Looking for a fast-moving car chase? Aerial acrobatics? How about a bit of fisticuffs? Or a tiger eating a dude? Look no further: Netflix has your number
There are movies here that are high-minded thrillers, using action to underline plot, character, and message. Others are hyper-stylish, using cinematography and choreography to make art of violence. Others? They just blow stuff up real good. No judgments! The only criteria for excellence here is that a movie does what it sets out to do, and provides some fast-paced action thrills.
The Woman King (2022)
Though the movie has deeper ambitions, and succeeds on multiple levels, the fun here is in watching surprisingly swole Viola Davis lead a team of all-but-unstoppable African women warriors as they fight back against colonialist invaders. Set in West Africa in 1823, and based on the real-life the Agojie (also known as the Dahomey Amazons). Davis is General Nanisca, leader of the country’s army, forced to navigate complicated regional politics even though her skills, and the movie’s most exhilarating scenes, involve kicking slave-trader ass.
Rocky (1976)
The movie that kicked off one of the longest-running movie franchises started in a very different era, one in which a low-budget boxing movie starring an unknown actor could rack up nine Academy Award nominations and take home the Best Picture award. The movie’s heart was a counterpoint to ‘70s-era cynicism (even given the ambiguous ending), while the potent blend of blood, sweat, and tears were—and are—invigorating. Modern action movies could take lessons from a movie that spends enough time on its characters that the spectacle really lands.
RRR (2022)
A fast-paced action movie should almost certainly not be as long as RRR, but there is not one single dull moment in this nearly three-hour Bollywood film. Likewise, a historical drama that touches on the national trauma brought on by the British Raj and depicting two real-life revolutionaries who died as martyrs to the cause of independence shouldn’t be this much pure fun, but somehow the context only makes it more satisfying. Find me a more thrilling moment in the movies than the bit where a truck full of wild animals is forcefully unleashed upon a sedate gathering at a British politician’s compound, or when a meet-cute between the two main characters involves wild acrobatics over and around a bridge. If American action epics insist on being this long, they could learn a thing or two or three from RRR’s refusal to ever sag.
Kill Boksoon (2023)
Gil Bok-Soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is just a working single mom struggling to relate to her teenage daughter. Or, at least, that’s how it looks. It turns out that the company she works for, M. K. Ent., is in the assassination business, and Bok-Soon is their top-rated killer—she’s also in a slightly awkward relationship with one of her co-workers. It’s not a comedy, but the movie has fun playing up its parallels between a typical corporate job and Bok-Soon’s gig, while also offering up some impressively well-defined characters. What’s at least as important as all of that, though, is the plethora of spellbinding action sequences and brilliant fight choreo.
The Harder They Fall (2021)
The modern western takes on the story of real-life Black American cowboy Nat Love (played by Jonathan Majors), and he’s joined by several other characters out of actual American history, played by the likes of Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, and Delroy Lindo. It’s not a history lesson, but western movies have never been particularly troubled by the idea of heightening the true stories of the old American west into something like mythology. Here, young Nat Love’s parents are killed by Elba’s outlaw Rufus Buck, sending Love on a lifelong quest for revenge. This leads to a series of brilliantly exciting shoot-outs, stunts, and chases that pay tribute to the classic movies of the western genre, while also nodding to modern fight choreography and staging.
Crank (2006)
A lot of movies often described as “dumb” have brilliantly simple high concepts, and Crank stands absolutely peerless in that regard: After being injected with an improbably functioning poison, L.A. hitman Chev Chelios (Jason Statham, the king of this kind of movie) will die (die!) if he doesn’t keep his adrenaline pumping. Wanting little more than to stay alive long enough to get revenge on the mob boss who betrayed and tried to murder him, Chelios spends the rest of the movie engaging in the most reckless behavior he can think of: picking fights, driving wildly, electrocuting himself, very public sex—anything at all to keep his blood pumping. The sequel, also on Netflix, finds Chelios missing his heart (literally), and forced to recharge the artificial replacement machine constantly.
