Sometimes, the real world isn’t all that exciting. Fortunately, we have cinema to liven things up whenever we want. With your Amazon Prime subscription, you have access to a host of great action movies at your fingertips. When you’re in the mood to live vicariously through characters in high-speed car chases, shootouts, or death-defying stunts, just head to Prime Video. However, navigating Amazon’s clunky search apparatus is anything but action-packed, so to save you time and boredom, we’ve gone ahead and identified the best action movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.
If you’ve already burned through the Amazon Prime catalog, we’ve also put together a list of the best action movies on Netflix, the best action movies on Disney+, and the best action movies on Hulu.
Recently added to Amazon Prime Video
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Face/Off1997 -
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138m
Genre
Action, Crime, Science Fiction, Thriller
Stars
John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen
Directed by
John Woo
A sci-fi action classic of the ’90s, Face/Off stars John Travolta as FBI agent Sean Archer. Archer has become so desperate to stop elusive terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) that he pursues a controversial surgery that maps Troy’s face onto his — effectively becoming the man himself. But as much as he looks like Troy, Archer doesn’t understand the man well enough to infiltrate his world. And he never considered that Troy would retaliate by getting the surgery for himself, much more adeptly embedding himself into Archer’s family.
166m
Genre
Drama, Western
Stars
Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards
Directed by
Sergio Leone
It’s hard to call Once Upon a Time In the West an “action” movie, exactly, but as one of the greatest Westerns ever made, it belongs on this list. Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson star as Frank and Harmonica, respectively, two outlaws in a bustling Arizona railroad town. Land is everything to the railroad barons who seek to advance through these lands, connecting them to civilization, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. So when Jill (Claudia Cardinale) discovers that her family was murdered by greedy railroad barons, she discovers capable allies in Harmonica and Manuel “Cheyenne” Gutiérrez (Jason Robards).
113m
Genre
Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller
Stars
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
Directed by
Nicholas Meyer
Star Trek II through VI are all on Amazon Prime, represented here by one of the best and well-known of the bunch, The Wrath of Khan. In the 23rd century, the Federation Starship U.S.S. Enterprise, under the leadership of Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner), is performing a routine training mission. Kirk believes that he and his storied ship may be headed toward early retirement. That is until a brilliant renegade from 20th-century Earth, Khan (Ricardo Montalban), re-emerges from the past. With a crew of genetic supermen, Khan steals a top-secret device called Project Genesis, commandeers another Federation Starship, and sets out to kill Kirk no matter the cost.
111m
Genre
Western, Drama, Crime
Stars
Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
Directed by
George Roy Hill
In this beloved Western, Robert Redford stars as the Sundance Kid, the frontier’s fastest gun. Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) is his loyal sidekick and the brains behind many a get-rich-quick scheme. So when they’ve made a few too many enemies and life gets tougher in the American West, the boys head down to Bolivia to make a new fortune. They’ll figure out the whole Spanish thing when they get there.
110m
Genre
Action, Drama, Adventure
Stars
Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Directed by
Tony Scott
What better time to watch Top Gun than when the sequel is brand new! At Top Gun, the U.S. Navy’s elite fighter pilots compete to be the best in the class and achieve unrivaled glory. Maverick (Tom Cruise) proves he has extraordinary talent but may be too brash and rebellious to make a real career in the military. But a civilian instructor, Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), could help him get his head straight.
122m
Genre
Western
Stars
Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Jo Van Fleet
Directed by
John Sturges
Sometimes, you just want to go back to the classics. As such, enjoy watching Wyatt Earp (Burt Lancaster) and Doc Holliday (Kirk Douglas) form a tenuous alliance as they square off against a deadly gang of outlaws in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
91m
Genre
Action, Comedy
Stars
Kate Beckinsale, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale
Directed by
Tanya Wexler
In Jolt, Kate Beckinsale’s Lindy Lewis has a bit of a problem keeping her intermittent explosive disorder under control. The short version is that she’s prone to fits of extreme violence at a moment’s notice. While trying to maintain some sense of normalcy, Lindy goes on a date with Justin (Jai Courtney). But when Justin is murdered, Lindy realizes that the police will do nothing to solve the case. So she takes it upon herself to dispense justice, one beating at a time, until she gets some answers.
