The best action movies on Netflix right now

Looking to fuel up your Netflix queue with some high-octane action?

Whether you're a fan of wild Westerns, cunning detectives, high-swinging superheroes, ravenous zombies, rowdy thieves, or hard-hitting heroines, Netflix has a movie pitch-perfect for every kind of adrenaline seeker.

We know scrolling through the streaming app can be a chore when all you want to do is Netflix and chill. So, we've taken out the hard step by highlighting the most stunt-stuffed, battle-powered, high-speed films the streamer has to offer.

Here are the 25 best action movies on Netflix, streaming right now.

25. Mad Max: Fury Road

Reports of a chaotic, sprawling shoot in the desert that drove everybody involved (including co-stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron) to the brink, Fury Road dispelled worries of a disaster the second people that actually laid their eyeballs on the black magic George Miller had crafted. A world-expanding mash-up of his earlier trilogy starring Mel Gibson, Fury Road is also a streamlined dream of propulsive action. It's just a single chase scene, really, one that doubles back on itself, ending where it started. And it's pure cinema, total sound and fury, like a riff shredded by the Doof Warrior himself. — Jason Adams, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Mad Max: Fury Road is now streaming on Netflix.

24. Upgrade

The always-welcome Logan Marshall-Green stars here as Grey, an auto mechanic who gets sucked into a nefarious world of cyber-horror when a car crash leaves him paralyzed and his wife dead. Implanted with an untested computer chip that can control his limbs and "fix" his paralysis, Grey's mind starts communicating with the technology, which in turns starts egging him on. After all, why just walk when you can be a kick-ass super-soldier? Needless to say, as in any good RoboCop spin, the corporations are not to be trusted when it comes to our best interests. — J.A.   

How to watch: Upgrade is now streaming on Netflix.

23. Spider-Man 2

Landing two years after the first flick with Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), his spider bite, his twisty romance with Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst), and all that good stuff, Sam Raimi's sequel found itself with dramatically higher stakes and a most excellent new villain in Dr. Otto Octavius, played with operatic gusto by Alfred Molina.

The vertiginous battles between our hero and his multi-armed antagonist across the New York skyline remain a thrill today because yes, they still look super cool. (Raimi kept them bright and cartoony enough that they look timeless.) Spider-Man 2 is also a classic also because Raimi and his actors made us really feel for the characters and their messed-up relationships, all tangled up in a destructive web of their own spinning. — J.A.

How to watch: Spider-Man 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

22. Land of Bad

On paper, Land of Bad seems fairly generic at first glance. A ragtag group of soldiers (portrayed by both Liam Hemsworth and Luke Hemsworth, American Gods star Ricky Whittle, and former Gilmore guy Milo Ventimiglia) find themselves stranded behind enemy territory in the Philippines and they must, you know, get the heck out of there. Russell Crowe plays "Reaper," a drone pilot who provides air support to the group on the ground by yelling into a telephone a lot. This is nothing we've not seen before!

And yet the movie's actually a solid B-movie slice of old-fashioned action movie entertainment. The film is directed and co-written by William Eubank, whose previous credits include one of the most underrated action-thrillers of recent times, 2020's Underwater with Kristen Stewart. Like that film, Land of Bad doesn't rewrite its genre, but it does bring the action and thrills efficiently and well. — J.A.

How to watch: Land of Bad is now streaming on Netflix.

21. Sniper

A somewhat forgotten slice of 1990s action entertainment starring at-the-time B+ actors, Sniper would make for a great double feature with Land of Bad. This one stars Tom Berenger and Billy Zane as a pair of mismatched military snipers dropped into the Colombian jungle together; they're tasked with killing a drug lord, but they don't know or trust each other just yet, so everything goes wrong until they learn that old saw about team work making the dream work. A tale as old as time, really! But director Luis Llosa (who'd go on to make the also super fun flick Anaconda four years later) has created a well-oiled machine of exactly what we're here for. And the bullet shots — where Llosa's camera follows the path of a fired bullet toward its target — were considered super cool and creative at the time, setting the stage for The Matrix's revolutionary Bullet Time effects in 1999. — J.A.

