Although they can vary wildly in quality, the best movies on Max are all worth your time. Among the titles on Max that are most essential are some of the greatest action movies ever made. These movies range from modern masterpieces to under-the-radar gems that weren’t given the love they deserved upon their initial release.
While choosing just three titles means leaving off a bunch of great movies, that’s exactly what we’ve done here. These are three action movies on Max that you definitely need to watch this December.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Jack Ryan has had a long life in pop culture with various books, movies and shows across decades, but none of them have quite lived up to what The Hunt for Red October achieved. The movie tells the story of a Soviet submarine captain who defies his orders and heads toward the U.S. Thanks to a remarkably compelling performance from Sean Connery (still the best James Bond ever), and some exceedingly sharp filmmaking from John McTiernan, The Hunt for Red October is a thrilling action movie that actually has fairly limited action.
When things finally come to a head, though, it becomes clear why this movie was such a massive hit upon its release. Although not every Jack Ryan sequel was as thrilling, Red October was exactly the right level of carefully crafted.
Avatar (2009)
Avatar, James Cameron’s megahit that revolutionized 3D filmmaking and CGI, is at its core a simple story about a man who falls in love with the native culture he’s been tasked with infiltrating. Set on the fictional planet of Pandora, Avatar is epic in scope, and focuses largely on the conflict between a group of colonizing humans who have come to the land to mine it and the native Na’vi, who live in harmony with their surroundings.
While all of that may sound a bit cliché, there’s no one better than Cameron at making stale material feel fresh, and you’ll find yourself surprisingly moved by all of the movie’s big bits. And, needless to say, it’s also one of the more thrilling theatrical experiences you’re ever likely to see. The 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is also worth a look.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Hayao Miyazaki is best known for making lyrical meditations about nature, existence, and of course, planes. But Princess Mononoke is something of a departure for the director, as it focuses more squarely on a conflict between forest spirits and a group of humans who are trying to tear down that forest to improve their own lives.
The genius of Mononoke, in addition to its beautiful visuals, is the way it empathizes with every party in this conflict. When the violence comes, it’s both exhilarating and grotesque, an unfortunate reminder that conflicting interests far too often lead to outright war.
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