Safe (2012)
Before joining the Fast series, Jason Statham was perhaps best known for the Transporter series, a couple of which are on Netflix. Those are fine and all, if a little disposable, but I prefer the Crank movies and this one—Safe is one of his best, particularly if you’re looking for something in a slightly more realistic mode. Stratham plays a hunted cage-fighter who comes out of hiding to help the young girl taken by the same gangsters who killed his own family. The fights here feel real, or at least like people are actually getting hurt.
Fast Five (2011)
Netflix has a smattering of the Fast movies (they never seem to be all streaming in the same place, and, sadly, the one where they go to space isn’t on Netflix), but it was director Justin Lin’s Fast Five that found the lane the series has driven in ever since. Expanding just a tad on the street-racing action of the earlier films, the movie is an action-oriented heist thriller, one in which cars don’t just drive fast—they jump cliffs and drag bank vaults through busy city streets. By getting a little sillier and a lot more self-aware, the series guaranteed itself a future.
The Raid (2011)
Deliciously simple, The Raid (also called The Raid: Redemption, which makes it sound like a sequel) remains an excellent reminder that a movie doesn’t require a complex plot to be a work of art. Iko Uwais stars as rookie cop Rama, forced to jump into the fray when the arrest of a crime lord goes sideways—the boss engaging every criminal in his high-rise apartment building to stand between him and the cops. Rama has to shoot, punch, and kick his way to the top of the building where his prey waits. Welsh director Gareth Evans also directed the very good sequel, The Raid 2, also on Netflix.
The Night Comes for Us (2018)
A sort-of successor to The Raid series (including many of the same actors), this movie from Indonesian writer/director Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, a great horror movie also on Netflix) tells the story of a Triad member forced to fight his way out of the organization. The movie is on the bloodier end of its genre; the action is brilliant and stylized, but there’s quite a bit more realism in terms of blood and gore. The concluding fight scene is an all-time great one, if you’ve got the stomach for it.
Kate (2021)
Though it’s lead by a French director and an American actor (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Kate stands apart in its anime-inspired, neon-lit, new-Tokyo aesthetic. There’s nothing new here, plot-wise, but that’s beside the point. Assigned to kill a yakuza assassin by her handler (Woody Harrelson), the titular assassin discovers that she’s been poisoned and has only 24 hours to live (i.e., 24 hours to get violent revenge). Imagine if the 1940s film noir classic D.O.A. were a martial arts action movie.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
An appearance by Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh doesn’t necessarily guarantee guarantee “action” (the Everything Everywhere All at Once and Crazy Rich Asians star can do it all)—but an appearance from Yeoh is guaranteed to be the icing on any action-movie cake. A modern take on classic gun-fu, this one further gilds that lily by adding in Lena Headey, Karen Gillan, Carla Gugino, and Angela Bassett(!) The cast aside, the film deals with two rival groups of assassins battling it out over the fate of a kidnapped child.
Baahubali (2015)
The two Baahubali movies might not have quite the rousing political appeal of RRR (they’re all from the same director, S.S. Rajamouli)—honestly, it’s hard to beat the thrill of watching snotty colonials being eaten by tigers—but, if anything, these movies are even bigger, grander, and more operatic in their interests. Roughly inspired by the ancient Indian stories of the Mahabharata and featuring endless sweaty shirtless men (and not a few women, although more often clothed) fighting people and animals, the first film includes a 45-minute battle sequence that’s topped by the sequel. There’s just enough plot and romance to propel the action, but they’re the kinds of movies that know exactly what we’re here for, and they’re not afraid to give it to you. Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion are both on Netflix, in English-dubbed and subtitled versions.
