This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Amazon Prime
Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Amazon has a little bit of everything on their streaming service, but they don’t have an interface that makes it particularly easy to find any of it. They also love to rotate out their selection with reckless abandon, making it hard to pin down what’s available when you want to watch a movie. It’s the kind of digital minefield that demands a guide. That’s where we come in! This regularly updated list will highlight the best films currently on Prime Video, free for anyone with an Amazon Prime account, including classics and recent hits. There’s truly something here for everyone, starting with our pick of the week.
This Week’s Critic’s Pick
Flags of Our Fathers
Year: 2006
Runtime: 2h 12m
Director: Clint Eastwood
In 2006, Clint Eastwood released a pair of excellent World War II films in Letters from Iwo Jima and this adaptation of the book of the same name by James Bradley and Ron Powers. It’s about the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, the one that led to one of the most famous photos of all time. It’s a bit hokey, but it’s also incredibly well-made, like almost all Eastwood, and a film that’s not available on streaming very often.
Drama
12 Angry Men
Year: 1957
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet’s American classic impacted not just the courtroom dramas that would follow but the very judicial process. Who hasn’t gone into jury duty thinking they would be the “Juror 8” in their group, the one willing to really look at the case before rushing to justice? Henry Fonda gives one of his most iconic performances in a movie that holds up six decades after it was released.
Gone Baby Gone
Year: 2007
Runtime: 1h 54m
Director: Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck’s adaptation of a great Dennis Lehane thriller stars the actor/director’s brother as a Boston detective investigating the disappearance of a little girl. Affleck’s greatest gift as a filmmaker is with ensemble and this is arguably his best with Casey, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Michelle Monaghan and the Oscar-nominated Amy Ryan filling out an amazing cast in a riveting thriller.
In the Heat of the Night
Year: 1967
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Norman Jewison
Fifty years before Green Book won Best Picture, a very different portrait of race relations in the South took home that same prize. Sidney Poitier stars as a black officer who gets caught up in a murder case in the south, and Rod Steiger plays his white, Southern counterpart. Both men are breathtakingly good, and the film contains one of cinema’s most notable slaps.
King of New York
Year: 1990
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Abel Ferrara
The amazing Abel Ferrara directed this crime epic that oozes with style. Three decades after its release, it’s still one of the most cited films of this kind of its era. One of the main reasons for that is the cast. Christopher Walken leads the way as the legendary drug lord Frank White, but the whole ensemble here is amazing, including Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso, Wesley Snipes, Steve Buscemi, and Giancarlo Esposito.
Memento
Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan announced himself to the world with this Sundance thriller that really reshaped the indie and eventually the blockbuster landscape. Guy Pearce gives one of his best performances as a man with such severe memory loss that he has to use his body to remind himself of the details he needs to solve a mystery. It’s still so clever and riveting.
Passion Fish
Year: 1992
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: John Sayles
The brilliant writer/director John Sayles delivered one of his most beloved films in this 1992 drama about a soap opera star (Mary McDonnell) who has been paralyzed after being hit by a cab. She returns to her family home, where she crosses paths with a nurse (Alfre Woodard) who refuses to give up on her. It’s moving in a way that feels genuine, never manipulative.
Road to Perdition
Year: 2002
Runtime: 1h 57m
Director: Sam Mendes
See, Tom Hanks doesn’t always play the nice guy! In Sam Mendes’ adaptation of the Max Allan Collins graphic novel, America’s dad plays a mob enforcer seeking revenge. What’s most memorable about this film is Mendes’ remarkable attention to period detail. It’s a gorgeous film just to live in for a couple hours. Don’t do this one on your phone.
Take Shelter
Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 1m
Director: Jeff Nichols
Jeff Nichols wrote and directed this film that features the best film work by his regular collaborator, Michael Shannon. The actor plays a young husband and father who starts to have visions of the end of the world that leads him to think he may be prophetic. An allegory for mental illness and acceptance, Take Shelter is a riveting drama with an unforgettable ending.
