Amazon Prime Video has a great catalog, but it really delivers when it comes to action movies. By itself, Prime Video has the James Bond films and other select titles from the MGM film library. But if Prime Video didn’t have deals in place with Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., and Paramount, then its action lineup wouldn’t be nearly as impressive. This year alone, Prime Video has added recent hits like Fast X and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, while also streaming classic action flicks like Conan the Barbarian and the original Mission: Impossible.
There’s also a lot of action schlock on Prime Video that would have once aired during late nights on cable television. But those aren’t the titles that get the most out of your Prime Video subscription. For the real thrills, check out our complete roundup of the best action movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.
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.
-
Fast X2023 -
-
Conan the Barbarian1982
-
Mission: Impossible1996
Fast X (2023) new
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) new
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.
Conan the Barbarian (1982) new
Jason Momoa may be a more modern action star, but there’s no comparison between Momoa’s 2011 reboot of Conan the Barbarian and the 1982 original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Presentation is everything, and Schwarzenegger looks like he could have stepped off of the painted covers of the Conan paperbacks from Robert E. Howard.
The film doesn’t require any previous knowledge about Howard’s iconic hero, and it reworks Conan’s origin to give him a lifelong grudge against the cult leader known as Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones). Although Conan escapes the bonds of slavery and finds love in the arms of Valeria (Sandahl Bergman), his desire for revenge may cost him everything he holds dear in the face of Doom’s power.
Mission: Impossible (1996) new
How long has Tom Cruise been making Mission: Impossible movies? Since the original film came out in 1996. So it’s somewhat jarring to see Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as a much younger man working under Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), one of the few returning characters from the Mission: Impossible TV show.
After a mission gone wrong leaves Ethan the only survivor on his team, he recruits disavowed IMF agents Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) to help him clear his name. But when two of Ethan’s supposedly dead teammates turn up alive, he’s forced to wonder if one or both of them has betrayed the IMF.
No Time to Die (2021)
Daniel Craig’s time as James Bond comes to an end in No Time To Die, and it’s the rare 007 film that provides closure for the character. After Bond is ambushed by Spectre, he blames his lover, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), for betraying him. Years later, Bond is pulled out of retirement by his CIA pal, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), for a simple mission with high stakes.
But nothing is ever simple with Bond. His nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), is still trying to kill him from behind bars. And a new enemy, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), may prove to be more than either Bond or Blofeld can handle.
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.
Violent Night (2022)
Nearly four decades ago, Die Hard reinvented what a Christmas film could be. In Violent Night, Christmas goes full Die Hard with Santa Claus (David Harbour) himself stepping into the John McClane role. This version of Santa was once a Viking warrior, and he’s lost faith in both humanity and Christmas.
But when a dangerous thief calling himself Scrooge (John Leguizamo) robs a wealthy family led by their ruthless matriarch, Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo), Santa stumbles upon Scrooge’s plan and hears the pleas of Gertrude’s granddaughter, Trudy (Leah Brady). Trudy is a true believer in both Santa and Christmas and the only one in her family who has a place on Santa’s nice list. Now, Scrooge and his minions are about to find out why they should have stayed on Santa’s good side.
Highlander (1986)
Ignore the reviews for Highlander. Critics at the time dismissed it, but Highlander became a cult classic in the ‘80s that spawned multiple sequels and even a few TV series. Christopher Lambert stars as Connor MacLeod, one of the few immortal warriors who still walk the Earth in the present.
Through flashbacks, Connor’s rivalry with his eternal nemesis, The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), plays out over the centuries before they face each other again for the ultimate prize. Connor’s friend and mentor, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (Sean Connery), taught him everything that he knows, including his most important lesson about the war of the immortals: “In the end, there can be only one.”
Train to Busan (2016)
Zombie apocalypse movies and TV shows come and go (and some stay way, way too long — The Walking Dead, we’re looking at you), but some are so good and unique that they linger in your psyche. South Korea’s Train to Busan is one such memorable film. It tells the story of divorced father Seok-woo (Gong Yoo), whose work-obsessed lifestyle is taking its toll on his young daughter, Su-an (Su-an Kim), so the pair board a train from Seoul to Busan to visit Su-an’s mother.
But wouldn’t you know it, all hell breaks loose when a strange virus suddenly grips the country, turning everyone infected into frenzied, blood-hungry zombies … and it’s found its way onto the train. With some absolutely stunning action sequences, Train to Busan not only explores the chaos of everyone-for-themselves mass hysteria, but also how humans band together when in need.
Samaritan (2022)
Jolt (2021)
Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (2021)
The Tomorrow War (2021)
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Editors' Recommendations
- The best movies on Hulu right now (April 2024)
- The best Black movies on Netflix right now
- The best thrillers on Netflix right now
- If you have to watch one Amazon Prime Video show this April, stream this one
- Like Alex Garland’s Civil War? Then watch these 3 great movies now
