500 Days Of Film Reviews The Best Movies On Amazon Prime Video
The range of movies available via Amazon Prime Video is pretty overwhelming. You could easily spend a good hour scrolling through all of your options. To save you some precious film watching time, here are ten unmissable films on Amazon Video.
Hell Or High Water
Hell Or High Water is an utterly gripping western for our post-financial crisis times. It follows brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster), as they embark upon a calculated bank robbery spree - targeting a string of Texas Midland banks in a series of small and desolate West Texas towns.
The robberies put them on a collision course with West Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (a brilliant performance by Jeff Bridges) who, in his last case before retirement, is determined to take them down.
John Wick
The original and (after this year’s sequel) still the best, John Wick is a hugely entertaining movie full of thrilling action and black comedy. Grieving following the death of his wife, ex-hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) comes out of retirement to hunt down the gangsters responsible for stealing what little hope he had left.
Running scared the thieves flee, hiding deep within New York City. However, it is not a question of if John Wick will find them, but a matter of when. For John Wick is not a man that you want to upset - ever.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Quite simply, Mad Max Fury Road is 120 minutes of thrilling, head-banging action and utter carnage. In a barren, post-apocalyptic world, Max (Tom Hardy), escapes the clutches of evil warlord, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), and joins Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) on a dangerous road trip.
Furiosa is attempting to rescue a group of female prisoners and take them to a promised land - a place that she remembers from her childhood.
Inception
Christopher Nolan is a director who loves to challenge his audience and Inception is no exception. Leonardo DiCapprio plays Dominic Cobb, a man who is able to enter the dreams of others in order to steal ideas - a method called extraction. Cobb is a wanted man who cannot return to the US and, as a result, cannot see his two young children. So, when he is given the opportunity to have his record expunged, he takes it.
All he has to do is plant an idea inside the head of another man (so that he feels that this idea is his own) - a method called inception. No pressure then.
Train To Busan
I confess that I am not a huge fan of zombie movies. However, I love Sang-ho Yeon’s film, Train To Busan. When a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, Seok-woo (Yoo Gong) and his young daughter Soo-an (Soo-an Kim) find themselves in a desperate fight for survival aboard a train from Seoul to Busan.
What sets this film apart (for me at least) is its intimate focus on character. We really care what happens to Seok-woo and Soo-an.
Mulholland Drive
David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive recently topped a BBC poll (comprising 177 film critics from 36 countries) of the greatest films of the 21st Century. This endlessly fascinating movie lends itself to many interpretations, while touching on several movie genres (including film noir, romance, horror, comedy, satire, thriller).
However, at its simplest (and least spoilery), Mulholland Drive is the story of an aspiring actress (played by Naomi Watts) who, via her relationship with another actress (Laura Harring), discovers the cruel difference between fantasy and reality in Hollywood.
Mustang
Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s superb film, Mustang, has stayed with me ever since I first watched it. In a small village in northern Turkey, five sisters are on their way home from school. En route, they stop for an innocent game on the beach with some local boys.
Unbeknownst to them, disapproving eyes are watching - viewing their games with suspicion and sparking a scandal for the family. Once home, they are beaten by their grandmother while their uncle turns their home into a prison.
Forced to wear drab clothes and kept away from school, all they have to live for is an arranged marriage. However, the sisters are not about to lose their freedom without a fight - testing their family to breaking point.
Room
I knew that I would be an emotional wreck after watching Lenny Abrahamson's stunning film, Room (based on Emma Donoghue’s best-selling book), and I was not wrong in this prediction.
However, I was surprised by how uplifting this movie turned out to be and how much it would make me laugh - thanks to the movie’s insight into a little boy’s inspiring outlook on life.
A Bigger Splash
A Bigger Splash is a gorgeous, sensual and (largely thanks to a scene stealing performance from Ralph Fiennes) thoroughly entertaining movie. Director Luca Guadagnino (with his first film in the English language) wanted to make a film about desire. However, be warned, A Bigger Splash has a dark and twisted heart.
Casablanca
I couldn’t leave Casablanca off my list of Amazon Prime Video movies. Featuring the ultimate love triangle, Casablanca is an iconic film and an absolute joy to watch. Set in Casablanca, at the beginning of World War 2, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs a popular nightclub. His world is rocked by the arrival of past love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). Can he forgive her for what happened in Paris?
Honourable Mentions
There are (of course) many other Amazon Prime Video films well worth watching. Honourable mentions include Eye In The Sky, The Hateful 8, High Rise, Drive, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Fish Tank and The Hurt Locker.
Well worth the price of a subscription I’m sure you will agree... what other Amazon Prime Video movies would you recommend?