Brokeback Mountain.
Photo: Focus Features
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.
Year: 2006
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: Ang Lee
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star in this romantic drama, one of the best films of the ‘00s. Adapted from the short story by Annie Proulx, Ang Lee’s film is tender and heartbreaking, the story of unaccepted love between two men in the American West. It features some of the career-best work from Ledger, Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams.
Year: 2013
Runtime: 2h 14m
Director: Steve McQueen
One of the most ambitious and impressive projects of the 2020s has been Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, which you really need to watch on Prime. When you’re done, go check out his other masterpiece, the film that won McQueen the Oscar for Best Picture. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in this adaptation of the true slave memoir by Solomon Northup. In many ways, it is the definitive film about American slavery.
Year: 2016
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director: Denis Villeneuve
The French-Canadian director guided Amy Adams to one of her best performances in this sharp sci-fi film about an alien invasion that says more about the people on Earth than the interstellar visitors. Based on a short story called “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, Arrival asks how we would communicate with an alien species, led by a linguist played by Adams. A time-twisting narrative made this a smash hit, along with Villeneuve’s undeniable craftsmanship.
Year: 1975
Runtime: 2h 4m
Director: Sidney Lumet
Any list of the best performances of all time that doesn’t include Al Pacino’s work in this 1975 masterpiece is simply incorrect. Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, a New Yorker who tries to rob a bank with his buddy Sal (John Cazale). Sidney Lumet directs a film that’s alternately as tense as any thriller and as illuminating as any character study. It’s a must-see.
Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 37m
Director: Ridley Scott
One of two 2021 films by the incredible Ridley Scott is already on Prime Video in this adaptation of the 2001 non-fiction book by Sara Gay Forden. Lady Gaga gives a fearless performance as Patrizia Reggiani, whose romance with fashion empire heir Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) ended in violence. A modern camp classic just for Jared Leto’s accent alone, House of Gucci is a riveting exercise in excess.
Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Bennett Miller
One of the best baseball movies ever made was adapted from the 2003 book by Michael Lewis, which recounts the management of the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics, and how they changed the way the game is run by bringing analytics into the mix. Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances as general manager Billy Beane, a man who knew he would have to find a new way to evaluate talent if the A’s were going to compete. This is a rich, smart, riveting movie that’s extra-interesting given what the Oakland franchise is going through in 2023.
Year: 1976
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: John G. Avildsen
Just in time for the drop of Creed III in theaters, Prime Video knocked out all of the streaming competition by adding the entire saga up to this point, including every Rocky film from the Best Picture winner through Rocky Balboa, along with both Creed movies to date. These are legendary films in the history of American sports movies. Marathon time!
Year: 1991
Runtime: 2h 9m
Director: Ridley Scott
It’s hard to believe it’s been over three decades since Thelma and Louise took over the national conversation and even the Academy Awards. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis give two of the best performances of their career in this unforgettable story of an assault that sends two women on a fateful road trip. Everything about this movie works better than you remember, particularly the fearless performances from its two stars.
Year: 1961
Runtime: 2h 31m
Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
No, not the Best Picture-nominated Steven Spielberg remake — that is over on Disney+ and totally worth your time, by the way. This is the beloved original that dominated the Oscars over 60 years ago, winning a stunning ten Oscars, including Best Picture. Watch the original and then contrast and compare when you get to see the new one.
Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: Damien Chazelle
Damien Chazelle may still be startled by the divisive response to Babylon but he can go back to the film that really broke him, earning one of its stars an Oscar and getting a nomination for Best Picture. Chazelle’s drama about a perfectionist drummer and his militaristic teacher thrilled viewers from the minute it premiered at Sundance. It was a major piece of pop culture, a film that feels like it’s being referenced more every year.
Year: 1992
Runtime: 2h 7m
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 epic retelling of the classic novel is one of the most lavish and ambitious Hollywood productions of its era. Gary Oldman gives one of his best performances as the title character, but it’s Coppola’s incredible craftsmanship and unforgettable design that make his Dracula an underrated horror classic.
Year: 1976
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Brian De Palma
Long before Stephen King was an entire industry, he was the guy who wrote Carrie, a 1974 novel about a bullied teen girl who unleashes hell on her classmates. Every once in a while, there’s a perfect combination of source material and creatives, and that’s what happened when King, De Palma, and Sissy Spacek combined forces here. Horror movie history would be made. Note: The underrated Chloe Grace Moretz remake is also on Prime.
Year: 1987
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director: Clive Barker
The horror author Clive Barker directed this adaptation of his own novella The Hellbound Heart and made genre movie history. Introducing the world to the iconic Pinhead, who would go on to appear in so many sequels, the original film here is still the best, the tale of a puzzle box that basically opens a portal to Hell. The sequels have kind of lost the thread, but the original is still incredibly powerful. It’s one of the few films from the ‘80s that would still shatter audiences if it were released today.
Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Jordan Peele
The genius behind Get Out and Us delivered his most controversial film in 2022, a story that blends an alien invasion with a commentary on movie-watching and spectacle in general. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are fantastic in this story of people beset upon by an alien species that likes to watch. Brilliantly structured and gorgeously shot, Nope is blockbuster horror filmmaking at its finest.
