
Honestly, this is arguably the best entry in the entire trilogy as it sees Indy beating the snot out of Nazis during a desperate race for the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Fortune, glory and some of the best face-melting ever committed to celluloid is found here.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
IMDb rating: 7.4 | Runtime: 133 minutes
When Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is framed for a deadly terrorist attack on the Kremlin, he and the entire IMF agency are disavowed by the US government — the token Ghost Protocol. Thus ghosted, Hunt et al decide to go freelance without resources or backup to prevent a follow-up attack, to clear the agency’s name. Unfortunately, getting the job done means exposing Hunt’s typically tight-knit and highly moral IMF team to outsider mercs-for-hire.
What follows is a rollercoaster thrill ride that gives similar ghosts — like Damon’s Bourne and Craig’s Bond — a run for their money.
Star Trek
IMDb rating: 8 | Runtime: 127 minutes
On the day of Captain James T. Kirk’s birth, his father dies trying to save his crew in a last stand against a Romulan ship. Jump ahead 25 years later and Kirk has grown up to be a bit of a rebel and troublemaker, as seen in the bar fight scene.
However, his life is about to change when Captain Christopher Pike finds Kirk and asks him to put in the effort in the Starfleet Academy, as he has the potential to follow in his father’s footsteps. He begins his Starfleet career abroad the newly commissioned USS Enterprise.
Alongside crew members Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and Commander Spock, the crew go to investigate the planet Vulcan, Spock’s home world. What ensues is thrilling space combat, explosive action sequences, and a confusing yet interesting narrative.
Even if you’re generally not a fan of Star Trek, this is still a must-watch movie. See what other Star Trek content you’re missing out on.
Hot Fuzz
IMDb rating: 7.9 | Runtime: 121 minutes
After a London police officer becomes too good at his job catching more criminals than the rest of the department combined, he is sent to a small English village said to be one of the safest in the country. At first it seems to be exactly that until people start dying, supposedly by accident. It’s now up to Nicholas Angel and his dimwitted partner Danny Butterman to put an end to this string of murders and find who’s responsible.
This action film with bits of comedy and wild set pieces is a fantastic movie for people of all ages and interests. The combination of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost never seems to fail.
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