The 15 best films coming to Prime Video in April

Following the theatrical re-release of Ang Lee’s 2000 epic and the recent Oscar-crowning of its star Michelle Yeoh, Prime Video wisely rides the coattails of those promotional campaigns right into their subscribers’ eyeholes this April. While nothing could beat seeing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon—with its lush cinematography and transporting martial arts choreography—on the big screen, it’s still a fantastic viewing experience even on TV. Also, where have you gone, Ang Lee? Make a good movie again, why don’t you?

Speaking of Prime Video glomming onto a big-budget classic that recently returned to theaters, lands on the streamer on April 1. Back in 1997, the early buzz for James Cameron’s epic blockbuster was ultra-negative, and the early buzz for wasn’t much better. Yet, the results of those two conversations—25 years apart—were the same: “Don’t ever bet against James Cameron.” And while the Avatar sequel certainly didn’t enter the pop culture discourse as much as Titanic did, it still did very, very well even though many counted it out. Titanic is one of the greatest blockbusters ever.

Way back in 1992, John Woo was a celebrated action director from China whose outstanding crime thriller, , broke through to American audiences. This was mainly due to the popularity of local video stores owned by movie geeks who knew their stuff. No sooner had Hard Boiled become a hip and buzzy film than was Woo lured to America to make movies that, in all honesty, never really succeeded beyond the video store. All except the wacky and wonderful starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. If you’ve never seen the film, do it without looking into it. If you’ve seen it then you know it’s always a good time and features some outstanding Cage and Travolta scenery-chewing.

The 1992 Joe Pesci/Marisa Tomei/Ralph Macchio comedy is just great snappy storytelling brought to life by some wonderful performances. Macchio stars as dopey Bill who accidentally finds himself accused of murder in a redneck Alabama town where they don’t take too kindly to city folk. Fortunately, Bill has a cousin named, you guessed it, Vinny (Pesci) who is a pretty lousy ambulance-chasing lawyer in New York City. Since beggars can’t be choosers, Bill hires Vinny to try to keep him out of prison. Luckily for all, Vinny’s fiancée, the lovely and sassy Mona Lisa Vito (Tomei, who won an Oscar for this performance) tags along to blow the case wide open.

Arguably John Hughes’ best film as a writer and director, 1985’s has withstood the test of time. Featuring a group of ’80s actors who partied so hard and were so charismatic that the Hollywood press nicknamed them “The Brat Pack” (a play off Frank Sinatra’s group of rowdy drunks, “The Rat Pack”). They included Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, and the biggest star of them all at the time, Molly Ringwald. Never again would such a fine collection of young ’80s megastars hit the screen together. The Breakfast Club is perfect for spring break or whenever you feel like a nostalgia blast.

Movie theater sensation hit Prime Video recently and now they’ve added the OG Top Gun starting April 1. While hasn’t aged particularly well, it’s still an all-time classic thrill ride. What could be fun is to watch the films back to back and pick up on Easter eggs and different story beats. We think there miiiiight be more than a few similarities between the two films.

The Brendan Fraser renaissance reached its peak when Fraser took home the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in . The truth is, he’s always been a terrific actor, he just made a bunch of high-paying kids’ movies like , , and to pay his bills. Before all those shenanigans, showcased Fraser’s formidable acting chops as a boy in the 1950s who, after getting accepted to an Ivy League school on a football scholarship, hides his Jewish heritage from his classmates. Turns out for good reason in this very fine drama directed by Robert Mandel.

Jamie Foxx snagged a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biopic . The film details young Charles’ difficult childhood which included witnessing his brother’s death by drowning and then, at age 9, losing his eyesight. Of course, none of this stopped Charles from becoming one of the most popular musical artists of all time. Ray is indeed a “warts and all” biopic as Charles could be a nasty guy and was also a womanizer. Foxx shows it all in a terrific performance.

Very few people understand the full extent of the damage that steroids can do to an athlete. Even fewer realize how many professional athletes go even further to gain that competitive edge, like getting their eyes operated on to improve their vision as well as trying all sorts of new methods to get, you guessed it, . Filmmaker Chris Bell casts a balanced look at the games people play to stay ahead of their opponents in this solid 2008 documentary.

Mark Pellington is an underrated director whose films include the recently reworked and re-released Ben Affleck-starrer (1997) as well as 1999’s and 2002’s . Before that, he directed some great music videos including the classic for Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy.” In his 2011 drama , Pellington leans heavily into a more arty style as he focuses on a group of friends gathering to celebrate a 44th birthday who get way too deep into their feelings. The film stars Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, and Rob Lowe, and also features a short appearance from Twitch star Sasha Grey.

In terms of people who have had a positive impact on the world and are way, way overdue for a documentary about them, pioneering YA novelist Judy Blume was sitting pretty high on the list. Luckily filmmakers Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok answered the call with . Fortunately for everyone, Blume is still alive and well and appears in the doc, as do fans like Samantha Bee and Molly Ringwald.  

2007’s is an insane documentary that one could definitely file under “sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.” It’s the weird story of a May-December romance that goes awry when wealthy attorney Burt Pugach falls for the much younger Linda Riss who soon dumps Pugach upon learning he’s still married. Pugach doesn’t take it well and hires hitmen to disfigure her. And that’s only the beginning. Co-directed by Fisher Stevens and Dan Klores, the film feels like one of those explosive Dateline specials but the documentary goes to some unexpected places.

In 2022’s , Billy Eichner plays Bobby, a popular podcast host whose schtick is being a single man in Manhattan. Since this is a rom-com, that whole character identity is going to be sent spiraling as Bobby soon meets the adorable Aaron (Luke Macfarlane). Will their romance stick? Tune in and find out! Eichner rightly and proudly trumpeted Bros as the first major studio comedy about a gay couple with an entirely LGBTQ principal cast. If that’s not reason enough to see it, then see it because it’s also damn funny.

Did you miss the return of Julia Roberts and George Clooney to the big screen together in 2022’s ? The tepid box office results for the film suggest, “Yes, yes you did.” Fear not, as Prime Video is here to reignite your love for two of the most charismatic leads to ever grace the silver screen. In the film, Roberts and Clooney play a divorced couple who team up to try and stop their daughter from marrying a seaweed farmer in Bali. What do you think happens when two beautiful people are thrown together in an exotic location in a movie called Ticket To Paradise? Sure, it’s predictable, but there’s nothing as warm, reassuring, and funny as two modern icons reuniting for a rom-com.

A 1984 movie starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Penn as two Marines about to be deployed to World War II? Umm, yes please! Henry Nash (Penn) and Nicky (Cage) are two small-town pals looking to get a little lovin’ before they ship out in . The film was Steve Kloves’ first produced screenplay before he went on to write the bulk of the films. Racing With The Moon also stars ’80s mainstay Elizabeth McGovern, and a pre- Dana Carvey.