James Gunn Recommends A Huge List Of Action Movies To Watch During Quarantine – Here's Where To Find Each Of Them
Around the time when the United States began realizing just how serious the coronavirus pandemic was, writer/director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) took to Twitter to share helpful recommendations about what people should watch while cooped up in their homes during the pandemic. Now he's at it again, and this time he's narrowed it down to (mostly) one genre: action. The filmmaker blasted out a series of action-heavy recommendations to improve your quarantine viewing, and we've done the legwork of figuring out where they're available to stream or rent online.
Gunn crafted a first draft of this list that included 140 films, but eventually ended up whittling it down to only 54. You can read his original tweet thread here, but we've broken his recommendations into a list and provided information (if available) about where you can watch them online.
Kung Fu Hustle
Director: Stephen Chow
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Netflix
The Matrix
Directors: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Netflix
The Bourne Ultimatum
Director: Paul Greengrass
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Die Hard
Director: John McTiernan
Where to Watch It: Streaming on HBO Go/HBO Now
Edge of Tomorrow
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
JSA: Joint Security Area
Director: Park Chan-wook
Where to Watch It: Free on Tubi, rent it on YouTube or Google
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Director: José Padilha
Where to Watch It: Free on Tubi and Vudu, rent it on iTunes and Amazon
Lady Vengeance
Director: Park Chan-wook
Where to Watch It: Free on Tubi
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Hulu
Bullitt
Director: Peter Yates
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
North By Northwest
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
The Yellow Sea
Director: Na Hong-jin
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
The Raid: Redemption
Director: Gareth Evans
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Hero
Director: Yimou Zhang
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, or Vudu
Night Watch
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Director: Ang Lee
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Netflix
Taken
Director: Pierre Morel
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
The Heroic Trio
Director: Johnnie To
Where to Watch It: Currently unavailable
The French Connection
Director: William Freidkin
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Robocop
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
The Killer
Director: John Woo
Where to Watch It: Currently unavailable
The Legend of Drunken Master
Director: Chia-Liang Liu
Where to Watch It: Currently unavailable
The Legend (Fong Sai Yuk)
Director: Corey Yuen
Where to Watch It: Buy it on Amazon
Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, or Vudu
Kill Bill: Volume 1
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Hulu
The Villainess
Director: Jung Byung-gil
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Hulu
Revenge
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Shudder, rent it on YouTube or Amazon
Crank
Director: Neveldine/Taylor
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube or Amazon
Escape From New York
Director: John Carpenter
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Battle Royale
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Where to Watch It: Free on Tubi and Vudu, rent it on iTunes and Amazon
Full Contact
Director: Ringo Lam
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Fandor (free trial through Amazon)
Oldboy
Director: Park Chan-wook
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Mubi (free trial through Amazon)
Thunderball
Director: Terence Young
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Amazon and Hulu
La Femme Nikita
Director: Luc Besson
Where to Watch It: Rent it on Vudu, YouTube, and Google
Léon: The Professional
Director: Luc Besson
Where to Watch It: Free on Crackle, rent it on Vudu, YouTube, Google, or Amazon
Magnum Force
Director: Ted Post
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Speed
Director: Jan de Bont
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Director: Steven Spielberg
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Netflix
'71
Director: Yann Demange
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Hulu
Payback (Theatrical Cut)
Director: Brian Helgeland
Where to Watch It: Rent it on iTunes
Equilibrium
Director: Kurt Wimmer
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Netflix
John Wick
Director: Chad Stahelski and David Leitch
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Mesrine: Killer Instinct
Director: Jean-François Richet
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Mesrine: Public Enemy #1
Director: Jean-François Richet
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Where Eagles Dare
Director: Brian G. Hutton
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Ms. 45
Director: Abel Ferrara
Where to Watch It: Free on Tubi, rent it on YouTube, Google, iTunes, or Amazon
Green Snake
Director: Hark Tsui
Where to Watch It: Streaming on Fandor (free trial through Amazon)
Captain Phillips
Director: Paul Greengrass
Where to Watch It: Rent it on YouTube, iTunes, Google, Vudu, or Amazon
Seven Samurai
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Where to Watch It: Streaming on the Criterion Channel
Rolling Thunder
Director: John Flynn
Where to Watch It: Rent it on Vudu
The Wild Bunch
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Where to Watch It: Rent it on Google, Vudu, iTunes, or Amazon
V For Vendetta
Director: James McTeigue
Where to Watch It: Rent it on Google, YouTube, Vudu, iTunes, or Amazon
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Director: Christophe Gans
Where to Watch It: Buy it on Amazon
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If you're looking for even more movie recommendations from James Gunn, be sure to seek him out on Twitter. He's already promised that a "comedy or romance" list is in the works, and you can read the replies to this action list for his interactions with fans about which superhero movies he would have included, which movies almost made the cut, and more.