Best Action Movies on Netflix Right Now (January 2019)

Check out our monthly update on the best new releases.

Are you looking for the best action movies on Netflix right now? Fortunately, the service's offerings currently run the whole gamut of the genre, with blockbusters, fight films, animated adventures and shootouts galore... if you know where to look for them. And that's where we come in with our monthly updates on the best new movies on Netflix.

Are you the hero we need, or even the hero we deserve? Is your quest for the Infinity Stones coming to an end? Or are you just trying to get some really old artifact back to the museum? Well, either way there are a lot of good action movies to choose from on Netflix...

Here you'll find the best action movies on Netflix right now. There are plenty of awesome new releases that are on Netflix right now, including many of the top recent action movies from 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015, as well as many of the all-time greatest classics, underrated b-movies, all-ages adventure and ultraviolent action. They all await you in our picks for the hottest action movies on Netflix!

Oh, and when you're done here, be sure to also check out our list of the 25 Best Action Movies Ever and what's new to Netflix this month.

Netflix Spotlight: January 2019

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS: SEASON 3 (Season Premieres 1/1/19) In the series' third and final act (running seven episodes and adapting the remaining four books), the Baudelaires will stop at nothing to solve the mysteries of the VFD and end Count Olaf's relentless pursuit.

GODZILLA: THE PLANET EATER (Movie Available 1/4/19) In the the third and final entry in the anime trilogy, with the earth alliance weakened, Haruo weighs siding with the Exif, whose death cult is summoning a monster that can destroy the world.

SEX EDUCATION: SEASON 1 (Series Premieres 1/11/19) Gillian Anderson and Ender's Game's Asa Butterfield star in this dramedy series about a socially awkward high school student who lives with his mother, a sex therapist, and teams up with a whip-smart bad-girl to set up an underground sex therapy clinic.

CARMEN SANDIEGO: SEASON 1 (Series Premieres 1/18/19) In this reboot/revamp of the classic game series, starring Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez and Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard, Carmen Sandiego returns for new international capers as well as past escapades that led to her becoming a super thief - acting as a modern day Robin Hood, traveling the globe, stealing from V.I.L.E., and giving back to its victims.

FYRE: THE GREATEST PARTY THE NEVER HAPPENED (Movie Available 1/18/19) This new documentary spotlights how the Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music experience full of social media influencers on a posh island - and how the reality was far from the promises.

IO (Movie Available 1/18/19) Starring The Leftovers' Margaret Qualley, the MCU's Anthony Mackie, and Danny Huston, IO follows one of the last survivors on Earth, a teen, who races to cure her poisoned planet before the final shuttle to a distant space colony leaves her stranded.

TRIGGER WARNING WITH KILLER MIKE (Series Available 1/18/19) In this subversive comedy documentary series, rapper and activist Killer Mike (Run the Jewels) and a team of funny correspondents explore socially relevant topics.

POLAR (Movie Available 1/25/19) Based on the graphic novels by Victor Santos, Polar stars Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen, Vikings' Katheryn Winnick, Matt Lucas, and Vanessa Hudgens, in the story of a master assassin who's targeted by his former employer. Against his will, he finds himself back in the game going head to head with an army of younger, faster, ruthless killers who will stop at nothing to have him silenced. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund.

UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT: SEASON 4 - PT 2 (Series Available 1/25/19) As the series comes to a hilarious and moving close, Kimmy has to choose between helping her friends, Titus, Jacqueline, and Lillian (Carol Kane), and helping someone she’s never put first before: herself. This final season includes a double-sized “Sliding Doors” episode exploring how the main characters’ lives might have been different if Kimmy had never been kidnapped.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (Movie Available 1/29/19) Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne suits up and joins the action as The Wasp as Paul Rudd's Scott Lang must risk going back to prison in order to help his friends find their lost love, the original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer), who's stranded deep in the Quantum Realm.

INCREDIBLES 2 (Movie Available 1/30/19) The Parr family is back for a new adventure that seats Bob at home with baby Jack-Jack and pushes Elastigirl into mainstream celeb-u-status while she battles a haunting new villain called the Screenslaver.

