Given the size of its library, Amazon Prime Video is easily one of the most reliable sources of weekend entertainment when it comes to streaming movies and shows. Amazon’s streaming service is constantly adding films to its lineup, reaching across multiple genres and eras in cinematic history, from the classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age to more recent hits, both foreign and American-made.
As usual, recommendations for this weekend look at films from various genres, and also one that was just added to the streamer’s library this month. Whether it’s a rewatch or a first-time viewing, movies worth checking out this weekend include an epic romance from the 1980s, an Oscar-winning Western, and one of the most memorable action films of the 2000s.
The Transporter
Included in Prime Video’s lineup is the very film that paved the way for Jason Statham to become a household name. The first installment in a popular film series, The Transporter puts the action star in the role of Frank Martin, an ex-soldier and mercenary with a very specific modus operandi; he works as a driver, transporting people and objects, usually due to dangerous or illegal circumstances.
Set in France, the first Transporter movie ropes Frank Martin into a scheme involving bank robbers and human traffickers. Frank establishes himself as a compelling action hero in The Transporter, using a combination of expert shooting and impressive martial arts skills to competently defeat his foes. It’s no wonder that Jason Statham became a star after the 2002 film.
Somewhere In Time
Somewhere in Time joined Prime Video’s movie library at the beginning of the month. A classic time travel romance from the 1980s, the movie stars Christopher Reeve as a man who has a mystifying encounter with an elderly woman, who knows him somehow. This leads him to discover time travel, setting up a trip to 1912 Chicago where he meets and enjoys a love affair with the woman’s younger self, played by Jane Seymour.
The film succeeds beautifully in crafting a realistic, immersive interpretation of the time period, as evidenced by its Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. That, complete with the chemistry between the two stars and a great forbidden romance story, makes Somewhere in Time one of the best movie love stories of the 1980s.
The Westerner
Another great movie deserving of some attention this weekend is The Westerner. 12 years before making one of the greatest Westerns of all time in High Noon, Gary Cooper played the тιтular hero in The Westerner, a black-and-white film about a gunslinger’s conflict with a corrupt and self-righteous judge whose greatest weakness is his obsession with Lily Langtry, a British stage actress.
The Westerner is regarded as one of Gary Cooper’s greatest contributions to the Western genre, even though it’s not him who’s the best part of the movie. That’s actually Walter Brennan, whose performance as the real-life Judge Roy Bean was good enough to earn him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
