Amazon Prime isn’t just about TV, there are some brilliant movies on the service too. Here’s our pick.
Welcome to our list of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video UK. As we are TechRadar we don’ t do things by half, so what you have over the course of this gallery is almost 100 movies that are now available to stream on Amazon Video – the movies and TV streaming section of Amazon Prime.
To help you make the best selection, we have put everything into categories so if you are a horror fan, love a bit of romance or want a tense thriller, you will find the perfect movie for you.
Having gone through the entire Amazon Prime Video catalogue in the UK we have to admit that the movie selection is – whisper it – better than what you find on Netflix.
There are a few gems on here that have only just come off of their cinema run and are already ready to stream. Couple this with a brilliant array of stone-cold classics and you have an impressive and varied list of films.
It’s great to see Amazon embrace movies in this way, so dive in and we hope you find something you like!
And if you don’t, then maybe our Best Amazon TV shows list is for you.
Kathryn Bigelow is one of the best action directors around, so it’s no surprise that The Hurt Locker won her the Best Director award at the Oscars – the first time a women has won the accolade. What is surprising, though, is just how nuanced the film is. Given it’s about disposing of bombs, the tension is in the quiet moments, rather that when the explosions start.
Mad Max: Fury Road has no right to be as good as it is. The signs weren’t good before release. It was stuck in development Hell for years, then lead actor Tom Hardy was quoted in saying that he was frustrated during the shoot as he didn’t quite understand director George Miller’s vision. But he needn’t have worried. Yes, Fury Road is one big set piece, but what a set piece: it’s a car chase to end all car chases, followed by another car chase to end all car chases. Miller has created a wonderful, strange movie that is a riveting watch and one that stands toe to toe with The Road Warrior as the best Mad Max film.
It seems that when it comes to movies and ‘gun-fu’, Keanu Reeves can do no wrong. He mastered it in The Matrix and now he’s back brandishing more fire arms than an army in John Wick. The premise to the movie is ridiculous: a retired hitman gets back in the game when someone kills his dog. The dog in question, though, was a present from his dead wife so at least there’s some emotional weight there. The movie is great because of its simplicity. It’s a snapshot of a bigger universe, run by hitmen and women – there’s a mythos hinted at throughout that is never really explained. A sequel and announced third movie will do delve more into he story but John Wick keeps things simple: it’s about revenge, and lots and lots of shooting.
Edge of Tomorrow – or Live Die Repeat, the name the posters seemed to take to calling it – is one of the best sci-fi movies in recent years. Tom Cruise is on top form as Lt. Col. Bill Cage, a soldier stuck in a time loop that forces him to live the same suicide mission over and over again. Cruise forgoes his usual confident swagger to portray a man way out of his depth, while Emily Blunt is the biggest badass in a film that’s full of them.
While the original Zack Snyder film didn’ t exactly lend itself to a sequel – it was about a war that was wrapped up in the movie – Rise of an Empire takes on another different battle that’s style over substance but will still keep you entertained. New director Noam Murro cut his teeth on commercials but his move to the big screen is actually a half decent one.
Welsh director Gareth Evans shot onto the scene with The Raid, one the best actions films this decade. Shot in Indonesia and using martial arts talent from the region, the setup to the move is simple: a crime lord is holed up in a tower block, 30 floors up. It’s the police’s job to get him out. Superb stuff. The version on Prime is the subtitled one, which is by far the best way to watch it.
A soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers and dizzying direction from Joe Wright brings to life this offbeat tale of a young child who just happens to also be a master assassin. Saoirse Ronan shines in an early role from the Oscar nominated actress and so does Eric Bana her father who just so happens to be ex-CIA.
Hard to believe that the creators of the Fast and The Furious franchise have managed to squeeze eight movies out of the concept and they are getting better and better. The fifth instalment sees the movies shift gear from street racing into heist territory – a plot twist that also freshens up the cast by adding Dwayne Johnson to proceedings. Good, if guilty, fun.
