By bankrolling projects from genre masters likeJeremy SaulnierandTimo Tjahjanto, as well as the directorial debuts of several career stunt performers, Netflix has quietly curated a collection of some of the best action films of the past several years. While the Christmas thrillerCarry-Oncontinues to fly toward a Netflix milestone, it’s a perfect time to revisit the streamer’s best original action films.These are the best Netflix original action movies, which are guaranteed to get pulses racing, bullets flying, and blood pumping.
10’Gunpowder Milkshake' (2021)
Directed by Navot Papushado
Karen Gillanplays the daughter of a notorious assassin, grown up to be an accomplished killer in her own right, who takes on the task of protecting a young girl whose father she killed. That’s the basic setup toGunpowder Milkshake, a neon noir shoot em' up that gets by mostly on its visuals and the talents of its kick-ass female cast, which includesMichelle Yeoh,Carla Gugino,Angela Bassett, andLena Headeyas Gillan’s mother.Paul Giamattialso shows up to provide slimy support in a villainous role.
DirectorNavat Papushado, who co-directed the underrated darkly comic revenge thrillerBig Bad Wolves, gives the film a color-coded visual palette that helps set it apart from its more monochromatic contemporaries. Gillan is a solid lead, showing why she’squietly become a franchise powerhouse. The plot is a blend of familiar genre elements, and the assassin-centric world-building can feel likeJohn Wick-lite, but there’s more to like than dislike here. The action scenes are solidly staged, withone notable slow-motion standout near the end, and the cast cannot be beaten. It all makes for a colorful, sweet and familiar confection thatgoes down smoothly without asking too muchof its audience.
Gunpowder Milkshake
9’Day Shift' (2022)
Directed by J.J. Perry
Since Marvel can’t seem toget any momentum on their long-delayedBlademovie, Netflix decided to step in to provide its take on vampire-killing action inthe urban fantasyDay Shift.Jamie Foxxstars as an independent vampire hunter drawn back into a guild of hunters who specialize in taking out the fanged foes. The plot is immaterial and often leans too hard into comedy for its own good, butthe movie truly excels in its bloodsucking action.
DirectorJ.J. Perrybrings experience from his stunt background to craft some suitably gory fight scenes. Using gymnasts and contortionists to play the undead adversaries gives them an unsettling flexibility that alsolends itself to some brutal and bone-crunching kills. No abstract thought is required to make it through this horror-action-comedy hybrid.Day Shiftis here to do one thing: kill vampires, and it does it with ferocious glee.
8’The Old Guard' (2020)
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Charlize Theronhas becomeone of the most reliable female action starsthanks to tough, gritty performances in movies likeMad Max: Fury RoadandAtomic Blonde. Add to that listThe Old Guard, a comic book-based bloody action movie that stars Theron as the leader of a group of semi-immortal mercenaries. After being double-crossed on a job, the group sets a course for revenge that’spunctuated by some admirably brutal action sequences.
Setting itself apart from similar comic book adventures thanks to its diverse cast and adherence to violent action,The Old Guardis one ofthe best superhero movies of the last decade. It doesn’t break from franchise conventions too radically, and its exposition-heavy world-building can cause the pacing to drag. Still, when the action kicks into gear,Theron and her crew kick ass and take names with style. A sequel is currently in production, promising even more ageless bloodshed.
The Old Guard
7’The Harder They Fall' (2021)
Directed by Jeymes Samuel
The Harder They Fallis a big, bold Black revisionist Western that may be short on substance but has miles in style. The all-star cast includesRegina King,LaKeith Stanfield, andIdris Elbaas the big bad. His ruthless outlaw has a criminal record soaked in red, and that includes the parents of real-life cowboy Nat Love, played byJonathan Majors. That sets the stage for a cycle of violence fueled by vengeancethat culminates in a big third-act shootout.
Expanding on themes he played with in his short filmThey Die By Dawn, directorJeymes Samuelrevitalizes the Western genre with a fresh perspective, a slick soundtrack, and a generous helping of gun-toting action. The cast is having a ball playingover-the-top characters based on real Black outlaws, cowboys, and lawmen, with Stanfield a particular standout.The Harder They Fallis not historically accurate, but it hits all the right genre notes to provide a brilliant and entertaining Western.
The Harder They Fall
6’Triple Frontier' (2019)
Directed by J.C. Chandor
When a group of former Delta Force operators finds civilian life has provided nothing but compromise and disappointment, they decide to use their certain set of skills to rob a South American drug lord. That’s the setup forTriple Frontier, a muscular heist film that received a muted response from critics who argued it failed to interrogate its characters or situations with any moral complexity. While that criticism isn’t totally unfounded, it ignores the solid work by the cast, who color their characters in varying shades of gray as their perfectly planned heist starts to unravel and bodies begin to pile up.
Ben Affleckbrings the world-weariness that has dominated the second half of his career, whilePedro PascalandOscar Isaacprove they’re leading men material. DirectorJ.C. Chandorhandles the gritty action well, proving he is far more capable thanthe collateral damage that wasKraven the Hunter.Triple Frontieris one of the most underrated Netflix originals, combining percussive thrills witha plot that isn’t afraid to get its characters a little morally dirty.
