In recent years, Netflix has made serious investments in its action collection, and today, our list of the best action movies on Netflix is absolutely loaded with hit originals and blockbuster favorites from other studios. Suddenly, Netflix’s collection of action flicks can be pretty difficult to navigate, so we’re taking on the challenge for you every month.
We’re kicking off the new year with a major update, headlined by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Read on for the complete list of the best action movies on Netflix.
We’ve also curated guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best action movies on Amazon Prime, the best action movies on Disney+, and the best action movies on Hulu if you’re looking for additional recommendations.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
79%George Miller reignited his cult ’80s franchise in a big way with 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and followed it up with a bang nine years later with Furiosa. One of 2024’s best movies, this action prequel stars Anya Taylor-Joy as a young Furiosa (Charlize Theron’s character in Mad Max: Fury Road), snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers as the world falls.
Soon she finds herself caught in the middle of two vicious warlords: Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme). Furiosa must rely on her skills and fierceness to find her way home.
Inception (2010)
74%More of an action-adjacent movie, Inception is Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending, Oscar-winning flick about planting ideas in dreams. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief who specializes in a unique type of corporate espionage: infiltrating the subconscious minds of his targets.
An expert in extraction from dream states, Cobb is also the only one in the industry who feels the opposite action — “inception” — is also possible. So when he gets the chance to plant an idea, clear his record, and chase some long-sought-after redemption, he assembles a team and prepares to go into the mind of an extremely prepared adversary.
Rush Hour (1998)
61%Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan teamed up in Rush Hour, the 1998 hit action comedy that spawned two sequels and a spinoff TV series. When a diplomat’s child is kidnapped, Hong Kong Inspector Lee (Chan) is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate, despite the FBI keeping jurisdiction over the case.
Seeking to distract him, the FBI assigns LAPD Detective James Carter (Tucker) to distract Lee from the case. But between Lee’s drive and Carter’s ambition, the unlikely duo can’t help but get off the sidelines and put themselves into the middle of the investigation.
Carry-On (2024)
68%Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
90%Mad Max: Fury Road was a surprise blockbuster, winning six Oscars and reviving the Mad Max franchise, with this year’s Furiosa also garnering critical and audience acclaim. The postapocalyptic tale finds the planet in a stark desert landscape after war has restricted the necessities of life to those in power. Two rebels may just be able to set things right.
Max (Tom Hardy) seeks peace of mind after the loss of his wife and child, and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) wants vengeance and survival by making it across the desert to her childhood homeland. Reluctant allies, they’ll have to work together to elude the terrifying power of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Fury Road doesn’t land on Netflix until December 30, but it’s worth the wait.
Midway (2019)
47%This stylized retelling of the World War II Battle of Midway is a ton of fun for fans of aviation and naval warfare. Based on the real-life events of the pivotal battle in the Pacific, Midway tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who dug into their instincts and bravery to deal a devastating blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Roland Emmerich’s (Independence Day) star-studded historical action flick stars Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Ed Skrein, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Dennis Quaid, and Mandy Moore.
The Lost City (2022)
60%As action movies have gotten bigger and dumber, 2022’s The Lost City is a somewhat surprising breath of fresh air. In the adventure vein of Indiana Jones and Uncharted, The Lost City stars Sandra Bullock as Loretta Sage, a reclusive author who writes exotic adventure novels that prominently feature a handsome cover model named Alan (Channing Tatum).
While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who is convinced she can lead him to the ancient lost treasure explored in her latest book. Dutiful Alan, determined to show he’s more than a pretty face, sets off to rescue her.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
58%One of the biggest film franchises of all time got started with a somewhat ordinary PG-13 action movie. While today’s Fast and the Furious movies look nothing like the 2001 original, you can take a day and watch the evolution of the first half of the franchise.
The first six films are new highlights on Netflix and what better way to start a marathon than with the original? In the first film, Los Angeles street racer Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) lands on the LAPD’s radar when he’s suspected of masterminding a series of big-rig hijackings. The policesend Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) undercover to infiltrate Toretto’s crew, only for O’Conner to fall for Toretto’s sister and find extraordinary merit in Toretto’s family-based philosophy.
The Scorpion King (2002)
45%Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is possibly the biggest movie star in the world today, which is why it’s odd to think that 2002’s The Scorpion King was such a massive gamble. Strictly a wrestler of WWE fame at the time, Universal Pictures cast The Rock as the big boss in 2001’s The Mummy Returns. The studio then doubled down by creating an entire prequel based on a character with basically one scene. The bet paid off big as the movie grossed over $180 million, launching The Rock’s massive film career.
In The Scorpion King, The Rock plays Mathayus, a peasant hired to bring down the powerful Memnon (Steven Brand) and his sorceress Cassandra (Kelly Hu). Tormented by betrayals and thieves, Mathayus finds himself an unlikely enforcer of justice in the notorious city of Gomorrah.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
54%Godzilla Minus One (2023)
83%The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
56%Fury (2014)
65%Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
56%1917 (2019)
78%Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)
31%Baby Driver (2017)
86%Damsel (2024)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
84%Emily the Criminal (2022)
75%Enola Holmes (2020)
68%
6.6/10All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
78%
8.5/10Black Crab (2022)
54%
5.6/10The Vault (2021)
50%
6.4/10Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
47%
6.0/10Spectral (2016)
6.3/10Army of the Dead (2021)
57%
5.8/10The Old Guard (2020)
70%
6.6/10The Night Comes for Us (2018)
69%
6.9/10The King (2019)
62%
7.2/10Wheelman (2017)
66%
6.4/10Triple Frontier (2019)
61%
6.4/10Burn Out (2018)
Extraction (2020)
56%
6.7/10