Trainspotting
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director: Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle really broke through with his second film, this beloved adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel about addiction. Ewan McGregor plays Mark Renton, the most charismatic member of a group of friends, including Spud (Ewan Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy (Kevin McKidd), and the sociopathic Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Propelled by one of the best soundtracks of the ‘90s, Trainspotting has more energy than nearly anything else on Prime Video.
Horror
A Knock at the Cabin
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
One of the most inventive directors of his era adapted a screenplay for the first time when he tackled Paul Tremblay’s stunning 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World. Shyalaman does some bad things to the final act, but this is still worth a look for its incredible craft and an excellent performance from Dave Bautista as the leader of a group of people who believe that a sacrifice must be made to stop a pending apocalypse.
Get Out
Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 44m
Director: Jordan Peele
This is the one that really changed the current state of horror, reminding studios how acclaimed and popular it could be if treated with the right respect. It also won its creator an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, launching one of the most interesting careers of the current era. It’s held up remarkably well, and it’s hardly ever available on streaming services, so take this chance while you can to rewatch a movie whose influence is still shaking the industry.
High Tension
Year: 2005
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Alexandre Aja
This movie is bonkers. Directed by Alexandre Aja (and sometimes called Switchblade Romance) it stars Cecile de France and Maiwenn as two young woman who go to a secluded farmhouse, where they’re attached by a serial killer. The twist ending to this brutal film will likely either make it or break it for you. Note: Shudder also added a few other French Horror Wave films, including Inside and Martyrs—both essential for horror fans, neither for the faint of heart.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Year: 1978
Runtime: 1h 55m
Director: Philip Kaufman
There’s a reason that Hollywood keeps returning to Jack Finney’s novel The Body Snatchers—it strikes at a common fear that our neighbors and loved ones aren’t who they were yesterday. The best film version of Finney’s tale is the ‘70s one with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy. A riveting unpacking of ‘70s paranoia, this is a truly terrifying movie.
Phantasm
Year: 1979
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Don Coscarelli
Another low-budget flick that produced an empire, Don Coscarelli’s totally bonkers 1979 film isn’t as much an influential genre classic as it is kind of unlike anything before or since. Who can forget the first time they saw Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man, one of the best horror characters of his era? The crazy plot here is secondary to the unforgettable imagery and style. There’s a reason it spawned four sequels and has a very loyal cult following 40 years later.
Comedy
Bull Durham
Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: Ron Shelton
One of the best baseball movies ever made, this is also purely one of the best comedies of the 1980s, a film that recalls classic love triangle movie star comedies but with a modern sensibility. Movies don’t get much better cast that this one with Kevin Costner oozing charm as Crash Davis, the veteran catcher who has to compete with rookie Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), both on the field and for the love of baseball groupie Annie Savoy, played unforgettably by Susan Sarandon.
Clerks
Year: 1994
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith rocked the indie filmmaking world with his comedy that was shot for almost nothing and became a worldwide hit. Films at the convenience and video stores at which Smith worked in real life with his buddies, no one could have expected that this comedy would still be influencing writers a quarter-century later.
Ghost World
Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 51m
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Based on the Daniel Clowes graphic novels of the same name, this quirky comedy stars Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson as two aimless friends trying to figure out what to do next with their lives. As one appears to be moving on, Birch’s Enid becomes obsessed with a reclusive older man named Seymour, who is played perfectly by Steve Buscemi.
Heathers
Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Michael Lehmann
Talk about a movie ahead of its time. Coming-of-age teen comedies were never quite as wonderfully cynical before this movie about four teenage girls whose lives are upended by the arrival of a new kid, played by Christian Slater. More than just seeking to destroy the damaging cliques at his new school, Slater’s character has plans for something a little more permanent in this comedy that really shaped the teen genre for years to come.
Red Rocket
Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Sean Baker
The great writer/director behind The Florida Project shifted gears with this phenomenal comedy about a born loser, a middle-aged porn star played perfectly by Simon Rex. The former MTV personality plays Mikey Davies, a guy returning to his hometown in Texas for a second chance, but who becomes obsessed with a local teenager, who he essentially starts grooming. Rex won Best Actor from the L.A. Film Critics for this unforgettable turn.