How to watch: Sniper is now streaming on Netflix.

20. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Is there anything more surprising than an old TV show that everybody had forgotten about getting turned into a terrific and enormously cinematic movie experience five decades later? (Maybe a video game movie that actually works?) Guy Ritchie somehow pulled it off with this 2015 spy romp, which stars Henry Cavill as the debonair C.I.A. agent Napoleon Solo, who's forced to team up with his KGB counterpoint, Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). 

The plot, as they always inevitably are in such instances, is all convoluted nonsense. But to his credit, Ritchie embraces the fun that can be had in that. Basically, the two spies are trying to rescue the daughter of a nuclear physicist (Alicia Vikander) before she falls into the hands of evil yet fabulous siblings Alexander and Victoria (Italian hunk Luca Calvani and a deliciously diabolical Elizabeth Debicki). So while Daniel Craig was off making 007 all tortured and gloomy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. recalled the sillier Technicolor escapades of superspies in years past, only to unceremoniously flop at the box office for its efforts. It really shouldn't have. — J.A.

How to watch: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is now streaming on Netflix.

19. The Nice Guys

Nobody's done more for the mismatched buddy action-comedy than writer-director Shane Black, whose resume includes the Lethal Weapon films (Mel & Danny!), The Last Boy Scout (Bruce & Damon!), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Robert & Val!), The Long Kiss Goodnight (Geena & Sam!) — heck, even The Monster Squad got those crazy kids Dracula and Frankenstein to team up with The Wolfman (and his nards!) for a wild and wacky adventure. 

The Nice Guys is a hyper-violent comedy about a pair of no-goodniks (Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling) on a rollicking escapade through 1977 Los Angeles, all on the tail of some porn stars and hit men who've left a trail of bodies in their wake. The film didn't do great at the time, but it's gathered up a crackling cult rep in the years since, so much so that Gosling is still answering questions about a sequel. — J.A.   

How to watch: The Nice Guys is now streaming on Netflix.

18. The Karate Kid

This classic '80s film stars Ralph Macchio as the new dweeb in town, Daniel, who pretty immediately catches the eye and the wrath of the town's bullies — led by the ultimate boo-hiss figure of the age, Johnny (William Zabka) – when he gets friendly with Johnny's girlfriend Ali (Elisabeth Shue). 

After getting his ass pretty horrifically kicked to hell and back by the bad guys, Daniel seeks out the karate skills of one Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita, nominated for an Oscar for this performance), who teaches the troubled boy inner peace on top of catching flies with chopsticks. (And if you feel like you need the story of Johnny continued decades later, look no further than the six seasons of the just-wrapped Cobra Kai series, also streaming on Netflix.)  — J.A. 

How to watch: The Karate Kid is now streaming on Netflix.   

17. Dune: Part Two

Starting up not long after where the first film left us, Dune: Part Two follows princeling on the run Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he traverses the twinkling spice-laden sands of the desert planet Arrakis. On one arm is his mother, the pregnant space witch Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and on the other is warrior gal-pal-with-benefits Chani (Zendaya). Hunted by the pasty Harkonnens (now including Austin Butler's lithe madman Feyd-Rautha) Paul must learn to embrace his terrifying destiny, one worm at a time. 

While Denis Villeneuve's Oscar–nominated blockbuster sequel packs a truly awesome punch on the biggest screen you can watch it on, with the loudest bone-rattling sound system to lean into those Hans Zimmer bass notes, it remains a great watch at home on your couch too. Just proof that the French-Canadian writer-director gets just as much juice from his wide cast of stellar performers and plotting as he does from his much-lauded visuals and soundscapes. — J.A. 

