Sometimes you want to Netflix and chill. Other times you want to watch Sylvester Stallone hanging off a helicopter, firing two guns at once. Luckily, the streaming service has plenty to offer adrenaline junkies in the UK – with a decent crop of action movies that covers everything from classic genre staples and modern masterpieces to the kind of dumb fun that Friday nights are made for.
Here we round up the biggest, loudest, most bombastic action movies on Netflix UK.
The Expendables (2010)
Billed as the ultimate action movie, Sylvester Stallone’s all-star throwback could never live up to the expectation of seeing every action hero kicking ass at the same time – but it still makes for a hell of a fun ride. All three movies are on Netflix UK right now, which means you can binge watch the whole trilogy and come out feeling like you’ve spent the night in a really muscly ’90s video arcade. For noise, testosterone and good intentions, you can’t do much better.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Losing money when it came and went back in 2015, Guy Ritchie’s cool Cold War caper definitely deserves another look. Based on the ’60s series, Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill play against type as stuffy/smooth spies in an East meets West buddy cop riff. Everyone’s great in it, the set pieces are all stonking and Ritchie’s retro comic-book style makes everything look way better than it should.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Both parts of Quentin Tarantino’s martial arts opus are on Netflix, but it’s the first chapter that has the best action if you’re after a quick (136 minute) fix. A grindhouse ode to everything he watched when he worked in a video store, Tarantino’s chop socky revenger has everything you want from an action movie: balletic fight scenes, gratuitous blood-letting and a killer soundtrack.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
If you like your explosions to have a bit more meaning, Kathryn Bigelow’s weighty, worthy thriller is good bet. The story of the operation to find and capture Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, Bigelow’s film is led by a career best performance from Jessica Chastain as the CIA analyst in charge (Chris Pratt makes an early appearance as a grunt, too). Ratcheting up the tension in the final act, and then some, it does for the military what Sicario did for drug smugglers.
13 Hours (2016)
The film for anyone who thinks Zero Dark Thirty has a bit too much talking in it, Michael Bay’s take on the modern American military story is very, very Michael Bay. There’s a great real world story at the heart of the film, as John Krasinski leads a group of private soldiers under siege in a diplomatic compound, but the real draw is watching Bay blow stuff up. It’s a long slog at 144 minutes, but the last hundred or so are all wall-to-wall explosions.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
The film that introduced wuxia to Hollywood, Ang Lee’s gorgeous historical epic is often just remembered for that pretty bit in the trees. A textbook action movie, the film uses amazing cinematography and nice love story to cover what is, essentially, a straight-up revenge story with some of the best sword fight scenes around.
Fast And Furious Five (2011)
You can find all of the Fast And Furious films on Netflix UK at the moment, but the best, arguably, is the fifth chapter. The first film to reboot the franchise, Justin Lin’s sort-of-sequel cut back on all the shots of girl’s bums (a bit) and turned the series into a place to stage elaborate heists and massive stunts with Dwayne Johnson stealing all the best scenes from Vin Diesel. Using as many practical effects as possible, Fast Five takes a wrecking ball to the blockbuster. Literally.
Men In Black (1997)
Less an action film than a family sci-fi – and less a family sci-fi than a time machine back to 1997 when that song was playing everywhere – Barry Sonnenfeld’s original classic is still a great actioner with some terrific set pieces. Weirdly, Men In Black 3 is on Netflix but Men In Black 2 isn’t – which is really annoying for anyone who wants to catch up before the reboot comes out next year.
Battleship (2012)
A movie based on a board game?! Whatever next? A movie based on a theme park ride?! Peter Berg’s preposterous naval sci-fi is a lot more exciting than a game about guessing peg positions, and it requires far less concentration to follow what’s going on. Big Transformer-y aliens land in the sea and Rhianna has to blow them up using old WWII ships. There’s a bit more too it than that (something about Taylor Kitsch being telepathic), but not much – and the action scenes are all big and loud and impressive enough to cover up the script anyway.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Back in 2001, the main comparison for Ridley Scott’s war movie was Saving Private Ryan. Now that everyone has tried to copy it since (see 13 Hours, above) Black Hawk Down has become the touchstone for modern military shooters – the best example of what a new war movie should look like. Blisteringly violent, with some of the best sound design ever put on film, the best way to watch it is through a pair of decent headphones.
Escape From LA (1996)
The original, Escape from New York, isn’t on Netflix, but you don’t need to have seen it to enjoy the bonkers sequel. John Carpenter at his most absurd, Kurt Russell mugs his way through a post-apocalyptic prison city to basically do everything he did in the first film – but bigger, sillier and more fun. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s hugely enjoyable to watch if you still miss the time when filmmakers were allowed to just make pretty much whatever they felt like.
Tears Of The Sun (2003)
Antoine Fuqua directed this Bruce Willis war movie straight after Training Day, and everyone sort of forgot about as soon as it came out. Obviously a very different film (about Willis rescuing Monica Bellucci from the Nigerian civil war), it’s got the same grit and grue as Fuqua’s more famous effort – and the stylishly shot escape scenes are seriously brutal. Produced by Willis, he reportedly only made Live Free Or Die Hard so he could get the film made.