It wasn’t the movie to catapult Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul from TV a-lister to movie a-lister, but Need For Speed offers old-fashioned car chases (no CGI here) and adrenaline-filled action scenes – all to service a plot so wafer-thin, it’s best served in an ice-cream sundae. Given this is a film based on a videogame, nobody should expect anything more really.
Before David Ayer was assembling a Suicide Squad and creating one of the most abysmal comic-book movies ever, he made this highly original film that’s shot documentary style and focuses on a couple of cops whose job it is to patrol South Central LA and keep the peace. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are superb as the pair who risk life and limb to do their job. Given Ayer grew up on streets not dissimilar to what’s being portrayed in the movie, End of Watch is a searing and honest portrayal of an area of America few would dare venture.
Norway isn’ t renowned for its disaster movies, but with The Wave and Troll Hunter it is making a decent name for itself. The Wave is about a tsunami that hits the country when a Norwegian fjord collapses. Given the relatively low budget, not much disaster is actually seen. Instead we are let to deal with the individuals who are trying to survive the wave. As disaster movies go, this is one of the more interesting to watch.
Some will see Dead Man as a monochrome meditative masterpiece about death and the journey you go on once things end, others will find it a pretentious load of old twaddle. We are definitely in the former camp. Jim Jarmusch’s oddest film – in a group of frankly odd films – sees Johnny Depp as William Blake, an accountant on the run after murdering a man. The plot is based around a series of people Blake meets and the changes we see in Blake the further he goes on his journey. The film is full of second guesses and open to interpretation but Jarmusch also piles on the humour, especially when things looks as if they are getting a bit too dark.
Nicolas Winding Refn makes it hard for you to love his films. While he won new followers with the sublime Drive, he tries to shake a few of them away with the follow up, Only God Forgives. This monosyllabic slice of machismo and revenge looks amazing but is a tough watch. Its scenes are slow, almost meandering. The dialogue is sparse and curt, and the violence when it comes is sudden and extreme. Give it your time and patience, though, and you’ ll be rewarded with an unnerving, slick and sinister movie.
After proving himself as one of the greatest music video directors – making videos for Daft Punk, Bjork and Massive Attack – Michel Gondry also showed himself as a fantastic feature filmmaker, with Eternal Sunshine. The plot is light sci-fi – a couple who have fallen out of love go to get their memories of each other erased. By losing these memories, the former lovers, played beautifully by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet start to remember why they loved each other. Visually, the film is highly original but it’s the romance of the movie that endures.
Helmed by two visionary French directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Delicatessen is a surreal black comedy that’s based in a strange post apocalypse where food is scarce. The story surrounds a mysterious delicatessen on the bottom floor of a run-down apartment block. Delicatessen is full of larger than life, grotesque characters, a Gilliam-esque feel and some brilliant humour and romance. Jeunet went on to reach global success with Amelie.
Quentin Tarantino goes back to his roots with Hateful Eight. The look of the film may well be wildly different from Reservoir Dogs – it’s set deep in a Wyoming winter – but it’s a similar ‘movie in one room’ scenario. Hateful Eight has some stunning visuals but it’s all about the dialogue. Shots are fired but it’s the verbal intercourse that takes place before the violence that’s a joy to behold.
Ben Wheatley is a great British director. His films are always off-kilter, so it made sense that he would try to adapt High Rise, an ‘unfilmable’ book by JG Ballard. Tom Hiddleston stars as Laing, the newest occupant of a tower block that’s a microcosm of society as a whole. There’s plenty of drugs, sex and a smattering of murder. As for the plot – try not to understand it too much and just enjoy the rambunctious ride.
Director Nicolas Winding Refn’s most accessible film is also his best. Ryan Gosling is the silent stunt driver turned getaway driver who ends up getting embroiled in a violent gangland dispute. The film oozes cool, from its garish visuals to its electronic soundtrack and is a feast for the eyes and ears – it’s also punctuated by some stunning, visceral violence.
