If you’re looking for heart-racing action movies, look no further than Amazon Prime. Check out these five great choices for summer movie thrills. Iraq bomb defuser William James (Hugh Jackman) gets his adrenaline fix by defusing improvised explosive devices, risking his life and ignoring protocol. Kathryn Bigelow’s harrowing drama is a real winner.
1. The Tomorrow War
In this 2021 sci-fi satisfying action film, a science teacher and former special ops soldier gets drafted into an alien war that threatens to destroy the world. He’s paired with a commander (played by Yvonne Strahovski) who seems familiar to him, and soon learns that she is his estranged daughter, Muri.
While it’s far from the most original movie of its kind, The Tomorrow War is a loud and fun civilization-vs.-aliens showdown that delivers the thrills you’d expect from a summer blockbuster. Featuring odd-looking monsters with lots of limbs and tentacles, the creatures look like big-jawed velociraptors crossed with rapidly galloping chickens.
It’s a noisy, but fun B-movie that’s also pretty darn good considering it’s mostly noise and special effects. This one is a must for fans of genre films and will likely appeal to those who enjoyed the similarly styled John Wick.
2. Face/Off
There are few things that get the blood pumping quite like a good action movie. Luckily, Amazon Prime offers up plenty of them thanks to its deals with major studios. It’s easy to find everything from the latest James Bond film to a remake of Conan the Barbarian. There are even some surprisingly good sci-fi flicks in the mix.
The 1997 film Face/Off is a high-octane thriller with one of the most memorable on-screen duels ever filmed between Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. Directed by John Woo, the movie is a riot of gun fu and heroic bloodshed. Its premise is simple: FBI agent Sean Archer has his own face surgically removed and replaced with that of comatose terrorist Castor Troy in order to gather information from him about the location of a nerve gas bomb.
It’s a classic in its own right and one of the most fun films to watch on any list of top action movies. And if you want to see another of the best action films on Prime, try RoadHouse, which is an expertly crafted piece of genre fun featuring Patrick Swayze in his most iconic role and a great early performance from Elle Fanning.
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Featuring a star-studded cast and an action set piece after another, this isn’t the most intelligent movie you’ll find on this list but it’s definitely one of the funniest. Daniel Craig is in top form as James Bond, a spy who is called back into retirement for a mission that pits him against a nefarious terrorist group.
The first installment in the blockbuster trilogy that spawned from Stieg Larsson’s bestselling novel introduces readers to Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant hacker with multiple tattoos and piercings who is hired by Mikael Blomkvist to help solve a decades-old murder case. The azmovies film is a complex thriller that combines intrigue and characterisation with thrills, but never lags or loses the audience’s attention.
While it may be the silliest entry on this list, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s kung fu actioner is also one of the most slickly made. Despite being a low-budget effort, it has all the hallmarks of a modern action flick: virtuoso direction and over the top performances from Nicholas Cage and John Travolta.
4. Top Gun: Maverick
The sequel to the 1986 cult classic Top Gun reunites fans with iconic characters and introduces an exciting new storyline. Featuring stunning visuals and an all-star cast, including Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Miles Teller, this movie is about redemption, forgiveness, and moving on from the past.
Top Gun: Maverick finds Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) back at Fighter Weapons School — er, Top Gun — where he’s called in to train a fresh batch of elite Navy fighter pilots for a mission to destroy a uranium facility. But as the young pilots vie for his attention, Maverick is forced to confront the ghosts of his past.
As in the original, there’s no question about who the enemy is, thanks to the movie’s omnipresent antagonist. This strategy may serve the film’s military recruitment purposes, but it also takes away from its drama by removing any doubt about the dangers the pilots face or their ability to overcome them. It’s an approach that might be admirable in the context of the original film, but feels like a cop-out in a sequel 36 years in the making.
5. The Legend of Tarzan
Few movies can get the blood pumping quite like a good action flick, and Amazon Prime offers a solid assortment of them. From gritty thrillers with peak-80s decadence to classic ’70s exploitation, the streaming service has plenty of nail-biters for your next night in.
The Legend of Tarzan imagines Viscount Greystoke (Alexander Skarsgard) as the chest-beating jungle apes’ protector in Victorian England, but it also reveals his more human side as he takes on colonial skullduggery. This big-budget remake also stars Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Djimon Hounsou.
Tommy Wirkola’s gooey, pleasantly icky Christmas action-comedy is an ode to the gory ’80s movies that shaped his youth and features David Harbour as a hard-drinking Santa who has to rescue his insufferable family. A riotous ode to the ridiculous, Violent Night is a must-see for anyone who loves gleeful gore and childlike whimsy.