Epic Action backdrop

Epic Action movies

Big-scale action movies with city-to-world stakes, massive set pieces, and nonstop spectacle.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

211. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Adventure Action Crime Mystery Epic Action
7.4

20112h 9min

United States

Director: Guy Ritchie

There is a new criminal mastermind at large (Professor Moriarty) and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil and lack of conscience may give him an advantage over the detective.

Themes

Deception and manipulation, Loyalty under pressure, Betrayal and trust, War profiteering motive, Power through control, Intellectual duel

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Immortals

212. Immortals

Fantasy Action Drama Mythological Fantasy Epic Action
6.0

20111h 50min

United States

Director: Tarsem Singh

Theseus is a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion, who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity.

Themes

Fate vs free will, Divine restraint, Captivity and uprising, Loyalty under oppression, Visions as guiding force, Mythic resistance

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

In Time

213. In Time

Action Thriller Science Fiction Dystopian Sci-Fi Epic Action
6.7

20111h 49min

United States

Director: Andrew Niccol

In the not-too-distant future, the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest struggle to negotiate for their immortality. A poor young man who suddenly comes into a fortune of time finds himself on the run from a corrupt police force known as the "time keepers".

Themes

Class inequality, Time as currency, Wealth and immortality, Scarcity and desperation, Redistribution of time, Corrupt policing

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Three Musketeers

214. The Three Musketeers

Adventure Action Thriller Adventure Epic Epic Action
5.7

20111h 50min

United States, United Kingdom

Director: Paul W. S. Anderson

The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.

Themes

Deception and betrayal, Loyalty under pressure, Power struggles, Political manipulation, King of france power, Three musketeers loyalty, Alliance and trust dynamics

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

215. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Thriller Action Drama Science Fiction Bio-Genetic Sci-Fi
7.6

20111h 45min

United Kingdom, United States

Director: Rupert Wyatt

A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those who have harmed him.

Themes

Corporate ambition vs safety, Scientific responsibility and risk, Unintended consequences of experiments, Human-animal bonds, Hierarchy and leadership under stress, Caregiving under crisis

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Hulu
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison

216. Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison

Thriller Animation Action Comedy Horror
7.1

20111h 48min

Japan

Director: Masahiko Murata

After his capture for attempted assassination of the Raikage, leader of Kumogakure, as well as killing Jōnin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure, Naruto is imprisoned in Hōzukijou: A criminal containment facility known as the Blood Prison. Mui, the castle master, uses the ultimate imprisonment technique to steal power from the prisoners, which is when Naruto notices his life has been targeted. Thus begins the battle to uncover the truth behind the mysterious murders and prove Naruto's innocence.

Themes

Deception and manipulation, Trust under pressure, Authority and individual rights, Confinement and injustice, Loyalty and duty, Justice and accountability

Available on

Netflix
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Cowboys & Aliens

217. Cowboys & Aliens

Action Science Fiction Thriller Western Epic Action
6.0

20111h 59min

India, United States

Director: Jon Favreau

A stranger stumbles into the desert town of Absolution with no memory of his past and a futuristic shackle around his wrist. With the help of mysterious beauty Ella and the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde, he finds himself leading an unlikely posse of cowboys, outlaws, and Apache warriors against a common enemy from beyond this world in an epic showdown for survival.

Themes

Frontier violence and law, Outsider loyalty and belonging, Resource extraction and resistance, Memory and identity formation, Alliance against shared threat, Indigenous agency and sovereignty

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Priest

218. Priest

Action Fantasy Horror Epic Action Dark Fantasy
5.7

20111h 27min

United States

Director: Scott Stewart

In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. When the Priest's niece is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend, who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Hunter ethics vs personal ties, Alliance against annihilation, Rebellion at the margins, Religious authority vs autonomy, Outpost fortress vulnerability, Postwar survival dynamics

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Ironclad

219. Ironclad

Romance Adventure Action History Adventure Epic
6.1

20112h 1min

United Kingdom, United States

Director: Jonathan English

In the year 1215, the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal on the Magna Carta, a seminal document that upheld the rights of free men. Yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word and assembled a mercenary army on the south coast of England with the intention of bringing the barons and the country back under his tyrannical rule. Barring his way stood the mighty Rochester castle, a place that would become the symbol of the rebel's momentous struggle for justice and freedom.

Themes

Betrayal and trust, Romance amid conflict, Rights and authority, Charter legitimacy, Siege resilience, Church versus crown, Loyalty and vows

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Sanctum

220. Sanctum

Action Thriller Survival Thriller Epic Action
5.9

20111h 48min

United States, Australia

Director: Alister Grierson

Master diver Frank McGuire has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team—including 17-year-old son Josh and financier Carl Hurley are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out.

Themes

Survival under pressure, Resource scarcity, Leadership under strain, Trust under crisis, Interpersonal conflict, Risk and duty

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.