Sometimes, nothing but a good action movie will hit the spot for a moviegoer. Watching death-defying stunts, shootouts with a lot of people, or just a good old-fashioned brawl awakens something primal. A lot of times, newer films have sleeker action sequences, highlighting speed or camera tricks that can make them look cooler. Even the best of friends can be made to look like mortal enemies fighting to the death using these techniques.
Action movies generally rely on the typical good versus evil storyline because there has to be some sort of conflict for these people to be battling one another over. Sometimes, it can be as big as saving the world. Other times, it can be protecting one’s home. Whatever the story suggests, if an action movie is on, there’s going to be some impressive scenes. HBO Max has a ton of great options for any adrenaline junkie looking for their next adventure, meaning any of these action movies can be watched while skydiving or paragliding (don’t actually do that, please).
Here are 10 explosive action movies to check out on HBO Max.
10
‘Deepwater Horizon’ (2016)
Based on a true story, Deepwater Horizon puts a spotlight on the explosion of the drilling unit of the same name that occurred in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest marine oil spill ever and the worst oil disaster in U.S. history. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Kate Hudson, Ethan Suplee, Dylan O’Brien, and Brad Leland, the movie highlights the chain of events that took place to cause the blowout.
Directed by Peter Berg, the action sequences feel a bit more harrowing, knowing that they took place in real life. The explosions are so massive, you can practically feel them in your seat. The visual effects are top-notch, earning the film an Academy Award nomination for that craft. It also earned a nomination for Best Sound Editing.
9
‘Greenland’ (2020)
Gerard Butler has turned into one of the more reliable action stars, as his films tend to deliver high-octane thrills. Greenland is no different, with a comet barreling toward the U.S., Butler’s John must get his family to safety any way he knows how. The extinction-level catastrophe causes mass panic for the entire world, and John, Allison (Morena Baccarin), and Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) aim to make their way to Canada to get on a plane to Greenland, where the military is setting up bunkers.
Scenes in cars, planes, bunkers, hospitals, and all throughout the middle of America show the dire nature of John and his family’s problems. The movie was slated to come out in early 2020, but COVID-19 hampered its release until later in the year. It earned praise as a guilty pleasure, and a sequel is slated for 2026.
8
‘Police Story’ (1985)
Jackie Chan is synonymous with action films, and Police Story is currently available on HBO Max. The 1985 cop thriller is regarded by Chan as his best action film. It features him as a Hong Kong police detective who must clear his own name after being accused of murder. The action sequences in the film are legendary, and the plot of the film was more or less built around the choreographed scenes.
Chan hangs off a speeding bus and makes his way up buildings using parkour skills. The most famous scene of the film is the mall fight, a nearly 8-minute non-stop action odyssey culminating in a large explosion that Chan makes his way out of. It started a franchise, so there’s more for fans who enjoy it. But they don’t get any better than the original.
7
‘End of Watch’ (2012)
David Ayer has built his career on making gritty films like The Beekeeper, Fury, Sabotage, and End of Watch. The latter film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as two LA police officers investigating gang violence. The film is a starring vehicle for the two leads and focuses on them as partners, friends, and family men. It portrays how hard it is to not take work home for a cop and the repercussions of working a dangerous street role.
The directing style is frenetic and fast-paced, following the officers with close-up cameras as they run through alleys or chase assailants in their squad car to make it feel like a found footage film. There are a lot of gun battles in this film, and there’s rarely a true moment of calm or peace. Natalie Martinez stars as Peña’s wife, and Anna Kendrick plays Gyllenhaal’s. Frank Grillo, America Ferrera, and David Harbour also star as police officers.
6
‘Speed’ (1994)
How could a movie about a bus that can’t go under a certain speed limit, lest it blow up, not be action-packed? That’s what Speed is, the 1994 thriller starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Reeves is an LAPD SWAT bomb diffuser who gets a tip that the villain (Dennis Hopper) has rigged a bomb to a bus and, once the bus goes over 50 MPH, it activates the bomb, and it can’t go under that speed limit, or it will detonate. Bullock plays a woman on the bus who has to do a fair bit of driving.
