As the New Year is right around the corner, people are looking for ways to enjoy the holiday at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You might spend the day streaming action movies while cozying up in your blanket. Watching these movies keep your blood-pumping the whole time. With the unexpected plot twists, sci-fi, suspense, and even romance, action movies have it all. If you’re an action movie fan, then this list is just right for you. Here, we won’t be talking about only Marvel and DC movies, but we will explore a wide variety of action movies that you will want to watch repeatedly.
1. Alita: Battle Angel (2019):
IMDb Ratings: 7.3
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writers: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis.
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Keean Johnson.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi.
Watch Here: Disney+ Hotstar
The story is set several centuries ahead of time in a post-apocalyptic world after a destructive outer space war that devastated the earth in the 23rd century. Three hundred years after the war, a cyborg scientist Dr. Dyson Ido discovers a female cyborg with a human brain scouting the junkyard. The female cyborg had a dismembered body and no recollection of her past. Dyson Ido attaches her brain to a new body and names her after his deceased daughter Alita. He originally made the body for her.
Alita starts living her new life with Dyson and meets Hugo, whom she befriends. He dreams of living in the wealthy sky city of Zalem. However, Hugo hides a secret about him. The story follows as Alita tries to help him when her past comes back to haunt her. This is a great action movie to watch if you’re looking for something different than just guns and fistfights.
2. Pacific Rim (2013):
IMDb Ratings: 6.9
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Travis Beacham, Guillermo del Toro.
Cast: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi.
Watch Here: Netflix
This movie is also set in a futuristic timeline. Giant monsters, Kaiju, rose from an interdimensional rift in a service under the Pacific Ocean, which results in a war. They kill millions and consume humanity’s resources. To fight those monsters, people designed massive mechs that they call Jaegers. Jaegars are controlled controllers simultaneously by 2 or 3 pilots.
Raleigh and his brother Yancy suit up a Jaegar against a Kaiju named Knifehead, which is designated category 3 in danger and size. A series of events led Raleigh to lose his brother and quit the Jaeger Program. However, five years later, Marshal Stacker Pentecost manages to convince Raleigh to rejoin the program. As the Jaegers continue to get overwhelmed against the Kaijus, humanity’s hope lies in Raleigh and Mako Mori, who teams up to drive a legendary Jaeger from the past. Together, they must save humanity from the upcoming apocalypse.
3. Gladiator (2000):
IMDb Ratings: 8.5
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: David Franzoni (story and screenplay)
Cast: Russel Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Historical.
Watch Here: Netflix
The story is about a former general, in Rome’s ancient times, whom the people and the aging emperor admired. The movie begins with the Roman General Maximus leading the Roman Army to victory, where he received praise and recognition from everyone. The Emperor chooses Maximus as his successor instead of his son Commodus. Filled with rage and jealously, Commodus started retaliating and caused Maximus to lose his family and become trapped as a slave. He is now a Gladiator who must win every game until he dies. Now, Maximus becomes popular as a Gladiator, and even after years of his imprisonment, his presence still threatens the throne. Maximinus fights his way to the top, and his only desire is to make Commodus pay for what he did to his family.
The film is loosely based on the Roman Empire’s real events that occurred in the 2nd century. The story takes place in AD 180, consisting of ancient Roman historical figures. The film received popularity worldwide and is still a favorite among action movie fans.
4. V for Vendetta (2005):
IMDb Ratings: 8.2
Director: James McTeigue
Writers: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski.
Cast: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves.
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi.
Watch Here: Netflix
The story is about a near-future Britain filled with torture cells, unfair punishments, and prejudice against the minorities. In the middle of all this chaos, a masked, wearing vigilante is the only person who dares to stand against the government. He is now labeled as a terrorist and goes by the name “V.” On an eventful night, he manages to recuse a young woman named Evey Hammond, who later becomes his ally.
The movie shows the real reason behind V’s hatred for the government for something they did to him long ago. Now V follows a brutal path to suppress the tyranny that fogs Britain with the help of Evey. In the middle of all this, Detective Flinch tries his best to uncover the person behind V’s mask, but circumstances force him to question himself whether he is on the right side or not.
5. The Dark Knight (2008):
IMDb Ratings: 8.2
Director: James McTeigue
Writers: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski.
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman.
Genre: Action, Drama, Crime.
Watch Here: Amazon Prime
The story follows eighteen months after the conclusion of Batman Begins. Batman is now a vigilante for Gotham City who gives people hope that not all is lost in Gotham and that chaos would end one day. The newly found peace in the city is at risk when a psychopathic maniac promises the criminals hiding in the shadows that he would kill Batman for a huge amount of money. That person calls himself Joker and always wears a typical clown attire with green hair, a face full of chalk-white makeup, and a creepy drawing on his face that resembles a smile.
But things get worse when Joker threatens the people in the city as well. Batman teams up with Harvey Dent and Jim Gordan to fight against Joker. However, his ultimate training is put to the test when Joker forces Batman to choose between the city’s safety or the one he cares about. This almost 3 hours long action movie can give you chills and keep you glued to it throughout the end.
6. Kill Bill Vol 2 (2004):
IMDb Ratings: 8.0
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen.
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller.
Watch Here: Netflix
The story picks up where it left off in Vol.1, as Th Bride continues her quest to finish her hit list that consists of the names of all those who have wronged her. Three people are remaining on the list- Budd, Elle Driver, and Bill. Her ex-boyfriend and boss Bill tried to murder her four years ago. The movie also shows Bellatix Kiddo’s (The Bride) backstory, including her time in China where she was training in martial arts. She eventually tracks Bill down in Mexico and attempts to kill him to finish her list. However, the truth about the attack on her four years ago turns her world upside down.
7. Predestination (2014):
IMDb Ratings: 7.5
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig.
Writers: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor.
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi.
Watch Here: Amazon Prime
The movie revolves around a temporal agent whose last mission is to apprehend an infamous terrorist named “Fizzle Bomber.” The bomber plants a bomb in a building to kill hundreds of people; the agent manages to contain the bomb but ends up getting severely injured and damaging his face during the explosion. But the Bomber manages to escape and return to the future from where he truly belonged.
The movie continues as the agent gets saved from surgery when the doctors reconstruct his face and throat badly damaged. The movie also revealed that the agent works for the Temporal Bureau that sends agents to solve crimes that can threaten thousands of people’s lives. The story mainly shows whether the temporal agent will catch the Fizzle Bomber or not.
8. John Wick (2014):
IMDb Ratings: 7.4
Director: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch.
Writer: Derek Kolstad
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen.
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller.
Watch Here: Netflix
The story starts with the unfortunate death of John Wick’s wife in a crash crash. Several days later, the memory of his wife’s death still haunts him when he receives a puppy from a delivery boy with a message from his wife that says that she had made peace with her death and he needs to find his own happiness. She already had an illness and didn’t have much time left. Things get even more tragic when John Wick got into a quarrel with the son of his ex-client Isoef, who killed John’s dog to snatch John’s car.
Already devastated by his wife’s death, John loses all sense of himself when the only thing his wife left for him dies as well. The story proceeds as he is set out to take revenge when his ex-client gets involved and tries to save Isoef.
Read More:
