Let the fists, bullets, and blades fly: Daniel Rutledge has picked the very best of the adrenaline-pumping action category on NEON, guaranteeing you all the fatal one-liners and car chases you could ever dream of.
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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
Watch on NEONThe infamous, deadly 2012 terrorist attack that created enormous political divisions in the US that continue to cause serious problems to this day was adapted for the screen in 2016 by the man child who made the Transformers movies. Surprisingly, it’s not as terrible as it could have been and it features some brilliantly constructed modern combat scenes. If you ignore the politics, story, themes etc and just focus on the shooting, this is mildly satisfying.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Watch on NEONSave for the very occasional delight like The Nice Guys, we just don’t get buddy action comedy movies this good anymore. Eddie Murphy in his first film as Alex Foley was him at peak charisma, firing on all cylinders with impeccable comedic timing. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton are great in supporting roles, but this is an Eddie Murphy show and it’s a wildly entertaining show to behold.
Blade (1998)
Watch on NeonAside from some poor CGI, this holds up surprisingly well today. The iconic opening sequence featuring an underground rave being showered in blood still rules as hard as it did back then. The final fight scene is remarkably well choreographed and directed, and throughout it all Wesley Snipes is an ultimate badass as the titular Marvel Comics anti-hero.
Collateral (2004)
Watch on NEONOne of Michael Mann’s many beloved cult favourites, this neo-noir action thriller features Tom Cruise at the top of his game—although he’s almost never not been. Notable for being one of the first major Hollywood films shot on digital, it delivers loads of great action thrills, including the best nightclub scene that side of the John Wick franchise.
Django Unchained (2012)
Watch on NeonQuentin Tarantino’s first western is an amazing slavery revenge pic that’s wildly entertaining from beginning to end. Being a Tarantino flick it of course features brilliant actors giving superb performances and is about as richly cinematic as movies get. It might not be as clever as most of Tarantino’s films, but damn it delivers cathartic, bloody as hell action thrills oh so sublimely.
Dunkirk (2017)
Watch on NeonWhen Christopher Nolan decided to make a war movie, he of course made one of the most ambitious war movies of all tme. It’s one of the most spectacular films of the last few decades, depicting one of Britain’s most incredible modern military feats from a filmmaker at the top of his game. It’s also got one of Hans Zimmer’s very best scores.
G. .I Joe: Retaliation (2012)
Watch on NeonThis 2013 sequel was miles better than its predocessor, 2009’s Rise of Cobra, thanks to Jon M Chu’s stylish direction and Dwayne Johnson at the height of his awesomeness, before he came too self-aware and silly. Of course it’s ridiculously cheesy and has sanitised and bloodless violence, but it’s still a hell of a lot of fun if you’re in the mood for big, dumb Hollywood action.
John Wick Chapter 4 (2022)
Where to watchThere are two consistently amazing modern Hollywood action franchises—Mission: Impossible and this one. Instead of Tom Cruise and the coolest stunts ever, the John Wick movies are all about operatic, very R-rated violence centred on blow-your-mind incredible gun-fu. The fourth chapter throws Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror into the mix and features a Hotline Miami inspired top-down sequence that is especially jaw-dropping, even for a John Wick movie. It’s amazing.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Watch on NeonFor the most thrilling big budget stunt work and epic set pieces on Neon, look no further this. It’s so rare for a franchise to continuously improve upon itself, but the sixth Mission: Impossible movie is arguably the closest it’s come yet to perfecting the awesome formula, with the climactic helicopter action filmed in Aotearoa taking it all to a new level.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
Watch on NeonMission: Impossible is the best franchise in the world for spectacular Hollywood stunts, and perhaps the greatest sequence in the series so far is in this film. The whole movie is wonderfully entertaining, but the Burj Khalifa scene is one of finest examples of what Mission: Impossible does best. It was best enjoyed in IMAX cinemas, for sure, but it still rules at home, especially if you’ve got a nice big screen.
Out for Justice (1991)
Watch on NeonSteven Seagal kicked off his career with five flicks in a row that were astounding, each sinister and mean-spirited and lacking the righteousness of most of the ’80s action flicks they followed. Of that astounding five movie run, this is arguably the nastiest and most mean-spirited. Seagal plays a New York cop on a mission to stop a suicidal maniac on a drug-fuelled killing spree he intends as his last night alive. It’s brutal, dark and brilliant.
Passenger 57 (1992)
Watch on Neon
Wesley Snipes in his prime in one of the very best ‘”Die Hard on a Blank” movies? Hell yeah! Snipes kicks serious arse, doing most of his own stunts in a very physical role, despite it mostly taking place on a plane. At a lean 84 minutes the action is non-stop, the one-liners are endearingly corny, the support cast are all fun. But Snipes is the man!
Salt (2010)
Watch on NeonOne of Angelina Jolie’s two best action flicks as the lead (the other being Wanted) here she’s a James Bond-esque superspy forced to act alone and waste baddies while proving she’s loyal to the CIA, not the KGB. The violence is sanitized, but the stylish excessiveness is fun. It’s also potently feminine in cool action flick ways, like when she gets a sanitary pad from a vending machine in a nightclub toilet to stop a wound bleeding.
Sniper: Rogue Mission (2022)
Watch on NeonI love how lovingly this franchise celebrates long-range, high calibre kills. The main sniper is Chad Michael Collins, who seems better suited to Hallmark Christmas movies, but when he pulls the trigger from ages away and makes the bad guys squirt blood out of fresh holes, it’s mint. In this ninth Sniper movie (!) he does that to corrupt federal agents slash sex traffickers and they really, really deserve it, the bastards.
Top Gun (1986)
Watch on NeonWhen you have the need for a certain type of Hollywood blockbuster, nothing delivers quite like this one. Well, not until the unimaginably great sequel was released, but god damn the original is fun. There’s famously thrilling set pieces, loads of awesome military and machinery porn, and exquisite levels of hot homoeroticism. An absolute all-timer.
The Woman King (2022)
Despite the PG-13 rating, this delivers the goods with a nicely unique historical action flick. It’s based on a true story about an all-female army in Africa and Viola Davis is badass in the lead. The fight choreography is at times exceptional and the action in general is excellent. Gina Prince-Bythewood directed this as her next film after the impressive The Old Guard, making her a burgeoning action master to watch.
This guide is regularly updated to reflect changes in NEON’s catalogue. For a list of capsule reviews that have been removed from this page because they are no longer available on the platform, visit here.