109m
Genre
Action, Thriller
Stars
Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith
Directed by
Stefano Sollima
After nearly three decades in development hell, Tom Clancy’s novel, Without Remorse, was finally adapted with Michael B. Jordan in the leading role as John Kelly, the leader of an elite team of U.S. Navy SEALs. Following a mission that unwittingly pits them against Russian operatives, John and his team face deadly reprisals months later on American soil. John is the only survivor of an attack that also claims the life of his wife, Pam Kelly (Lauren London). After murdering one of the men responsible, John bargains his way out of prison to help capture the last surviving assassin, Victor Rykov (Brett Gelman).
108m
Genre
Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
Stars
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn
Directed by
James Cameron
If it feels like there’s been a half dozen Terminator movies, you’re not wrong. But there’s a very important reason The Terminator is still the best, even above T2. It’s because Arnold Schwarzenegger is an incredibly believable villain as the relentless T-800. He’s been sent back in time by the evil artificial intelligence, Skynet, to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) before she can give birth to her son, John; the man destined to lead humanity to victory over the machines. To save his mother, and himself, John has sent Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) back to 1984 as well. But when the T-800 strikes, not even a soldier from the future is enough to stop him.
138m
Genre
Action, Science Fiction, Adventure
Stars
Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons
Directed by
Chris McKay
As the title implies, The Tomorrow War isn’t about a conflict in the present. But it is very much a problem that the modern world can’t ignore. When Lt. Hart (Jasmine Mathews) travels back in time to warn the people of Earth about an alien invasion, she also reveals that humanity is losing the war. Recruits are badly needed to come back to the future and fight the alien horde. Chris Pratt’s Dan Forester is one of many who answer the call to action, but he’s not the only member of his family who gets roped into the war. Yet once they get to the future, Dan and the new recruits find themselves ill-prepared for the full scale of the threat.
108m
Genre
Action, Thriller, Crime
Stars
Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus
Directed by
Troy Duffy
Don’t let that low Rotten Tomatoes score fool you. Boondock Saints is a cult classic action flick that has been embraced by fans for over two decades. A pre-Walking Dead Norman Reedus stars as Murphy, with Sean Patrick Flanery as his brother, Connor MacManus. The MacManus brothers become overnight sensations when they kill Russian mobsters in self-defense. FBI special agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) declines to charge the brothers, both of whom come to believe that God wants them to eliminate all of the evil men in Boston. That’s much easier said than done, as the brothers soon find themselves well over their heads in a bloody crusade.
109m
Genre
Drama, Crime, Thriller
Stars
Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.
Directed by
Andrea Di Stefano
Joel Kinnaman headlines The Informer as Pete Koslow, a member of the Polish mafia who wants to get out of his life of crime and start over with his wife, Sofia (Ana de Armas), and their daughter. That’s why Pete agrees to be an informant to FBI Special Agent Erica Wilcox (Rosamund Pike). Unfortunately, Erica abandons Pete when his mob boss, Ryszard “The General” Klimek (Eugene Lipinski), forces him to go back to prison and run his drug trade behind bars. Pete’s only hope is to bring down the General and everyone else who betrayed him. But who can he trust?
116m
Genre
Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Stars
Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown
Directed by
Russell Mulcahy
“There can be only one Highlander!” That slogan is especially appropriate for this movie, a wild blend of high fantasy, time-traveling, the late Sean Connery in all of his Scottish (even though he’s Spanish?) glory, and loads and loads of ’80s action movie camp. Russell Mulcahy, director of the first music video ever aired on MTV, brings an astonishing degree of lunacy and distortion to this film that captures the majesty of the Scottish Highlands and rapid-cut, neon, time-traveling sequences practically on top of one another. It weirdly works. Queen provides the soundtrack for this wild movie about an immortal Scottish swordsman who must journey to kill his one final remaining immortal enemy to become The One Highlander.
95m
Genre
Comedy, Action
Stars
Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Natasha Liu Bordizzo
Directed by
Jason Lei Howden
Guns Akimbo is more than just the movie that launched 1,000 Daniel Radcliffe memes. It’s also one of the wildest action comedies to come along in years. Radcliffe stars as Miles Lee Harris, a keyboard warrior who angers the big players behind Skizm, a literal online deathmatch. To retaliate against Miles, Skizm’s masterminds bolt guns to his hands and force him to take on the game’s deadliest player, Nix (Samara Weaving). And to force his cooperation, the bad guys also kidnap Miles’ ex-girlfriend, Nova (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Miles is far from a conventional action hero, but through a strange mixture of luck and accidental skill, he creates his own legend in the game. He is Guns Akimbo.
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