These are Screen Rant’s top picks for the best action thrillers to stream on various streaming services this weekend, September 19-21, 2025. This includes the various streamers like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and more, all with great action thrillers to choose from.

Action thrillers can be found on every streaming service available, and this includes some of the best movies of all time, offering up a plethora of options for anyone looking to see heart-racing action. These thrillers often range from those horrific in nature to films that offer pure, unadulterated action from start to finish.

It is always fun to find movies that everyone knows about, but it is better to find hidden treasures that offer up something different that might be new to the viewer, such as a great foreign-language masterpiece. With so much to choose from, here is what Screen Rant recommends this weekend for action thrillers.

Rebel Ridge (2024) – Netflix

Rebel Ridge is a Netflix original action thriller movie starring Aaron Pierre as Terry, a Marine veteran who is attacked by the police, who rob him of his money. What he discovers is a pattern of abusive behavior, and when he realizes the town’s police chief caused his brother’s death, he takes matters into his own hands.

This is almost a modern-day First Blood, but the police in this movie are all corrupt rather than just the backwoods bigots in the Rambo movie. That makes this film a little more topical. The movie is a dark exploration of police corruption in a small town, showing how out of control things can get with no checks and balances.

Directed by Jeremy Saulnier, who previously directed the fantastically dark horror movie Green Room, the film received almost universal acclaim, with a 95% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.

Rebel Ridge also went on to win the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Movie Made for Television and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie.

Copycat (1995) – Netflix

Copycat won’t be on Netflix much longer, so it’s an action thriller that fans of the genre will want to catch while they still can. This is an older movie from 1995, with Sigourney Weaver starring as Dr. Helen Hudson, a respected field expert on serial killers.

The movie opens with a huge moment as she ends up being attacked and watches as a serial killer named Daryll Lee Cullum kills the police officer ᴀssigned to protect her. She then becomes agoraphobic and locks herself away in her apartment, where she refuses to leave and is only supported by her live-in ᴀssistant.

Things get dangerous when a copycat killer begins to mimic various serial killer murders and starts to stalk her. This film offers intense action scenes, but it also presents a thrilling portrayal of a traumatized woman struggling to overcome her past attack, and Sigourney Weaver delivers a masterful performance.

Balancing out Weaver’s performance is a shocking star-making turn by singer Harry Connick Jr., as the incarcerated Daryll Lee Cullum. He was frightening in his role and proved to be ready to step into a new Hollywood career. A young Holly Hunter also delivers an excellent performance as the cop who helps Helen at the end.

Infernal Affairs (2022) – HBO Max

Most crime movie fans know about Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, which won him an Oscar for Best Picture and his only win for Best Director. However, what fans might not know is that the movie was a remake of a Hong Kong action thriller called Infernal Affairs. That earlier movie is available to stream on Netflix.

The two movies have identical stories, with a police officer going undercover in the mafia and a mafia member acting as a mole in the police department. The Infernal Affairs cast was phenomenal, with Andy Lau and Tony Leung playing the two moles within each organization.

The films also share similarities, as Martin Scorsese actually lifted an entire scene, almost sH๏τ for sH๏τ, from Infernal Affairs when it comes to the elevator scene in the climax. Another significant difference is that Infernal Affairs was the first installment of a trilogy, whereas The Departed concluded with just one film.

Infernal Affairs was a mᴀssive success when it came out, winning Best Picture at the Golden Horse Awards, Golden Bauhina Awards, and the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards.

Collateral (2004) – Roku Channel

Collateral is currently streaming for free on the Roku Channel. This action thriller is a Michael Mann film starring Tom Cruise as a hired ᴀssᴀssin named Vincent. The movie sees him hailing a taxi cab driven by Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) and then paying him a large amount of money to drive him to each of his hits in one night.

The movie is exactly what fans had come to expect from Mann, with his blueish color palette and noir action beats. Cruise was also on the top of his game, playing against type, shaking off his nice guy image to play the hardened, hired killer. Foxx complimented him perfectly as the stressed, scared taxi driver.

While not often talked about when discussing action thrillers from the early 2000s, it was a hit when released, making $220 million on a $65 million budget and receiving a high 86% Rotten Tomatoes score. Jamie Foxx received an Oscar nomination for his performance, and the National Board of Review named it one of the top 10 films.

It is also fun to note that Jason Statham appeared in the film as an unnamed individual who shared a scene in the airport with Tom Cruise’s hitman. Transporter 2 director Louis Leterrier admitted that this character was the same one from Transporter, with Statham playing Frank Martin in the Collateral scene.

Con Air (1997) – Hulu

For Nicolas Cage fans, he was in three great action thrillers in the 90s. He starred in The Rock with Sean Connery, Face/Off with Nicolas Cage, and Con Air with John Malkovich. The movie saw Cage play discharged Army Ranger Cameron Poe, who is convicted of manslaughter for killing a patron in self-defense.

He ends up being paroled and hitches a ride on a prison plane, which is full of dangerous criminals. One of these is a mᴀss murdering serial killer named Cyrus the Virus (Malkovich), and when the aircraft is hijacked with the intent of breaking out the killers, Cameron is alone in trying to stop them.

Directed by Simon West, the movie was a huge hit when released, making $224 million on a $75 million budget. It also received mixed to positive reviews, but accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do, and that is to entertain audiences with a non-stop action tale and great performances by Cage and Malkovich.

Con Air also received two Oscar nominations, including Best Original Song (“How Do I Live”) and Best Sound. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for the same song. Fans of action thrillers can find this 90s movie on Hulu.