Best Action Movies on HBO Now and HBO Go

Editor's Note: This post is updated monthly. Bookmark this page and come back every month to stay up to date with the best action movies on HBO Now and HBO Go.

Updated for May 2019. 

You can see a complete list of HBO new releases here.

As a Time Warner company, HBO gets access to a lot of recent mainstream movies. In recent years that has meant access to some truly great action films. Those looking for the best action movies that the streaming world can offer can likely find them on HBO Now and HBO Go.

Here are the best action movies available to stream on HBO Now and HBO Go

The Bourne Identity

2002's The Bourne Identity marks the beginning of one of the better American action trilogies ever (yes, it's no longer a trilogy but also: shhhhhhh). It's also represents the heights of Matt Damon: movie star.

Damon stars as the titular Jason Bourne. Bourne is a man suffering from dissociative amnesia. Some Italian fishermen fish him out of the Mediterranean and the only clue he has to his identity is the number for a safe deposit bank at a bank in Zurich. So Bourne heads off to Europe and soon discovers there might be a compelling reason he has no memories 

read more: The Battle to Make The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity is based on a book by Robert Ludlum and helped establish the character of Jason Bourne as an iconic American action star. 

The Bourne Supremacy

It's ya boy again!

After making some important discoveries in The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) returns in The Bourne Supremacy with something else in mind: revenge. Bourne now knows that he is a creation of the CIA through the shaodwy Operation Treadstone, so he once again travels the world looking to take them down...even making a little trip to New York in the process.

further reading: The Best Action Movies on Netflix

Paul Greengass takes over directing duties on this second film in the series and for better or worse establishes his very kinetic style as the default for many action series of the era.

Conan the Barbarian

What is the best life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women! Conan the Barbarian features Arnold Schwarzenegger at the height of his Schwarzenegger powers. 

further reading: Conan the Barbarian Heading to Marvel in 2019

The brauny Austrian stars as the titular Conan, a young barbarian and blacksmith's son who lives in a fictional prehistoric world of savagery. When leader of a snake cult Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) kill Conan's parents, the young barbarian seeks out a path of vengeance and cuts down anyone in his way. Conan the Barbarian takes a character from a 1930s pulp fiction writer and spans him out into an absolute heavy metal album cover of a movie.

Deadpool 2

The original Deadpool was a fun, unexpected treat so of course there would be a sequel. Thankfully Deadpool 2 is also a fun, albeit more expected treat.

further reading: Deadpool 2: Complete Marvel and X-Men Easter Egg Guide

Ryan Reynolds returns as the fourth wall breaking merc with a mouth. After experiencing a personal tragedy, Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool struggles to find meaning in his life, which takes him through a brief stint with the X-Men and a mutant jail. He eventually finds it, however, in what every great hero is truly looking for: a great bad guy. Josh Brolin does Marvel double duty, starring as Cable right around the same time he embodies Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

Deadpool 2 is the odd duck among superhero movies, featuring a relatively low budget and small cast. That just makes the charm of Ryan Reynolds and Wade Wilson all the more apparent.

The First Purge

As the name implies (or spells out, rather), 2018's The First Purge takes things all the way back to the very beginning for The Purge franchise. 

In 2014, the United States of America has been overthrown by the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA). In order to appease and subdue its new population of constituents, the NFFA decides to test out its wildest idea: the Purge. The Purge is a 12-hour period in which any and all crimes are allowed.

further reading: The Best Action Movies on Hulu

We've seen this all before in Purge movies of course. But the twist here is that the NFFA wants to try it out on one isolated place. That place? Staten Island, of course.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom doesn't have the madcap charm and ingenuity of the "first (technically fourth) film in the franchise, Jurassic World. But hey - this is a movie where dinosaurs run around and attack people. It's fun action stuff. You love fun action stuff!

further reading: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review

Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) return to Isla Nuba where a volcanic eruption is set to kill all the reamining dinosaurs left behind in the defunct Jurassic World. Why would Owen and Claire return to rescue these monsters that very nearly killed them three years ago? It's not the dinos' fault! They're good boys and things just got a little out of hand.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

2003's Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the third installment in Robert Rodriguez's unofficial "Mexico" trilogy after El Mariachi and Desperado.

further reading: The Best Action Movies on Amazon Prime

Antonio Banderas returns enigmatic Mariachi musician known as...well, El Mariachi. After his crime-fighting and survivalist adventures in previous films, the CIA recruits him to assassinate a corrupt Mexican Army officer. That's a simple enough plot and goal but things spiral quickly out of control.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico has plenty in common with other violence - friendly indie action movies but it also has something that none of those other movies do: Johnny Depp in a truly weird, truly captivating performance.

Predators

The Predatorfranchise has seen many ill-fated attempts at sequels and reboots from 2004's Alien V. Predator to 2018's The Predator. It's 2010's Predators, however, that improbably holds up the best. 

The film follows a big cast of mercenaries, murderers, and other undesirable folk who suddenly find themselves in the lush jungles of an alien planet. Soon they find out that they have been brought together to serve as prey for a group of savage (and familiar to us) extraterrestrials. The crew, led by Royce (Adrien Brody) must work together to survive and find a way off the planet. 

further reading: The Predator: Reinventing the Myth On the Set

Working off a concept from Robert Rodriguez, director Nimród Antal is able to breathe some Hunger Games-style life into a long dormant franchise. 

Ready Player One

Steven Spielberg knows a thing or two about crafting a summer action movie and he does so superbly in the popular book adaptation Ready Player One.

Ready Player One is set in the year 2045 when the planet is in bad shape and impoverished citizens seek escape in the massive alternate reality game known as "OASIS." The creator of OASIS dies and in a posthumous message announces that he has hidden an Easter egg in the game that will grant ownership of OASIS to the finder. Countless gamers join the hunt, including Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan). Wade (gamer tag: Parzival) may be the key to finding it.

further reading: Ready Player One: Complete Easter Egg and Reference Guide

Ready Player One was a natural candidate for Spielberg to direct since it pays homage to many of his early works and other pieces of classic '70s and '80s pop culture. Even with that in mind, however, Spielberg does a solid job of depicting a digital universe.