Look, I love a good rom-com as much (probably more) than the next person, but if your heart is broken or missing something this Valentine's Day, why not give it a kickstart with adrenaline? Whether you're watching alone or with some friends for a 'Palentine's Day' these are our top picks on the best streaming services for an exhilarating evening.
Valentine's Day can be great sure, but does Valentine's Day have Arnie smashing bad guys up and delivering gloriously awful puns? I didn't think so.
1. Free Fire
- Streaming on: Netflix (UK), Max (US)
A personal favourite of mine, Free Fire takes the best part of an action movie, the shootouts, and stretches that to the whole film. Set entirely in a warehouse during an arms deal gone bad, it's a ludicrously well-choreographed piece of filmmaking by Ben Wheatley.
There's an all-star cast too. Brie Larson, Sharlto Copley and (Robert Oppenheimer himself) Cillian Murphy are all superb blending relentless gunfights with some pitch-black humour. You won't have seen any movie like this before.
2. Source Code
- Streaming on: Netflix (UK), Paramount+ (US)
A sci-fi thriller that came out of nowhere to deliver a fantastically unique mix of Speed and Groundhog Day. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a soldier stuck in a time loop tasked with living the same 8 minutes over and over to find exactly who planted a bomb on a train. Not to defuse it, because the incident is in the past, but to prevent a further attack.
He's joined by Michelle Monaghan and (now Oscar nominee) Jeffrey Wright in a film that has seriously stuck with me since watching and just flies by. Relish every second.
For more lovely train-based action check out Bullet Train which is streaming on Sky Cinema in the UK and Netflix in the US.
3. 300
- Streaming on: Netflix, Prime Video (UK)
- Rent on: Apple TV+, Amazon (US)
Why snuggle up with someone special when you could instead watch someone being kicked down a well? It's a question I ask myself often and the answer is to watch 300. Gerard Butler gives one of the most testosterone-fuelled performances in cinematic history in this Zack Snyder joint. It's not particularly slick, but it is damn effective at getting your pulse racing.
This is a fictionalised version of a real battle, the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian wars where it is said that a force of 300 Spartans fought off a Persian army believed to be around 300,00. Say it with me now. This.Is.Sparta!
4. Bad Times at the El Royale
- Streaming on: Disney+ (UK)
- Rent on: Apple TV+, Amazon (US)
A brilliant thriller that initially has a slow burn then explodes into life. Bad Times at the El Royale is a love letter to the noir era with some of today's biggest stars. We're talking Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo and Chris Hemsworth,
Set in the titular hotel, a run-down relic, we follow a group of guests checking in for the night in 1969. They all have cover stories that barely hold up, no one can be trusted and it's absolutely glorious.
To say much more would be spoiling things but you can expect some supreme tension throughout and some of the deadliest farce around.
5. Killing Guther
- Streaming on: Prime Video (UK), Freevee (US,UK)
You might not have heard of this one, but If you're after something silly I cannot recommend this 2017 film highly enough. It also features some of Arnie's best work in years.
Killing Gunther recounts the pursuit of the legendary hitman Gunther by the rest of the world's top-trained killers. The No. 2 ranked assassin Blake (writer/director Taran Killam) has even hired a documentary crew to record their takedown of the great man.
It's a gloriously silly film with Arnie constantly tormenting these hapless so-called professionals and clearly loving it. At the same time, there is a pretty sweet relationship between Blake and his ex Lisa (Cobie Smulders) blossoming. Oh sorry didn't mean to mention romance!