Reeves boards the bus, and havoc breaks loose, as the battle to keep the streets of LA safe begins. Jeff Daniels plays a fellow bomb squad technician while Joe Morton, Alan Ruck, and Beth Grant all costar. The movie made a massive $350 million against a $35 million budget, proving its summer blockbuster status. Speed still notches up the adrenaline over 30 years later.
5
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ (2024)
Any movie set in the Mad Max universe is insanely action-packed, but the most recent two entries take the cake. Mad Max Fury Road introduced the character of Furiosa, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga gives her backstory. Furiosa’s origin story is a prequel film written and directed by George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth. Set in the Australian outback, which is a barren wasteland after the apocalypse, Furiosa (Taylor-Joy) is a child who is “adopted” by Dementus (Hemsworth), a warlord.
Furiosa is then traded to Immortan Joe, another warlord, during negotiations over land. She rises up the ranks of Joe’s army with impressive intuition and decision-making. The movie features massive vehicle chases, tons of explosions and fire, and attempted sieges as warlords battle for land in the desert. The movie is fast and furious and earned solid reviews from fans and critics, but bombed at the box office.
4
‘Elevation’ (2024)
When the world is wrecked by subterranean creatures called Reapers who decimate the population in Elevation, the only safe place becomes high elevation. Will (Anthony Mackie) lives in a community 8,000 feet above sea level, which is the only safe way to avoid the Reapers. When his son, who has a lung disease, is running low on medical supplies, Will and Nina (Morena Baccarin) travel out of the heights to Boulder, Colorado, to not only find more supplies but also visit Nina’s lab where she had been doing experiments to find out how to kill the Reapers.
The film features some quality chase scenes and battles against the Reapers, and Mackie brings a good mix of emotional depth and physical action to the role. Baccarin carries her own in the action thriller, and the film is a taut 90 minutes, providing a good escape for anyone looking for a monster action film.
3
‘Civil War’ (2024)
Alex Garland has made a career writing shocking films that feature the internal struggles of humans during extraordinary times in history. The 28 Days Later franchise sees people dealing with the spread of a virus. Ex Machina portrays humans coexisting with robots. Civil War highlights what life might be like if the United States actually went to war with itself. Starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist, Wagner Moura as a journalist, Stephen McKinley Henderson as a veteran reporter, and Cailee Spaeny as an up-and-coming photographer trying to reach the White House to interview the President, the film sees the group travel from New York to Washington, DC and experience a war-torn land.
They come up against militia groups, mass graves, civilians killing civilians, and eruptive gun battles. The gritty style and alarming social commentary pull audiences in and don’t let go. The concept of “how far is too far” is broached and toyed with throughout the intense film. It made $127M at the box office.
2
‘Clash of the Titans’ (2010)
A remake of a 1981 film of the same name, Clash of the Titans brings audiences into the annals of Greek mythology to observe just what the title says. It tells the story of how Zeus (Liam Neeson) created mortals after dividing up the worlds and had a demigod son named Perseus (Sam Worthington). After growing up, Perseus learns of his heritage and must confront Hades (Ralph Fiennes), who is trying to take over the skies and world.
Louis Leterrier’s stylish direction brings the visual effects-heavy battle scenes full circle, making them notable and epic. The film stars Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Alexa Davalos, Jason Flemyng, and Nicolas Hulot. The movie made nearly $500 million at the box office despite being flamed by critics.
1
‘Bullet Train’ (2022)
Packed with action from the moment the movie begins, Bullet Train sees the fighting and sleek camera shots move as quickly as the train does. Set on a high-speed train in Japan, Brad Pitt’s assassin character is hired to pick up a briefcase. What he doesn’t know is a stable full of assassins also have their eye on that case. Co-mingling with regular patrons, Pitt must dodge attempts at killing him while trying to complete his mission.
Highly stylized to borrow from Japanese culture, and featuring a great cast of Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Bad Bunny, Zazie Beetz, and an all-important snake star, the film is directed by David Leitch. The body count rises the farther the bullet train gets from Tokyo. For any fan of the John Wick films (some of which were directed by Leitch), this is a film for them.
