Ready to kick back, fire up your Prime Video, and have a chill night at home watching a movie? No! Of course not! You’re looking to kick your eyeballs’ friggin’ asses with a pulverizing action film!
Action junkies these days have a lot to pick from when it comes to streaming choices. We’ve done you a favor and cut through the clutter, cherry-picking the best action movies currently available on Amazon Prime. With 2010s South Korean revenge thrillers, 1990s American classics, 1980s Australian post-apocalyptic fantasies, and everything in between, there’s something for everyone available on the streaming service. Get your stretches in — it’s time for the best action movies on Prime Video.
Editor’s note: This article was updated June 2022 to include The Terminator, Jack Reacher, Top Gun, World War Z, Sonic the Hedgehog, Independence Day, No Time to Die, Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Logan, The Hunt, Knight and Day, and Deadpool.
The Courier (2020)
Director: Dominic Cooke
Writer: Tom O’Connor
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Vladimir Chuprikov, Merab Ninidze, James Schofield, Angus Wright
Run Time: 1 hr 51 min
Just your average story about a salesman thrust into a nuclear crisis. The beautifully written and acted film The Courier tells the chilling true story of unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is recruited by a CIA officer (Rachel Brosnahan) and an MI6 officer (Angus Wright) to help retrieve information on Soviet nuclear missile plans. While in Russia, Greville secretly meets with Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), a man with strong intel into the Soviets’ war plans and nuclear capabilities. Between Tom O’Connor’s stellar script and Cumberbatch’s honest and unflinching performance, The Courier is sure to impress. — Emily Bernard
Top Gun (1986)
Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr.,
Cast: Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Tim Robbins
Run Time: 1 hr 50 min
Before the Fast and Furious franchise got everyone hyped for fast cars, one movie had late 80s audiences looking to the skies. Top Gun is the story of an elite fighter pilot school that teaches testosterone-filled frat boys how to fly small jets and shoot big missiles. The movie stars Tom Cruise (who also leads Top Gun: Maverick) and Val Kilmer as a couple of the bad boys of the US Navy’s fighter pilots, along with Anthony Edwards (ER) and Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption). If the stacked cast isn’t enough of a draw, then the killer 80s soundtrack is a can’t miss. – Yael Tygiel
World War Z (2013)
Director: Marc Forster
Writer: Matthew Michael Carnahan (screenplay), Drew Goddard (screenplay), Damon Lindelof (screenplay)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos
Run Time: 1 hr 56 min
World War Z provides a new perspective on the zombie genre with a fast-paced, chaotic, explosive spectacle. This pulse-pounding epic story follows Brad Pitt in a role of duality, allowing him to showcase his paternal gentleness in the family side of the film juxtaposed with his action star prowess as he battles against zombies with ease alongside a combat-ready military. World War Z was directed by Marc Forster and co-written by Damon Lindelof, who brought to life the HBO series Watchmen, along with Drew Goddard, who served as an executive producer on The Good Place, was a writer on Lost, and directed Cabin in The Woods. Matthew Michael Carnahan also contributed to the screenplay. – Yael Tygiel
Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)
Director: Jeff Fowler
Writer: Pat Casey, Josh Miller
Cast: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey
Run Time: 1 hr 39 min
Considered one of the better video game adaptation movies, Sonic The Hedgehog is a fantastically fun and amusing film. Using video game story elements, along with modern pop culture references and nods, Sonic The Hedgehog provides easy viewing for family members of all ages. Voiced enjoyably by Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty), and with the redesign fans fought for, the CGI Sonic is a small, blue speedster in a form loosely resembling that of a hedgehog. When Sonic lands on planet Earth and is being sought after by the evil Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), he seeks help from his new friends, including the small-town’s local cop: Tom, played by James Marsden (X-Men). – Yael Tygiel
Independence Day (1996)
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writer: Dean Devlin,Roland Emmerich
Cast: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman
Run Time: 2 hr 25 min
Annual viewing of the alien action movie Independence Day, starring Will Smith in one of his first memorable movie roles, is required. Written by the team behind Stargate, Roland Emmerich (Moonfall) and Dean Devlin (Leverage: Redemption), comes the story of the humans responsible for fighting an alien invasion. Featuring a prime Jeff Goldblum (Thor: Ragnarok) performance full of his trademark quips and Bill Pullman’s rousing turn as the President of the United States, Independence Day is a time-honored heart-pumping cinematic adventure. Though the special effects are outdated, their big-screen spectacle continues to provide suspense and excitement for July 4th celebrations across the nation. – Yael Tygiel
No Time To Die (2021)
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Writer: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga
Cast: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Rami Malek
Run Time: 2 hr 43 min
