When you love action movies, it does not matter how many loud gunfights, bare knuckle brawls, sword-wielding duels, or high-speed car chases you have been subjected to because, with each new high adrenaline experience at the cinema, you are always going to crave more.
Luckily, action junkies with a Peacock subscription can find plenty to satisfy their appetites at home right at their fingertips and for free…well, some of them, at least. Whether it comes at no extra cost or with a premium subscription, the following are our picks for the best action movies that are currently streaming on Peacock, starting with four beloved installments from one of the genre’s most beloved franchises.
The Fast And The Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Fast And Furious, Fast Five (2001-2011)
A young FBI agent (Paul Walker) infiltrates a street racing ring in Los Angeles that is headlined by an expert racer (Vin Diesel) suspected to be involved in a series of truck robberies, whom he later teams up with to lead a special crew of thrill-seeking heroes like them.
Why they are some of the best action movies on Peacock: Witness the evolution of the Fast and Furious movies from an undercover cop story with some cool cars in director Rob Cohen’s original, to the series of high-octane heist dramas with some cool cars that it became under Justin Lin’s direction with The Fast and the Furious, 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, Fast and Furious from 2009, and Fast Five - the only four movies in the franchise currently available on Peacock Premium.
Stream these Fast and Furious movies on Peacock Premium.
Pitch Black (2000)
A prison transport ship crew is marooned on a deserted planet with a dangerous convict with unique abilities (Vin Diesel), whom they are soon forced to team with in order to battle a hoard of vicious, nocturnal creatures as a lengthy solar eclipse looms.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Before the Fast and Furious movies skyrocketed Diesel to the A-list, one of his first leading roles (and his first time playing the character Richard B. Riddick) was in Pitch Black - an intense and fun hybrid of action, sci-fi, and horror from director David Twohy.
Stream Pitch Black on Peacock Premium.
The Rundown (2003)
A bounty hunter (Dwayne Johnson) who really wants to be chef is convinced by his boss to travel to Brazil and return with his fortune hunter son (Seann William Scott), whom he reluctantly teams up with on a search for a priceless artifact in the Amazon jungle before a ruthless tyrant (Christopher Walken) and his army can get ahold of it.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Before The Rock, arguably, helped skyrocket the Fast and Furious movies to new heights of popularity, one of the first roles that proved his potential as a leading man was Beck in The Rundown - a loose, stylish action-comedy with wall-to-wall thrills from director Peter Berg.
Stream The Rundown on Peacock Premium.
The Transporter (2002)
A former Special Forces operator (Jason Statham) who has been working as a shipper of unknown goods discovers that he has been tasked with delivering a beautiful living woman (Shu Qi), whom he then opts to protect against the people who hired him.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Before Statham later became part of the Fast and Furious movies cast (and starred in a spin-off with Dwayne Johnson), one of the the first roles that proved his potential as a leading man was another gun-toting, fast-driving badass named Frank Martin in The Transporter - a thriller with some of Statham’s most wonderfully over-the-top moments from co-directors Louis Lettier and Corey Yeun.
Stream The Transporter on Peacock Premium.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
A government assassin (Matt Damon) who is still struggling to avoid detection from his former employers begins to uncover even more secrets from his past.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: One of Universal’s most popular and acclaimed action franchises is the Jason Bourne movies, inspired by the series of espionage novels from author Robert Ludlum, and many fans agree that the strongest and most enthralling of the current five installments is The Bourne Ultimatum, which is also the second from director Paul Greengrass.
Stream The Bourne Ultimatum on Peacock Premium.
Speed (1994)
A young, hotshot cop (Keanu Reeves) is forced to commandeer a public San Francisco bus and put a passenger (Sandra Bullock) behind the wheel after a madman (Dennis Hopper) places a bomb onboard that will detonate if the vehicle slows down below 50 miles per hour.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: One of the most essential leading roles of Reeves’ career is the daredevil Jack Traven in Speed - one of the most inventive, ingenious, and heartstopping action movies of the '90s.
Stream Speed on Peacock Premium.