Cliffhanger (1993)
I’m not sure that there’s any socially redeeming value here, nor much that makes a whole lot of sense, and the whole movie is better for it. Cliffhanger stars Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow, who gives such a brilliant performance as the villain here that it’s shocking he’s not in more of these types of roles. The movie begins with a wild mid-air heist (involving one of cinema’s greatest stunts) that goes awry, at which point Lithgow and co. send out a distress signal that’s answered by Stallone and Michael Rooker, kicking off a series of fun set-pieces, most of them involving cliffs of one kind or another. Because this is a movie that delivers on its promises.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Her brother Sherlock wasn’t above a bit of fisticuffs now and then, but it was his sister, Enola (Millie Bobbie Brown), we learn here, who really got to mix it up—with some help and training from their mother, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). Enola uses that combat training throughout the movie in fights involving fists, guns, knives, explosives, and a moving train or two as Enola searches for her missing mum while staying a step or two ahead of big bro (Henry Cavill). The sequel is just as fun.
Bullet Train (2022)
Some of the best action movies have the most ridiculous synopses, and Bullet Train is smart enough to recognize its inherent silliness and build in a sense of humor about things, freeing us up to enjoy the fun. In Tokyo, the title train is boarded by a vengeance-seeking father (Andrew Koji); two British assassins (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry) transporting a briefcase to a Yakuza leader; and an anxious American assassin (Brad Pitt) and his handler (Sandra Bullock) both hunting for the briefcase. Naturally, plenty of ultra-stylish violence ensues.
Non-Stop (2014)
Where would a modern list of action thrillers even be without a little Liam Neeson? Here he plays a former NYPD officer with a history of alcoholism who switched careers and is now a U.S. Air Marshal. Shortly after boarding a transatlantic flight from New York to London, he receives a text message stating that a passenger will die every 20 minutes until $150 million is transferred to a particular bank account. Luckily for the plane’s other passengers, Neeson has a very particular set of skills.
Outlaw King (2018)
Chris Pine plays Robert the Bruce in this film that, unsurprisingly, takes plenty of liberties with the Scottish Wars of Independence of the 14th century. No matter. The film sees underdog Robert lead a guerrilla campaign against the future Edward II of England in a number of exceptionally (though believably) bloody Medieval battles. Spears and swords clash in a number of extended and expensive-looking sequences, making it look like a real-life (well, kinda) Game of Thrones.
Uncharted (2022)
We’re a long way from the 1980s heyday of adventure films, when something like a Raiders of the Lost Ark could feel impactful while also providing plenty of action-movie thrills. This adaptation of the treasure-hunting video game series feels a bit more forgettable than that, but Tom Holland is a charming, likable lead and the movie packs in some cool set pieces (including a well-done airborne chase sequence). It may fade shortly after viewing, but it’s fun while it lasts.
Beckett (2021)
The film aspires to the paranoid, conspiracy-style of movies like The Parallax View, The Bourne Identity, or Enemy of the State, but the plot here is a little too thin to work on that level. Where Beckett excels, though, is in presenting a straightforward man-on-the-run action thriller. John David Washington stars as the title character, who finds himself getting chased through Greece, for reasons unclear to him, following an auto accident. Washington is fun to watch as he runs and gets shot at; the scenery is striking; and the movie does a good job of making Greece feel incredibly sinister, especially for a lead character who doesn’t know the language.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
It feels strange to include Spike Lee’s thoughtful Vietnam War story—one that grapples with the experiences of Black American soldiers during that conflict as few (if any) movies have before. Nevertheless, part of the reason that it works as well as it does is that Lee’s film does all of that while also offering up plenty of impressively shot and choreographed action sequences. With a cast led by Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, and Clarke Peters, the movie finds four aging Vietnam vets returning to that country to recover the remains of their fallen squad leader—and also to dig up the gold bars they left behind. Set in two time frames, it plays as a war movie in the past and, often, a thriller in the characters’ present, as they’re hunted by mercenaries while they hunt their lost treasure.