Daniel Craig concludes his run as 007 in the latest chapter of the James Bond story, No Time To Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. The world’s smoothest spy is called back into action, cutting his retirement short, when CIA agent Felix Leiter, played by Jefferey Wright (Westworld, The Batman), asks for help. He faces a mysterious villain played to perfection by Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), who embodies creepiness delicately. No Time To Die wraps up this run with everything Bond fans expect from the franchise: spy gadgetry, fancy cars in heart-racing chases, a dash of romance, and appearances from fantastic actors, including Christoph Waltz and Ralph Fiennes. –Yael Tygiel
Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins (2021)
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writer: Evan Spiliotopoulos, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse
Cast: Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Haruka Abe
Run Time: 2 hrs 1 min
Without Channing Tatum or Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the movies based on the beloved action figure toy were brought back, as the people who own GI Joe attempted a new origin story following Snake Eyes himself. Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins stars Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) in the titular role, chronicling his beginnings before he turned to the dark side, becoming the 80s cartoon’s villain. Applauded as the best GI Joe film in the franchise, Snake Eyes moves away from militarization and finds its roots in Japanese martial arts with a focus on swift hand-to-hand combat. With breathtakingly thrilling cinematography and gorgeous fight choreography, Snake Eyes is a much-needed refresh to the GI Joe cinematic universe. – Yael Tygiel
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Director: Wes Ball
Writer: T.S. Nowlin(screenplay by) James Dashner(novel)
Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario
Run Time: 2 hrs 23 min
Completing Dylan O’Brien’s growth from plucky sidekick to action movie leading man, Maze Runner: The Death Cure is the epic final installment in the Maze Runner saga. With not many of the original characters surviving the series, O’Brien is joined in The Death Cure by Kaya Scodelario and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Love, Actually). As a director who has guided the trilogy from the beginning, Wes Ball’s keen understanding of the story, as well as his familiarity with the characters and the actors who play them, is evident, as he allows audiences to become fully immersed in this expansive dystopian future. — Yael Tygiel
Logan (2017)
Director: James Mangold
Writer: James Mangold, Scott Frank, Michael Green
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
Run Time: 2hr 17min
Designated as Hugh Jackman’s final performance in the role of Wolverine, Logan follows his conclusive adventure in a future where the mutant race has become nearly extinct. Based on the Old Man Logan run of comics, an elderly Logan is left caring for an aging and dangerous Professor Xavier, played once again by Patrick Stewart. When a mysterious woman begs Logan for help transporting a girl, Laura, he discovers the child is a mutant seeking safety. Unlike most X-Men movies that include colorful visuals, Logan paints a bleak picture of humanity’s future, allowing Jackman to bring a true heaviness to the life Logan led and introduce audiences to breakout star Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), who shines with her touching vulnerability, as well as her strength and physicality. – Yael Tygiel
The Hunt (2020)
Director: Craig Zobel
Writer: Nick Cuse, Damon Lindelof
Cast: Betty Gilpin, Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz
Run Time: 1 hr 30 min
A classic premise with a twist! The Hunt follows twelve strangers who wake up to discover they’ve been kidnapped and are being hunted for sport. But is that really what’s going on? In this mind-bending film from Blumhouse, written by Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof, two of the minds behind Watchmen, and stuffed with an all-star cast, The Hunt is a dark comedy action thriller exploring questions of humanity, society, and class. Starring GLOW alum Betty Gilpin and two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby), The Hunt carefully balances socio-political satire with suspenseful action and graphic violence. – Yael Tygiel
Knight and Day (2010)
Director: James Mangold
Writer: Patrick O’Neill
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise, Peter Sarsgaard
Run Time: 1 hr 49 min
Cameron Diaz(Charlie’s Angels) and Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible) team up in Knight and Day, a fast-paced action comedy about a naive young woman, Diaz, who gets involved with a wrongfully disgraced secret agent, Cruise, as he battles his way to the truth, in hopes of saving his reputation. With high-stakes car chases, shootouts, and close combat, Cruise and Diaz are a perfect pairing for this cat and mouse game exploding with twists and turns. Carefully crafted by direction from James Mangold (Logan), Knight and Day manages to provide a thrilling adventure that incorporates rom-com beats audiences love to expect from Diaz. – Yael Tygiel
Deadpool (2016)
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Director: Tim Miller
Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein
Run Time: 1 hr 48 min
Action-comedy star Ryan Reynolds collaborates with director Tim Miller(Love, Death & Robots) and writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese to craft the greatest introduction to Marvel’s Deadpool. When mercenary Wade Wilson discovers he has incurable cancer, he begrudgingly participates in experimental trials to unlock his mutant gene in hopes of putting off death. Cured by the cruel Ajax, played delightfully by the handsome Ed Skrein (Alita: Battle Angel), Wilson does not return to his love Vanessa, an underrated performance from the unexpectedly funny Morena Baccarin (The Endgame), instead chasing down the people responsible for disfiguring him. Clearly a labor of love, Deadpool is a marvelous introduction to the character and launching point for a new franchise in the X-Men universe. – Yael Tygiel
