Summer is the season that goes hand-in-hand with vacation travel, scorching temperatures, excursions to the beach — and splashy, big-budget action movies. Regarding the latter, we’re not just talking about the kind you have to get in a car and drive to your local multiplex to enjoy. There are plenty of Netflix movies that also fit that bill, from the streamer’s originals like the Extraction franchise as well as third-party titles both new and old.
As part of our ongoing Netflix coverage, we track everything from the weekly ranking of the streaming giant’s Top 10 shows to a look ahead each weekend at the new releases coming next. We also offer guides covering everything from the grittiest, can’t-miss Netflix crime series to the most-watched Netflix movies and shows of all time. Below, meanwhile, you’ll find a new curated list of some of my favorite action movies available right now to watch on Netflix. Let’s dive right in.
Put these action movies on your Netflix watch list
Skyfall: Another standout in the James Bond franchise with Daniel Craig in the title role, 2012’s Skyfall finds Bond taking on a mission — after MI6 comes under attack — that sees him face off against a new enemy with an old score to settle.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92% critics’ score, 86% audience score
Terminator 2: In this sequel to one of the most iconic action films in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career, two Terminators from the future track down the son of Sarah Connor. One is out to protect them, while the other wants to kill him.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91% critics’ score, 95% audience score
Extraction 2: One of those rare sequels that’s bigger and better than the original, Chris Hemsworth returned this year as mercenary Tyler Rake who’s tasked with completing yet another dangerous mission: Freeing the family of a Georgian gangster from the prison where they’re being held captive.
If it’s an action movie that you want, I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s got everything from nerve-shredding fight scenes to wicked-cool gun battles and tightly shot, animalistic hand-to-hand combat. At one point, Hemsworth’s Rake is pummeling baddies in an extended prison-break sequence, during which he fights them off at one point while his right arm is literally on fire. Extraction 2 offers two hours of bone-crushing, pulse-pounding, bullet-riddled, action-packed, brash, bombastic, and deliriously fun movie entertainment.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 79% critics’ score, 86% audience score
Captain Phillips: In this drama from 2013, Tom Hanks stars as the real-life captain of a cargo ship that gets hijacked by four Somali pirates, which sets the stage for a nerve-wracking and explosive showdown with the US Navy.
The movie dramatizes one of the first big military-related challenges to confront President Obama shortly after he took office. Obama personally signed off on authorizing a Navy commander to use lethal force at any point during the rescue operation if he believed the captain’s life was in danger. Captain Phillips follows the resulting series of events.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93% critics’ score, 89% audience score
Uncharted: The critics largely panned this 2022 romp starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, based on the fan-favorite video game franchise. But don’t listen to them. I caught this one on the big screen, and it was nothing more than it pretended to be — a fun, comedic adventure in which the street-smart treasure hunter Nathan Drake sets out to find the lost gold of Magellan. I highly recommend it.
- Rotten Tomatoes: 41% critics’ score, 90% audience score
- Also, note — this Netflix movie will not be available to you if you’re currently on Netflix’s ad-supported tier, due to licensing restrictions.
