Action fans have plenty to choose from on Amazon Prime Video. Among the thousands of movies offered on Prime Video, there are plenty of great action movies—but also plenty of terrible ones, which is why it’s important to be wise when choosing a movie to watch.
As a genre, action encompasses everything from big-budget blockbusters to combative independent productions. It includes effects-heavy spectacles with explosions and car crashes as well as gritty hand-to-hand combat, and offers scope for all kinds of stories.
Much of that range is reflected in the best action movies you can watch on Prime Video right now. Here are three excellent selections that will get your pulse racing and maybe even have you jumping off the couch with excitement.
“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”
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The fifth Mission: Impossible film is the first directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who became a key collaborator with star Tom Cruise and directed all subsequent installments in the franchise. He immediately proves he understands the format, combining a labyrinthine espionage plot with the kind of astonishing large-scale action scenes that leave audiences wondering how Cruise could have survived his own stunts.
Those scenes include Cruise’s IMF agent Ethan Hunt hanging from the side of a flying plane and entering an underwater vault. McQuarrie incorporates the elaborate, risky stunts into a twisted spy story, revives characters from the previous Mission: Impossible films played by Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Jeremy Renner, and introduces Rebecca Ferguson as the franchise’s main character, Ilsa Faust. It’s a thrilling introduction to a whole new era of Mission: Impossible.
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‘Gladiator’
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“Aren’t you feeling amused?” disgraced Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) yells at the crowd in this Oscar-winning epic, and it’s basically impossible not to be entertained by Maximus’ rise and fall and rise again as he defeats the whiny, evil Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Although hardly based on true history, Ridley Scott’s film immerses audiences in ancient Rome, pitting the noble Maximus against the scheming usurper who killed his own father to seize the crown.
Scott creates a thrilling combination of an early 2000s Hollywood action blockbuster and an old-school sandal movie saga, with thrilling fight scenes and a staggering scope. Crowe commands the screen as he delivers unforgettable, quotable lines and takes on challengers in the gladiatorial arena as Maximus continues his quest for vengeance.
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‘The Beekeeper’
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This silly but entertaining revenge thriller is a prime example of Jason Statham’s particular strength: taking out a steady stream of bad guys with ruthless efficiency and a dry sense of humor. He plays a retired member of an elite secret organization called the Beekeepers, who are so powerful and dangerous that even the former head of the CIA (Jeremy Irons) is afraid of them.
Statham’s Adam Clay is trying to live a quiet life as a beekeeper when his kindly elderly landlady (Phylicia Rashad) commits suicide after falling victim to an online scam. Adam takes out everyone involved in the fraudulent operation, right down to the smug rich brother (Josh Hutcherson) at the top, in a ridiculous but highly satisfying barrage of smackdowns and bee jokes.
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