The Terminator (1984)
Writer/Director: James Cameron
Cast: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Lance Henricksen, Dick Miller, Bill Paxton
Run Time: 1 hr 47 min
Part action, part sci-fi, part horror, part romance, and all excellent, The Terminator was the movie that introduced the world to what James Cameron was capable of as a filmmaker. Mixing up time travel and tech terror, unstoppable robots and impossible love affairs, The Terminator really has it all. Gritty and unrelenting, with extraordinary practical effects that often give the film a Grindhouse-adjacent flourish, The Terminator is an all-timer for a reason. From Linda Hamilton‘s performance to Cameron’s extraordinary sense of tension-building composition, every element of The Terminator is in alignment to make for a breathless, occasionally terrifying action thriller from one of blockbuster cinema’s all-time greats. —Haleigh Foutch
Jack Reacher (2011)
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo
Run Time: 2 hr 10 min
Christopher McQuarrie came back to the director’s chair after 12 years to direct Tom Cruise in the invincible action hero thriller, Jack Reacher. Jack Reacher, based on a character from a book series by the same name, is a veteran, and investigator brought in to determine the suspect and motive in a mass shooting. Cruise’s tough-guy act is on full display alongside a tender and strong Robert Duval, and a surprise appearance by Werner Herzog. It’s clear that Christopher McQuarrie’s time as a writer in the industry was spent studying the filmmaking process. The Jason Bourne-style action is swift and weighty, and what the action sequences lack in drama they make up for in creativity. The cramped and comedic clash in the suburban home that turns into a car chase stands out as a pivotal sequence that establishes Reacher’s mortality. It’s no wonder Cruise and McQuarrie would reteam for 4 planned Mission Impossible films. It’s colorful and gritty with a solid mystery, and it has several sweet action set pieces that help separate it from other movies of its time.
Without Remorse (2021)
Director: Stefano Sollima
Writers: Taylor Sheridan and Will Staples, based on the character by Tom Clancy
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Guy Pearce, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Colman Domingo
Run Time: 1 hr 49 min
Without Remorse is based on the espionage characters of Tom Clancy, but the action-packed thriller is very different from the Jack Ryan franchise. While the Ryan films focused on mystery-solving and analysis, Without Remorse is just as bloody and ruthless as the title suggests. The film is centered around the assassin John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan), who was first played by Willem Dafoe in Clear and Present Danger. Sicario: Day of the Soldado director Stefano Sollima depicts realistic sequences of modern military combat, and as always, Taylor Sheridan is fascinated by the political conspiracies at play. Michael B. Jordan hasn’t been this jacked onscreen since the Creed films, and you don’t doubt his intensity for a moment. You’ll also want to stick around for a particularly memorable, scenery-chewing performance from Guy Pearce. — Liam Gaughan
The Lost City of Z (2016)
Director/Writer: James Gray
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller
Run Time: 2 hr 21 min
A melancholic masterpiece from writer-director James Gray, The Lost City of Z tells the story of real-life explorers who find themselves lost in the vast jungles of the Amazon in the 1920s.It is an incisive film that recalls works like Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God in how it exposes the hubris and arrogance of explorers who believe they can supposedly discover new places for their own ego. It is also a gorgeously shot film, finding beauty in the unexplored areas where it takes place in. It creates a complicated feeling of both awe and disillusionment, taking your breath away at all the landscapes while also making you contemplate the foolhardy reason the characters are there. By the time you reach the gut punch of an ending, which Gray handles with a deep sense of care and reflection, you’ll never think of exploration the same way again. — Chase Hutchinson
Project Gutenberg (2018)
Director/Writer: Felix Chong
Cast: Chow Yun-fat, Aaron Kwok, Catherine Chau, Zhang Jingchu
Run Time: 2 hr 5 min
Sadly, Project Gutenberg is not an action film biopic of the Short Circuit actor’s life, which we would greenlight in a heartbeat. However, it’s still worth your time and thensome. From director Felix Chong, best known for writing Internal Affairs (which Martin Scorsese remade into The Departed), Project Gutenberg is a similarly twisty crime thriller about the shady world of counterfeit money. It stars action maestro Chow Yun-fat (Hard Boiled) as a notorious counterfeiter named, simply, the Painter, giving the otherwise real-world pleasures of Project Gutenberg a heightened, even mythic sense of stakes. The Hong Kong film industry took notice, awarding the movie the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It’s a mature, complicated picture, with as much to say about politics and love as it does about double-crossing action sequences. Oh, and if you watch Project Gutenberg, you just might learn how to counterfeit money yourself! (Please don’t do this.)
