The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime Right Now


Warner Bros.

Last Updated: August 28th

Superhero blockbusters and Jurassic-sized sequels are great to watch at the theater but if you’re craving a bit of action without the crowded, dingy ambiance of your local cinema, never fear, Amazon’s got you covered. The streaming platform has added a slew of titles guaranteed to get the heart thumping just a bit faster with its action-oriented slate of options. Looking for a space epic full of interstellar battles and a wickedly-fun origin story? They’ve got it. How about a high-stakes chase on horseback through the Old West? Because that’s definitely there. Or, if you’re hunting for something a bit more realistic, why not try a couple of tense, bullet-ridden biopics about war in the Middle East? Whatever your fancy, if it’s action (movies that is. We can’t help with anything else.) you’re searching for, Amazon is the place to go to.

Here are some of the wildest, exhilarating titles currently in the Amazon Prime library that are sure to get your blood pumping.

Related: The Best Netflix Original Movies Right, Ranked

Paramount

Star Trek (2009)

Run Time: 127 min | IMDb: 8/10
JJ Abrams revived the Star Trek franchise nearly 10 years ago in much the same way he would eventually undertake a new chapter in the Star Wars universe: namely, a lot of lens flares, elaborately-planned action sequences, and a bit of quick-witted humor. It more than worked for this Spock/Kirk origin story, which focused on the two space venturing peers before they were on friendly terms. Chris Pine is all cocky bravado and misplaced daddy issues as Kirk, a rogue, if talented, captain in the making with a healthy aversion to authority. His foe-turned-ally Spock, is a man conflicted, straddling between two worlds both externally and internally. There’s plenty of bromance here, a few space battles, and some good-natured fun.

Warner Bros.

Watchmen (2009)

Run Time: 162 min | IMDb: 7.6/10

Looking back, Zack Snyder’s 2009 superhero flick might have served as a bit of a precursor for his work on Justice League. Both films revolve around a group of vigilante superheroes trying to save the world, both are dark and moody in tone, and both have so much going in that it’s often hard to keep up. In Watchmen, Snyder focuses on a group of gifted heroes, Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), Silk Spectre (Malin Åkerman), Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode). Their goal is to stop the destruction of some of the world’s largest cities while also trying to figure out who among them may be killing off their kind. There’s plenty of superhero action here to keep adrenaline junkies satisfied, even if some of it is hard to see.

Paramount

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Run Time: 118 min | IMDb: 6.1/10
The second installment in the Jack Reacher series sees Tom Cruise reprising his role as a military investigator turned vigilante, this time to save his friend and colleague framed for the murders of two soldiers in Afghanistan. On top of that, Reacher must contend with a corrupt weapons dealing firm and the news that he has a long-lost daughter who’s also in danger because of his chosen profession. As always, Cruise delivers on the action, and despite a less-than-thrilling part, manages to keep thing moving solidly until the final act.

Paramount

Indiana Jones And The Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Run Time: 115 min | IMDb: 8.5/10

In 1977, George Lucas released a movie that drew on the sci-fi serials of his youth for inspiration and we got Star Wars. A few years later, while on vacation with his pal Steven Spielberg, Lucas looked to the same era’s adventure serials. And so Indiana Jones was born. The series has had its ups and downs over the years, but this first outing from 1981 both introduces the gruff, unflappable archeologist hero played by Harrison Ford and gives him his greatest adventure as he squares off against Nazis as both seek the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred artifact that could change the course of WWII.

Lionsgate

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Run Time: 122 min | IMDb: 7.7/10

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale star in this action-packed Western about an easy-going rancher who volunteers to transport one of the most notoriously violent criminals across the Mid-West. Crowe plays Ben Wade, leader of a ruthless gang of robbers and villains while Bale plays Dan Evans, a man trying to do the right thing, earn a bit of cash and protect his family. There’s plenty of horseback chases and thrilling saloon shootouts in this one, but the real draw is the two stars, who compete in a battle of wits and morality until the very end.

Warner Brothers

V for Vendetta (2005)

Run Time: 133 min | IMDb: 8.2/10

Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman star in this fantasy thriller from Joel Silver and the Wachowskis based on the comic of the same name. The film imagines a neofascist Britain in the year 2027, run by a Nordic supremacist government that regularly imprisons, tortures, and executes “undesirables.” V (Weaving) is a vigilante in a Guy Fawkes mask intent on reigning chaos as he prepares to destroy parliament and the government that tortured him. Evey (Portman) is a young woman working for the British broadcast network who becomes entangled in V’s scheme and soon discovers more about her upbringing and who she truly is than she expected. Watching Weaving double-down on his Matrix moves by slashing up Nazis is almost as fun as watching a bald Portman set sh*t on fire.

A24

Free Fire (2016)

Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 6.4/10

Ben Wheatley’s action-comedy about a gang dead gone wrong in ’70s-era Boston is full fo the usual: betrayal, clueless thugs, warehouse shootouts, and all around bloodbaths. What makes this flick redeemable is its stellar cast — think Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, and Cillian Murphy — and its refreshing ending. In between, there are plenty of gunfights and gang wars to keep you busy.


Amazon

Gringo (2018)

Run Time: 111 min | IMDb: 6.1/10

Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, and David Oyelowo star in this dark comedy about a businessmen sent to Mexico to deliver an experimental marijuana pill before being kidnapped by the cartel. Oyelowo is Harold, a middle-aged man with not much going for him. He’s about to lose his job, his wife is cheating on him, and he’s become his company’s drug mule. He decides to fake his own kidnapping to extort money from his employers (Theron and Edgerton) before they give him the ax, but when the real cartel come looking for him, he’s forced to pair up with a mercenary to escape with his life.

Paramount

The Hunt for Red October (1990) (included with Showtime)

Run Time: 135 min | IMDb: 7.6/10

This 1990 espionage thriller based on a Tom Clancy novel of the same name stars Sean Connery (a.k.a. the best James Bond) as a Soviet submarine captain with plans to defect to the U.S. First, he has to secretly commandeer his vessel and get it across the Atlantic without his own government or the United States blowing it to hell. That’s where Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) comes in. The analyst correctly guesses Connery’s character’s intentions, and the two must race against world powers and a nuclear countdown in order to save the world.

Bleecker

Megan Leavey (2017)

Run Time: 116 min | IMDb: 7.1/10

Kate Mara stars in this biopic of a young Marine corporal whose bond with her K9 partner ending up saving hundreds of lives during some of the most dangerous days of the Iraq War. Leavey is shown as a woman with few close friends and a nonexistent support system as she searches for meaning in life while struggling to make peace with her past. The military becomes a curious solution to her troubles, and she slowly comes into her own training K9s who sniff out roadside bombs on duty. Her bond with one in particular fuels most of the action of the film, and while it’s marketed as a sweet story of friendship and loyalty between two different species, there are some tense, realistic battles thrown in for good measure.


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