From assassins to adventurers, superheroes, spies and more—here’s a selection of the very best action movies now streaming on Prime Video, picked by critic Rory Doherty.
See also
* Best new movies & series on Prime Video
* All new streaming movies & series
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Watch on Prime VideoJohn Carpenter’s brand of action movies will likely make fans of hyper-charged stuff like John Wick doze off, but there’s so much rewarding stuff in his sweltering atmosphere and minimalist synth scores that mimic an anxious heartbeat. This siege movie, with criminals trying to force into an isolated police station, best captures the frenzy and danger that characterised 70s genre filmmaking, with the violence oscillating between being outrageously comical and startlingly realistic.
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Watch on Prime VideoA fascinating oddity, the backstory behind the most Irish-Catholic action movie ever made does make its fictional Boston mafia storyline seem uninteresting in comparison. While the no-name director burned out before cameras even started rolling, The Boondock Saints lives on as the most blatant and bizarre Tarantino rip-off, complete with the most slow-mo blood squib explosions of any film in the 90s. The humour and violence are heightened to ludicracy and completely dated—a perfect encapsulation of WTF filmmaking.
Dead Man Down (2013)
Watch on Prime VideoOne of those films that makes you go, “Wait, produced by WWE Studios?!” during the credits (add Halle Berry’s The Call and Mike Flanagan’s Oculus to that list too). This film came a few years after Colin Farrell’s In Bruges comeback but another few before his flirtation with Oscar gold. It’s a grimy crime thriller with a solid cast of talented but B-list stars, with an added edge of glass-shattering, gun-ripping action tearing up the dank inner city streets.
The Expendables (2010)
Watch on Prime VideoAfter Sylvester Stallone returned to playing Rocky and Rambo in the 2000s, he could have hung up his hat—but true legends aren’t ones to rest easy. Taking cues from Taken’s revitalisation of Liam Neeson’s career, he gathered as many B-movie stars and over-the-hill action heroes and made a film about mercenaries who do the jobs no-one wants to do. For all their faults, the Expendables series is a great archive of Stallone and Jason Statham’s iconic friendship.
The Grandmaster (2013)
Watch on Prime VideoHong Kong legend Wong Kar-wai started his career with a triad melodrama complete with whiplash-inducing martial arts scenes (As Tears Go By), so when he made The Grandmaster, a historical action film about the man who trained Bruce Lee, the gorgeously photographed martial arts were no surprise. Tony Leung stars as Ip Man, who showcases bone-breaking kicks and heart-breaking regret throughout the saga of a changing Hong Kong, a confident evolution of Wong’s filmmaking prowess.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2022)
Watch on Prime VideoIt all comes down to this—John Wick’s final outing (for now) may be the franchise’s peak. Dazzling cinematography, sterling performances from Donnie Yen and Rina Sawayama, and an hour-long climax across Paris that barely pauses in between knocking the breath out of you, this nearly three hour film knows what strengths to play to and proves every kink has been ironed out of the dependable but malleable formula.
The Northman (2022)
Watch on Prime VideoA true Hollywood rarity—an indie director of thoughtful, atmospheric horror gets a $70 million budget to make an action epic that compromises very little of his meticulous style. Robert Eggers made a searing Norse saga of vengeance that understands that the action hero sacrifices so much of their soul along their violent quest, and Alexander Skarsgård has rarely been used more effectively as a scorned Viking prince who must be reborn to reclaim his family’s honour.
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Watch on Prime VideoComplaints 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.
Road House (1989)
Watch on Prime VideoPatrick Swayze, Sam Elliott, and Ben Gazzara take the stage like players in a Greek tragedy to sing a swansong to the sweat, homoeroticism, and brutality of the 1980s—and specifically how often they’re presented as uncomplicated entertainment. Charisma ripples through this brawler film about a bar cooler (indistinguishable from a bouncer) in charge of freshening up a dangerous dive bar, but there’s also monster truck carnage and some truly horrific action one-liners for your money too.
Road House (2024)
Watch on Prime VideoIs Jake Gyllenhaal able to pull off Patrick Swayze’s raw star power? Absolutely not, but with action guru Doug Liman behind the camera, it’s clear why this Road House remake prioritised humour and off-kilter energy for its Florida-set adventure. Now, Dalton (Gyllenhaal) is an ex-UFC fighter who needs to reign in hitting people too hard, until he’s fighting mean thugs and Conor McGregor, and then he needs to hit people as hard as possible. On that front, it delivers.
Shin Masked Rider (2023)
Watch on Prime VideoHideaki Anno is best known for his face-melting and psychologically confronting anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, but he’s recently mounted a trilogy of modernised live-action adaptations of classic Japanese “tokusatsu” characters. Returning to direct after 2016’s Shin Godzilla, Anno brings a visual verve and stylised edge to this story of a mutant-cyborg experiment who fights, well, evil mutant-cyborg experiments, usually via motorcycle rides and death-defying superpowered fights. It’s an electric watch, heightened by how seriously the source material is taken.
Shotgun Wedding (2023)
Watch on Prime VideoIf Jennifer Lopez wants to make fluffy rom-coms for the rest of her career, we should let her. If they also happen to feature bursts of explosive, elaborate action, that’s equally fine. This high-concept action-comedy forces soon-to-be-newlyweds (Lopez and Josh Duhamel) to overcome relationship tensions as pirates invade their island wedding. It’s relentlessly silly, with comedic and violent setpieces meshing together with satisfying results—including a drawn-out grenade detonation and Jennifer Coolidge letting rip with a machine gun.
Star Trek: Beyond (2016)
Watch on Prime VideoThis underrated thirdquel to the JJ Abrams reboot of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future may be the best in the Nu Trek series. Despite a troubled production, Beyond understands the crew dynamics and earnest-but-silly tone the Original Series thrived on. Crash landing on a planet occupied by aliens from the darkest corners of the galaxy, our crew have to confront the true consequences of Star Fleet’s ongoing and unending mission of exploring the cosmos.
Top Gun (1986)
Watch on Prime VideoThe “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.
Tremors (1990)
Watch on Prime VideoIt’s funny that when Kevin Bacon took on Tremors, he had financial burdens to pay for his family and his career was at a low-point—and an underground worm movie was seen as something to be ashamed of. Thankfully, he now sees it as one of his acting highlights, a high-concept throwback to the cheese and charm of old-school creature features with incredible effects work and puppetry, and his unhinged energy is exactly what the film needs.
Under Siege (1992)
Watch on Prime VideoWe may never truly understand Steven Seagal (maybe we do, he’s a Hollywood narcissist), but thankfully a few of his films manage to deliver modest entertainment. Calling this naval battleship Die Hard clone “modest” is a disservice, though—get ready for deranged and grisly performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey leading a mercenary force that can only be stopped by a lone cook (Seagal) willing to put his life on the line.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)
Watch on Prime VideoA true modern cult classic, this Direct To Video sequel reinvents the Universal Soldier lore with a cult of supersoldiers playing god with the minds of their infantry, with nods to Nicolas Winding Refn, David Lynch, and Apocalypse Now. It’s a delight watching director John Hyams and star Scott Adkins take an above-average DTV action film into dark, unsettling, and challenging waters; Day of Reckoning lives up to its doomsday title with a tortuous interrogation of the action antihero.