Year: 1998
Runtime: 1h 57m
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Well, that’s just like your opinion, man. Joel and Ethan Coen followed up the biggest hit of their careers, Fargo, with the story of Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, unforgettably played by Jeff Bridges. In one of his most iconic roles, Bridges captures a kind of lazy L.A. style that turned this flick into a comedy classic, a movie that’s being quoted somewhere in the world on every minute of every day.
Year: 1974
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Mel Brooks
The ultimate “could they make that movie anymore” conversation piece remains one of the funniest films ever made. Cleavon Little plays the new Sheriff in town as Brooks and his team skewer Western genre conventions and race relations in a way that’s unforgettably hysterical. It’s quite literally one of the funniest movies ever made.
Year: 1967
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Mike Nichols
Few films have impacted the culture as much as Mike Nichols’s 1967 dramedy based on the Charles Webb novel of the same name. It really was one of the first films in a wave of artistic expression that would make the late ‘60s and ‘70s the richest time in American film history. Dustin Hoffman stars as a recent college graduate looking for direction in his life in this sharp, clever comedy that spoke to an entire generation of young people looking for how to change the world.
Year: 2007
Runtime: 2h 1m
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.
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.
Year: 2012
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Wes Anderson
After a couple of disappointments, this 2012 comedy was a smashing return to form for writer/director Wes Anderson. The story of a boy (Jared Gilman) who runs away with his pen pal (Kara Hayward) features all of Anderson’s charming eccentricities, along with a fantastic ensemble that features Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, and Bill Murray. It’s a delight.
Year: 2013
Runtime: 3h
Director: Martin Scorsese
Leonardo DiCaprio should have won the Oscar for his amazing performance as Jordan Belfort, the financial criminal that rocked Wall Street and shocked audiences in one of Scorsese’s best late films. Arguments over whether or not this film glorifies a “bad guy” have become prominent — and could only really be made by people who haven’t actually watched it. Most of all, it’s a shockingly robust film, filmed with more energy in a few minutes than most flicks have in their entire runtime.
Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike has made directed over 100 movies, and this is one of the best, a stylish throwback to samurai cinema of old anchored by the modern filmmaking prowess of one of the best filmmakers alive. A remake of Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 film, this is loosely based on actual events from 1844 when 12 samurai and a hunter worked together to assassinate the leader of the Akashi clan. It’s a perfect balance of storytelling and sprays of samurai blood.
Year: 2007
Runtime: 2h 2m
Director: James Mangold
James Mangold remade the 1957 Western classic a half-century later with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles as a notorious outlaw and the rancher who has to bring him in for justice, respectively. It’s a great ensemble piece that also includes Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk, and Vinessa Shaw.
Year: 1990
Runtime: 2h 2m
Director: Edward Zwick
There’s something about off about a movie about an all-Black regiment of the Civil War being made by a white guy and centering another white character (played by Matthew Broderick), but this 1989 war movie still has value because of two simple words: Denzel Washington. (Well, and Morgan Freeman too.) Denzel won his first Oscar for this film, which was also nominated for Best Picture, instantly setting himself as one of the best actors of his generation.
Year: 1987
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Paul Verhoeven
People like to point at ‘80s movies and say they were ahead of their time, but this may be most true about Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 masterpiece, a film that foretold how technology would impact law enforcement in ways that took decades to come true. A brilliant action satire, this is the story of a Detroit cop who is murdered and revived as the title character, a superhuman cyborg enforcer. It’s even more riveting and relevant almost four decades later.
Year: 1986
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Tony Scott
Tom Cruise reminded everyone that he is really the last true movie star with the amazing success of this film’s sequel in 2022. Why not go back to the original and see how the story of Maverick and Iceman rocked the world over 35 years ago? A lot of this is pretty dated now, but in a way that makes the nostalgic ride even more fun.
Year: 2010
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
At first, the Coen brothers didn’t seem a logical fit for a remake of a beloved John Wayne Western, but they really made this multiple Oscar nominee their own. One of the ways they did that was through directing a fantastic ensemble, led by Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, and Matt Damon. And, of course, their undeniable craftsmanship.
Year: 1994
Runtime: 2h 20m
Director: James Cameron
Remember when James Cameron made kick-ass action movie that weren’t set on Pandora? Those were the days. Cameron directed Arnold Schwarzenegger in this influential action pic about a family man who also happens to be a G-man. Co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, and Bill Paxton, it’s a perfectly paced film that’s easy to watch over and over again. It’s also somehow not yet on Blu-ray domestically, making watching it on Prime the best and easiest way to do so today.
Year: 1995
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Chris Noonan
That’ll do pig, that’ll do. One of the best family films of all time and its nearly-as-good sequel are both on Prime. Subscribers looking for smart family entertainment that isn’t afraid to challenge kids while also entertaining them need look no further than Chris Noonan’s 1995 Best Picture nominee and its truly insane 1998 sequel, directed by George Miller himself.
Year: 1994
Runtime: 1h 58m
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 19th century novel has been adapted to the screen a few times but this is one of the more popular versions, a family film memory for a generation of people who were kids in the ‘90s. Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, and Susan Sarandon headline a film that earned the future Stranger Things star her second and last (to date) Oscar nomination.
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