Thanks to the arrival of several free streaming platforms – led by Tubi, Pluto TV, and Plex – there is now an embarrassment of riches when it comes to movies and TV series you can watch without a subscription. And the good news is that with the start of June coming, the latest refresh of the platforms’ catalogues is set to bring even more. As the theatrical cycle clicks into summer season and blockbusters start to emerge, the free streamers have also upped their game with some truly great new additions.
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Naturally, the abundance of options means choosing what to spend your time watching can be daunting. There’s literally thousands of hours alone being added at the start of the coming month, and even if you only go for 5-star movies, there’s a lot to add to your watchlist. All of the following genuine classics are being added to their respective platforms on June 1. And by God, it’s a good month.
12) Star Trek Generations – Tubi
While Wrath of Khan tends to be quite universally heralded as the bext Star Trek movie, there should be more of a case made for Generations. Perhaps controversially, the crossover event killed off William Shatner’s Captain Kirk twice (sort of), but it came as the cost of an excellent story. Shatner and Patrick Stewart’s team-up is still the stuff of dreams for Star Trek fans, especially as the original captain of the Enterprise hadn’t appeared in TNG, unlike some of his famous cast members. And the result was a hugely entertaining sci-fi blockbuster that is joining Tubi along with the other TNG-era Trek movies, First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis.
11) Dredd – Plex
Long before Karl Urban was claiming Billy the Butcher as his most famous superhero character, he pulled on the most famou helmet in 2000 AD history to play Judge Dredd. Discussion of the excellent, gritty, and uber-violent adaptation tends to bring up the idea that Dredd riffed on The Raid, but they came out so close together that it was merely a happy coincidence. In another, probably better, universe we would have got several sequels bringing Urban back, but despite a lot of desire from fans, and whispers of a sequel at various points since 2012, nothing concrete has ever happened. So you’ll just have to appreciate the one we did get. Especially given how well it righted the wrongs of the Stallone-led ’90s travesty.
10) Bumblebee – Tubi & Pluto TV
For a long time, it never seemed possible that we’d get a truly great Transformers movie. Sure, the Michael Bay-helmed franchise was impressive in its effects work, action, and mostly the performances behind the robots in disguise themselves, but none of it was anything beyond brainless popcorn fare. That changed with Travis Knight’s Bumblebee, which took Bay’s most popular character and added a more Spielbergian feel than the mainline movies. It’s still a joy to watch, and it’s just a shame we didn’t get more of this branch of the universe.
9) Pulp Fiction – Pluto TV
After making a ridiculously impressive first impression with Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino followed it up two years later with an even better sophomore effort. Pulp Fiction remains Tarantino’s coolest movie, aesthetically, narratively, and even just on vibes alone, as the kids would say. Packed with talent impressed by his first movie, Pulp Fiction resurrected John Travolta’s career, made Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson cooler, and gave us some of the most quotable lines of Tarantino’s entire back-catalogue. It’s still bold, still incredibly entertaining, and the fact he again chose to tell it out of order without making it inaccessible is just the icing on the cake.
8) Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – Pluto TV
So broad and complex is the lore that Dungeons and Dragons as an IP should have about 25 movies and TV shows by now. The fact that there’s only one good movie is an absolutely travesty, and the fact that Honor Among Thieves still hasn’t inspired a sequel is criminal. Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, it’s a loving ode to the table top phenomenon, but it’s also a very funny, very entertaining fantasy heist that makes the po-faced seriousness of the Middle Earth movies look a little silly in comparison (yes, they’re still masterpieces, don’t get mad). Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves may also be one of the most rewatchable gems in the entire genre, so fill your boots while it’s free.
7) Anchorman – Pluto TV
It might seem ridiculous to claim Will Ferrell’s Anchorman deserves to belong alongside some of the cinematic greats on this list, but it is easily one of the best comedies of recent times. Arguably of the 21st century, in fact. It’s silly in a way that most modern comedies avoid, has a ridiculously high joke rate, and is eminently quotable, which is always a strong indication of successful comedy. The sequel (which is also joining it on Pluto TV) might not be quite as good (nor the quasi-sequel that was made from outtakes and cut storylines from the original), but this is still the gold standard of comedies.
6) Stand By Me – Tubi
Stephen King’s many, many books have been adapted almost countless times, with some of his most famous novels – It, Carrie, The Shining – leading to multiple screen retellings. But the best of them is arguably based on his least famous story (at least at the time) it came out, 1982 novella The Body. The Rob Reiner masterpiece is curiously un-King like in its lack of real horror, and instead can claim to be one of the greatest coming-of-age movies ever made. Even almost 45 years later, the movie is joyously rewatchable and deeply moving, and if you somehow haven’t seen it, change that immediately.
5) Uncut Gems – Plex & Pluto TV
Adam Sandler made lots of genuinely great movies before Uncut Gems came out, but he’s so good in the claustrophobic Josh and Benny Safdie thriller that he was instantly transformed into an unlikely Oscar darling. Even history doesn’t seem to remember that he wasn’t actually nominated. As high-functioning loser Howard Ratner he’s perversely charming and equally, unsettlingly unlikeable, and you find yourself drawn in by how much you want him to win. Uncut Gems is not the easiest thing to watch, by design, but the film that both cemented and seemingly ended the Safdies’ working relationship is still one of the best movies of the last decade. And Sandler was robbed.
4) (500) Days Of Summer – Tubi
The more recent discourse around (500) Days of Summer that demanded a re-assessment of Marc Webb’s quirky little rom-com based on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom being the villain was always a distraction from it just being a very, very good film. Yes, Tom is reprehensible in his self-centered inability to accept rejection, and any number of amateur psych-assessments would find labels for him, but his hangdog journey through infatuation and heartbreak is irresistible. So is Zooey Deschanel’s pixie dream girl, Summer who is the perfect foil for Gordon-Levitt’s flawed hero).
3) Raiders of the Lost Ark – Pluto TV
As we face the possibility that there’ll never be another Indiana Jones movie (surely impossible?!), any excuse to rewatch Harrison Ford’s other great franchise should be welcomed heartily. Spielberg’s Raiders… is still the ultimate adventure caper, built on the instant mythology of Harrison’s hero, in a way that should never have been possible for an archeologist. Ford is at his cantankerous best, but balances it with a boyish charm, and an everyman accessibility that has made Indy one of the greatest characters ever committed to film. The entire original Indiana Jones trilogy and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are all headed to Pluto TV for June, but the original remains the best.
2) Se7en – Tubi
Given how impressive David Fincher’s body of work went on to be, it’s remarkable to think that Se7en was only his second film, after the baptism of fire of Alien 3. It’s also tempting to dismiss how great the thriller is because of what came after it. But there’s still a very strong argument that this is his finest work. Buoyed by great performances by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman – with the kind of chemistry every film director would have wanted to bottle – and a disquietening villain turn by Kevin Spacey, it’s one of the best and most imaginative crime movies ever made.
1) The Godfather Trilogy – Pluto TV
It’s difficult to look past The Godfather trilogy as the finest achievement in trilogy film-making ever, which is particulalry impressive when you consider how many people think the third one is only okay. That was always an issue of the bar being set too high by the stunning Part II, which itself improved on an excellent original, and the re-cut Coda that eventually replaced the cinematic cut of Part III is a major improvement. The entire trilogy, with the 2020 director’s cut (Coda) is coming to Pluto TV, and there’s really no excuse not to watch it all.
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