15 of the Best Action Movies on Netflix, Ranked — Guaranteed to Get Your Heart Pumping!
Pulse-pounding chase sequences, rowdy taverns, fights, shootouts, explosions and loads of stunt work is what makes action movies so thrilling to watch — and with plenty to choose from on Netflix, you can get your fix just about any time you want.
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Whether you’re seeking out a new or old action movies, big cast or animated voices, Netflix has you covered with its thrill ride adventures. Here are some action movies on Netflix that are sure to get your heart racing.
Best action movies on Netflix, ranked
15. The Harder They Fall (2021)
Taking the plot of an old world western and injecting new life into it, The Harder They Fall blends bank jobs, train robberies and shootouts into this stylized modern look at towns divided.
There’s Stagecoach Mary, Treacherous Trudy Smith, Cherokee Bill, quick raged Bill Pickett and fast draw Jim Beckwourth — a fun watch!
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14. The Old Guard (2020)
This graphic novel adaptation stars Charlize Theron as warrior Andy, who leads a do-gooding tight-knit group of mercenaries that just can’t die, and have been fighting the good fight for centuries.
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Their vigilante justice has been under the radar for hundreds of years, and all of this comes into question when their uncanny abilities are suddenly exposed by a group wanting to copy them and reap financial benefits by any means necessary.
13. Red Notice (2021)
Interpol, the FBI and a renowned art thief all combine to make this action/comedy worth the 118-minute watch. Starring Ryan Reynolds as the world’s greatest art thief, Dwayne Johnson as an FBI profiler and Gal Gadot as the world’s most wanted art thief.
Throughout the various twists and turns, surprises and chases, this action movie on Netflix is an enjoyable ride.
12. Jurassic Park (1993)
It was an instant action/adventure classic which spawned a dinosaur franchise years after this first one took the world by storm.
We all know the story by now of genetically engineered dinosaurs gone awry. Starring Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Sir Richard Attenborough and Jeff Goldblum, this Steven Spielberg-directed movie gives us a nasty and deadly T-Rex who escapes his pen and eats Gennaro, the lawyer of the park’s founder — for starters!
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Lost children, power outages and fierce dinosaurs make this an action-packed movie.
11. Lou (2022)
Though this film received mixed reviews, any movie starring Allison Janney is worth watching. She plays the title character, a loner living with her dog, Jax, who teams up with a mysterious neighbor next door to save the woman's kidnapped daughter.
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A hitchhiker, a murder, power outage and a kidnapped little girl set this action thriller in motion.
10. Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
Just because it’s animated doesn’t mean it can’t be action packed. Jack Black returns to voice the big ole Panda, Po, who has moved up the ladder to become a kung fu teacher. It’s not an easy transition for Po, as he struggles to develop his own style.
Along comes his biological dad, Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), and the two head off to a secret panda village to learn the art of chi. An otherworldly villain threatens to destroy all the kung fu masters, so Po has to find a way to turn a village of peaceful pandas into fighting machines. The Furious Five and antagonist, Kai (J.K. Simmons), return.
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9. Looper (2012)
In this action/sci-fi film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a contract killer in a world where time travel is real. When the mob wants someone out of the picture, they send them back to the past to be met with Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character.
What happens when his bosses decide to send his future self to the past to kill his younger self? Also starring Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt.
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8. Triple Frontier (2019)
This film is a Netflix original with an impressive ensemble cast including Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and others.
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It’s a story of a group of former special forces operatives who reunite to plan and poorly pull off a heist against a South American drug lord. This film will take you back to old-fashioned type action movies.
7. The Killer (2023)
Directed by David Fincher, the action thriller is based on the French graphic novel series, The Killer. Michael Fassbender stars as an assassin who embarks on an international manhunt after a fateful near-miss.
The film is shot in a stylish noir where the solitary and methodical assassin wonders if he’s losing his mind in a world without a moral compass.
6. Bullet Train (2022)
Who doesn’t want to veg out for ninety minutes watching Brat Pitt starring as an assassin who ends up on a train filled with other assassins?
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Things turn violent, but it’s not gory. Pitt is Ladybug, an American assassin who is suffering from anxiety and considers himself unlucky. Is he?
5. The Matrix (1999)
A list of action films cannot be complete without the mention of The Matrix. Keanu Reeves is an average Joe by day working as computer programmer — but at night, he’s the hacker known as Neo.
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Night Neo has always questioned reality, but when confronted with the truth, it leaves him staggered, and he becomes a rebel against the machines, learning that nothing is what it seems to be.
4. 6 Underground (2019) action movies on Netflix
Six individuals from around the world are the best at what they do. They are chosen not only for their particular skill set, but for a unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future.
Starring Ryan Reynolds, who leads the fight for freedom against evil that lurks around every corner of the Earth.
3. The Wandering Earth (2019) action movies on Netflix
This film from China pays homage to many Hollywood disaster movies. The sun is dying out and Earth is in dire straits, making the planet uninhabitable.
To save the day, scientists draw up an escape plan that will preserve the human race — if everyone agrees to embark on this 2,500 year journey to the orbit of another star.
2. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) action movies on Netflix
This is a darker take on the classic Disney-coated tale. Following the death of his young son, Italian carpenter Geppetto cuts down a tree and carves a wooden boy who he names Pinocchio. His wish magically brings the wooden boy to life, giving him a chance to care for the child.
The innocent boy ventures to the outside world, where evildoers try to corrupt him, played out against the backdrop of Mussolini’s reign as leader of fascist Italy. The film became the first Netflix production to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
1. Skyfall (2012) action movies on Netflix
Directed by Sam Mendes, 007 is in perfect fighting form thanks to Daniel Craig. The storytelling of this 24th James Bond film features a strong and adept villain by way of Javier Bardem.
In Bond’s current assignment, something goes terribly wrong and agents around the world are exposed. MI6 is attacked, forcing M to relocate the entire agency.
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With MI6 compromised from both inside and outside forces, M is left with just one ally she can trust – Bond. In this film, 007 takes to the shadows to bring down the enemy.
