There are always action movies on Amazon Prime Video, just not necessarily the ones you’ve been looking for. Because of films coming and going, the action lineup can be a little erratic on Prime Video, especially when even flicks like the latest James Bond movie, No To Time Die, don’t stick around for long.
One new addition that won’t be going anywhere else is Prime Video’s remake of Road House. Action lovers will also enjoy Payback, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and The Covenant. Those are just a few of the titles on our list of the best action movies on Amazon Prime Video right now. To find the rest, just keep scrolling down.
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.
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Road House2024 -
Payback1999
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Road House (2024) new
Road House may have skipped theaters, but there’s no shortage of action in this remake of the 1989 original starring Patrick Swayze. Jake Gyllenhaal headlines the new film as Dalton, a former UFC fighter running from his past who gets a chance to turn his life around when Frankie (Jessica Williams) hires him to be the new head bouncer at her road house bar.
Dalton is so good at his job that he runs afoul of local crime boss Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen), who’s trying to take Frankie’s land as part of a larger scheme. When Dalton won’t back down, an even more formidable enforcer, Knox (Conor McGregor), is sent to put him in his place. And this is one fight where even Dalton’s skills will be sorely tested.
Payback (1999) new
The posters for Payback said “get ready to root for the bad guy.” It’s not so hard when the bad guy is going up against people who are even worse than he is. Action icon Mel Gibson plays Porter, a career criminal who was double-crossed by his partner, Val Resnick (Gregg Henry), who also convinced Porter’s wife, Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), that he was cheating on her. Together, they leave Porter for dead, and Val steals the money that he and Porter had previously taken from the Chinese Triad.
But leaving someone for dead is not the same thing as making sure they’re dead. Porter takes the time to recover, and when he returns, he’s going to make sure there’s hell to pay. Val’s just one of the top names on his hit list, and Porter won’t stop coming until his revenge is complete.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) new
In 2000, director Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon brought martial arts action films even more into the mainstream than ever before. One of the big reasons why this film resonated with audiences all over the world was the unconsummated love story between Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Everything Everywhere All at Once‘s Michelle Yeoh), two legendary warriors who can’t admit their feelings for each other.
When Mu Bai attempts to retire, his sword, Green Destiny, is stolen by Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei), the woman who killed his master several years earlier. Jade Fox has also taken on an apprentice of her own, Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), a young woman whose skills may even exceed Jade Fox’s. Both Mu Bai and Shu Lien see Jen’s potential to become a greater warrior, but they can’t protect her from the choices that she makes for herself.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023) new
Bonds of brotherhood are formed in battle, even though Master Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) doesn’t initially care for his new interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim), during the war in Afghanistan. The Covenant reveals Ahmed’s heroism when he risks his own life to see Kinley to safety after the latter is injured by Taliban fighters.
Ahmed’s bravery is not rewarded by the U.S. government, which refuses to evacuate him and his family even as the Taliban hunts him down to get revenge. When Kinley discovers this injustice, he returns to Afghanistan to repay the debt that he has to Ahmed.
Fast X (2023)
After nine movies, there’s an aura of invincibility around Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). Even in Fast X, Dom survives things that no ordinary human could withstand, and his cars continue to defy the laws of physics and reason. So the only thing that can bring Dom down is a villain who is even more over the top than he is.
Aquaman star Jason Momoa fills that void in Fast X as Dante Reyes, the previously unrevealed son of one of Dom’s late enemies. Dante likens himself to the devil, and he lives up to that by stealing the private army of Cipher (Charlize Theron) and then targeting Dom, Dom’s wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), their son, Brian Marcos (Leo Abelo Perry), and the entire Fast Saga “family.” And unlike previous villains in the franchise, Dante doesn’t seem to make many missteps.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
You won’t miss the Bay-hem in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. This movie is not without its flaws, but the action is far more comprehensible than in any of Michael Bay’s Transformers flicks. The film has a lot to juggle, as it continues the light reboot from Bumblebee while also introducing Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) and his prehistoric-inspired Maximals from Transformers: Beast Wars.
Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) and Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) are the unwitting humans who find themselves caught up in the war between the Autobots and the evil Terrorcons who serve Unicron (Colman Domingo), a planet-eating Transformer who is bigger than most worlds. Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) may not be willing to fully trust his new human allies, but Mirage (Pete Davidson) is very eager to befriend Noah, and their bond carries the film.
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
No less than Steven Spielberg has claimed that Top Gun: Maverick saved Hollywood by pulling in blockbuster numbers that rival the pre-pandemic box office. Spielberg may be exaggerating a bit, but this is by far the biggest hit of Tom Cruise’s career and a sequel to one of his most iconic films.
Thirty years after Top Gun, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) is still just a captain and a flight instructor, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Yet even Maverick may have lost a step as he tries to train a new generation of Top Gun pilots. One pilot in particular, Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), proves to be particularly difficult for Maverick to deal with because he blames Pete for the death of his father, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), in the previous film.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
The Dungeons & Dragons franchise gets another chance on the big screen in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and it’s one of the most charming fantasy films to come along in ages. Star Trek’s Chris Pine stars as Edgin Darvis, a bard and a professional thief who was betrayed by one of his companions, Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), and imprisoned alongside his best friend, Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez).
When Edgin and Holga escape, they discover the true scope of Forge’s treachery, and they realize that they can’t retrieve Edgin’s daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), without help. That’s why they recruit their former partner, Simon Aumar (Justice Smith), and a shape-shifting tiefling druid, Doric (Sophia Lillis), for an audacious scheme to rob Forge and bring down his evil allies, the Red Wizards.
Samaritan (2022)
Jolt (2021)
Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (2021)
The Tomorrow War (2021)
The Boondock Saints (1999)
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