Something Wild
Year: 1986
Runtime: 1h 48m
Director: Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme was a master of tonal balancing, finding a way to perfectly blend the comedy and the dread in this story of an average man caught up in a criminal’s web. Charlie (Jeff Daniels) is a milquetoast banker who goes on a wild ride with a girl named Lulu (Melanie Griffith), but everything changes when Lulu’s ex (an unforgettable Ray Liotta) enters the picture.
Action
Batman
Year: 1989
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: Tim Burton
The modern superhero movie owes an incredible debt to what Tim Burton did in 1989 with Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger. It wasn’t the first superhero movie, but it felt darker and different from the candy-coated men in tights movies that came before, especially the superior sequel, also on Prime.
Casino Royale
Year: 2006
Runtime: 2h 24m
Director: Martin Campbell
It’s hard to believe the most famous movie spy in history ever needed a comeback, but that’s really what happened when Daniel Craig stepped into 007’s shoes and it turned out to be one of the most acclaimed James Bond movies of all time. An origin story for the suave superspy, Casino Royale introduced new layers to the classic character, resulting in an action film that felt like it had real stakes. This is one of the best modern action movies, period, not just in the Bond franchise.
Flags of Our Fathers
Year: 2006
Runtime: 2h 12m
Director: Clint Eastwood
In 2006, Clint Eastwood released a pair of excellent World War II films in Letters from Iwo Jima and this adaptation of the book of the same name by James Bradley and Ron Powers. It’s about the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, the one that led to one of the most famous photos of all time. It’s a bit hokey, but it’s also incredibly well-made, like almost all Eastwood, and a film that’s not available on streaming very often.
The Great Escape
Year: 1963
Runtime: 2h 52m
Director: John Sturges
Classic action! The star power is blinding in this epic war film about prisoners of war who escape a German camp during World War II. It’s led by Steve McQueen, but also includes great turns from James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, James Coburn, and many more.
Hot Fuzz
Year: 2007
Runtime: 2h
Director: Edgar Wright
The center of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy (with Shaun of the Dead and The World’s End) remains the best film in the bunch, and they’re all on Prime, by the way. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play a pair of ordinary police officers who get sucked into a crazy case involving multiple murders in their small England town. Both a parody of action films and a legitimately great action film on its own terms, this is one of the best genre hybrids of the 2000s.
Interstellar
Year: 2014
Runtime: 2h 49m
Director: Christopher Nolan
The most underrated film from the director of The Dark Knight and Oppenheimer remains this 2014 sci-fi epic, a film that’s better if you approach it as an emotional journey instead of a physical one. Matthew McConaughey gives one of the best performances of his career as an astronaut searching for a new home for mankind, and realizing all that he left behind to do so. It’s a technical marvel with some of the most striking visuals and best sound design of Nolan’s career.
Reservoir Dogs
Year: 1992
Runtime: 1h 39m
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Maybe you’ve heard of it? Quentin Tarantino’s first effort announced a major new talent as much as any debut of the ‘90s. Remarkably, unlike a lot of ‘80s and ‘90s debuts, Reservoir Dogs works just as well today. It would arguably be an even bigger hit if it came out in 2024. That’s how much QT influenced the form for three decades and counting after its release.
Road House
Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director: Rowdy Herrington
A tumultuous production of a remake of this cult classic drops shortly, so why not go back and check out the original again? Patrick Swayze plays the bouncer at a totally average Missouri bar who ends up getting sucked into a violent world when he crosses paths with the wrong bad guy. Sam Elliott and Kelly Lynch star in a movie that feels like a perfect distillation of the many charms of Mr. Swayze.
The Untouchables
Year: 1987
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma directed one of the best movies of his notable career in this 1987 action epic that won Sean Connery an overdue Oscar. Connery co-stars with Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness and Robert De Niro as Al Capone in this story of how Ness took down one of the most famous criminals of all time. Tense and riveting, it’s a great action movie that’s anchored by phenomenal performances and De Palma’s unique eye.
By Brian Tallerico , 2024-03-29 20:04:00
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