Best Action & Thriller Films on KLM (August 2026): Critic-Ranked
KLM's August 2026 catalog pairs new-era prestige action (One Battle After Another, Sinners, Weapons) with genre staples spanning six decades — Alien from 1979, Bullitt from 1968, and the full run of Mad Max films through last year's Furiosa. Tenet and Kong: Skull Island are the two headline arrivals this month. Scores below combine Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic into a single percentage.
→ Browse the full KLM action catalog with critic scores — inflight.guide
Why Action Films Work Well at 35,000 Feet
Action and thriller films are built for aircraft viewing: the pacing forces attention, and the genre rarely leans on subtle dialogue you'll strain to catch over cabin noise. A war rig chase or a bus that can't slow below 50 mph reads clearly on a seatback screen in a way a quiet character drama sometimes doesn't. Bring decent headphones, though — KLM's standard set flattens the low end of action scores more than you'd want.
The Best Action & Thriller Films on KLM in August 2026
1. One Battle After Another (2025) — 95%
Runtime: 2 hr 42 min | RT Score: 94% | Metacritic: 95/100
Paul Thomas Anderson's crime epic tops KLM's August action and thriller lineup, and a Metacritic score of 95 is close to unheard of for the genre. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a washed-up revolutionary living in stoned paranoia with his daughter; Sean Penn is the nemesis who resurfaces to upend everything. Dense and unhurried — this is the one to start early on a long transatlantic sector rather than squeeze in before landing.
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) — 94%
Runtime: 2 hr | RT Score: 97% | Metacritic: 90/100
George Miller's desert war epic still holds up as the cleanest piece of action filmmaking of the last fifteen years. Tom Hardy's Max gets swept into Charlize Theron's Furiosa and her convoy fleeing the Citadel — and the film essentially never stops moving for two hours. It's the rare blockbuster where the critical consensus (97% RT) undersells how good it actually is.
3. Sinners (2025) — 91%
Runtime: 2 hr 17 min | RT Score: 97% | Metacritic: 84/100
Ryan Coogler's 1930s Mississippi Delta horror-thriller, starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role opposite Hailee Steinfeld, was one of last year's most original genre releases — a story about twin brothers that turns into something considerably stranger. A 97% Rotten Tomatoes score for a film this committed to its own weirdness says a lot. It rewards patience more than a straight action film would.
4. Alien (1979) — 91%
Runtime: 1 hr 57 min | RT Score: 93% | Metacritic: 89/100
Ridley Scott's original still terrifies at altitude — arguably more so, given the shared sense of confinement. Sigourney Weaver's Ripley investigates a distress signal on a remote planet and finds the thing every sci-fi horror film since has tried to copy. At 46 years old, it's the oldest title in this month's ranking and comfortably one of the best-reviewed.
5. Bullitt (1968) — 90%
Runtime: 1 hr 54 min | RT Score: 98% | Metacritic: 81/100
The San Francisco car chase every subsequent car chase gets measured against. Steve McQueen's Lieutenant Frank Bullitt is assigned to protect a witness in a congressional case; the plot around the chase is a tight, patient detective story that holds up on its own. At 98% on Rotten Tomatoes — the highest score in this month's entire action and thriller list — and under two hours, it fits neatly into a shorter sector.
6. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) — 88%
Runtime: 2 hr 20 min | RT Score: 94% | Metacritic: 82/100
Matt Reeves closes the Apes trilogy with a western-inflected finale pitting Andy Serkis's Caesar against Woody Harrelson's Colonel. A 94% Rotten Tomatoes score reflects genuine respect for a blockbuster franchise that consistently outperformed its premise. If Rise and Dawn have shown up on previous KLM flights, this is the one that finishes the story properly.
7. Weapons (2025) — 87%
Runtime: 2 hr 8 min | RT Score: 93% | Metacritic: 81/100
Zach Cregger's follow-up to Barbarian is one of the sharpest new thrillers on the catalog this month. Josh Brolin and Julia Garner anchor a story about an entire school class vanishing overnight at exactly 2:17 a.m. — a premise that's genuinely unsettling rather than gimmicky. Good for a night flight where you want something that keeps you awake for the right reasons.
8. Speed (1994) — 87%
Runtime: 1 hr 56 min | RT Score: 95% | Metacritic: 78/100
Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, and a bus that can't drop below 50 mph — Speed remains the platonic ideal of a popcorn thriller. Clear premise, escalating stakes, no wasted scenes. A 95% Rotten Tomatoes score is genuinely surprising for something this cheerfully commercial, and it's earned. Under two hours, so it fits a short-haul European sector as comfortably as a long-haul one.
9. Project Hail Mary (2026) — 86%
Runtime: 2 hr 36 min | RT Score: 94% | Metacritic: 77/100
Ryan Gosling stars as a science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship light-years from home with no memory of how he got there. Phil Lord directs this adaptation of Andy Weir's novel with real momentum for a film that's mostly one actor solving problems alone — the mid-film reveal is one of this year's better theatrical surprises. Long, but it earns the runtime the way the source novel does.