Todd Solondz is one director that doesn’ t mind tackling some of the most controversial, degrading and downright embarrassing situations humans can find themselves in. He continues this theme with Wiener-Dog – a movie dipped in dysfunction that’s split into four parts – each part telling the story of the owner of a wiener-dog. It’ ll make you laugh, and some characters from Welcome To The Dollhouse make a welcome return, but you’ ll feel uncomfortable throughout.
Director Ben Wheatley adds the right amount of realism and menace to Kill List – a film that is never quite what it seems. On the face of it, it’s a kitchen sink drama about a hitman and his latest assignment to kill three people but as the story unravels so does the hitman’s life (played in earnest by the brilliant Neil Maskell) . It flirts at being a family drama, teases you that it’s a crime saga then hits you with the most relentless horror that you’ ll be watching the end behind your hands. Great stuff.
Jim Jarmusch has always been eclectic in his film choices. Whether it’s meditations on death (Dead Man) , Eastern philosophy (Ghost Dog) or, er, vampirism (Only Lovers Left Alive) , his take on the storytelling is always unique. In Paterson he has created a heartwarming movie about a day in someone’s life. That someone happens to be called Paterson and lives in Paterson. Adam Driver is great as the central character – his slow burn acting style suits a film that’s almost laid back in its storytelling.
This is a film that you need to watch twice. There is so much going on and director PT Anderson doesn’ t make it easy for you to follow what is happening, but that’s the beauty of the movie and the Thomas Pynchon novel on which it is based on. It’s a detective story that’s opaque, where the central investigation almost falls by the wayside by the end of it, thanks to being swathed in a fug of drugs – well, it is set in Los Angeles in the ‘70s after all. Joaquin Phoenix is great as Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello – a role he was born to play.
The film that sparked a thousand memes, Downfall is a harrowing, realistic look at the last days of Adolf Hitler. The film show the dictator at his most vulnerable, coming to terms with the loss of World War II and struggling to save face while his world crumbles around him – a side rarely seen in a war movies.
Anne Rice’s brilliant take on the vampire legend is a rich, lavish watch. Both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are great as vampires who have lived centuries and have quite the tale to tell. Interestingly the scene stealer of the movie is a very young Kirsten Dunst. Considering she is up against some of the heavyweights of the movie world, she more than holds her own.
The Impossible is what Tom Holland was doing before he became Spider-Man, starring in a true tale about the devastating tsunami in Thailand. He is one of three sons of Naomi Watts and Ewen McGregor’s characters and part of a compelling character study of what happens to people with natural disasters strike. Director JA Bayona proved he is a talent to look out for with The Impossible. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which he is helming in 2018, should cement that fact.
A young Christian Bale stars in this superb drama that charts the childhood of author J. G. Ballard. Directed by Steven Spielberg the film is a lush old-school epic that charts the journey a young boy has to go through when he is separated from his parents in China after Japan invades the country in World War II. Bale has always been a fantastic actor but here you see that even at 15 he had oodles of star quality.
Brie Larson stars in this heartfelt study of human endurance. Larson is Ma. She has been imprisoned in a small shed for years, having to bring up her little boy Jack (a great Jacob Tremblay) in isolation. The film follows their story to the bittersweet end. For a film that’s mostly shot within the confines of a small room, director Lenny Abrahamson manages to eek out pathos in the mundane but it’s the acting of the two leads that’s the real reason to watch the heart-rending movie.
Apocalypse Now is a rare gem of a movie. Born out of chaos, where leading actors had to be replaced, medical problems blighted the shoot and Marlon Brando went somewhat off piste, it’s a miracle there was any film at all to show for the shoot, let alone one of the greatest movies ever made. Based loosely on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, the film follows a soldier’s descent into hell as he tries to track down the elusive Colonel Kurtz, a decorated war veteran who has seemingly gone mad. From the amazing visuals, to the sweeping score, to the acting chops of the main cast, Apocalypse Now is a terrifying masterclass in filmmaking.
