If you're looking for something exciting to watch, the action thriller genre is an easy pick, and it's even easier thanks to the Roku Channel, which allows you to explore the suspenseful form for totally free.
The Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows, over 500 live linear TV channels and exclusive originals, making it one of the best free streaming services. The channel's library is constantly changing, with fresh new content being added monthly, and action thrillers make up a healthy portion of that widespread selection.
To help you sort through all of those high-octane options, here is a trio of great action thrillers we recommend watching on the Roku Channel.
'Point Break'
Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, high-adrenaline surfing, FBI agents and intense skydiving — truly, what more do you need from an action thriller? Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 cult classic "Point Break" pairs rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah (Reeves) with the enigmatic Bodhi (Swayze), the gang leaders of a group of beach surfers-slash-bank robbers in sunny Los Angeles.
As Johnny goes undercover to integrate himself with the group, known as the Ex-Presidents, he falls under Bodhi's spell and drawn to his philosophies, and even falls in love with the criminal's ex, Tyler Ann Endicott (Lori Petty). But soon, the truth of their dynamic turns dangerous.
Stream "Point Break" on The Roku Channel now
'All is Lost'
One-man movies are a hallmark of the survivalist-thriller subgenre, and one of the most gripping titles of that bunch is "All is Lost," starring late, great Hollywood icon Robert Redford as an unnamed man on a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean who wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water after a collision with a shipping container left floating on the high seas.
Written and directed by J.C. Chandor, the visceral drama finds Redford's character contending with violent natural elements — from thunderous tropical storms to hungry, prowling sharks — after his navigation equipment, marine radio and vessel itself get damaged, leaving the lifelong mariner having to use his sailing skill, physical strength (mind you, the Oscar winner was a spry 77 years old at the time of filming the action-packed movie) and sheer will to ensure his survival.
Stream "All is Lost" on The Roku Channel now
'The Equalizer'
From reciting Shakespeare to fighting in historical wars, we'd watch Denzel Washington do anything. But we're especially fans of when the acting legend goes all in on an action thriller, like the 2014 vigilante drama "The Equalizer."
In the Antoine Fuqua-directed adaptation of the classic 1980s television series, Washington plays Robert McCall, a former elite Marine and a retired Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer who faked his own death to escape his violent past and now leads a quiet life in Boston. However, he's pulled right back into the guns-blazing danger when he meets a young girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters.
Stream "The Equalizer" on The Roku Channel now
