Netflix has been an ever-growing, extensive hub for fantastic action films over the years. Many were instant hits upon release, while others had only a brief stint of popularity—or none at all—before fading out of most conversations. Some of those forgotten action movies count as Netflix’s finest, delivering top-tier performances, thrilling action, and consistently entertaining storytelling.
Movies like 2021’s The Harder They Fall, which is a rather stylish modern interpretation of the western genre, and The Old Guard, a 2020 action film that masterfully balances consistent emotional storytelling with hard-hitting action, are just two on the Netflix platform that feel truly satisfying from beginning to end, but have consistently remained away from the spotlight. Compiled on this list are the perfect action films that deliver pure entertainment from start to finish, but don’t truly get the recognition they deserve.
‘The Night Comes for Us’ (2018)
This extremely chaos-driven Netflix action movie is one that truly embraces its brutality and pure anarchy. The Night Comes for Us follows triad enforcer, Ito (Joe Taslim), who finally snaps during a massacre and saves young Reina (Asha Kenyeri Bermudez) instead of finishing the job, which turns him into a target for his own syndicate.
The Night Comes for Us is an unbelievably violent survival story filled with emotional desperation, relentless fight choreography, and some of the most intense action sequences ever produced in cinema. The Indonesian action thriller may be extremely violent, but throughout its entire runtime, it balances that unrestrained brutality with themes of loyalty, survival, and betrayal. What marks The Night Comes for Us as a truly perfect watch, despite its widely forgotten status, is its sheer intensity and extremely creative aspects, especially when it comes to heated bouts of action. The movie is perfection incarnate that genuinely feels as relentless, visceral, and physically exhausting as it is extraordinarily captivating.
‘Athena’ (2022)
Despite being a fantastic example of one of Netflix’s finest action films, Athena stands as a pretty heinously forgotten drama. The film centers around the lives of Abdel (Dali Benssalah), Karim (Sami Slimane), and Moktar (Anthony Bajon), who are completely shattered in different ways after the unexplained death of their youngest brother. The film tracks the three as their responses to grief clash, increasingly throwing them into a realm of complete chaos.
Athena is actually one of Netflix’s boldest movies. It’s an action film that has been quite frequently lauded for its sheer cinematic force in both staging and directing. Athena is also pretty underrated, having faded rather quickly from mainstream conversations shortly after its release. The movie is a quality Netflix watch that does entertain its audience with thrills and action, but eventually exposes itself as a family tragedy disguised as actual urban war cinema. With extraordinary, emotionally intense storytelling and true technical brilliance, Athena stands as one of Netflix’s most ambitious action films that is genuinely perfect from beginning to end.
‘The Harder They Fall’ (2021)
This Netflix film brilliantly revitalizes the Western genre through energy, style, and a truly memorable cast of characters. The Harder They Fall is a thrilling action movie that focuses on Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), who grows up marked by the murder of his parents at the hands of Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), and his strenuous path of revenge.
With a blend of sharp dialogue, extraordinary visual confidence, and stylish action with captivating revenge storytelling, The Harder They Fall stands as one of Netflix’s most original watches. The movie is pretty consistent in its brilliance, delivering kinetic pacing, charismatic performances, and visually stylish direction from start to finish. The Harder They Fall readily embraces all that makes it different from other westerns that tend to lean heavily into restraint and realism, resulting in a wildly entertaining action drama that leaves its mark. The movie may be one of the streaming platform’s most forgotten works of fiction, but it stands as a stylishly complete action film— a modernized Western that is genuinely the perfect action watch for anyone who desires a consistent high-quality thrill ride.
‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf’ (2021)
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is an underrated action fantasy. The enchanting animated film follows Vesemir (Theo James), who may have built his reputation as a swaggering monster hunter, but whose confidence gradually yields far more information about who he truly is at his core, tying deeply into the origins of the witchers.
