YouTube is the true streaming giant, with more than 2.70 billion users. From trailers and how-to videos to podcasts and sports highlights, YouTube has countless hours of content to keep you occupied for a long time. Many users don’t know that YouTube has an entire section dedicated to free movies.
Looking for more stuff you can watch for free? Check out our guides to the best free shows on YouTube and the best sites for watching free movies online. If you’re willing to pay, read these guides on the best new movies to stream and the best movies on Netflix.
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La La Land2016 -
Gladiator2000
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The Breakfast Club1985
La La Land (2016)
94%
8.0/10Here’s to the ones who dream. Damien Chazelle’s love letter to Los Angeles is La La Land. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is an aspiring jazz musician who dreams of opening his own club. Mia (Emma Stone) pursues a career in acting. Sebastian plays piano at a restaurant, and Mia works as a barista to make ends meet. The two dreams fall in love in the city of angels. As the two embark on a passionate affair, the real world tries to tear them apart. Sebastian and Mia can’t lose sight of their goals, even if that means their relationship must take a hit. Backed by dazzling choreography and beautiful songs, La La Land is a joyful celebration of cinema and a reminder that it’s never too late to dream.
Gladiator (2000)
67%
8.5/10In 2024, Ridley Scott returned to the arena in Gladiator II. The long-awaited sequel followed Lucius Verus Aurelius (Paul Mescal) and his return to Rome 16 years after the death of his father, Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Revisit how Maximus became a Roman legend in the Oscar-winning Gladiator. Maximus is a beloved general in the Roman Army and a loyal servant to Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris).
After Marcus chooses Maximus to succeed him, his sadistic son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) kills his father and claims the throne for himself. Commodus also kills Maximus’ family and sells the Roman general into slavery. Trained as a gladiator, Maximus becomes a hero in the arena. However, Maximus never loses sight of his mission — exact his vengeance against Commodus.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
66%
7.8/10This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Breakfast Club. John Hughes’ seminal coming-of-age movie follows a group of students serving Saturday detention. The students are from various rungs on the high school social ladder. The group includes Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the athlete; Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), the brain; Bender (Judd Nelson), the criminal; Claire (Molly Ringwald), the princess; and Allison (Ally Sheedy), the basket case.
Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason), the school’s principal, watches the students in the school’s library. The students enter detention with nothing in common. As they spend more time together, the kids learn that despite their social differences, they deal with the same issues of anxiety and parental pressure.
The First Time (2012)
55%
6.8/10After the cops crash the party, Dave and Aubrey escape and spend the rest of the night talking. The duo forms a genuine connection, but because of their existing relationships, they’re unsure whether to act on it. Eventually, Dave and Aubrey will realize that love isn’t perfect, so they don’t have to be.
Point Break (1991)
59%
7.3/10Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze square off in Kathryn Bigelow’s excellent action thriller, Point Break. Former college quarterback Johnny Utah (Reeves) is a hot-shot FBI agent who teams with veteran agent Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) to catch a group of bank robbers known as the “Ex-Presidents.” The duo hypothesizes that the robbers are surfers, so Utah goes undercover within the beach community, searching for more information.
While posing as a surfer, Utah meets Bodhi (Swayze), the eccentric leader of a group of surfers. As Utah spends more time with the surfers, he develops a genuine bond with the free-spirited Bodhi. However, this complicates Utah’s mission, blurring the lines between his new friends and his job.
I Kill Giants (2018)
74%
6.1/10My Friend Dahmer (2017)
68%
6.2/10Someone at YouTube has very deftly picked up on the renewed interest in Jeffrey Dahmer by getting the rights to stream My Friend Dahmer. This serial killer movie is based upon the true story of John “Derf” Backderf (Alex Wolff), a cartoonist who was the closest friend that Jeffrey Dahmer (Ross Lynch) had in high school. In this adaptation of Backderf’s graphic novel, he and his fellow outcasts befriend Dahmer, but they aren’t blind to his bizarre behavior.
However, they couldn’t have predicted that the awkward young man that they knew would go on to become one of the most infamous serial killers of the last century. It’s also a tragic tale, as no one notices how monstrous Dahmer has become until it’s far too late to stop him.
The Illusionist (2006)
68%
7.6/10The Illusionist beat the similarly themed film, The Prestige, to theaters by about two months, but Christopher Nolan’s movie is the superior of the two. Regardless, The Illusionist has its charms, largely in the core trio of Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. When they were young, Eduard Abramovich (Norton) and Duchess Sophie Von Teschen (Biel) had a passion for each other that her parents forbade.
Upon adulthood, Edward reinvented himself as Eisenheim The Illusionist and reunited with Sophie before she could be married to the malevolent Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). When Sophie is murdered, Chief Inspector Walter Uhl (Giamatti) is unnerved when Eisenheim appears to be able to summon Sophie’s spirit at will.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
89%
7.9/10A seminal entry for American horror cinema, George A. Romero’s classic horror movie follows seven people who find themselves trapped in Pennsylvania as the terrifying walking dead surround them. They have to try to survive without understanding the terror that lurks outside.
The movie has been noted as the first zombie film, and its influences can be seen in everything from 28 Days Later to Shaun of the Dead. Romero’s debut — he wrote, directed, edited, and acted in the film — made him into a superstar, quickly revolutionizing the genre on a budget of a mere $114,000.
