Must Watch Action Movies and TV Shows
by ferealzireeni | created - 14 Apr 2023 | updated - 9 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Vikings (2013–2020)
TV-MA | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore--and raid--the distant shores across the ocean.
Stars: Katheryn Winnick, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alexander Ludwig, Georgia Hirst
Votes: 582,369
2. Vikings: Valhalla (2022– )
TV-MA | 51 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Follow-up series to 'Vikings' set 100 years later and focusing on the adventures of Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Hardrada, and the Norman King William the Conqueror.
Stars: David Oakes, Sam Corlett, Leo Suter, Frida Gustavsson
Votes: 56,464
3. The Last Kingdom (2015–2022)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, History
As Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred--born a Saxon but raised by Vikings--seeks to claim his ancestral birthright.
Stars: Alexander Dreymon, Eliza Butterworth, Arnas Fedaravicius, Mark Rowley
Votes: 165,590
4. The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)
TV-MA | 111 min | Action, Drama, History
In the wake of King Edward's death, Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his comrades adventure across a fractured kingdom in the hopes of uniting England at last.
Director: Edward Bazalgette | Stars: Mark Rowley, Pekka Strang, Zoltan Andrasi, Ingrid García Jonsson
Votes: 35,637
5. Angel Has Fallen (2019)
R | 121 min | Action, Thriller
Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat.
Director: Ric Roman Waugh | Stars: Gerard Butler, Frederick Schmidt, Danny Huston, Rocci Boy Williams
Votes: 110,590 | Gross: $69.03M
6. London Has Fallen (2016)
R | 99 min | Action, Thriller
In London for the Prime Minister's funeral, Mike Banning is caught up in a plot to assassinate all the attending world leaders.
Director: Babak Najafi | Stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett
Votes: 169,588 | Gross: $62.68M
7. Taken (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser
Votes: 634,361 | Gross: $145.00M
8. See (2019–2022)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Far in a dystopian future, the human race has lost the sense of sight, and society has had to find new ways to interact, build, hunt, and to survive. All of that is challenged when a set of twins are born with sight.
Stars: Jason Momoa, Sylvia Hoeks, Hera Hilmar, Christian Camargo
Votes: 98,443
9. The Witcher (2019– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.
Stars: Freya Allan, Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Eamon Farren
Votes: 569,744
10. The Terminal List (2022– )
TV-MA | 55 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A former Navy SEAL officer investigates why his entire platoon was ambushed during a high-stakes covert mission.
Stars: Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch, Riley Keough
Votes: 107,362
11. Money Heist (2017–2021)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An unusual group of robbers attempt to carry out the most perfect robbery in Spanish history - stealing 2.4 billion euros from the Royal Mint of Spain.
Stars: Úrsula Corberó, Álvaro Morte, Itziar Ituño, Pedro Alonso
Votes: 531,921
12. Narcos (2015–2017)
TV-MA | 50 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A chronicled look at the criminal exploits of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, as well as the many other drug kingpins who plagued the country through the years.
Stars: Pedro Pascal, Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Alberto Ammann
Votes: 470,158
13. Nikita (2010–2013)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A rogue assassin returns to take down the secret organization that trained her.
Stars: Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford
Votes: 53,892
14. The Night Agent (2023– )
TV-MA | 45 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Low-level FBI agent Peter Sutherland works in the basement of the White House manning a phone that never rings - until the night it does, propelling him into a conspiracy that leads all the way to the Oval Office.
Stars: Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Sarah Desjardins
Votes: 109,657
15. White House Down (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
While on a tour of the White House with his young daughter, a Capitol policeman springs into action to save his child and protect the president from a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke
Votes: 236,176 | Gross: $73.10M
16. Sucker Punch (2011)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone
Votes: 252,734 | Gross: $36.39M
17. Salt (2010)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Thriller
A CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski
Votes: 330,060 | Gross: $118.31M
18. 6 Underground (2019)
R | 128 min | Action, Thriller
Six individuals from all around the globe, each the very best at what they do, have been chosen not only for their skill, but for a unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy
Votes: 196,429
19. Safe House (2012)
R | 115 min | Action, Thriller
A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.
Director: Daniel Espinosa | Stars: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Robert Patrick, Vera Farmiga
Votes: 235,533 | Gross: $126.37M
20. Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.
Director: F. Gary Gray | Stars: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney
Votes: 319,780 | Gross: $73.34M
21. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
R | 106 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán, Victor Gojcaj
Votes: 208,011 | Gross: $65.45M
22. Inside Man (2006)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A police detective, a bank robber, and a high-power broker enter high-stakes negotiations after the criminal's brilliant heist spirals into a hostage situation.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 397,781 | Gross: $88.51M
23. Den of Thieves (2018)
R | 140 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An elite unit of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and the state's most successful bank robbery crew clash as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank.