10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) — 85%
Runtime: 2 hr 28 min | RT Score: 90% | Metacritic: 79/100
George Miller's Fury Road prequel hands the lead to Anya Taylor-Joy as a young Furiosa, snatched from the Green Place and passed between warlords across the Wasteland. It's more episodic than its predecessor — chapters rather than a single chase — and it rewards the patience a long-haul flight encourages. Watch Fury Road first if you haven't already; the emotional weight lands harder in order.
New to KLM's Action Library This Month
Two library additions stand out for August. Tenet (2020, 70%) — Christopher Nolan's time-inversion spy thriller starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson — finally joins KLM's catalog, giving Nolan a second entry alongside Blade Runner in the wider sci-fi rotation. It's dense and occasionally opaque, but the practical stunt work rewards a big screen and good headphones more than most home viewings can offer. Kong: Skull Island (2017, 69%), with Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson leading a team into a mythical Pacific island, is a lighter, faster watch — a solid pick if Tenet's plotting sounds like too much work three hours into a flight.
Action & Thriller Rankings — August 2026
| Rank | Title | Year | Runtime | RT | Metacritic | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One Battle After Another | 2025 | 2h 42m | 94% | 95 | 95% |
| 2 | Mad Max: Fury Road | 2015 | 2h 00m | 97% | 90 | 94% |
| 3 | Sinners | 2025 | 2h 17m | 97% | 84 | 91% |
| 4 | Alien | 1979 | 1h 57m | 93% | 89 | 91% |
| 5 | Bullitt | 1968 | 1h 54m | 98% | 81 | 90% |
| 6 | War for the Planet of the Apes | 2017 | 2h 20m | 94% | 82 | 88% |
| 7 | Weapons | 2025 | 2h 08m | 93% | 81 | 87% |
| 8 | Speed | 1994 | 1h 56m | 95% | 78 | 87% |
| 9 | Project Hail Mary | 2026 | 2h 36m | 94% | 77 | 86% |
| 10 | Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga | 2024 | 2h 28m | 90% | 79 | 85% |
| 11 | Edge of Tomorrow | 2014 | 1h 54m | 91% | 71 | 81% |
| 12 | The Revenant | 2015 | 2h 36m | 78% | 76 | 77% |
| 13 | F1: The Movie | 2025 | 2h 35m | 82% | 68 | 75% |
| 14 | Training Day | 2001 | 2h 02m | 74% | 71 | 73% |
| 15 | True Lies | 1994 | 2h 21m | 77% | 63 | 70% |
| 16 | Tenet | 2020 | 2h 30m | 70% | 69 | 70% |
| 17 | Kong: Skull Island | 2017 | 1h 58m | 75% | 62 | 69% |
| 18 | The Amateur | 2025 | 2h 03m | 61% | 52 | 57% |
| 19 | The Long Kiss Goodnight | 1996 | 2h 01m | 67% | 43 | 55% |
| 20 | Red Sparrow | 2018 | 2h 20m | 45% | 53 | 49% |
| 21 | The Alto Knights | 2025 | 2h 03m | 39% | 47 | 43% |
Scores reflect critical consensus only. Audience scores and KLM availability verified as of 21 July 2026.
→ Filter all KLM movies by genre on inflight.guide
Action Viewing Tip
KLM's standard headphones handle high-frequency action sound design reasonably well, but low-end rumble — the kind Mad Max: Fury Road and Alien both lean on — loses impact at cruising altitude ambient noise levels. Turn the volume up a notch or two before a film's opening scene rather than mid-way through; adjusting during a tense sequence tends to overcorrect.
If You Liked One Battle After Another, Also Try...
- Sinners (91%) — a different genre entirely, but the same willingness to take a strange premise completely seriously.
- Weapons (87%) — Zach Cregger's follow-up to Barbarian, and one of the sharpest new thrillers on the August catalog.
- The Revenant (77%) — another DiCaprio lead in punishing, physical survival territory, if you want to stay in that register.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does KLM have action movies available on all flights? KLM's full action and thriller catalog is available on long-haul widebody flights (Boeing 787 and 777 routes) with individual seatback screens. Short-haul European flights on the A321neo carry a smaller personal-device library — the complete August selection is exclusive to long-haul routes.
What's new in KLM's action lineup for August 2026? Tenet (2020, Christopher Nolan) and Kong: Skull Island (2017) are the two headline additions this month. Both are new to the catalog as of August and join returning titles like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and One Battle After Another.
How often does KLM's action movie selection change? Monthly. This article reflects August 2026's selection. New titles join at the start of each month and some leave. Visit inflight.guide for the current lineup.
What's the highest-rated action or thriller film on KLM in August 2026? One Battle After Another (2025, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn) leads at 95% combined critic score, just ahead of Mad Max: Fury Road at 94%.
What's the best action film for a short flight? Speed (1 hr 56 min, 87%) or Bullitt (1 hr 54 min, 90%) — both run under two hours and hold their pace throughout, unlike some of the longer prestige entries this month.