30 Best Action Movies On HBO Max

HBO Max entered the streaming fray in May 2020, and despite being over a decade behind some of the biggest names in the business, the platform has become one of the top apps for streamers. It's is still building up its catalog of original content, but boasts a wide variety of films and television series for your viewing pleasure. Not only does HBO Max have the entire "Lord of the Rings" catalog as well as the films of the DCEU, but it's also home to all 10 seasons of "Friends" and fellow sitcom smash "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

From comedies to thrillers, HBO Max has it all — including a vast selection of some of the greatest action movies of all time. The streaming giant is a great destination if you're a fan of the genre, as it currently hosts stellar action flicks loved by critics and fans alike. We've scoured through the streamer's July 2021 catalog and pulled the 30 best action films of the bunch, so if you're wondering what to watch tonight, look no further.

Updated on December 30, 2021: When it comes to movies with car chases, fist fights, and insane stunts, HBO Max is constantly changing its catalog. In order to keep things current, we'll be updating this list each month so you can stay informed on all the crazy action happening over on HBO Max.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Eli wanders the desolate wasteland protecting an item he holds most dear. He might be blind, but he's a ruthless fighter who can take down any adversary with ease. Once a powerful warlord discovers what Eli is carrying, he makes it his mission to bring it into his possession. He doesn't know that Eli will fight for the death for it, and the finale's big reveal will leave your jaw on the floor. Critics didn't love the film too much, but audiences rated it much higher for Denzel Washington's performance as Eli, as well as Mila Kunis for her supporting role.

• Starring: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman
• Director: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes
• Year: 2010
• Runtime: 112 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46%

The second film in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, this Batman flick is regarded as one of the best superhero films of all time. Bruce Wayne finds himself tracking down the Joker, a criminal hellbent on creating anarchy in Gotham who pushes Batman to his absolute limits by taking one of the people he cares about most in the world.

• Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal
• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Year: 2008
• Runtime: 152 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Set during the Battle of Dunkirk in the Second World War, this Christopher Nolan war epic follows British and French soldiers as they're trapped in the port town while being shot down on by German planes. In an effort to get their men home, Britain has civilian boats travel to rescue the stranded men, as two Royal Air Force fighter pilots take on the daunting task of defending their people in treacherous airspace.

• Starring: Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Harry Styles
• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 106 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

J.R.R. Tolkein's 1937 novel "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" is a short, casually presented fairy tale. But when Peter Jackson — who took Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings" and turned it into one of the biggest and most satisfying film epics of all time — got a hold of "The Hobbit," he brought the scale, grandeur, and action, presenting a second, prequel Middle-Earth trilogy. 

The first installment, "An Unexpected Journey" spends an agreeably long time in the well-realized Shire, the home of the tiny human-like hobbits, where Bilbo Baggins leads a quiet and happy life of little drama. But then he's enlisted by his dear friend, the great wizard Gandalf, to go on a quest and help a group of dwarves reclaim their kingdom and treasure. Along the way, Bilbo will face dangers and delights, including fantastical lands, orcs, goblins, gigantic birds, dragons, and swamp monsters.

• Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen
• Director: Peter Jackson
• Year: 2012
• Runtime: 169 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64%

There are few action subgenres more fun than the heist team-up movie, wherein a charismatic leader assembles a group of quirky individuals with particular skills to pull off an almost impossible theft of some unbelievably valuable treasure. In "The Italian Job" — an amped-up, American-style remake of the relatively reserved 1969 movie of the same name — one heist falls apart when criminal team member Steve goes rogue during a robbery, killing his safecracker and taking off with all of the gold promised to the whole squad. The rest of that group — from the leader and the daring driver to the explosives guy and the computer wiz — then vows revenge and plans to steal back the ill-gotten loot.

• Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton
• Director: F. Gary Gray
• Year: 2003
• Runtime: 111 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%

In the fictional Egyptian city of Hamunaptra, a mummy is awoken during an archeological dig. The High Priest Imhotep was mummified alive 36 centuries ago and now searches for his long-lost love in an attempt to resurrect her. He wreaks havoc across the city and kills as he sucks the souls out of his victims, giving him a more lively appearance. Adventurer Rick O'Connell, Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan, and her brother must stop the mummy from fulfilling his mission of setting 10 plagues on Egypt in addition to finding his lover.

• Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah
• Director: Stephen Sommers
• Year: 1999
• Runtime: 124 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%

Set in the post-apocalyptic future, "Mad Max: Fury Road" follows the story of Imperator Furiosa as she rebels against her ruler, Immortan Joe, in a world where everyone is fighting for resources. As she helps the five brides of the tyrant escape the citadel where they reside, they're joined by a loner named Max, who's been kidnapped to provide blood for a war boy in the fortress. As the group travels to Furiosa's homeland to find refuge, they're followed by Joe and his men in a chase across a desolate wasteland.

• Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
• Director: George Miller
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 120 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

In 2077, humans have lost a war to aliens, and the survivors now live off-planet on a distant colony. Only a few people remain on Earth, including Jack Harper, who monitors and maintains safety drones with his partner Vika. After a spacecraft crash lands on Earth, the only survivor is a woman who Jack has dreamed of before. She turns his world upside down, and he now questions everything he's ever known and becomes the key to saving humanity as he knows it. Critics were split on "Oblivion," but Tom Cruise's performance as Jack Harper was praised nonetheless. The film is a sci-fi hidden gem with an incredible soundtrack and score composed by M83. 

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman
• Director: Joseph Kosinski
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 125 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 53%

Hong Kong Inspector Lee and L.A.P.D. Officer Carter become an unlikely duo who come together to find the kidnapped daughter of the Chinese Consul in Los Angeles. One of the great action comedies, "Rush Hour" sees a hilarious back and forth between the protagonists as their cultures clash. Full of famous one-liners, it spawned two sequels, which are also available on the platform.

• Starring: Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan, Tom Wilkinson
• Director: Brett Ratner
• Year: 1998
• Runtime: 97 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%

This fast-paced thriller sees S.W.A.T. officer Jack Traven attempt to save hostages on board a moving bus with a bomb that's set to detonate if the bus travels below 50 miles per hour — and if any hostages are removed as the bus is moving, it will also be remotely detonated. Running out of gas and pavement, Jack works against time to figure out how to save everyone on board, including the passenger at the wheel.

• Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper
• Director: Jan de Bont
• Year: 1994
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Easily the most complex film on our list, "Tenet" follows a nameless hero charged with saving the planet from an impending WWIII. The Protagonist navigates the world of espionage and time inversion — a concept that'll have you scratching your head. In order to stop a powerful Russian oligarch, our hero must work alongside him and master time manipulation (not to be confused with time travel). It's an audiovisual spectacle that deserves a watch or two.

• Starring: John David Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Pattinson
• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Year: 2020
• Runtime: 150 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

In the film that earned him his second Academy Award, Denzel Washington plays rogue LAPD narcotics detective Alonzo Harris, charged with training officer Jake Hoyt on his first day. Jake learns that his new partner does things his own way as he watches him abuse suspects, mishandle evidence, and brazenly flout the rules. As Alonzo tries to take Hoyt under his wing, the newbie avoids getting dragged into the corrupt life, eventually causing a major confrontation.

• Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn
• Director: Antoine Fuqua
• Year: 2001
• Runtime: 122 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%

Stormchaser Dr. Jo Harding is a dedicated professional who tracks deadly tornados to plant measuring devices inside them and collect data. Her husband, Bill Harding, is desperately trying to finalize their divorce so he can marry his new lady friend, but the three find themselves chasing tornados in a deadly string of storms across Oklahoma. Jo's passion for her work puts her in some scary scenarios as she and her husband face the ultimate twister, which could cost them their lives.

• Starring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Carey Elwes
• Director: Jan de Bont
• Year: 1996
• Runtime: 113 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%

Haunted by his past, former NYPD detective Matt Scudder works as a private eye, one who's commissioned by a local drug dealer to find his wife's murderers. After accepting the job, Scudder finds himself wandering deeper and deeper into darkness as the men he's after are two of the most vicious killers you'll ever see on the screen. "A Walk Among the Tombstones" is one of Neeson's highest-rated action flicks of the last decade, even outperforming the smash hit "Taken" on Rotten Tomatoes. And if you only know David Harbour as the cranky yet adorable police chief in "Stranger Things," well, you better brace yourself.

• Starring: Liam Neeson, David Harbour, Dan Stevens
• Director: Scott Frank
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 114 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%

Director Patty Jenkins seamlessly weaves together every necessary element of a superhero blockbuster in this glorious outing. "Wonder Woman" feels significant in a contemporary sense as well as nostalgic, as a throwback to the clear-eyed, feel-good comic book movies of the 20th century. Jenkins spared no expense in bringing Wonder Woman's origin story to the silver screen, which includes her time as a warrior royal on a remote island, her romance with American pilot Steve Trevor, and her breathtakingly bold actions on the World War I battlefield. Gal Gadot oozes charisma and heroism as the lasso-wielding icon.

• Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, David Thewlis
• Director: Patty Jenkins
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 141 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%