Director: Christian Gudegast | Stars: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson Jr., 50 Cent
Votes: 123,650 | Gross: $44.95M
24. Takers (2010)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A group of bank robbers find their multi-million dollar plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective.
Director: John Luessenhop | Stars: Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Michael Ealy
Votes: 65,778 | Gross: $57.74M
25. Colombiana (2011)
PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A young girl in Bogotá witnesses her parents' murder and grows up to be a stone-cold assassin.
Director: Olivier Megaton | Stars: Zoe Saldana, Michael Vartan, Callum Blue, Jordi Mollà
Votes: 107,632 | Gross: $36.67M
26. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, War
Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 1,091,143 | Gross: $75.60M
27. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,496,085 | Gross: $216.54M
28. Troy (2004)
R | 163 min | Adventure, Drama
An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julian Glover
Votes: 570,311 | Gross: $133.38M
29. 13 Sins (2014)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his-luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last.
Director: Daniel Stamm | Stars: Mark Webber, Devon Graye, Tom Bower, Rutina Wesley
Votes: 38,985 | Gross: $0.01M
30. Captain Phillips (2013)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Catherine Keener
Votes: 492,551 | Gross: $107.10M
31. Man on Fire (2004)
R | 146 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In Mexico City, a former CIA operative swears vengeance on those who committed an unspeakable act against the family he was hired to protect.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell
Votes: 389,493 | Gross: $77.91M
32. Body of Lies (2008)
R | 128 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani
Votes: 239,376 | Gross: $39.39M
33. Skyscraper (2018)
PG-13 | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A security expert must infiltrate a burning skyscraper, 225 stories above ground, when his family is trapped inside by criminals.
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Møller
Votes: 134,068 | Gross: $68.42M
34. El Chapo (2017–2018)
TV-MA | 43 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A look at the life of notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, from his early days in the 1980s working for the Guadalajara Cartel, to his rise to power during the '90s as the head of the Sinaloa Cartel and his ultimate downfall in 2016.
Stars: Marco de la O, Humberto Busto, Diego Vásquez, Juan Carlos Cruz
Votes: 20,470
35. The Last of Us (2023– )
TV-MA | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity's last hope.
Stars: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Anna Torv, Gabriel Luna
Votes: 522,317
36. The Peripheral (2022)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Set in the future when technology has subtly altered society, a woman discovers a secret connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own.
Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Gary Carr, Jack Reynor, JJ Feild
Votes: 80,209
37. Game of Thrones (2011–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey
Votes: 2,283,453
38. The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
R | 103 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Three groups of people intertwine and are left stranded in the streets on Purge Night, trying to survive the chaos and violence that occurs.
Director: James DeMonaco | Stars: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez
Votes: 162,237 | Gross: $71.96M
39. Gamer (2009)
R | 95 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a future mind-controlling game, death row convicts are forced to battle in a 'Doom'-type environment. Convict Kable, controlled by Simon, a skilled teenage gamer, must survive thirty sessions in order to be set free.
Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor | Stars: Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Ludacris, Amber Valletta
Votes: 139,598 | Gross: $20.49M
40. The Mummy Returns (2001)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The mummified body of Imhotep is shipped to a museum in London, where he once again wakes and begins his campaign of rage and terror.
Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo
Votes: 345,820 | Gross: $202.02M
41. What Happened to Monday (2017)
TV-MA | 123 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
In a world where families are limited to one child due to overpopulation, a set of identical septuplets must avoid being put to a long sleep by the government and dangerous infighting while investigating the disappearance of one of their own.
Director: Tommy Wirkola | Stars: Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe, Marwan Kenzari
Votes: 134,453
42. The Foreigner (I) (2017)
R | 113 min | Action, Thriller
A humble businessman with a buried past seeks justice when his daughter is killed in an act of terrorism. A cat-and-mouse conflict ensues with a government official, whose past may hold clues to the killers' identities.
Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Katie Leung, Jackie Chan, Rufus Jones, Mark Tandy
Votes: 123,272 | Gross: $34.39M
43. Extraction II (2023)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After barely surviving his grievous wounds from his mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake is back, and his team is ready to take on their next mission.
Director: Sam Hargrave | Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Tornike Gogrichiani
Votes: 147,488
44. Survivor (I) (2015)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Foreign Service Officer in London tries to prevent a terrorist attack set to hit New York City, but is forced to go on the run when she is framed for crimes she did not commit.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott, Paddy Wallace
Votes: 35,757
45. Hijack (2023)
TV-MA | 47 min | Drama, Thriller
A plane from Dubai to London is hijacked over a 7-hour flight, while authorities on the ground scramble for answers.
Stars: Idris Elba, Neil Maskell, Max Beesley, Ben Miles
Votes: 70,242
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