This month’s selection of titles on Prime Video sends a pretty clear message to subscribers that Amazon isn’t planning to rest on its laurels or simply rely on its original titles. Only a week after Universal Pictures’ Nope premiered on Prime, Paramount is lending out Top Gun: Maverick, which is arguably one of the most sensational films of the last year.
That adds up to an incredible added value considering that Prime Video is always adding new and classic titles while expanding its selection. And we’re here to keep you on top of what you can watch with our constantly updated list of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.
We’ve also put together guides to the best shows on Prime Video, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Netflix, the best new movies to stream, and the best movies on Disney+.
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Top Gun: Maverick2022 -
Good Will Hunting1997
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Nope2022
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Pulp Fiction1994
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Creed2015
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Jackass Forever2022
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Top Gun: Maverick is the most popular movie of 2022 and one of biggest blockbusters in years. And after cleaning up at the box office, the Top Gun sequel is coming in for a landing on Prime Video. Tom Cruise reprises his role as Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a test pilot-turned-instructor who doesn’t quite have the same fire that he had in the ’80s.
While teaching the next generation of Top Gun pilots, Maverick also finds himself in conflict with one of his students, Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his late friend, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw. However, Maverick and his pilots will need to find common ground as they are drawn into a new mission with high stakes and breathtaking flying sequences.
Good Will Hunting is the movie that made Matt Damon and Ben Affleck into stars. They co-wrote the script together, and Damon plays the title character, Will Hunting, with Affleck as his best friend, Chuckie Sullivan. Will is a genius whose personal issues have held him back in life. But while working as a janitor at Harvard, Will solves an incredibly difficult math problem that catches the attention of Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård).
Lambeau is the first person to realize that Will has limitless potential if he can stay out of trouble with the law. Enter Dr. Sean Maguire (Robin Williams in an Oscar-winning turn), a psychologist who challenges Will to overcome his past and embrace the man he could become. It’s a riveting feel-good drama for the ages. How do you like them apples?
Jordan Peele’s latest film, Nope, is an impressive blend of sci-fi and horror. Siblings OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Em Haywood (Keke Palmer) are on the verge of selling their father’s horse ranch when they realize that a UFO appears to be hanging around their property and devouring horses. With the assistance of a Fry’s Electronics tech, Angel Torres (Brandon Perea), they attempt to record footage of the UFO as a way to get rich.
Unfortunately for the unlikely trio, the aforementioned UFO is far more dangerous than they initially realized. And it’s not what they expected at all. Nope made DT’s list of the best movies of 2022, and there’s a good reason why: it’s entertaining and smart, which is a rare combination in blockbuster movies these days.
Pulp Fiction was not Quentin Tarantino’s first movie, but it is the film that made him a legend. Tarantino intentionally tells the events of the story in non-chronological order. But the characters are so memorable that it’s almost impossible to take your eyes off of them. This is especially true of the hitmen, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), as they find themselves in way over their heads after an accidental death.
Bruce Willis also has a strong turn as Butch Coolidge, an aging boxer who double crossed the local crime boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), by refusing to throw a match after accepting a large bribe. And in Butch’s attempt to skip town with the money, he comes face-to-face with Marsellus himself.
If you’re waiting for Creed III to show up on Prime Video, it’s going to be a while. But in the meantime, you can see where the next chapter of the Rocky movies began. Creed is actually a brilliant revival that puts Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) into the mentor role for a new fighter, Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the illegitimate son of Rocky’s late friend, Apollo Creed.
Somewhat reluctantly, Rocky takes Donnie under his wing and shows him what it takes to be a real fighter. But the really impactful blows are the emotional wounds suffered by both men, and the way they find catharsis and family with each other. There are even some great bro cry moments to melt even the hardest of hearts.
The original Magnificent Seven is one of the all-time great Westerns. The modern remake is nowhere near that good, but it’s still enjoyable on its own terms. Strangely enough, it plays more like a superhero movie than a Western, as each of the seven brings a particular skill to the table.
