Do you know what you need to get through this year’s Election Day? An escape to the movies! But you don’t have to go out to see a great movie. Amazon Prime Video has an astonishing lineup right at your fingertips.
There’s truly something for everyone on Prime Video, but we want to make things easy for you. So we’ve gone ahead and shared our picks for the five great Amazon Prime Video movies to stream this Election Day.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
The Patriot (2000)
Mel Gibson is patriotic to an almost ridiculous degree in The Patriot, but he doesn’t start out that way. Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) tried to stay out of the American Revolution, and he even provided medical aid to both sides after a battle near his home. However, his son Gabriel Edward Martin (Heath Ledger), refused to follow his father’s example and joined the rebels. When a sadistic British colonel named William Tavington (Jason Isaacs) kills Benjamin’s youngest son while arresting Gabriel, it sends the father into a rage.
Benjamin turns out to be just the man the revolution needed to turn the tide against Tavington and the British. However, Tavington’s tactics become even more brutal in response, and not even the Martin family can escape from his reach during the height of the war.
Watch The Patriot on Prime Video.
Escape From New York (1981)
Kurt Russell built his legend as an action star in John Carpenter’s Escape From New York. Convicted thief Snake Plissken (Russell) gets the chance to walk free if he agrees to rescue President John Harker (Donald Pleasence) from The Duke (Isaac Hayes), the crime lord who controls most of what used to be New York City.
To ensure Snake’s cooperation, the government puts a device in his body that will kill him if he doesn’t free the president in time. It’s a daring mission, and not everyone who helps Snake is going to get what they deserve. So he’ll just have to provide his own brand of justice.
Watch Escape From New York on Prime Video.
V for Vendetta (2006)
Alan Moore has been very vocal about his hatred of every adaptation of his comic books. But if he ever saw V for Vendetta — the adaptation of his comic that was co-created by his Watchmen artist David Lloyd — then Moore would probably still hate it. Trust us though, it’s really true to the source material, although some changes have been made.
In the near future, Britain has fallen to an oppressive regime and its citizens are terrorized. V (Hugo Weaving) is a freedom fighter who keeps the hope for his country alive while hiding his face behind a Guy Fawkes mask. After saving a young woman named Evey Hammond (The Lady in the Lake‘s Natalie Portman), V tries to inspire her to rebel as well. And while Evey doesn’t share V’s agenda, he has a way of being very convincing even as he embarks on a very personal mission of revenge.
Watch V for Vendetta on Prime Video.
Jackie Brown (1997)
For his third film, Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino adapted Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch and gave ’70s blaxploitation icon named Pam Grier a comeback role for the ages as the title character. Tarantino also proved to be a good fit for Leonard’s work, as he put Jackie at the center of a struggle between a local crime boss, Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), and the FBI who want to arrest Ordell.
Rather than simply submitting to government blackmail or letting Ordell kill her, Jackie convinces both sides that she’s loyal to them. But even Jackie can’t pull off a con this big by herself, and Ordell’s bail bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster), may be the only one that she can trust.
Watch Jackie Brown on Prime Video.
Elvis (2022)
Welcome to the life and times of Elvis Presley, as seen by writer and director Baz Luhrmann. Elvis puts Austin Butler (The Bikeriders) in the title role as “the king,” and he delivered an Oscar-nominated performance. Tom Hanks co-stars as Colonel Tom Parker, the man who guided Elvis’ career for decades. But Butler is the one performer you that can’t take your eyes off of. He looks, sings, and dances like Elvis in a very convincing way.
Although the film catches Elvis at his height, it’s also there to watch him fall. Almost everyone knows how Elvis’ story ends, but the movie still feels like a triumph for bringing him back to life on the big screen.
Watch Elvis on Prime Video.
