There is no better price than free, especially when the majority of streaming services don’t offer anything for nothing. Fortunately, YouTube and Tubi frequently provide a select number of movies free of charge every month, even though the availability of each film is subject to change. For example, January’s free action movies didn’t stick around for February.
The positive news is that the three great action movies you should stream right now include a trio of classics. Granted, two are about four decades old, but they’re still better than many of the modern action flicks. And without the free streamers, these movies could have been without a streaming home. So enjoy them while you can.
If you’re curious about what’s available in action on other streaming services, we also have guides for the best action movies on Netflix, the best action movies on Hulu, as well as the best action movies on Amazon Prime Video. For more options, check out guides for the best new movies to stream and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
The Terminator (1984)
Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t quite have a full grasp on delivering dialogue in English when he starred in The Terminator. But that only made his evil android even scarier. In the far future, a T-800 Terminator was about as close to a human as a machine could get. This flesh-covered cyborg was sent back to 1984 to murder Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a waitress who has no idea that she’s destined to give birth to humanity’s savior in the war against the machines.
Sarah’s son, John Connor, sent a man named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) to the past to protect his mother. Reese is a warrior and a survivor, but even he’s overwhelmed by the Terminator’s relentless pursuit. It can’t be stopped by brute force alone, and no amount of pleading will ever keep this Terminator from eliminating its target.
Watch The Terminator on YouTube.
Taken (2009)
In Taken, there’s nothing more terrifying than Liam Neeson reminding a bad guy that he promised he’d find him right before killing him. Neeson’s character, former CIA operative Bryan Mills, had very good reasons for unleashing his “particular set of skills.” The man he murdered was part of a human trafficking ring that kidnapped his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace).
Unfortunately for Bryan, eliminating that single man alone won’t bring Kim back to him. He’ll have to unleash Hell on the criminal underworld during his trip to Europe. The original Taken is still by far the best in the franchise, and it feels alive in a way that the two sequels do not.
Watch Taken on YouTube.
Highlander (1986)
Highlander hit theaters in 1986, and it wasn’t exactly a hit. But the legend of this movie grew over time through home video and cable to the point where it’s now a cult classic. It certainly helps that Highlander has original songs by Queen that have become synonymous with the franchise.
Christopher Lambert led the movie as Connor MacLeod, a man born in the 16th century in the Highlands of Scotland before he discovered that he was one of the few immortals who walked the Earth. MacLeod’s mentor, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (Sean Connery), teaches him how to survive and what’s at stake in the battle of the immortals. However, their mutual enemy, The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), hunts MacLeod through the centuries until they face each other one more time in present-day New York. “In the end, there can be only one.”
Watch Highlander on Tubi.
