It’s HBO, and so much more
To survive the video streaming wars, a service must include exclusive shows and movies people can’t stand to miss. Even better is bundling content from several sources and promising must-watch future content. Enter HBO Max, the streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly WarnerMedia). HBO Max includes an excellent mix of premium HBO shows; new originals; a trove of popular and classic movies; and cartoons and anime. The service now offers an ad-free plan ($15.99 per month) and an ad-supported tier ($9.99 per month). The former supports 4K streaming, offline downloads on mobile, and other top features, but the latter does not. Both tiers are pricey compared to competing services, such as Amazon Prime Video ($8.99 per month) and Disney+ ($7.99 per month). The upcoming Discovery merger may ultimately hurt the service more than help it, but right now HBO Max is a well-rounded streaming video service that’s worth your time and money.HBO Max vs. HBO Go vs. HBO Now
HBO Max is the third streaming service to include the HBO name, so you may be confused about how all these services differ. HBO retired HBO Go years ago. All of HBO Go’s customers will be moved to HBO Max. HBO Now is now simply called HBO.
HBO is the service to get if you want only HBO’s original content. HBO Max, as we discuss in the next section, includes all HBO shows, plus a ton of content from WarnerMedia’s other media branches.
Since HBO and HBO Max cost the same, you may be wondering if there’s any reason to choose HBO over HBO Max. Now that HBO Max supports Roku devices, there isn’t. What Can You Watch on HBO Max?
HBO Max’s deep content library is comparable in size to that of Disney+’s, which is to say it’s expansive. The service combines current and classic HBO shows, new originals (called Max Originals), and select shows and movies from other brands, including CNN, DC, Looney Tunes, New Line Cinema, Rooster Teeth, the Turner library, and Warner Bros. For an updated list of streaming content, check out our feature on everything coming to HBO Max.
Starting with HBO’s originals shows, the list of available titles includes Barry, Big Little Lies, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Chernobyl, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, Insecure, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Mare of Easttown, My Brilliant Friend, Oz, Real Time with Bill Maher, Sex and the City, Silicon Valley, Six Feet Under, Succession, The Sopranos, The Wire, Veep, Watchmen, and Westworld. This premium content trove is the backbone of the service, and may be tempting enough on its own to attract subscribers.
HBO Max includes several Max Originals, including Craftopia, a crafting competition show for kids run by Lauren Riihimaki; Legendary, a dance and fashion game show; Looney Tunes Cartoons, a collection of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, and Wile E. Coyote cartoons animated in the classic style; Love Life, an Anna Kendrick-led anthology series of love stories; and On the Record, a documentary about the sexual abuse and assault allegations against Russell Simmons. Other original shows include entries in the Adventure Time: Distant Lands series, The Dog House, Doom Patrol, Frayed, the rebooted Gossip Girls series, and Perry Mason.
Are these original titles enough to compete with the massive and ever-growing number of original series created by Netflix and Amazon Prime? Maybe. Unlike Apple TV+ or the late Quibi, HBO Max can rely on its past content to attract potential subscribers.
Other HBO Max shows from the wider mediascape include Adam Ruins Everything, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Conan Travel Specials, and Rizzoli and Isles, among others. HBO Max also has streaming rights to other big-name shows such as Friends, Luther, Rick and Morty, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? Friends, in particular, should appeal to all the Netflix subscribers who bemoaned the loss of the show. Babylon 5 Remastered is available for streaming on HBO Max, too.
No video streaming service is complete without a library of on-demand movies. HBO Max is no slouch in this category either, thanks to content partnerships with in-house (New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.) and external content sources (such as Studio Ghibli and The Criterion Collection). The lineup is always changing, but popular films on the service at the time of our latest review include A Star is Born, Blade Runner 2049, Ford v Ferrari, The Fast and the Furious, Joker, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Ponyo, Shazam!, Snakes on A Plane, Spirited Away, The Dark Knight, V for Vendetta, and Wonder Woman 1984.
Warner Bros. debuted more than a dozen films on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters in the US in 2021. Think Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Matrix Resurrections, and the new Suicide Squad movie, among others. However, this hasn’t continued in 2022. For example, while The Batman premiered in theaters in March, viewers waited until April to stream it.
On the plus side, HBO Max won’t charge you extra to watch these latest Warner Bros. films. Disney+, unfortunately, requires you to pay an additional one-time fee (typically between $30 and $35) to stream many of its newest releases, including Raya and the Last Dragon.
HBO Max features classic films too, such as 2001: A Spacey Odyssey, A Streetcar Named Desire, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice (both the 1995 and 2005 versions), Rebel Without a Cause, and The Wizard of Oz. Film fans should check out our roundup of the best movie streaming services and explore options such as CuriosityStream and Mubi.
Classic and contemporary animated series also make an appearance on HBO Max, including Adventure Time, Dexter’s Laboratory, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, and Steven Universe. Over time, we hope more of the classic cartoons make their way onto the service.
With Editors’ Choice pick Crunchyroll no longer part of an AT&T- or Discovery-owned subsidiary, HBO Max hasn’t retained all its anime content. Dedicated anime streaming services offer far more content. Even Netflix and Hulu feature more expansive libraries of anime content. The Studio Ghibli movies are still a huge draw, though.
Nearly all the shows and movies from DC Universe moved to HBO Max, including Stargirl, Titans, and Young Justice. Some of the series currently on HBO Max include Batman: The Animated Series, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and Teen Titans. DC Universe still exists, but it is strictly a comic book subscription service now.What About the Discovery and Warner Bros. Merger?
The recent Discovery and Warner Bros. merger has dramatically changed HBO Max’s future. Streaming libraries change all the time, with new content being added as old content leaves. However, the controversial current regime has ruthlessly scaled back HBO Max’s original output, removing episodes of Sesame Street and cancelling Batgirl and other nearly finished films.
