Top 8 Films Departing Amazon Prime UK This Week – Update

Wondering what to watch this week on Amazon Prime? Well, with Prime Video having its monthly purge at the end of the week, why not check out these 8 great picks before they disappear behind a paywall?

Despite including various genres, the list is ‘movies only’ so before we begin, shout out to Al Gore’s 2006 climate change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which is on until Saturday June 29th. Unfortunately, the truth seems just as inconvenient today as it was 13 years ago, but anyway, let’s get on with it.

8. Super 8 (2011)
Available until Saturday June 29th

This list may have been 7 entries, one for every day of the week, but with a title like Super 8, J. J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller could hardly be placed anywhere else.

The coming of age tale follows a group of young friends who witness a train crash that turns out to have mysterious and menacing consequences for their town. Set in 1979, this film has a lot in common with Stranger Things and as series 3 of the Netflix phenomenon comes out next week, this is a great way to delve back into the genre.

7. Train to Busan (2016)
Available until Tuesday June 25th

Want to know what happens when a zombie virus breaks out on a high-speed train in South Korea? Well, Train to Busan has you covered. Follow the all-out action starring Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi and Ma Dong-seok, as they fight for survival in this record setting South Korean thriller which currently holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 100 critics).

FYI, unless you speak fluent Korean, you will be needing the subtitles for this one.

6. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Available until Saturday June 29th

In the mood for a good cry? You can watch Will Smith and his real-life son struggle to make ends meet for 1 hour and 57 minutes. After being evicted from his apartment, salesman Chris Gardner is forced to take his 5-year old son Christopher onto the streets while pursuing an unpaid internship which he hopes will lead to a better life.

But if wicky wicky Will Smith isn’t enough to get you blubbering, The Kite Runner is also flying out of Amazon on Saturday so you can give that a go.

5. Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
Available until Friday June 28th

If you’re wanting to laugh rather than cry, or in need of palate cleanser, Dinner with Schmucks starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd is up until Friday.

This harmless comedy may not be as acclaimed as some of the other entries on this list but is a perfectly fine flick about unlikely friendships and mice taxidermy. There is also a whole host of hilarious supporting cast members with Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows stealing the show as outlandish artist Kieran.

If Dinner for Schmucks doesn’t do it for you, there are other wacky comedies to catch on their way out, including Hot Rod and Without a Paddle – both criminally underrated in this humble author’s opinion. Or if you need more rom in your com, No Strings Attached and She’s Out of My League are also available until Friday.

4. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Available until Saturday June 29th

Described on Amazon as a ‘thrilling masterpiece of sexual obsession and marital fidelity’, this was the last picture made by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. Starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman it looks at, well, sexual obsession and marital fidelity as the life of high-society physician Bill Hartford starts to spiral after he enters a murky world of sexual fantasy.

Not one to watch with the kids (or indeed the parents).

3. Rango (2011)
Available until Friday June 28th

Fun for the whole family at 3 with Johnny Depp taking on the role of a chameleon named Rango. Rango was your everyday pet until he finds himself in the wild west town of Dirt, which as it happens is in desperate need of a new sheriff. Winning the 2011 Academy Award (and BAFTA) for Best Animated Film, there is plenty to love in this quirky cartoon.

Worth noting it did attract criticism from Breathe California and Smoke Free Movies for the amount of smoking depicted. So, if you’re afraid that might influence the kiddies: Charlotte’s Web, The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists should all be relatively tobacco free and are all bowing out this week.

2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Available until Saturday June 29th

“Bueller… Bueller… Bueller…”

Whether you’ve never seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or you just want to watch it again, you have until Saturday to catch this classic on Prime. The premise is simple: high school student Ferris (Mathew Broderick) plays hooky for the day with best friend Cameron (Alun Ruck) and girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara). This amounts to 103 minutes of fourth wall breaking fun in Chicago.

But if you think there’s been too much comedy already and you’re wanting another kind of cult classic, The Warriors and Harold and Maude are also on the streaming service until Saturday.

1. The Wrestler (2008)
Available until Saturday June 29th

Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson was a wrestling star in the 1980s, but now he’s struggling through matches on the independent circuit in the hope of regaining former glory, while battling with relationships outside of the ring.

The story is unfortunately eerily familiar for many lifelong fans of the grapps, but even if you have never watched ‘that fake rubbish’, The Wrestler will take you on an emotional journey you’ll never forget and show just how real the pain in the wrestling industry can be. Mickey Rourke took home a BAFTA for his leading performance as the aging wrestler and well, what else is there to say? Even my mother enjoyed this one.