How to watch: Dune: Part Two is now streaming on Netflix. 

16. Oblivion

Far and away the best film to come from the partnership between actor Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski, 2013's Oblivion stars Cruise as a drone technician named Jack. He wanders the post-apocalyptic terrain of Earth 70 years after it's been destroyed by aliens — well, more precisely, after it's been destroyed by the nukes we used to kill the aliens — and reports back to his partner Victoria (the great Andrea Riseborough), who's keeping track of him from a space station up above. From there, secrets about humanity's final stand and future will be revealed that aren't worth spoiling, but Oblivion is sleek sci-fi at its best. Plus, its score from French electronica outfit M83 is tip top. — J.A.   

How to watch: Oblivion is now streaming on Netflix.

15. Inception

Christopher Nolan's 2010 sci-fi stunner Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, the world's best "extractor" — a person who uses advanced dream technology to infiltrate people's minds and steal information that's useful to the person who is paying the extractor. Basically, they're thieves of the subconscious, and they manufacture dreams that they can enter into to perform their surreal heists within. 

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This being a Christopher Nolan movie, there are all sorts of rules to these dreams within dreams, including multiple levels of consciousness; he's as keen on building architecture to house his imagination as his characters are. The real fun comes from the trippy visuals and the sprawling wildly talented cast, which includes Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Elliot Page, and an incredibly fun star-making turn from Tom Hardy. — J.A. 

How to watch: Inception is now streaming on Netflix.

14. Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Nearly 30 years after their first adventure as cop buddies Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back with the Bad Boys' franchise's fourth installment. Bad Boys For Life co-helmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah also returned, bringing their high-octane brand of action into a stunt-packed epic about loyalty and redemption.

When the late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) gets dragged for alleged ties to corruption, it's up to Mike and Marcus to find the truth and clear his name. In her review of this action-comedy, Mashable contributor Monica Castillo praised this rousing return, writing, "Bad Boys: Ride or Die is an entertaining reminder of what made the original movie work all those years ago." — K.P.

How to watch: Bad Boys: Ride or Die is now streaming on Netflix.

13. Damsel

Netflix has invested big in Millie Bobby Brown. Not only has the English ingenue been leading Stranger Things for years, but also she's becoming an outright action star through movies she has headlined and produced for the streamer, including a pair of Enola Holmes adventures and the fearsome fairy tale Damsel. Here, Brown stars as Elodie, a dutiful damsel destined to wed a handsome prince (Nick Robinson)! But rather than happily ever after, her deceitful groom pitches her into a dragon's pit. However, that's far from the end of her story. She'll fight her way to salvation and vengeance, one fiery sequence at a time.

In her review, Mashable's Belen Edwards wrote, "Boasting some inventive twists and a heartfelt lead performance from Brown, Damsel may not be groundbreaking fantasy, but it is a thrilling ride." — K.P.

How to watch: Damsel is now streaming on Netflix.

12. RRR

You've never seen an action movie quite as bombastic or as bromantic as RRR. Director S.S. Rajamouli draws loosely from history to tell the story of Indian freedom fighters Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.). Over the film's three-hour runtime, the two unwittingly face off in the search for a kidnapped girl, become the best of friends, and square off against villainous English colonizers.

Any of RRR's action sequences would be the pinnacle of a lesser action movie, but the film seems determined to outdo itself with showstopper after showstopper. Take when Raju faces down hundreds of protesters and wins, or when Bheem fights a tiger bare-handed. Would you believe me if I told you those happen within the first 20 minutes? The action — and the movie — only get more awesome from there. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: RRR is now streaming on Netflix.

11. The Harder They Fall

Put 'em up, as this is hands-down one of the best action movies in the Wild West.

