TICK THE TOP 25 OFF YOUR LIST ....
IF YOU’VE GOT A BIT OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS, NOW MIGHT BE THE TIME TO CATCH UP ON THESE CLASSICS
WITH opportunities to leave the house now limited largely to shopping and a daily dose of exercise, many of us will be settling down in front of the telly.
A cinema trip might be out of the question for a while but there’s a whole world of film at your fingertips on streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and NowTV.
These are the 25 top rated films according to IMDb’s average user ratings. How many can you tick off your list while you’re stuck at home?
We’ve listed all the streaming platforms where they’re included with a subscription, plus a couple of the cheapest options to rent or buy.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Locked up for a double murder he didn’t commit, innocent banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is facing life in prison. There he meets Red (Morgan Freeman), whose friendship – together with his own hope and determination – offers him a way out. ● Amazon – rent for £3.99
The Godfather (1972)
Francis Ford Coppola’s genre-defining gangster classic stars Marlon Brando as mob boss Don Corleone, the head of a powerful Sicilian mafia family in America.
● NowTV – streaming included with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month)
● iTunes – buy for £5.99
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Oscar-winning sequel to Coppola’s mafia masterpiece continues the saga of the Corleone family, charting the rise of a young Don Vito, played by Robert De Niro, and Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don.
● NowTV – streaming with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month) ● iTunes – buy for £5.99
The Dark Knight (2008)
Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his defining portrayal of The Joker in this Batman blockbuster. Christian Bale stars as the caped crusader as he teams up with Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to destroy organised crime in Gotham City forever.
● NowTV – streaming with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month)
● Amazon – rent for £3.49 or buy for £7.99
12 Angry Men (1957)
This classic courtroom drama follow the murder trial of a poor Puerto Rican teenager accused of stabbing his father to death. Twelve white male jurors will decide his fate; eleven believe he’s guilty but one man is convinced of his innocence and sets about making a case for acquittal.
● Google Play – rent for £2.49 or buy for £7.99
Schindler’s List (1993)
Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning historical drama tells the true story of German industrialist Oskar Schindler
(Liam Neeson), who saved the lives of more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust.
● Amazon – rent for £2.49 or buy for £7.99
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The final instalment of Peter Jackson’s big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic sees hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), his loyal friend Sam and the wretched Gollum journey to Mordor to destroy the Ring of Power, while armies amass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world.
● Netflix – streaming included with all plans (prices start at £5.99 per month for a basic plan)
● SkyStore – rent for £3.49 or buy for £7.99
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Quentin Tarantino’s postmodern masterpiece is one of the most influential films of its era. John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson star as a pair of low rent hit men alongside Uma Thurman as their boss’s wife and Bruce Willis as a desperate prize fighter in the film, which weaves together three interrelated stories and a pastiche of genres.
● Amazon – rent from £2.49 or buy from £5.99
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Clint Eastwood stars in this classic spaghetti western as one of three drifters searching for a Confederate cash box containing $200,000 during the American Civil War.
● Netflix – streaming included with all plans (prices start at £5.99 per month for a basic plan)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The first chapter of the J.R.R. Tolkien adventure sees shy young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) inherit a gold ring with mysterious power. Now he must join forces with a wizard, an elf, a dwarf, two men and three loyal hobbit friends to save their land and people.
● Amazon and SkyStore – rent for £3.49 or buy for £7.99
Fight Club (1999)
Edward Norton stars as an insomniac opposite Brad Pitt as a soap salesman in this Chuck Palahniuk adaptation. Together they establish an underground fight club where young men come to thrash out their frustrations – until Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) shows up and things get seriously complicated. ● Amazon Prime – streaming included with a subscription (30 day free trial, then £79 a year or £7.99 a month). Non members can rent or buy through Amazon for £3.49 or £7.99 respectively.
Forrest Gump (1994)
Tom Hanks stars as the endearing Forrest in this sentimental, tearjerking film that takes viewers on a ride through some of the most monumental moments in American history during the second half of the 20th century.
