THE BEST FREE STREAMING SERVICES
Internet Archive
https://archive.org/movies
The Internet Archive is undoubtedly the best source of free TV shows and movies, hosting around 25,000 full-length feature films, classic shorts, documentaries and more at www.snipca.com/33633. You’ll find a wealth of classics, including The Phantom of the Opera and His Girl Friday, along with numerous Charlie Chaplin titles. Similarly, you’ll find a curated selection of television content at www.snipca.com/33634, including episodes of old shows like Bonanza and Leave It to Beaver, as well as classic TV commercials, political ads and more. It’s a fascinating collection, though there isn’t a great deal of British content – for that you should visit the BBC Archive (see below).
Each video can be streamed from the Internet Archive’s website, though there aren’t currently any dedicated mobile apps and there’s no easy way to stream on devices that don’t have built-in web browsers, such as TVS and set-top boxes. However, you can download any of the movies or shows in the archive and watch them through your device’s default media player or cast them to a compatible screen or device, such as Chromecast. Just select what you want to download, then click one of the Download Options on the right – such as H.264 or MPEG4 (see screenshot below left). The movie will start playing in your browser, but you can click the menu (three dots) button in the bottom toolbar and select Download to save the file to your device.
Youtube
www.youtube.com
Although more commonly used to watch short clips, there are some free movies to be found on Youtube. One way to see what’s available is to use Youtube’s search filters.
Click in the search box and type english full – these are keywords commonly found in films uploaded by other users. Now click the Filter button at the top of the search results and select Film under Type and ‘Long (>20 minutes)’ under Duration. This will give you titles you can watch for free. There are a few gems to be found, including classic horror film Nosferatu and John Wayne’s Mclintock, but pickings are fairly slim. It’s also worth pointing out that any content in violation of Youtube’s terms and conditions, including films and shows protected by copyright, may be taken down from the site.
Just over a year ago, Youtube started to provide a selection of free, ad-supported movies under a ‘Free to Watch’ category. This selection isn’t currently available to UK viewers, but you can access it using a VPN. We tried it using Tunnelbear ( www. tunnelbear.com) and Windscribe ( www. windscribe.com) VPNS, which include data allowances up to 1GB and 10GB respectively, and both unblocked Youtube’s free movies.
To use Windscribe download the Chrome extension from the link above, then create a free account (providing an email address increases your data allowance from 2GB to 10GB per month). Next, click the Windscribe logo in Chrome (top-right), then click the globe icon (see screenshot above) and select a US VPN location. Now go to Youtube’s movie page at www.snipca.com/33632 to browse what’s available. Keep your VPN active while watching.
BBC Archive
www.bbc.co.uk/archive
For a more Brit-centric selection of vintage television, visit the BBC’S own archive, where you can stream clips and full programmes from the Beeb’s back catalogue. At first, it might not look like there’s an awful lot going on, but click Collections in the top menu bar and you’ll find a number of categories, including Arts and Entertainment, Nature and Environment, and Children’s. Highlights include a collection of programmes showcasing the life and work of Sir David Attenborough, vintage Parkinson interviews, and Tomorrow’s World episodes (pictured above right).
Although most of the clips stream