Directed by Jeymes Samuel, The Harder They Fall defiantly redefines the predominantly white Western, boasting an incredible cast of Black stars: Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Regina King, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield, and Delroy Lindo. A tale of heroes and villains, the film follows Nat Love (Majors) on his quest for revenge against the formidable Rufus Buck (Elba). But he'll have to make his gunslinging way through "Treacherous" Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (Stanfield) first. Even before the opening credits roll, you'll fall hard for this one. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

How to watch: The Harder They Fall is now streaming on Netflix.

10. Enola Holmes

Sherlock Holmes's much cooler little sister is an overlooked young action hero in Enola Holmes. Based on author Nancy Springer's popular book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries, the film puts the great detective's savvy 16-year-old sibling on the case, played with energetic spoonfuls of gumption by Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown. She's set to solve the greatest mystery of her young life: to find her missing mother (Helena Bonham Carter) through a series of deliberately cryptic clues — all while breaking the fourth wall and confiding in the audience, thanks to Fleabag director Harry Bradbeer and His Dark Materials' Jack Thorne's sharp screenplay.

Stepping into the footsteps of her famous brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and avoiding those of her stuffier misogynist brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin), Enola's case leads her on a wild ride through Victorian-era England, with more than a few fistfights and butts to kick along the way. And lucky for you, the sequel is even better. — S.C.

How to watch: Enola Holmes is now streaming on Netflix.

9. They Cloned Tyrone

With this 2023 release, co-writer/director Juel Taylor pulls plenty of inspiration from Blaxploitation. John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris star as a drug dealer, a pimp, and a sex worker who undercover a nefarious conspiracy that's happening underneath their neighborhood. Taylor and fellow screenwriter Tony Rettenmaier weave in wild twists, fly fight scenes, irreverent humor, and swaggering style for what our critic called "a propulsive comedy-thriller with weight." As bold as it is star-studded, you won't want to miss They Cloned Tyrone. And stay for the credits, trust us. — K.P.

How to watch: They Cloned Tyrone is now streaming on Netflix.

8. Kill Boksoon

Gil Bok-Soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is a single mother who often finds herself at odds with her teenage daughter. She's also a highly skilled and successful assassin. Kill Boksoon is a fantastic action film that sees its main character head straight from a brutal killing to the grocery store so she can get dinner on the table. It's one hell of a hook that sucks you in immediately. The fight scenes are hypnotic and the cinematography ambitious and exciting. It's a gripping thriller that makes plenty of space for the complex emotional reality of its characters.* — Kristina Grosspietsch, Freelance Contributor

How to watch: Kill Boksoon is now streaming on Netflix.

7. Triple Frontier

This Netflix adventure has Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal coming together as a group of former Special Forces who plan an elaborate heist in South America. But after things get out of hand, their survival skills are put to the ultimate test.

Putting a talented cast in a tension-filled scenario, Triple Frontier is the type of gritty thriller that's hard to turn away from. — Brooke Bajgrowicz, Entertainment Fellow

How to watch: Triple Frontier is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Okja

Blending drama with fantasy/adventure and weaving in a very real message about the horrors of the meat industry, Bong Joon-ho's Okja is a beautifully unique creature feature, striped with action.

The film follows Mina (Ahn Seo-hyun), the granddaughter of a farmer in South Korea who has spent the last 10 years rearing a genetically modified super-pig called Okja as part of a breeding project spearheaded by a grim U.S. corporation. This movie is dark in places, magical in others, and poignant overall, asking us to stop and reflect on the dark side of an industry the majority of us are complicit in. Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal make for an entertaining pair of villains, too.* — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

How to watch: Okja is now streaming on Netflix.

5. Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee copters audiences back to the Vietnam War with Da 5 Bloods, a daring film that's part drama, part war movie, and part heist flick. Named for a squad of Black U.S. Army soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division, Lee's critically heralded 2020 joint follows this band of brothers through a treacherous war zone, then rediscovers them in a present where they're seeking to uncover the past — and a big payday.

