Summary
Amazon Prime Video has surpassed Netflix as the top streamer in the United States, thanks to its extensive selection of movies that can be rented or watched for free with a Prime account.
The 10 best movies currently available on Amazon Prime Video offer something for every viewer, from lighthearted fantasy to creepy horror and thrilling action.
Movies like “Honor Among Thieves,” “M3GAN,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Prestige,” and “12 Angry Men” showcase the variety and quality of films on Amazon Prime Video, making it the perfect choice for movie night.
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In a vast landscape of streaming, Amazon Prime Video may very well have the best selection of movies around, and there are some great movies on the service right now. Amazon Prime Video is a go-to streaming service, with movie lovers placing it high on their list. It offers a broad expanse of movies that viewers can rent for just a few bucks, but with an Amazon Prime account, virtually all of their movie selections are completely free. It’s certainly one of the reasons that Amazon Prime Video has surpassed Netflix as the top streamer in the United States.
With a library that extensive, it can be hard to find the right movie to watch. Amazon Prime Video offers something for everyone, so no matter what mood someone is in or their tastes in film, they’re bound to find something to dive into on the streamer. Still, it can be hard to narrow down the catalog when Amazon Prime Video, ad-free or not, offers so much from which to choose. Here are the 10 best movies that are currently available on Amazon Prime Video.
15 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Release Date March 31, 2023
Director Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Cast Hugh Grant, Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine, Justice Smith, Chloe Coleman, Michelle Rodriguez, Sophia Lillis
Runtime 134 Minutes
Genres Fantasy, Adventure, Action
Given previous attempts at making a D&D movie have tended to end pretty badly, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves seemed like a roll of the dice that could very well end in disaster. By some miracle, though – which in this case really means the talents of writing and directing duo Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night) – it actually ended up being a whole lot of fun. Honor Among Thieves is what feels like an increasingly rare fantasy that isn’t incredibly serious, violent, and dark, but is instead lighthearted, good-natured, and feels darn good to watch.
There are plenty of Dungeons & Dragons Easter eggs in Honor Among Thieves, but you don’t need to know your wizards from your warlocks to invest in this movie. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ cast is clearly having a great time, and that spreads to the viewer; the main heroes all make you root for them, and the movie does a good job in bringing the spirit of the game to the big screen. It also helps that, in one particular Chris Pine moment, it has arguably the funniest scene of any 2023 movie. Honor Among Thieves may have bombed at the box office, and it’s by no means perfect, but it’s ideal movie night entertainment on Amazon Prime.
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14 M3GAN (2022)
M3GAN
Release Date January 6, 2023
Director Gerald Johnstone
Cast Amie Donald, Kimberley Crossman, Allison Williams, Ronny Chieng, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez
Runtime 1h 42m
Genres Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The pantheon of creepy horror dolls took on a particularly 2020s vibe with Gerald Johnstone’s M3GAN, which is part modern Promethean panic and part good old-fashioned chiller. While the eponymous dancing doll was the source of one of the most viral memes of 2022, the movie itself is more than just a gimmick. The horror credentials are front and center, thanks to James Wan pulling producer duties, but M3GAN is also gloriously, self-consciously silly, which more horror movies can afford to be. At least one could be, at the very least, as MEGAN 2.0 has already been announced.
In short, M3GAN is one of the best horror movies of recent times, one of the best additions to the killer doll sub-genre, and a roaringly fun, creepy romp. It was a ready-made cult classic on arrival, but surpassed that thanks to a higher level of success, and it’s easily one of the most enjoyable new horror movies on streaming.
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13 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Top Gun: Maverick
Release Date May 27, 2022
Director Joseph Kosinski
Cast Jennifer Connelly, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Tom Cruise, Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro, Miles Teller, Danny Ramirez, Val Kilmer, Manny Jacinto, Ed Harris, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm
Runtime 130 minutes
Main Genre Action
Tom Cruise was right not to release Top Gun: Maverick directly to streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the sequel to the classic Top Gun went on to become the second-highest-grossing movie of 2022 with over a $1 billion at the global box office. But now that it’s had its theatrical run, nobody is complaining about it being available on Amazon Prime Video. Released over 30 years after the original, the sequel was well worth the wait, as Maverick is even better than Top Gun. As Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell trains the next generation of Top Gun graduates, Maverick has better visuals, a tighter script, and sends the franchise soaring into the 21st century with a totally modern update of this beloved story.
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12 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
10 Things I Hate About You
Release Date March 31, 1999
Director Gil Junger
Cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larry Miller, Heath Ledger, Larisa Oleynik, Julia Stiles
Runtime 97 minutes
Genres Romance, Comedy, Drama
Teen rom-coms are rarely known for their staying power, and at first glance, a 71% critics score may not seem good enough to make a “best of” list. But Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You, a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, has withstood the test of time to become a true classic of the late ’90s. The script is unexpectedly clever and far smarter than one might expect of a teen movie. It also served up breakthrough roles for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt, who had previously been only known for his TV work. The chemistry between the cast, and the charm they show, especially the work of Stiles and Ledger, is genuinely delightful, making the Amazon Prime Video offering well worth a watch.
