This post is updated regularly as movies leave and enter Hulu. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
It’s time to have some fun. Let’s put down all the serious, Oscar-winning dramas, leave the documentaries for another day, and forget about that TV season that everyone tells you that you should be watching. There’s a reason that the most successful genre on the home market has been the same for over a generation now: People love action movies. They allow us to escape reality and enter a world where the good guy (usually) wins the day. These are the best action flicks currently on Hulu, updated monthly.
*Aliens
Year: 1986
Runtime: 2h 17m
Director: James Cameron
One of the best action movies ever made, James Cameron’s sequel to the equally excellent Alien reshaped the horror movie aspects of the first film into an action extravaganza. Sigourney Weaver was so good here that she landed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, which is almost unheard of for action movies. It’s held up perfectly. (Note: All of the Weaver films aka The Alien Quadrilogy are now on Hulu.)
Bullet Train
Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: David Leitch
It feels like this movie was actually a bigger hit on Netflix, where it popped up in the top ten for weeks after it dropped in December 2022. Now it’s Hulu’s turn! It makes sense because it’s the perfect fit for when you’re looking for something to turn your brain off to for a couple hours. Brad Pitt stars as an assassin who ends up on a train filled with fellow assassins, and, well, things get expectedly violent. It’s a goofy movie, but it works well enough at home.
Con Air
Year: 1997
Runtime: 1h 55m
Director: Simon West
Nicolas Cage leads one of his best ensembles in an action movie in this hit about a plane full of convicts that gets hijacked. Of course, Cage plays the “good criminal,” a guy sentenced to ten years for defending his pregnant wife. He finds himself the only possible savior on a plane full of real bad guys that includes John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, and Danny Trejo.
The Creator
Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Gareth Edwards
Yes, the script here gets a little clunky and cribs a bit too much from other sci-fi films, but history is going to come around to The Creator for one reason: It looks stunning. It’s not just the blend of tactile cinematography and cutting-edge special effects, it’s the kind of visual language that’s almost always missing from Hollywood blockbusters. Gareth Edwards’ film will find an audience in the future. Get on the bandwagon early.
Die Hard
Year: 1988
Runtime: 2h 12m
Director: John McTiernan
Streamers have a habit of dropping parts of the Bruce Willis series but never the whole thing, until now! Watch from the masterful original through the abysmal A Good Day to Die Hard in one sitting, only on Hulu. The original is still the masterpiece, a film that truly rewrote the rules for the genre, shifting it more to everyman characters like Willis and away from muscular stars like Sly and Ah-nuld. It’s held up perfectly, as entertaining today as when it came out.
Kill Bill
Year: 2003
Runtime: 1h 51m
Director: Quentin Tarantino
We will still have to wait for the long-promised full cut of the two Kill Bill films into one epic movie (and the long-rumored third volume of this tale), but that shouldn’t stop you from revisiting two of Quentin Tarantino’s best films — both volumes are on Hulu. In a catalog that includes a lot of great performances (and a few Oscar winners), one of QT’s best is Uma Thurman as The Bride, a legendary action character seeking vengeance on the man who betrayed her.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Year: 2024
Runtime: 2h 25m
Director: Wes Ball
The director of Maze Runner picks up the saga of Planet of the Apes for the start of another planned trilogy of films to continue the brilliance of Rise/Dawn/War. Set a couple centuries after the end of that last trilogy, Kingdom is a world in which different ape factions are fighting for dominance, most of them using the teachings of Caesar as a guide. When a young ape (voiced perfectly by Owen Teague) meets a human (Freya Allen), they discover they may have common goals. This is smart, ambitious blockbuster filmmaking that’s exclusively on Hulu.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Year: 2005
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: Doug Liman
While the great new TV version kills it over on Prime, watch the original movie that gave the world Brangelina on Hulu. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt star as a seemingly ordinary suburban couple who discover that they both have secret identities as competing assassins. When they get assignments to kill each other, all Hell breaks loose.
The Mummy
Year: 1999
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Stephen Sommers
Brendan Fraser has had a career resurgence with the Oscar win for The Whale and his divisive role in Killers of the Flower Moon, so it’s a perfect time to revisit arguably his most popular film. It’s the one that should have kept him a star for decades—a wonderful adventure film that playfully updates the template that includes Indiana Jones and dates back to Errol Flynn. The entire trilogy is on Hulu.
Pacific Rim
Year: 2013
Runtime: 2h 11m
Director: Guillermo del Toro
The Oscar-winning genius Guillermo del Toro let his inner child play with both giant robots and massive monsters in this underrated blockbuster. Co-written and directed by the Oscar winner, Pacific Rim is a consistent blast, a flick wherein you can feel the joy of the people who created it. Who doesn’t want to watch gigantic creatures and metal men the size of skyscrapers go at it?
*Predator
Year: 1987
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: John McTiernan
It’s also on Hulu, but you can probably skip the first sequel (although check out Prey, for sure) and just stick to the 1987 original, a lean, mean movie that features one of Ah-nuld’s best ‘80s performances. It’s a survival tale that starts off like a war movie before it throws in one of the universe’s most famous killing machines. Actually, in a rare turn, this entire franchise is on Hulu now, including the reboots. Yes, even the one with Adrien Brody.
Prey
Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
The director of 10 Cloverfield Lane clearly knows how to make unexpected films in hit franchises and that’s exactly what he delivers in one of the biggest original film hits in the history of Hulu. A prequel to Predator, Prey details what happened when the alien killing machine crossed paths with a Comanche woman (Amber Midthunder) three centuries ago.
The Rock
Year: 1996
Runtime: 2h 16m
Director: Michael Bay
Forget that Transformers junk, The Rock is still the best movie of Michael Bay’s career, a fantastic action piece about a siege on Alcatraz. When terrorists take tourists hostage on the infamous island, a group of SEALS have to save the day before they launch nerve gas at the city of San Francisco. Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, and Ed Harris lead a great action cast.
Underwater
Year: 2020
Runtime: 1h 35m
Director: William Eubank
Dumped in theaters just before the pandemic broke the industry forever, this underrated thriller has already developed something of a following on VOD and then HBO Max (now Max) before now sliding over to Hulu. Kristen Stewart stars as a worker on an underwater drilling facility who discovers something ancient under the water. Half disaster movie and half monster movie, it’s a lot of fun.
The Woman King
Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Living legend Viola Davis stars in this retelling of the all-female warriors of the kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. She plays General Nansica, who trains young women to follow in her footsteps, and leads a rock star ensemble of future stars that includes Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, and Sheila Atim. You’ll know all their names soon enough.
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