Amazon Prime might be best known for things like Prime Day, when shoppers can get great deals on the many, many things that Amazon Prime sells. On top of all that, they also have Prime Video, which has an exceptional collection of great movies worth checking out. If you’ve looked through the service yourself and found that there are simply too many interesting options to choose from, you’re not alone.
As you try to beat the heat this summer, we’ve collected five movies that are well worth your time and are available on the service. Take a dive in, and thank us later:
Oppenheimer (2023)
What better way to celebrate the summer of 2024 than by revisiting one of the major hits of the summer of 2023? Oppenheimer tells the story of the man who invented the atomic bomb, but in doing so, it explores the difficulty of ever truly understanding yourself or your own actions.
Director Christopher Nolan turned what could have been a relatively conventional biopic into something much more probing and, in typical Nolan fashion, he also messed with the chronology of Oppenheimer’s story. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. are both at their best here, and they’re surrounded by one of the best modern Hollywood casts ever assembled.
You can watch Oppenheimer on Prime Video.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
One of the great thrillers ever made, The Silence of the Lambs tells the story of a young Clarice Sterling, an FBI agent who is recruited to hunt down a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. In attempting to understand him, she has a series of conversations with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a serial killer who is already in custody.
It’s those conversations, brief as they may be, that make Silence of the Lambs so riveting thanks to the central performances from Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Director Jonathan Demme proved that he could basically do anything here, and Silence of the Lambs holds ups shockingly well more than 30 years later.
You can watch The Silence of the Lambs on Prime Video.
Midnight Run (1988)
Perhaps the platonic ideal of a buddy comedy, Midnight Run follows Robert De Niro‘s bounty hunter as he is forced to escort an accountant who stole from the mob across the country and into police custody. Along the way, they get into a wide array of shenanigans, and find that they are being pursued by both law enforcement and the mob.
De Niro and his frequent scene partner Charles Grodin prove to be an ideal match here, and Midnight Run has everything you could want from a movie. Its action beats and its comedic ones are both top-notch.
You can watch Midnight Run on Prime Video.
Gladiator (2000)
We’re getting a Gladiator sequel in November with Gladiator 2, so summer is the perfect time to reconnect with the 2000 original. Starring Russell Crowe as a Roman general who is sold into slavery after his family is killed and finds himself achieving fame in the gladiatorial arena.
The movie is really a revenge epic that features Crowe at the peak of his powers as a movie star. Joaquin Phoenix is a perfect sniveling villain, and director Ridley Scott knew exactly which flourishes to throw in to make the movie as powerful as possible. There’s a reason its legacy has endured for more than 20 years.
You can watch Gladiator on Prime Video.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Few directors have arrived on the scene as fully formed as Quentin Tarantino. From the very first scene of Reservoir Dogs, you know you’re in the hands of a distinct directorial voice. The movie plays out largely like a play, confined to a single location in the aftermath of a heist that’s gone horribly awry.
Reservoir Dogs teases out its reveals and plotting over the course of the movie’s runtime, but the movie works because every single scene is compelling. Add in some career-best work from Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Harvey Keitel, and you’ve got a recipe for a movie that’s legacy has only grown in the years since its release.
You can watch Reservoir Dogs on Prime Video.