John LeCarre’s superb spy novel is given a decent adaptation, thanks to Let Me In director Tomas Alfredson’s measured, careful take on the source material. Gary Oldman is superb as George Smiley, the veteran spy catcher brought out of retirement to find an Russian mole in the ranks of the MI6. Even if you know who the mole is, the way the film unfurls this information is utterly captivating.
Yes, it’s a film that smacks of ‘give me an Oscar’ acting but The Imitation Game is also a great take on the codebreakers of Bletchley Park, headed up by genius Alan Turing. While there are fantastic performances by both Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, the film does skirt around some of the more controversial aspects of Turing’s life – and the horrific injustices he incurred – but this doesn’ t detract from what is an engrossing film.
A deserved winner of the Best Film Oscar, Spotlight is a searing look at investigative journalism at its finest – trying to uncover the truth of child abuse within the Roman church. The film is a true testament to real journalism and throws shade at online clickbait and its erosion of proper investigative news gathering. Oh.
Another Oscar winner seemingly grown in a petri dish for the sole purpose to win awards, The King’s Speech is one man’s struggle to get over a speech impediment and subsequent fear of public speech – it just so happens this man is also the king of England. For all its faults, it tugs on the right strings and is very watchable.
The Russian roulette scene may be what most people think of when someone chats about Deer Hunter but the movie has so much more to offer. It shows the horrors of war during and after the Vietnam conflict, shining a light on what a situation like that does to a person and their relationships. It’s a gruelling but sometimes beautiful watch.
Matthew McConaughey was on something of a role role-wise when he took on the past of an aids victim who turns to drug trafficking to make sure he and his fellow friends have the right medication to combat the disease. Superbly directed and with great acting – Jared Leto as a trans woman is standout – this is well worth a watch.
What started off as a failed TV pilot ended up being one of David Lynch’s most accomplished films. As with any Lynch movie describing the plot won’t do Mulholland Drive justice. What starts off as a portrayal of a woman seeking fame in Hollywood ends up being a nightmarish look at the duality of personality and what happens when reality turns into a fever dream.
It’s great to see Viggo Mortensen back as a leading man and Captain Fantastic suits his eclectic sensibilities down to the ground. It’s a film about a family of homeschooled children who have lived off-grid with their eccentric parents. When their mother dies, they come back to civilisation with a bump. Mortensen is superb as the grizzled patriarch and the casting of the kids is spot on. In a film full of surprises, perhaps the most surprising thing about Captain Fantastic is its writer-director Matt Ross. He plays Gavin Belson in Silicon Valley!
Even when Christopher Nolan missteps, he still manages to hide the stumble with a highly orchestrated dance routine. Interstellar is overblown and weighed down by its own importance but, boy, is it an epic watch. Matthew McConaughey stars as Cooper, a farmer and former test pilot who helps on a mission to save the people of Earth, which is ravaged by lack of land resource. The mission involves going to space and entering a wormhole and exploring a new planet that may have the means for sustaining human life. The film falls in on itself as it nears its conclusion but it’s a bold, measured ride into the unknown with some of the best visuals Nolan has created. Just don’ t go expecting a masterpiece, however.
Chris Nolan is a superb filmmaker and, as his latest film Dunkirk shows, one that is not only very precise in his filmmaking style but someone who is obsessed with the passage of time. Inception sees him play with time conventions in the most convoluted way, stacking dreams into dreams and the various ways this plays with time. It’s all a bit of a head scratcher but the A List cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Ellen Page make it more that watchable.
Usually when people ask what the best space movie is, Contact is rarely mentioned. It Shouldn’t be this way. The film is an existential look at extraterrestrial life, starring Jodie Foster and directed by the superb Robert Zemeckis. The film has similar traits to Arrival and asks bigger and better questions that Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and then there’s Jodie Foster – truly one of the greatest actors of a generation acting her socks off here. Fantastic stuff.
