There are a ton of action movies on Amazon Prime Video, but not nearly as many great action movies. Amazon picked up a lot of schlock to fill out its library in this category, and the same could be said of many other streaming services. The key difference is that you have to scroll down for a long time to find the best action movies on Amazon Prime.
Fortunately, we’ve already done that for you. This month’s most promising new additions include one of the late Gene Hackman’s final thrillers, an action vehicle for Ben Affleck, and one of the greatest action comedies ever made. You can find all of these films and the rest of the best action movies on Amazon Prime below.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
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Enemy of the State1998 -
The Accountant2016
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Midnight Run1988
Enemy of the State (1998)
67%
7.3/10Will Smith has played the action hero so often that it’s refreshing to see him as an everyman in Enemy of the State. Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a labor lawyer who is as far away from political intrigue as he can be while living in Washington, D.C. He’s only vaguely aware that his friend and former lover, Rachel Banks (Lisa Bonet), contracts a former intelligence operative named Brill (Gene Hackman) for occasional surveillance.
Will Smith has played the action hero so often that it’s refreshing that he’s the everyman in Enemy of the State. Robert Clayton Dean (Smith) is a labor lawyer who is as far away from political intrigue as he can be while living in Washington, D.C. He’s only vaguely aware that his friend and former lover, Rachel Banks (Lisa Bonet), contracts a former intelligence operative named Brill (Gene Hackman) for occasional surveillance.
The Accountant (2016)
51%
7.3/10Nine years after The Accountant came out, there’s a sequel coming to theaters later this year. But the original works well as a standalone story. The film introduces Ben Affleck as the unnamed title character, an autistic man who puts his skill with numbers to use by examining the financial records of criminals to discover if anyone is defrauding them.
The Accountant’s activities haven’t gone unnoticed by the Treasury Department, and they’re starting to close in on him. A more immediate concern is that the Accountant’s latest job has put both himself and an innocent whistleblower, Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), at risk. That may have been a mistake on the part of the Accountant’s newfound enemies. As good as he is with numbers, he’s just as lethal with a gun.
Midnight Run (1988)
78%
7.5/10There have been countless action comedies over the decades, but few are better than Midnight Run. Former cop Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) lost his career, his wife, and his family because he wouldn’t give in to corruption. Years later, while working as a bounty hunter, he gets an “easy” job of escorting former mob accountant Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas (Charles Grodin) cross-country to appear in court.
Mardukas is anything but a cooperative prisoner, especially when he derails Walsh’s plans to fly them home. But when the FBI, dirty cops, and mob boss Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina) come after this unlikely duo, they’ll have to find a way to work together if they want to stay alive.
Rob Roy (1995)
55%
6.9/10In the 1990s, it was less common for Liam Neeson to appear in an action film. Rob Roy is about as prestigious as action flicks get, even though it was overshadowed by the similarly themed Braveheart a month later.
The story is set in England and Scotland just over four centuries after the historical events depicted in Braveheart. Rob Roy MacGregor (Neeson) was also a real person, although the film takes certain liberties with his life. When Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth) steals desperately needed money from Rob Roy and clan MacGregor, they have no choice but to rise up and protect their lands and people. But to keep her husband from endangering himself, Mary MacGregor (Jessica Lange) has to hide the full extent of Cunningham’s crimes from Rob Roy.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
53%
7.2/10Kurt Russell perfectly embodied a 1980s action hero in John Carpenter’s cult classic Big Trouble in Little China. Ol’ Jack Burton (Russell) was just trying to collect a bet from his pal, Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), when Wang’s fiancée, Miao Yin (Suzee Pai), was kidnapped in front of them.
From there, Jack and Wang find themselves way over their heads in trouble as an ancient Chinese sorcerer, Lo Pan (James Hong), plans to use Miao Yin to break a curse placed on him centuries ago. Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) — a local lawyer who tries to help Jack and Wang recover Miao — is also drawn into Lo Pan’s supernatural plan when he decides to take two brides instead of one.
Spectre (2015)
60%
6.8/10Spectre picked up the lingering elements of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and thrust Daniel Craig’s James Bond into a larger story that would culminate in 2021’s No Time To Die. But first, Bond had to figure out how the terrorist organization Quantum was related to a new threat against the entire world.
Tracking down his old enemy Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), Bond gets what he needs from White’s daughter, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). Bond soon discovers that Spectre is more than just a nefarious covert criminal organization; it’s part of a decades-long vendetta against Bond himself courtesy of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz).
The Fall Guy (2024)
73%
6.9/10The Fall Guy movie only lightly resembles the TV series of the same name from four decades ago. Instead of a stuntman moonlighting as a bounty hunter, Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is simply burnt out on Hollywood after getting hurt during a shoot. He also alienates his girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), when he drops out of the industry.
Nearly two years later, Jody is directing her first film and she’s having trouble keeping her star, Tom Ryder (Kraven the Hunter‘s Aaron Taylor-Johnson), under control. Colt is recruited to work on Jody’s film, much to her displeasure. But when Tom goes missing, Colt is the only one who can track him down and save Jody’s movie from going under before it’s even finished.
Die Hard (1988)
72%
8.2/10Is it really Christmas if Bruce Willis doesn’t get a machine gun at Nakatomi Plaza? “Ho, ho, ho!” Holiday purists may not like the idea of Die Hard as a Christmas movie, but we love it. It also just so happens to be one of the greatest action flicks of all-time.
For his first turn as John McClane, Willis gives a very emotionally vulnerable performance as he tries to convince his estranged wife, Holly Gennaro-McClane (Bonnie Bedelia), to reconcile with him during her company’s holiday party. But the party’s over when Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) arrives alongside armed terrorists. Suddenly, John has to draw on all of his cop training just to stay alive and attempt to rescue the hostages. And there’s no one left to save the day but him.
Road House (2024)
59%
6.3/10Road 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)
46%
7.1/10The 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.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023)
63%
7.5/10Bonds 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.
Samaritan (2022)
45%
5.7/10Jolt (2021)
48%
5.6/10Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (2021)
41%
5.8/10The Tomorrow War (2021)
45%
6.6/10