Triple Frontier
5’The Killer' (2023)
Directed by David Fincher
David Fincherhas directed plenty of thrillers, butThe Killeris his first film with out-and-out action sequences, and the notoriously meticulous director does not disappoint. FollowingMichael Fassbender’sgig economyhitman as he cleans up loose ends following a job gone wrong, the plot is essentially a framework for a series of vignettes focused on individual kills. That might sound overly simplistic, but in the hands of Fincher, it’sa wickedly entertaining popcorn thrillerwith his trademark dark humor and stylish visuals on full display.
The action centerpiece is an extended fight sequence against a muscular brute in his Florida home, which goes up in spectacular flames. The sequence is executed with precision between the stunts, cinematography, and visual effects that proveFincher is a singular talent who can elevate any genre.The Killersets itself apart from other droll assassin thrillers thanks to the director’s clear connection to his methodical protagonist, strangely making the film feel likeone of his most autobiographical.
The Killer
4’The Shadow Strays' (2024)
Directed by Timo Tjahjanto
Timo Tjahjanto has steadily become one of the most reliable genre directors of the past decade. The Indonesian director has shown an ability to jump between horror and action with stylish aplomb, often bringing elements of one genre into the other. His most recent effort,The Shadow Strays, was one of the best action efforts of 2024 and features plenty of the director’s signature ultra-violent action.
The plot, which concerns a female teenage assassin who goes rogue from her shadowy organization to save a young boy, trades in common genre tropes and even pulls from Tjahjanto’s previous work. Regardless, the director continues to stage some ofthe most creatively brutal action set piecesthatput most American action cinema to shame. Tjahjanto’s work generally requires viewers to have a strong stomach as bones are snapped and blood spurts across the screen. Those who can handle it are in for a killer good time and should check out the director’s latest before he helpsBob Odenkirk smash more skulls inNobody 2.
The Shadow Strays
3’Rebel Ridge' (2024)
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier
Jeremy Saulnierhas built a career out of violent cinema that combines arthouse sensibilities with grindhouse thrills.Blue RuinandGreen Roomboth brought an elevated style and perspective to the revenge and siege subgenres, respectively. The director’s newest film,Rebel Ridge, does the same with the one-man army trope. Pullinginspiration from action heroes likeRamboandReacher, the film followsAaron Pierreas a former Marine martial arts instructor who finds himself at the mercy of corrupt Southern cops who seize the money meant for his cousin’s bail and unwittingly set off a chain of escalating events.
Saulnier, who also wrote the script, subverts the expectations of viewers who might have been expecting more carnage given the setup and the director’s previous work. Instead, he usesRebel Ridgeasan exercise in tension and restraintthatproves action films don’t need a high body count to induce thrills. Pierre owns the screen in the lead role and proves beyond any doubt that he was the perfect casting choice toplay John Stewart in the new HBOGreen Lanternseries.
Rebel Ridge
2’Extraction' (2020) & ‘Extraction 2’ (2023)
Directed by Sam Hargrave
TheExtractionfilms are the closest thing Netflix has to a flagship action franchise. The first film came out of nowhere to surprise viewers with its bombastic action, includingan intense long-take sequence, and the sequel doubled down on it.Chris Hemsworth’sTyler Rake has quickly become a worthy successor to the over-the-top action heroes of the ’80s, like John Matrix inCommando.DirectorSam Hargravefollows in the footsteps of fellow stunt coordinators turned directorsChad StahelskiandDavid Leitchto deliver his signature action sequences.
Much like their ’80s predecessors, theExtractionfilmsvalue simplicity in their plots and put all focus on the action. Tyler Rake is a muscle-bound mercenary who specializes in getting people out of hot spots, which he does through a scorched-earth approach, blowing up or otherwise demolishing everything and everyone that stands in his path of escape. For fans who claim that they don’t make action movies like they used to,Extractionis defiant proof otherwise. All that’s left to do is pop some corn, strap in, and thenwait out the eventualExtraction 3.
1’The Night Comes For Us' (2018)
For action fans who thoughtThe Raidwasn’t brutal enough, Timo Tjahjanto delivers the bloody-knuckle brawlerThe Night Comes For Us, one of themost violent martial arts moviesever made. FeaturingThe RaidstarsJoe TaslimandIko Uwais, now on opposing sides as members of a violent Triad gang, the movie takes one look at the term “excessive violence” and then kicks its teeth in.Savage fight scene after savage fight scene, more blood is spilled on screen than most horror films have in their budget, with stunt work and fight choreography that would make Marvel heroes wet their beds.
Much like its spiritual successor,The Shadow Strays, the movie hangs its fight scenes on a simplified plot about a killer who reforms to save the life of a child, putting them at odds with bloodthirsty criminals. Taslim makes for a perfectly stoic protagonist, and Uwais proves why he is one of the bestmartial arts movie stars. Their final showdownbelongs in the martial arts movie Hall of Fame, if for no other reason than the amount of times it makes audiences wince at the pain being inflicted. If Netflix produced no other action movies, it would still have a seat at the table of action cinematic greatsthanks to this bloody, badass movie.