THE PUNISHER: SEASON 2 (Coming Soon) Though no date has been given for The Punisher's second (and presumably last) season, it's officially included in Netflix's January package. Meaning we'll either get a date soon or they'll just release it with NO WARNING. Like they did with The Cloverfield Paradox. Whatever the case, Frank Castle will be back for one more round of bullet-riddled bedlam.

Or follow these links for the best of other genres:

Please note: This list pertains to U.S. Netflix subscribers. Some titles may not currently be available on international platforms.

Best Action Movies on Netflix Right Now

Avengers Infinity War

The most epic live-action superhero crossover ever plays like a big budget, action-packed version of Robert Altman's Nashville, complete with dozens and dozens of important characters, each of whom slip into each other's stories on their own path to victory or tragedy. It's the kind of sprawling superhero movie that would never have been possible, or even comprehensible, for mainstream audiences to appreciate 10 years ago, and it represents a vast uncharted landscape of superhero cinema in the future. And it's also thrilling, funny, captivating action filmmaking to boot!

Black Hawk Down

Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning war epic, about a daring rescue attempt following a botched mission in Mogadishu, isn't about sweeping global politics or man's inhumanity to man. It's about the moment, in the middle of a firefight, where nothing matters but the people next to you. Scott captures the incredibly complex shootouts, geography, tactics and large ensemble cast with a deftness that can only be admired, and somehow makes the chaotic Black Hawk Down seem easy to follow. It's not the most insightful war movie ever made, but it's one of the most thrilling.

The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan's second Batman movie was a game changer, using the costumed crimefighter to explore difficult contemporary issues, questioning the sacrifices seemingly "good" people are willing to make to achieve order in a chaotic world. It's also just a spectacularly entertaining movie in which a guy in a bat costume fights a guy dressed like a clown. Nolan used awe-inspiring 70mm filmmaking techniques along with grounded imagery straight out of a Michael Mann crime classic to give The Dark Knight a distinctive appearance, and demonstrate a world that's only growing bigger and crazier ever since that Batman guy turned up.

The Indiana Jones Series

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg collaborated on the classic Indiana Jones movies, taking the cheesy action movie tropes of their childhoods and translating them to the big screen using every new, exciting, expensive technique at their disposal. The first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is about as good as action movies ever get, with lovable characters and dastardly villains all searching for the same magical treasure, getting into one giant and unforgettable set piece after another. The sequels are mixed, but mostly great: Temple of Doom resorts to insulting stereotypes but also features probably the most breathtaking action sequences in the franchise's history; Last Crusade has iconic set pieces and the fantastic Sean Connery as Indie's stuffy father, but the jokey tone robs the series of its gravitas; and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is pretty dumb from start to finish, but at least it's never dull.

The Mummy

Stephen Sommers' 1999 remake of the classic Universal Monster movie The Mummy combined the classic scares with Indiana Jones-esque action iconography, and the result may not be "scary," but it's worth a few good shrieks. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are dashing protagonists, who accidentally awaken an ancient evil (a fantastic Arnold Vosloo) whose quest to resurrect his dead bride nearly dooms the world. Thrilling action and old-school monster movie tropes make this particular remake of The Mummy a treat for horror movie, action and comedy fans alike.

The Last Dragon

"Bruce" Leroy Green (Taimak) has been studying kung fu in New York City, and he's going to need all those fighting skills to save a charismatic and beautiful music video host from an evil video game mogul, who's in league with the evil Sho'nuff, a.k.a. The Shogun of Harlem (Julius Carry III). The Last Dragon is the perfect amalgam of 1980s cheese, because it already knows the fashions and music and plot are over the top. But the action kicks butt and the cast is dynamite, and the soundtrack will get stuck in your head forever.

Hellboy

Before he won an Oscar for directing the horror fairy tale The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro brought his oddball sensibilities to Hellboy, an adaptation of Mike Mignola's award-winning comic book series. Ron Perlman is perfect as the title character, a demon from hell who was raised by humans to protect us from supernatural forces. The plot is perfunctory but the monster effects are spectacular, the action is cool and the lead performances by Perlman and Selma Blair, as a firestarter who can't trust herself, are easy to fall in love with.