Dolemite (1975)
Director: D’Urville Martin
Writers: Rudy Ray Moore & Jerry Jones
Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, D’Urville Martin, Jerry Jones, Lady Reed, Hy Pyke, West Gale, John Kerry, Vainus Rackstraw
Run Time: 1 hr 30 min
In 2019, Netflix released an Eddie Murphy comeback vehicle of sorts: Dolemite Is My Name, a biopic about comedian Rudy Ray Moore’s Herculean attempts to make a low-budget action flick centered around one of his characters. If you saw this movie and loved it, you owe it to yourself to see its subject: Dolemite, a stone-cold blaxploitation classic from 1975. Moore’s performance as Dolemite is both ideologically complicated and intoxicatingly silly. Dolemite is, like many protagonists of blaxploitation cinema, a smooth-talking, smoother-walking pimp. But his particular ways of speaking in rhymes that skirt the lines between profane and enlightening — coupled with his badass kung-fu skills — catapult him to “underrated screen icon” status (If you’ve liked a hip-hop act in the past 30 years, they’ve referenced Dolemite in some way). When Dolemite is finally released from prison after getting framed by rival Willie Green (director D’Urville Martin), he embarks on an ass-kicking journey of revenge, assisted by a capable madam of his brothel, Queen Bee (Lady Reed). Some of the film (okay, maybe all of the film) has cringe-inducingly reductive views on gender and racial politics. But these components add not only to the hilarious, entertaining, low-budget charm of the whole affair, but to the extratextual analysis of the film and its interactions with its place in a white-centered film industry.
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994)
Director: Gisaburō Sugii
Writers: Gisaburō Sugii, Kenichi Imai
Cast: Kojiro Shimizu, Kenji Haga, Miki Fujitani, Masane Tsukayama, Takeshi Kusaka
Run Time: 1 hr 42 min
No, this isn’t a sequel to the wild Jean Claude Van Damme/Raul Julia live-action film (which is actually a secret masterpiece, but we don’t have time for that here). Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is a feature-length take on one of the most acclaimed fighting video games ever made, Street Fighter II. And based on the quality of this flick, it’s a wonder more video game adaptations aren’t animated. The aesthetics of this film beautifully mimic the iconic sprites in the 16-bit fighter, even elevating their special moves into a form of wuxia-inspired visual poetry. Beyond its eye-catching pleasures (and bomb-ass fight scenes, it must be noted), Street Fighter II spins an intuitive, captivating narrative as well — one not unlike a Bruce Lee film like Fist of Fury. The virtuous Ryu (Kojiro Shimizu) is one of the greatest fighters in the world, eager to travel and find worthy competitors. The evil M. Bison (Takeshi Kusaka) orders a manhunt on him after he scars one of his evil henchmen. And all your favorite Street Fighter characters must choose a side and fight. Hadouken!
Highlander (1986)
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Writers: Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown, Sean Connery
Run Time: 1 hr 56 min
“There can be only one.” Well, actually, there are thousands of movies available to stream on Prime Video. But when it comes to Highlander’s particular blend of high fantasy, sci-fi time-traveling shenanigans, and campy ‘80s bombast, there can, indeed, be only one. Russell Mulcahy, director of the first music video ever aired on MTV (“Video Killed the Radio Star”), has a particular visual style that we’d describe as “totally bonkers wackadoo.” He has widescreen, sweeping panoramas of fantastical landscapes, sure — but it’s jammed up against rapidly cut, neon-stroked with strange rhymes and little reason. Somehow, this is the perfect aesthetic to capture Highlander’s narrative, a story of an immortal swordsman (Christopher Lambert) and his journey to kill his one final remaining immortal enemy (Clancy Brown) to become “the one.” Also, Sean Connery plays a Spaniard and doesn’t bother with an accent. Also, Queen’s soundtrack is bangin’. Also, get yourself some brews and have a ball with Highlander, posthaste.
