Looking for the best action movies on Netflix? You’ve come to the right place. Here at Exstreamist we pride ourselves on finding the top action movies you can stream instantly. From the classic action to the ridiculous and over the top action flicks, we enjoy them all.

While we’ll always try to keep this list of action movies up to date, let us know if you happen to catch them missing from Netflix and we’ll get the list updated asap. 

What are your favorite action movies on Netflix? Let us know in the comments!

10) Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

While Snatch isn’t on Netflix anymore, Guy Ritche’s legacy remains with Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels still streaming instantly. Fan of Snatch? You’ll love this one. Fan of shoot ’em ups? You’ll love this one. Comedy mixed with gratuitous violence? Yep, right up your alley.

9) Black Hawk Down

The best war movies rarely tie in any external plot points. No need for romance or interpersonal drama, just straight war flick. Black Hawk Down retells the story of a special forces operation in Somalia that goes terribly wrong. The entire movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, what more could you ask for.

8) Apocalypse Now

Graphic, depressing, and an immediate classic, Apocalypse Now is a must see for film buffs and action fans alike. We highly encourage you to watch this one with a heavy dose of prozac nearby though as it’s not a feel good movie by any stretch of the imagination. 

7) Rocky

While we certainly liked all of the Rocky movies for differing reasons (Rocky III still might be our personal favorite), there’s nothing quite like the original. No need to be a boxing fan to enjoy this one as Rocky is just a classic film no matter how little you might know about the sport.

6) The Hurt Locker

The movie that put Jeremy Renner on the map, The Hurt Locker shows just how obsessed some folks are with their craft, even if it is defusing bombs in Iraq. There’s a depressing reality to the film, as buried underneath all the great action and story is a man who doesn’t know what to do with himself when faced with normal life. War is his drug, and he can’t seem to find purpose without it.

5) Braveheart

Before Mel Gibson fell off the deep end, he was in a string of some of the most important action movies to anyone in late elementary school / middle school at the time. Braveheart was one of the first R rated movies most any 90s kid probably saw, and despite it’s historical inaccuracies, still remains a classic today.

4) Inglorious Basterds

We really don’t want to let recency bias sneak into a list like this, but Quentin Tarantino’s World War Two film Inglorious Basterds might be one of the best action war flicks to hit the big screen in a long time. It’s over the top, the violence is ridiculous and the story only gets nuttier the more it carries on, there is very little about this film that even the stingiest Tarantino fan can hate.

3) Kill Bill

Question – what Kill Bill did you like better, volume one or two? We find ourselves going back and forth on this one a lot, so we won’t get into it here. Regardless, it’s probably no coincidence that two Tarantino movies found themselves on this list, we apologize for our obvious biases. Is it a western? A samurai film? A noir? How about just a big mix of all different styles.

2) Top Gun

Basically just one giant recruitment movie to find the best pilots in the world, Top Gun turned pretty much everyone into wannabe fighter pilots by the time the movie’s climatic dogfight was over. Sure, looking back Top Gun is ridiculously cheesy, but that doesn’t make it any less lovable.

1) The Terminator

2029 is only a little over a decade away, but fortunately I think we’re still safely removed from the Terminator plot becoming a reality (or are we?!). One of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s earlier works, it to this day remains one of our favorites. While many have come after it, it’s really hard to top the original cyborg action flick.