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11 The Prestige (2006)
The Prestige
Release Date October 20, 2006
Director Christopher Nolan
Cast Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo
Runtime 130 minutes
Genres Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Drama
Writer-director Christopher Nolan has arguably never had a bad movie, so it’s easy for a great movie like The Prestige to get lost in the flashier titles in the director’s library. Still, the psychological thriller currently on Amazon Prime Video is one of the strongest on his résumé, with one of Nolan’s typical all-star casts putting in some all-star work. It’s crafted in Nolan’s cerebral way, with a narrative that is full of twists and turns that keep the audience guessing, to the point that Christopher Priest, the author of the original novel on which the movie is based, praised Nolan for the clever twists he added. It’s all aided by the lush setting of London in the 1890s. While The Prestige isn’t quite as bombastic or as much of a spectacle piece as some of Nolan’s other films, the tense unfolding of a bitter rivalry grown out of initial friendship is still as gripping as ever.
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10 12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Angry Men
Release Date April 10, 1957
Director Sidney Lumet
Cast John Fiedler, Henry Fonda, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall
Runtime 96 minutes
Genres Drama, Crime
Sidney Lumet is recognized as one of the greatest ever directors, and 12 Angry Men is considered one of his masterpieces – the 100% critics score isn’t by accident. The movie acts as a counterargument to the Cold War paranoia of the McCarthy era, a direct rebuttal to the hysterical mob mentality that ran rampant through the country during that time. One-setting movies are always a challenge; the character work has to be well-executed and the story has to remain compelling without external dynamics to propel them. The brilliance of 12 Angry Men’s jury room setting is that it organically allows the tension to develop from within as the men – all white men of a certain era who might be assumed to hold the same general views – clash and fault lines begin to appear as the camera angle slowly grows closer. What follows is a master class in how to build dramatic tension.
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9 Gladiator (2000)
Gladiator
Release Date May 5, 2000
Director Ridley Scott
Cast Russell Crowe, Derek Jacobi, Oliver Reed, Connie Nielsen, Joaquin Phoenix, Djimon Hounsou, Richard Harris
Runtime 155 minutes
Genres Action, Drama, Epic, History
Director Ridley Scott has had a long and storied career in filmmaking, and few are able to boast the same number of masterpieces he has under his belt. Among those is Amazon Prime historical drama Gladiator, a movie that was an instantly iconic film the moment it hit screens. As a simple revenge tale, Gladiator is great, but as a broader story about the struggle of the powerless to oppose the boots of those in power standing on their necks, its themes are timeless. Its power is undeniable, and it helped make Russell Crowe a household name, not to mention gained him an Oscar for Best Actor. It’s still one of the great action movies and historical epics, and Scott’s directorial choices in the movie have only gotten better over time.
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8 Interstellar (2014)
Interstellar
Release Date November 7, 2014
Director Christopher Nolan
Cast Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Caine, Bill Irwin
Runtime 2h 49m
Genres Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Fantasy
It’s shocking that Christopher Nolan hasn’t won an Oscar yet, and while he stands his best chance yet with Oppenheimer, he would have been deserving with almost any other movie in his filmography, including Interstellar. A word commonly associated with Nolan movies is “mind-bending”, and his epic space drama is no exception. Typical of a Nolan movie, Interstellar is stacked with an A-list ensemble including Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Matt Damon. McConaughey leads the movie as a former NASA pilot on a mission in space to find a habitable planet as Earth is dying. While Nolan himself received no Oscar nominations for Interstellar, the film deservingly won for Best Visual Effects, and this combined with the thought-provoking storyline makes this one of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
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7 Batman (1989)
Batman (1989)
Release Date June 23, 1989
Director Tim Burton
Cast Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Billy Dee Williams, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Michael Gough
Runtime 126 Minutes
Genres Action, Adventure, Superhero
Tim Burton’s Batman is unquestionably the blueprint upon which all modern-day superhero films are built. Its release in 1989 completely changed the way movies are marketed, as well as how a movie’s opening weekend box office is evaluated. None of that would have happened, however, without Batman sweeping over audiences who were hungry for something completely new. Now, “dark” comic book movies are common, but Burton’s daring reimaging of Gotham City as a gothic Art Deco hellscape full of nightmare circus villains, all punctuated by a poppy Prince soundtrack, showed audiences that the comic book genre could be both serious and camp at the same time. The cat-and-mouse dynamic between Keaton’s Batman and Nicholson’s Joker is still as compelling as ever, an on-screen pairing that has rarely been matched before or since.
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6 Legally Blonde (2001)
Legally Blonde
Release Date July 13, 2001
Director Robert Luketic
Cast Reese Witherspoon, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, Selma Blair, Luke Wilson
Runtime 1h 36m
Everyone loves a fish-out-of-water comedy, and Legally Blonde is one of the best. Reese Witherspoon is one of Hollywood’s most likable actors, and she delivers a winning performance as Elle Woods, the bubbly sorority girl who enrolls in Harvard Law School to win her boyfriend back. The movie starts as a hilarious culture clash between Elle and her snooty classmates, but it soon becomes an inspiring underdog story. For all its laughs, Legally Blonde boldly declares that Elle’s femininity and love of fashion aren’t reasons not to take her seriously. The movie delivers a strong feminist message while also being an absolute crowd-pleaser of a watch.