First up, this is the Extended Edition of the movie which means that if you are going to watch it, you need to set aside 228 minutes, a snip under four hours. It’s worth it, though, as Peter Jackson’s take on the LOTR’s tale is a wonder of fantasy filmmaking. There will never be another film trilogy like Lord Of The Rings and this is arguably the best movie of the three.
Tim Burton’s take on the pulpy sci-fi movies of the ’50s is a fun, subversive ride. The premise is simple: aliens have come from Mars and they are out to take over the US presidency. While we would positively embrace an invasion right now, the alien invasion causes a whole host of people to freak out. Namely celebs in a number of cameos, including Jack Nicholson as the President, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito and a superb quick turn from Tom Jones.
Yes, the show is getting all of the plaudits at the moment but the original movie is well worth a watch as well. Based around an AI theme park, where the hosts in the park are robots, the movie charts the robots going rogue and the humans that try and deal with this situation. Yul Brynner is superb as the murderous Terminator-like bot.
One of the more interesting sci-fi movies of the past decade and a huge reason why director Rian Johnson got the Star Wars: Episode VIII gig. Looper focuses on the timey wimey tale of a bunch of hitmen, whose job it is to send people from the future into the past to kill them. Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are superb in the film, which manages to take complex ideas and boil them down into an entertaining popcorn thriller.
Star Wars alumni John Boyega got his first break on this great UK indie, as did newly instated Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker. Attack The Block is the first movie by Joe Cornish – of Adam and Joe fame – and it’s an absolute corker. Aliens have come to earth to wreak havoc and it’s down to a South London gang to make sure their neighbourhood doesn’ t become a disaster zone. Full of warm wit and fantastic humour – not to mention some startling special effects – the movie mashes together a number of genres together and has a whole lot of fun doing it.
They Live sees John Carpenter at his most political and fiendish. On the face of it, it’s a film about a drifter who finds a pair of sunglasses that, when worn, shows him that aliens have taken over the world’s population and the government is trying to control everyone with subliminal messaging. But it’s all allegory. An allegory that holds strong today, with the current situation in US politics and fake news – that people’s views are being manipulated even if they don’ t think they are. Carpenter took a big gamble casting wrestler Roddy Piper in the movie but it pays off.
While Gravity is a live action film, most of what you see has been created in a computer. Yes Clooney and Sandra Bullock are in the film but their faces and hands have been painstakingly grafted onto an animation – not even the space suits are real. Not that you would know this from watching the film but that’s the brilliance of Gravity – it’s a movie so precise in its execution, you never once question how it was made. It was also a movie that gave 3D in the cinema a new lease of life, but watching the 2D version on Amazon Prime is still a thrilling cinematic ride.
You wait years for a sci-fi movie that’s influenced by Groundhog Day to come along and then two appear at once. Yes, Source Code has a similar time-repeating plot to Edge of Tomorrow but it’s less bombastic and more thoughtful in its approach. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the soldier who only has eight minutes to stop a bomber on a busy train, before time resets and he has to do the whole thing again. Duncan Jones does well in the director seat, managing to make a plot device that could grow old rather quick really work.
Gareth Evans has had a such a meteoric rise in Hollywood, it’s a wonder he doesn’ t start the day with altitude sickness. After his no-budget movie Monsters was a modest hit, he was chosen to reboot Godzilla and rid the world of the sour taste of the’ 90s film. He does well to add the sense of dread and menace that is in the original Japanese films but there’s just not enough of the monster here to make the movie into a classic. It’s still well worth a watch, though.
Vincenzo Natali has proved himself to be a very capable TV director in recent years, working on Hannibal and The Strain. But he’s also pretty decent in the movie department. Splice is about what goes wrong when you try and splice human DNA with some sort of animal. Splice has all the traits of a B-Movie, but manages to add a little bit of intelligence into the mix as well
It’s by no means a perfect movie, but Legend has two fantastic central performances… both played by Tom Hardy.
