The 20 Best Action Movies Streaming On Peacock Right Now
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While Peacock may not be the oldest streaming service in the game, it certainly has an impressive library of programming, including tons of movies, TV shows, and more. That's a far cry from its launch, where the most notable thing about it was that it housed every season of The Office, becoming the series' home after Netflix.
Getting those rights made Peacock an immediate competitor, and its agreements with WWE and NBC Sports further solidified its staying power. Couple that with a first-rate collection of films--a combination of modern originals and standby classics, thanks to the sheer size of the NBCUniversal library--and it's easy to see why it's such an enticing service. However, if there's one critique, it's that the content rotates so quickly—what launched today could be gone in two months or less.
If you're in the mood for action movies, Peacock has some pretty awesome options that will speak to the cinematic adrenaline junky you are. Here are the 20 best action movies currently streaming on Peacock. Watch them all before it's too late!
1. Taken
Starring: Liam Neeson
Director(s): Pierre Morel
The ultimate Father's Day movie, Taken stars Liam Neeson as a former U.S. intelligence operative who must save his daughter from human traffickers in Paris. Gut-punching, suspenseful fun, this movie gifted Liam Neeson with an action-hero career, and it spawned two sequels and a television series.
2. Copshop
Starring: Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder
Director(s): Joe Carnahan
Pulpy and trashy with a streak of dark humor, Copshop is about a con-man on the run, a hitman who's trying to assassinate him, and a rookie cop who's trying to keep them all alive. Alexis Louder, who plays the cop, gives a star-making performance.
3. How To Train Your Dragon 2
Starring: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera
Director(s): Dean DeBlois
This was the dark middle chapter of what would eventually become a trilogy, and it takes place five years after the first film. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve; it's the Empire Strikes Back of the franchise, but with dragons instead of X-Wing fighters. And like that movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the best of the bunch.
4. Haywire
Starring: Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender
Director(s): Steven Soderbergh
A twisting thriller filled with political and personal intrigue, Haywire is the story of a private black ops agent, who is betrayed by her client and forced to go on the run. Former MMA star Gina Carano made her mainstream acting debut in this movie and performed her own stunts.
5. King Kong
Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black
Director(s): Peter Jackson
A high-budget remake of the black-and-white classic, King Kong features an expressive mo-cap performance by Andy Serkis and a classic damsel-in-distress turn by Naomi Watts. The climactic scene where Kong scaled the Empire State Building is an emotional sight to behold.
6. Tremors
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter
Director(s): Ron Underwood
Tremors is a low-budget horror classic with convincing practical effects. In it, an isolated town is overrun by massive sandworms, and the townsfolk, plus two unlucky handymen, must band together to survive.
7. Air Force One
Starring: Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman
Director(s): Wolfgang Petersen
Harrison Ford plays the coolest President of the United States in film history. When a terrorist group hijacks Air Force One and threatens to kill the executive cabinet, President James Marshall hides in the bowels of the plane and wages a one-man war to protect America.
8. Fast Five
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Gal Gadot
Director(s): Justin Lin
Less car racing, but more action scenes and heists: Fast Five changed the franchise formula while also guaranteeing its longevity. The massive ensemble cast includes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who appears in the series for the first time.
9. Dredd
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey
Director(s): Pete Travis
This fresh take on Dredd, the dystopian judge/jury/executioner from the comics, is leagues better than the Stallone film from the '90s, although, like that film, it also didn't achieve its projected box office results. And that's a shame, because the satire and action are both on point. Give this film a shot.
10. The Last of the Mohicans
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis
Director(s): Michael Mann
This is a historical drama with epic battle scenes, along with another Method performance by actor extraordinaire Daniel Day-Lewis. To prepare for this role, Day-Lewis lived in the woods, where he learned to hunt, skin animals, and build a canoe.
11. Lucy
Starring: Scarlett Johannson, Morgan Freeman
Director(s): Luc Besson
A trippy action/sci-fi movie, Lucy is about a woman who undergoes biological experimentation, which allows her to use 100% of her brain capacity. As she gets smarter, she learns quicker and reads faster, but that quickly evolves into mind control, levitation, and moving through space-time.
12. Godzilla
Starring: Akira Takarada
Director(s): Ishirō Honda
To appreciate the original movie, it's important to know the context in which it was made. This was post-World War II. And fears about the atomic bomb, two of which hit Japan, took physical form in a 50-meter tall, fire-breathing lizard known as Godzilla. Future movies softened the character into a sort of anti-hero. But this iteration embodied pure, existential terror.
13. Furious 7
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez
Director(s): James Wan
The seventh film in the Furious franchise depicts Dom and the gang coming out of retirement, to protect themselves from the brother of Owen Shaw. It is an enjoyable formula that's been given additional depth, because it is Paul Walker's last film. The filmmakers dedicated Furious 7 to his memory, and they used a combination of CGI and stand-ins (Walker's brothers) to complete his role.
14. You're Next
Starring: Sharni Vinson
Director(s): Adam Wingard
It's a home invasion movie with a twist--the main character is a capable survivalist who's game for everything the bad guys throw at her. But it's also a family drama, containing intergenerational dynamics and sibling rivalries that, in this context, are darkly comical.
15. Jumanji
Starring: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst
Director(s): Joe Johnston
Heralded for its special effects (which includes a massive elephant stampede), Jumanji is about an enchanted, cursed board game, which conjures a deadly jungle that its players must survive. Every dice roll could mean death.
16. Ip Man
Starring: Donnie Yen
Director(s): Wilson Yip
Based on the real-life Wing Chun master and teacher of Bruce Lee, Ip Man is a formidable showcase of fight choreography. Donnie Yen stars as the titular master and projects dignity, honor, and Chinese pride against the invading Japanese forces.
17. X-Men: First Class
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence
Director(s): Matthew Vaughn
The X-Men franchise lost all its steam with The Last Stand. And so, X-Men: First Class went back in time--back to when Charles and Eric were still young men, tracking down young mutants to train and teach. Some years later, this would lead to X-Men: Days of Future Past, which merged the two timelines together.
18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Director(s): David Yates
None of the other Harry Potter movies, with their private school intrigue and detective/mystery tropes, could be classified as action. But the eighth and final film definitely qualifies. The filmmakers got all the plot and buildup out of the way in Death Hallows: Part I. Part II is wand battle after wand battle, plus the final showdown between Voldemort and Harry Potter. There are strong Potter movies and weak Potter movies, but one thing is for sure; the franchise stuck the landing.
19. The Man From Nowhere
Starring: Won Bin
Director(s): Lee Jeong-beom
This is about a former intelligence operative who causes bloody mayhem after the little girl who lives next door is kidnapped by a crime syndicate. If you haven't experienced violent Korean action movies before, this is a great place to start; The Man From Nowhere won numerous awards in Asia at the time of its release, with many nods for its cinematography and acting performances.
20. Jurassic Park
Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
Director(s): Steven Spielberg
Jurassic Park is one of Spielberg's most imaginative, awe-inspiring films. Based on the original novel by Michael Crichton, it takes its premise--"What if we could bring dinosaurs back to life?"-and runs with it, serving as both an aspiration and a cautionary tale. Plus, the special effects still look great. Spielberg had the wisdom and restraint to not go overboard, and he combined the practical and the CGI into something realistic.