Fearless

Martial arts superstar Jet Li stars as Huo Yuanjia, a real-life master who challenged fighters from around the world to duels, and became a national hero in China. Jet Li has starred in many movies since Fearless, and some of them are great, but this film seems to be his final, truly great martial arts epic, teaching important lessons about the art form and letting the star completely cut loose in astounding fight sequences, directed by the great Ronny Yu (The Bride with White Hair). Fearless might not be Jet Li's very best film... but it's close.

Rumble in the Bronx

The film that made Jackie Chan a household name in America is still an energetic delight, with dazzling fight scenes that put most modern action movies to shame. Chan stars as a Chinese cop who travels to America, and gets wrapped up in a turf war in the Bronx. Even a refrigerator can become an awesome weapon in the hands of Jackie Chan.

Headshot

Imagine the plot of The Bourne Identity, but with the fight scenes from The Raid. That's the underrated action thriller Headshot, which stars Iko Uwais as an amnesiac who has to protect himself, and his psychologist, from an army of martial arts assassins who want him dead. Headshot arguably works even better on streaming, because the action is so stunning, and so merciless, you might need to pause the film just to catch your breath.

Black Panther

The biggest Marvel movie ever, and with good cause. Chadwick Boseman stars in Black Panther, a film that combines Afrofuturism with the superhero genre, giving audiences something they'd never seen before, on a scale that's hard to imagine. Michael B. Jordan co-stars as one of the great MCU villains, and Letitia Wright steals all her scenes as a technological genius who puts Tony Stark to shame. This is the combination of classic heroism, bold cinematic style and meaningful themes that superhero fans yearned for. And they got it all.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The eight chapter in the Star Wars saga of trilogies is one of the most controversial, but also one of the most frenetically paced, intense and unpredictable. The Resistance is on the run from the fascistic First Order, forcing Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) to separate and try every trick at their disposal - and learn a bunch of new ones - to save the day. The Last Jedi follows the basic framework of The Empire Strikes Back, with heroes divided, tragic reversals and unexpected revelations, only to transform itself in the last act into something new, a film that looks to the future instead of living entirely in the past.

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) get sucked onto an alien planet, where Thor battles the Hulk and Loki's allegiances are challenged (for the umpteenth time), in Taika Waititi's quirky and imaginative Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure, with standout performances by Cate Blanchett and Tessa Thompson rounding out the impressive cast. The stakes are high, the action is spectacular, and every storytelling decision feels like it came screaming out of underrated 1980s space opera oddities like The Ice Pirates or Krull. (For the record, that's a compliment.)

The Bourne Ultimatum

The third Bourne movie is, arguably, the one that got it right. Matt Damon once again stars as an amnesiac secret agent who turns against his own government when they try to kill him. The plot is dense, the action intense, and the craft put into realizing this slick thriller is impeccable. Big revelations, heavy drama, and as always, amazing fights and chases.

The Castle of Cagliostro

Before he became the universally acclaimed director of films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki directed The Castle of Cagliostro, a ripping adventure story about a charismatic thief named Lupin III who stumbles across a wild conspiracy involving counterfeit money and kidnapping. Miyazaki's trademark vibrancy is already in full swing, and the movie still feels wondrous and timeless.

Everly

You know how some movies are "Die Hard on a train" or "Die Hard on a boat?" Well, Joe Lynch's Everly is Die Hard in one room. Salma Hayek stars as a woman who fights back against her kidnappers, who keep coming after her in one deadly wave after another, as the room gets increasingly damaged and filled with bigger weapons. Hayek carries the whole film easily, and the clever concept never runs out of gas.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Uma Thurman stars as The Bride, a woman wronged by her assassin ex-boyfriend and his gang of vicious killers, who goes off on a massive, sprawling, bloody revenge spree over the course of two epic action movies that are packed with clever homages to grindhouse classics of all kinds. Thurman rules the screen here, and the fight scenes are some of the best of the decade.

So there you have it: what to watch on Netflix right now in the world of action movies. Check back here each month for new titles as Netflix adds them!