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5 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Saving Private Ryan
Release Date July 24, 1998
Director Steven Spielberg
Cast Tom Sizemore, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon
Runtime 169 minutes
Genres War, Drama
There are countless war movies, and Saving Private Ryan is one of the greatest ever made, if not arguably the greatest. Stephen Spielberg’s film about war is as harrowingly realistic as they come. Unlike most WWII movies up to that point, which tended to gloss over the complexities of war with easy good vs. evil binaries, Spielberg’s depiction was unflinchingly honest. While there are moments of quiet heroism from the characters, much of the movie deals with the gray morality into which war forces good men, and the way it takes a piece of every soldier’s soul. The first-act Normandy invasion scene is a painstakingly faithful recreation of the hell on earth that was D-Day, serving as a brutal reminder of what The Greatest Generation sacrificed. It’s not an easy watch, but Saving Private Ryan is a necessary one, especially in a modern era in which those who lived through WWII have passed on.
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4 Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Release Date September 30, 2011
Director Eli Craig
Cast Tyler Labine, Katrina Bowden, Alan Tudyk, Chelan Simmons, Jesse Moss
Runtime 89 minutes
Genres Horror, Comedy
Compared to the rest of the movies on this list, Eli Craig’s Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is far from a classic. It is, however, an unabashed cult classic, and it has earned a fervent following for a reason. Craig’s blackly comedic horror movie flips the “murderous backwoods rednecks” trope upside-down in a scenario in which the college students are the antagonists and the rednecks are just two nice guys trying to survive what was supposed to be a relaxing fishing trip. It is diabolically gleeful with its kills – characters are killed off in increasingly ridiculous, gore-splattered ways – as the horror-comedy of errors escalates. Along the way, it even manages to squeeze in a romantic storyline that feels earned, a miraculous feat to execute in a movie with a cast-to-body count ratio as low as Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
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3 Nope (2022)
Nope
Release Date July 22, 2022
Director Jordan Peele
Cast Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Daniel Kaluuya, Brandon Perea, Keke Palmer, Barbie Ferreira
Runtime 131 minutes
Genres Horror, Sci-Fi
The horror movie genre is one often dismissed as “low culture” but Jordan Peele is changing that narrative. Known for his sketch comedy series Key & Peele, the Oscar-winning Peele has become one of Hollywood’s most fascinating filmmakers. Nope is his third feature, and it stars Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as siblings who train horses for Hollywood productions and discover a sinister UFO above their ranch.
Beyond being an entertaining, satisfying watch — particularly when the savvy characters utter the film’s title with regards to terrifying situations — Nope, like Peele’s other movies, challenges its audience, forcing them to think about the relationship of spectacle and entertainment to exploitation. While cinephiles wait for what Peele does next, Nope is a great way to tide them over, and it’s one of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.
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2 The Truman Show (1998)
The Truman Show
Release Date June 5, 1998
Director Peter Weir, peter
Cast Ed Harris, Natascha McElhone, Laura Linney, Jim Carrey, Noah Emmerich
Runtime 103 minutes
Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Comedy
It’s always a bit magical when an actor best known for being a comedian lands his or her first big dramatic role and nails it. For Jim Carrey, that was The Truman Show. Peter Weir strikes the right balance between heartfelt drama, comedy, and searing satire; The Truman Show in many ways predicted the modern obsession with voyeurism and reality TV. It’s Carrey’s work as Truman, at times both comedic and compelling, that holds the entire movie together. Truman’s dawning realization that his entire life has been a carefully constructed lie is genuinely heartbreaking, but still injected with the strains of dark comedy that are threaded throughout. It’s particularly resonant in an era in which unreality has become truth, and what’s “real” can be manufactured at the click of a button.
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1 Clue (1985)
Clue
Release Date December 13, 1985
Director Jonathan Lynn
Cast Madeline Kahn, Tim Curry, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren
Runtime 94 minutes
Genres Comedy, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Movies based on board games don’t exactly have the best reputation, and Clue was a box office bomb when it was released in 1985. Its gimmick of having three separate endings, released randomly to theaters screening the film, ultimately fell flat. However, when Clue was released on home video and all three endings were provided for viewers, it quickly gained a cult following.
The ensemble is a stacked cast of ’80s comedy heavyweights, led by Tim Curry as butler Wadsworth, and the zany farce comedy throughout the film provides non-stop laughs. Clue is an endlessly quotable movie, and like the home video release, Amazon Prime Video provides all three endings, the last of which features Mrs. White’s famous “flames of the side of my face” speech, which Madeline Kahn totally improvised. Clue is one of the best (and funniest) movies on Amazon Prime Video, and viewers should be game to watch.
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