In January, Netflix is coming out strong for 2025 with a stacked lineup of action movies. Thanks to a licensing agreement, Warner Bros. has sent over some of its best movies to Netflix, including Interstellar, Dune: Part Two, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and In the Heart of the Sea.
Those five movies have all found themselves in the top 10 for the most popular movies on Netflix. And the fun doesn’t stop there. Inside Netflix’s action genre, there are a variety of blockbusters, classics, and originals. This month, our recommendations are a Mad Max entry, a stylish crime caper, and a buddy cop comedy.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
New rule: If you’re looking for an action movie on a service and it has Mad Max: Fury Road, then stream it. Few action movies sit in the same stratosphere as Fury Road, George Miller’s fourth installment in his Mad Max franchise. Max Rockatansky (Venom: The Last Dance actor Tom Hardy) remains an outlaw drifting through the Wasteland, always looking for gas to fuel his vehicle. Max is captured by the War Boys and brought to the Citadel to be a universal blood donor.
Eventually, Max escapes and links up with the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), who has kidnapped Joe’s five wives in hopes of bringing them to a new home. With few options left, Max forms an uneasy alliance with Furiosa, agreeing to help her navigate the Wasteland to freedom. It won’t be easy, though, with Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his War Boys hot in pursuit.
Stream Mad Max: Fury Road on Netflix.
Baby Driver (2017)
Baby Driver is an Edgar Wright heist movie, not to be confused with Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller, Babygirl. Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a superb getaway driver working heists for Doc (Kevin Spacey) to pay off a debt. Baby suffers from tinnitus, so he frequently wears headphones and listens to music to drown out the ringing in his ears.
Baby’s life changes after meeting Debora (Lily James), a cute waitress at a diner. The two fall in love, and for the first time, Baby pictures a life outside of driving. Hoping to start a future with Debora, Baby plans to work one final job and leave town for good. When the heist goes awry, Baby must rely on his ingenuity and slick driving skills to make it out alive. Cue the music.
Stream Baby Driver on Netflix.
Rush Hour (1998)
The buddy cop comedy always features two polar opposites joining forces to save the day. In Rush Hour, the two cops are Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) and LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker). A Hong Kong diplomat (Tzi Ma) summons Lee to Los Angeles to help find his kidnapped daughter. The FBI does not want Lee working on this case, so they dump him off to the LAPD, who then task Carter with babysitting the Hong Kong detective.
The initial pairing is disastrous, as Lee and Carter frequently butt heads. However, the two begin trusting one another after making more progress on the case than the FBI and LAPD. With Chan’s combat prowess and Tucker’s wisecracking jokes, Rush Hour is the perfect blend of comedy and action.
Stream Rush Hour on Netflix.