Over a decade after the Civil War, Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) and his men enslave and brutalize a small town. The beleaguered townspeople turn to U.S. Marshal Sam Chisholm (Denzel Washington), and his hastily assembled Avengers of the Old West, including Joshua Faraday (Chris Pratt), Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke), Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio), Billy Rocks (Byung-hun Lee), Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). The outcome is never really in doubt, but it’s still a fun ride.
In the same way that audiences fell in love with Pixar’s cute Wall•E, watching Good Night Oppy elicits a similar response, drawing you into the gushy human emotion surrounding a robot roaming Mars 50 million miles away. But that’s because this documentary is as much about the people at NASA that made the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover mission possible as it is about the rover itself. Narrated by Angela Basset, Good Night Oppy tells the inspiring story of Opportunity, a six-wheeled, solar-powered vehicle that touched down on the Red Planet in January of 2004 and was supposed to roam and explore the landscape for a pre-determined 90 days. But beyond anyone’s expectations, Oppy’s mission endured for nearly 15 years before going dark. Told through interviews with many of the scientists and engineers on the project, as well as archival footage, this is a feel-good doc not to be missed.
If you’re a fan of comedy legend Conan O’Brien, then this is the documentary you never knew you needed. And whether you’re a fan of the redheaded giant or not, you’re probably aware of the controversial 2010 Tonight Show conflict where O’Brien, after briefly taking over hosting duties from Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, was double-crossed by the network and rescheduled to a later time slot so Leno could reclaim the Tonight Show desk. Well, O’Brien wouldn’t do it and instead agreed to walk away (to the tune of $45 million) while also agreeing to a seven-month ban on making any television appearances. Hence the focus of this documentary: The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, a 32-city comedy show throughout the U.S. and Canada, which was lovingly captured by O’Brien’s friend and filmmaker Rodman Flender. The doc is a hilarious and often emotional look behind the scenes of the tour and features tons of friends of the comedian, including Jon Hamm, Jack Black, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Eddie Vedder, and Jack White. If you’re a fan of Conan’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, you’ll appreciate the constant companionship and banter of O’Brien’s longtime assistant, Sona Movsesian.
Early Rotten Tomatoes critics’ reviews bode well for this haunting horror-thriller starring Katey Sagal who is terrifying as reclusive Nashville country icon Harper Dutch. Young, up-and-coming country duo Jordan Wilder (Abby Quinn) and Leigh Blackhouse (Alexxis Lemire) are paying their dues in Nashville bars when they get the chance to meet Harper and record a song with her at her decrepit mansion (which should have been the first sign). They say you should never meet your idols, which is the understatement of the year as the girls are drawn into Harper’s twisted nightmare — kind of like if Dolly Parton went all Jack Torrance. One respite from all the thrills is Torn Hearts‘ music: there are some truly great vocal numbers sung by Sagal herself.
The Northman is nothing short of brutal. That’s not a critique of the film (it has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 89%) — by that, we mean that The Northman is a dark and vicious Viking revenge tale that makes shows like Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla look like episodes of Sesame Street. Directed by Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse), Northman tells the Viking legend of prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård), whose father, King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke), is murdered by his own brother, Fjolnir (Claes Bang), who assumes rule and takes Aurvandill’s wife (Nicole Kidman) as his own. Young Amleth flees by boat, narrowly escaping death, and spends the following years preparing and plotting his revenge. And boy, does he get it. Now a grown man and a trained berserker, Amleth tracks a usurped Fjolnir down in Iceland, where he’s living a much more modest life as a farmer. With the help of a young slave woman (Anya Taylor-Joy), all Viking hell is set to break loose.
Regina Hall (Nine Perfect Strangers, Insecure) stars in this social thriller/horror about an elite New England university that’s as old as the country itself and has just as many dark secrets. Hall plays Gail Bishop, the school’s new headmaster and the first Black person to hold the position. A Black student, Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee), arrives as a freshman and is soon subjected to anonymous racist attacks that she is convinced are being done by an ancient presence from the school’s past — turns out the school was built on the site of some Salem-era witch trials. As Gail and Jasmine learn to navigate the school’s elite politics and privilege, they uncover the truth about the school and just how tied to its past it really is.
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