● NowTV – streaming included with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month)
● Amazon, Google Play and iTunes – buy for £4.99
Inception (2010)
Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi thriller stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a thief who steals corporate secrets from people’s subconscious while they dream – and then takes on the inverse challenge of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O.
● Google Play, iTunes and SkyStore – rent for £3.49, buy for £7.99
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
After the Rebels are defeated by the Empire on the ice planet Hoth, Luke Skywalker travels journeys to the planet Dagobah to train with Jedi
Master Yoda. Meanwhile Darth Vader lures young Skywalker into a trap in the Cloud City of Bespin in a bid to lure him to the dark side. NowTV – streaming included with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month) Disney+ – streaming included with subscription, £59.99 a year or £5.99 a month
Amazon, Google Play and iTunes – buy for £9.99
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Part two of the Tolkien trilogy sees Frodo and the Fellowship continue on their quest to destroy the One Ring. Their voyage takes them to the Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where dark wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron’s fortress at Barad-dur, deep in Mordor.
Netflix – streaming included with all plans (prices start at £5.99 per month for a basic plan)
● Google Play and SkyStore – rent for £3.49, buy for £7.99
The Matrix (1999)
Keanu Reeves stars as Neo, a hacker who discovers his life has been a lie – constructed by artificially intelligent machines who have imprisoned humans in a virtual world. NowTV – streaming included with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month)
● Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and SkyStore – rent for £3.49, buy for £7.99
Goodfellas (1990)
Martin Scorsese’s big screen adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi’s truecrime best seller Wiseguy tells the darkly funny but brutal story of life in the mob. Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Lorraine Bracco are among the all-star cast in what quickly quickly became a classic of the gangster genre.
● Netflix – streaming included with all plans (prices start at £5.99 per month for a basic plan)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Based on Ken Kesey’s novel of the same name, this five-time Oscar winning film stars Jack Nicholson as Randle Patrick McMurphy, a smalltime convict who fakes a mental illness so he can be transferred from a prison farm to a state mental institution.
● iTunes and SkyStore – buy for £7.99
Seven Samurai (1954)
A group of villagers hire seven warriors to protect them against the bandits that attack them every year, in Akira Kurosawa’s genre-defining classic.
● iTunes – rent for £3.49 or buy for £5.99
Se7en (1995)
Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt star as homicide detectives hunting a psychopath who chooses his victims based on the Seven Deadly Sins in David Fincher’s disturbing thriller.
NowTV – streaming included with Sky Cinema pass (seven day free trial then £11.99 per month)
● Amazon, iTunes and SkyStore – rent for £3.49, buy for £7.99
City of God (2002)
Set in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious slums, this Brazilian drama follows the true story of a young man whose ambition to be a photographer may be his only way out. iTunes – rent for £3.49, buy for £2.99
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Set during the Second World War, this Italian classic follows Jewish book seller Guido and his family who live a fairy tale life until German forces arrive and they are sent to a concentration camp. There, Guido must rely on his powers of imagination to help his son survive the horrors of the Holocaust.
● Google Play – rent for £2.49, buy for £5.99
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Jodie Foster stars as FBI trainee Clarice Starling who is thrust into the unsettling world of a maximum security asylum to pick the brains of psychiatrist-turned-cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lechter (Anthony Hopkins).
Netflix – streaming included with all plans (prices start at £5.99 per month for a basic plan)
● Google Play – rent for £2.49, buy for £4.99
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
This feelgood festive favourite stars James Stewart as a businessman pushed to the brink of suicide on Christmas Eve – until an angel arrives to show him what life would be like for his family and neighbours if he never existed.
● Amazon and Google Play – rent for £2.49, buy for £4.99
Parasite (2019)
This South Korean black comedy thriller – about a poor family who con their way into the lives of a rich household – swept the board at this year’s Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.
● It’s not available to rent, buy or stream yet, but watch this space.