Sequences of brutal battles, narrow escapes, and high-tension hijinks make Da 5 Bloods an enthralling watch. Though inspired by history, it's impossible to predict where Lee's story will lead. Our guides on this intense journey through time, loss, war, and brotherhood are Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and the late Chadwick Boseman. Together, they and Lee create an American war film that can't be missed. — K.P.

How to watch: Da 5 Bloods is now streaming on Netflix.

4. Army of the Dead

Sometimes all you want is to grab hold of that action-o-meter and crank the dial, hard, to a solid 11. Army of the Dead more than delivers on that front, opening with a musical montage of guns and exploding body parts — and it only gets gorier from there. Zack Snyder's story follows a band of mercenaries hired to steal $200 million from a casino in Las Vegas. The problem? Vegas has been invaded by zombies, the city is quarantined, and the military is planning to blow the entire thing up with a tactical nuclear strike. The sprawling cast includes Dave Bautista, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, and Ana de la Reguera, as well as a digitally added Tig Notaro.

What follows is a gloriously silly romp that refuses to take itself too seriously, propelling us through a series of explosions and bullets while the story twists and turns through a 148-minute runtime that feels oh, so much shorter. — S.H.

How to watch: Army of the Dead is now streaming on Netflix.

3. The Old Guard

Folks looking for that summer blockbuster thrill, search no further than The Old Guard. Based on the superhero comic books of the same name, director Gina Prince-Bythewood's movie sucks viewers into a slick, well-crafted world of action and narrative that isn't particularly unique but delivers its formulaic pieces with enough precision to keep you invested.

Charlize Theron crushes as the ass-kicking leader of an immortal warrior fight crew, with performances by Harry Melling, Marwan Kenzari, KiKi Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Veronica Ngo, Matthias Schoenaerts, and more.* — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter 

How to watch: The Old Guard is now streaming on Netflix.

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Spider-Verse movies continue to raise the bar for superhero movies, and it’s hard to imagine one better than the latest installment, Across the Spider-Verse. The sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse manages to have even more dazzling animation, more jaw-dropping action sequences, and even bigger doses of clever humor.

Miles Morales is a little bit older (and taller) than when we last saw him, but he’s having a rough time now that he’s hardly seen Gwen Stacy and the rest of his Spider-People crew. A new villain enters the picture, majorly upping the stakes for Miles and the fate of the whole Spider-Verse. We also meet a handful of new characters voiced by some truly delightful actors, like Issa Rae’s badass pregnant Spider-Woman, Oscar Issac as Spider-Man 2099, Daniel Kaluuya’s rocker Spider-Punk, and Karan Soni as Spider-Man India. While the sequel clocks in at two hours, every minute is bursting with entertainment. — Oliver Whitney, Contributing Writer

How to watch: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now streaming on Netflix.

1. Godzilla Minus One

You don't know Godzilla until you see Godzilla Minus One. The American movies featuring the classic kaiju go for huge monster-versus-monster face-offs, bogged down by tedious human characters. But writer/director Takashi Yamazaki reclaims the Japanese icon with a movie that gets the balance between rampaging monster action and human drama just right.

Set near the close of World War II, Godzilla Minus One proves a fascinating tale of atomic age terror. Ryunosuke Kamiki stars as a kamikaze pilot who first flubs his mission, then crosses paths with the giant lizard with atomic breath. Survivor's guilt torments him, even as he cobbles together a found family of fellow survivors. This cast of characters is dynamic, making the scenes of simple home-cooked meals just as satisfying as sequences of town-trampling destruction. Actually, one deeply informs the other. Because while the movie's jaw-dropping special effects rightfully won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, it's the emotional impact of them that makes this Godzilla hit harder than any contemporary. Even on the small screen, you'll be in awe.* — K.P.

How to watch: Godzilla Minus One is streaming on Netflix.

* denotes the entry comes from a previous Mashable list.

UPDATE: Feb. 26, 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST This list was first published on May 24, 2020. It has since been updated to reflect the current selection on Netflix.