Ambulance (2022)
A desperate family man (Yahya Adbul Mateen II) and his adoptive brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) are forced to commandeer a Los Angeles medical transport vehicle and collaborate with an innocent EMT (Eiza Gonzalez) when their record-breaking bank heist does not go as planned.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Many action junkies would see what they considered to be one of the best Michael Bay movies yet in 2022 with Ambulance - a death-defying, non-stop chase flick based on a Danish film from 2005.
Stream Ambulance on Peacock Premium.
Highlander (1986)
A man (Christopher Lambert), born centuries earlier in Scotland where his mentor (Sean Connery) trained him in the ways of the sword, is tasked with defeating another being like him (Clancy Brown) in late 20th Century in New York.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: One of the most fun and action-packed cult favorite fantasy franchises to come out of the ’80s is the first of the Highlander movies from director Russell Mulcahy (also one of best movies starring Clancy Brown), which is the most fondly remembered.
300 (2007)
The Spartans’ king (Gerard Butler) leads an army of mere hundreds against thousands of Persian warriors during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: The fantasy/action hybrid had never been so “historical” (a loose term in this case, admittedly) and such a technical marvel before the release of 300 - a visually stunning and galvanizing war epic based on the groundbreaking graphic novel from Frank Miller and one of director Zack Snyder’s absolute best efforts.
Stream 300 on Peacock Premium.
The Northman (2022)
A hardened Viking prince (Alexander Skarsgård) vows to avenge his slain father (Ethan Hawke), save his endangered mother (Nicole Kidman), and kill his father’s murderer (Claes Bang).
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Director Robert Eggers (known for avant-garde, slow-burn horror movies The Witch and The Lighthouse) had never helmed anything so epic and exciting before the brutal revenge tale, The Northman - one of the most astonishing, unforgettable, and highly acclaimed spectacles of 2022.
Stream The Northman on Peacock Premium.
1917 (2019)
A young English soldier (George MacKay) and his good friend and comrade (Dean-Charles Chapman) are given the dangerous task of delivering a message that would prevent hundreds of men from falling prey to a cruel trap during World War I.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Director Sam Mendes and seminal cinematographer Roger Deakins put forth their most ambitious collaboration yet (and to Academy Award-winning acclaim) with 1917 - an absolutely engrossing story of friendship and survival told in real time and, virtually, all in one take.
Independence Day (1996)
The U.S. Military joins forces with the rest of the world when Earth falls under threat of malicious extraterrestrials piloting ships that covers miles.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Disaster movie auteur Roland Emmerich’s crowning achievement is, arguably, the technically magnificent blockbuster Independence Day - an essential title of the alien invasion subgenre with one of the most inspiring speeches even given by a fictional U.S. president.
Stream Independence Day on Peacock Premium.
Ip Man (2008)
A well-to-do martial arts master (Donnie Yen) is forced to leave his home and help others survive by any means necessary when China is invaded by Japan in 1935.
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: Before he brought kung fu to the Star Wars Universe in Rogue One, Yen became an international martial arts movie star as the title character of Ip Man, which is based on the life of Bruce Lee’s mentor.
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-2007)
A young New Yorker (Tobey Maguire) takes on the responsibility of protecting the city from a rotation of bizarre criminals after a radioactive arachnid’s bite gives extraordinary powers.
Why they are some of the best action movies on Peacock: Before returning to the comic book movies with the recent Doctor Strange sequel, director Sam Raimi revolutionized the genre for a new century and put Marvel movies on the map with his trilogy of Spider-Man movies, which are packed with earnest thrills, but also a few healthy glimpses of the Evil Dead creator’s signature "splatterstick" tone.
Stream Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy on Peacock Premium.
Turbo Kid (2015)
An orphan (Munro Chambers) assumes the persona of his superhero idol to protect his post-apocalyptic home and new friend (Laurence Laboeuf) from a ruthless tyrant (Michael Ironside).
Why it is one of the best action movies on Peacock: If The Goonies and Mad Max had a love child it would look a lot like Turbo Kid - a wondrously imaginative and shockingly gory B-movie so passionately rooted in ’80s nostalgia that the "futuristic" setting is 1997.
Rarely does a streaming service have such a diverse variety of action moves like Peacock!