What makes The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf the perfect action watch is the 83 minutes of consistency that doesn’t stray off the path to indulge in meaningless side quests. The movie actually expands the Witcher universe, giving beloved characters a real arc, stages dynamic creature combat, and lands a melancholy finish. Most Netflix subscribers, unfortunately, don’t even know that the animated film sits quietly on their shelves, awaiting its next lover of action films. Few films in recent years have delivered such a perfect balance of emotional storytelling and thrilling action as effectively as Nightmare of the Wolf. It may not be as well-known as it deserves to be, but the movie is the perfect bout of action-bound chaos that stands as one of Netflix’s best.
‘Space Sweepers’ (2021)
This sci-fi work of cinematic art is consistently overlooked, but it remains one of Netflix’s most thrilling action-adventure movies. Set in 2092, Space Sweepers centers around Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki), Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu), and Bubs (Yoo Hae-jin), a group surviving by hauling space junk aboard the Victory, only for their lives to take a turn when they discover a child believed to be a dangerous humanoid weapon.
Space Sweepers is extremely entertaining as it delivers futuristic world-building and chaotic space battles, while also offering audiences a deeply human story about connection and survival. The sci-fi epic feels truly emotionally engaging-a lovable watch that succeeds through its grounded storytelling and memorable crew dynamic. Space Sweepers, as an international film, is mostly “forgotten” in English-language discussions, but not necessarily globally. It’s a movie that delivers in sentiment, scale, and tactile world-building throughout its entirety, making it a fantastic addition to this list of action Netflix greats.
‘Army of Thieves’ (2021)
Army of Thieves is the prequel film to Netflix’s Army of the Dead, and it is honestly one of the best, effortlessly fun, and quirkily charismatic films on the streaming platform. The movie centers around safecracking nobody, Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert, later Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), who is recruited by Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) into a multinational heist crew including Korina (Ruby O. Fee), Rolph (Guz Khan), and Brad Cage (Stuart Martin).
Army of Thieves is definitely one of those quiet favorites. While Army of the Dead seemed to get most of the attention, the prequel film lingered in the background, simply becoming what most people file away as “that prequel” and silently became one of Netflix’s most entertaining action-comedy surprises. Army of Thieves is extraordinarily playful, romantic, and surprisingly elegant in its pacing, a truly likable watch that may not be as memorable to mainstream audiences but is a genuinely good time from beginning to end.
‘The Old Guard’ (2020)
This underrated action hit was actually pretty quick in establishing itself as one of Netflix’s strongest action films. The Old Guard follows the exhausted leader of a covert group of immortal mercenaries, Andy (Charlize Theron), who has spent centuries saving lives, fighting wars, and watching the world endlessly repeat the same cycles of violence.
Beginning to end, The Old Guard remains consistent in its high quality. From fantastic hand-to-hand combat choreography to a very real focus on the heartbreaking isolation and pure exhaustion some characters face, The Old Guard does an all-around fantastic job. Sure, the film may not be some kind of revolutionary reinvention of the action genre, but it is one of Netflix’s clearest examples of how effective straightforward blockbuster storytelling can be when grounded in emotional seriousness and outstanding performances. The Old Guard may not be the streaming platform’s most iconic action movie that is constantly discussed, but it is an incredible balance of large-scale spectacle and genuine emotional weight that definitely deserves a place on this list.
‘Troll’ (2022)
Troll is one of Netflix’s most well met surprises. The Norwegian movie follows paleontologist Nora Tidemann (Ine Marie Wilmann), who is thrust into crisis mode when a gargantuan creature from Norwegian folklore is awakened and starts destroying everything in its path.
Troll came to screens in 2022, and the film instantly stood as a pleasant surprise, growing into one of the most unexpectedly entertaining monster movies thanks to its Nordic mythology influences, thrilling destruction sequences, and sincere sense of adventure. The action fantasy film delivers massive creature chaos, military action, and disaster-movie suspense throughout its entire runtime, keeping fans thoroughly engaged. Troll’s concept is pretty clean, and its escalation works rather well. The movie definitely does its part to be genuinely appealing with its understanding of monster-movie fundamentals at a level that many bigger franchises have trouble reaching. Troll is an absurdly great movie, yet somehow it never seems to be in mainstream conversations, marking it as an ideal pick for this list of fantastic cinematic watches on Netflix that have been thoroughly forgotten.
Troll
- Release Date
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December 1, 2022
- Runtime
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101 minutes
