Big-Screen Action You Can Watch From the Sofa

Essentially one long chase across a desert wasteland, staged with real vehicles and real stunts. Tom Hardy’s Max is the title character, but Charlize Theron’s Furiosa is the heart of the film. Two hours that barely pause for breath.

Watch it if: you want pure momentum.

A retired hitman is pulled back in after a gang takes the last thing his late wife gave him. The plot fits on a napkin. The appeal is the clean, clearly shot fight choreography and Keanu Reeves doing much of it himself.

Watch it if: you want stylish, no-nonsense action.

A New York cop visiting his wife’s office Christmas party ends up as the only person free inside a Los Angeles tower seized by thieves. It set the template for every one-man-in-the-wrong-place film since, and Alan Rickman’s villain is still the benchmark.

Watch it if: you want the classic that all the others copy.

A Roman general is betrayed, loses everything and fights his way back through the arena to face the emperor who ruined him. Big, emotional and built around a commanding Russell Crowe performance.

Watch it if: you want swords, spectacle and a proper story.

An aging, worn-down Wolverine looks after an ailing Professor X near the Mexican border, until a young girl with familiar abilities needs his help. It plays more like a Western than a superhero film, and it earns its hard edge.

Watch it if: you’re tired of the superhero formula.

A blacksmith teams up with the eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow to rescue a governor’s daughter from a cursed pirate crew. Swordfights, sea battles and a lead performance nobody saw coming. The lightest pick on this list.

Watch it if: you want adventure with a grin.

A street-smart London teenager is recruited into a secret spy agency run out of a tailor’s shop. A cheeky, very violent spin on classic spy films, with fight scenes staged like dance numbers.

Watch it if: you like your spy films loud and tongue-in-cheek.

A thief, an assassin, a warrior, a talking raccoon and a walking tree end up as the galaxy’s unlikely last line of defense. The retro soundtrack does half the work and the jokes do the rest.

Watch it if: you want action that doubles as comedy.