AMC Premiere launched just over three years ago in June of 2017. While the streaming service includes such addictive series as The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and Mad Men, it’s also home to a large catalog of AMC movies you can watch on AMC Premiere. You might be wondering: what movies does AMC have versus streaming services like STARZ? AMC currently holds the licensing rights to a number of big film studios, including Warner Brothers and MGM. The AMC on-demand library is a treasure trove of films across all genres, with action and drama being predominant. And the AMC new movie selection is constantly expanding.
But what are the best AMC movies to watch on the service right now? We will answer that question for you with a list of the 10 best movies on AMC Premiere for your streaming pleasure.
How we rated AMC Premiere movies
All movies on this list are based on Rotten Tomatoes scores, while also taking into consideration the overall bingeability of each. Now, let’s get to it. Here are the best movies on AMC Premiere.
A Bronx Tale (1993)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 97%
- Average Audience Score: 93%
- Notable Cast Members: Robert DeNiro, Chazz Palminteri, Lilo Brancato Jr.
Robert DeNiro chose this tough but tender tale of a young man (Brancato Jr.) caught between his bus driver father (DeNiro) and a local gangster (Palminteri) for his directorial debut. The film was adapted from a play written by Palminteri himself. As a director, DeNiro showcases his love and knowledge of New York in A Bronx Tale; every scene feels authentic and true to its 1960s setting. Palminteri is terrific as the charming but dangerous gangster who takes DeNiro’s son under his wing. A Bronx Tale is a terrific coming of age film with just the right mixture of sentimentality and danger to both move and engage viewers.
Casino (1995)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 80%
- Average Audience Score: 93%
- Notable Cast Members: Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone
Expectations were sky-high when director Martin Scorsese returned to the gangster genre just six years after making his masterpiece about wiseguys, Goodfellas. While Casino might not have scaled the same heights as Goodfellas, it certainly came close. Set in Vegas and loosely based on a true story, DeNiro plays a gambling expert sent from Chicago by the local mob to oversee a casino. Things go well enough until his ne’er do well childhood friend Nicky (Joe Pesci) joins him in sin city and throws a wrench into the casino’s operations. Sharon Stone was nominated for an Oscar as supporting actress for her role as DeNiro’s erratic wife.
Gladiator (2000)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 77%
- Average Audience Score: 87%
- Notable Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
Perhaps the greatest swords and sandals movie ever, Gladiator won five Oscars (including best picture and best actor for Russell Crowe) in 2001. Crowe’s General Maximus is sold into slavery after defying the corrupt Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). He becomes a gladiator and is forced to fight for his life in the Colosseum — all while plotting his revenge against the emperor. Ridley Scott directs the film with a brawny intelligence, and Russell Crowe gives an iconic performance in a career-capping role. But don’t sleep on Joaquin Phoenix as the callow and dastardly emperor — he’s an insidious hoot.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 97%
- Average Audience Score: 97%
- Notable Cast: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
Italian director Sergio Leone made the quintessential “Spaghetti Western” in 1966 with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Clint Eastwood stars as the drifter “Blondie” with Eli Wallach as the bandit Tuco. The two form an uneasy alliance as they search for Confederate gold in a film full of double-crosses and steely-eyed glares. The film made Eastwood a star, and the score by Ennio Morricone is unforgettable. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is the third and final film in Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy (along with A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More). All three “Dollars” films — starring Eastwood — are available to stream on AMC Premiere.
Rocky Balboa (2006)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 77%
- Average Audience Score: 76%
- Notable Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Milo Ventimiglia
Sylvester Stallone returned to the role that made him famous in this sixth installment of the Rocky saga. After the failure of Rocky 5, Stallone both wrote and directed this elegiac return to form. It’s a more modest movie than the other Rocky films, but it’s all the better for it. Rocky Balboa plays deep into its own nostalgia, but also showcases an older Balboa who just wants to live a simple and quiet, if a bit sad, life. It’s a surprisingly sweet film that was intended to be the character’s swan song. (Fortunately for fans of the series, Balboa returned in two subsequent Creed movies.)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 93%
- Average Audience Score: 94%
- Notable Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
Director James Cameron’s full-throttle sequel to his 1984 Sci-fi-action film classic The Terminator starts fast and never lets you go. After the success of the first Terminator film, Cameron and crew were given a massive budget to make the sequel — and boy, can you tell. The special effects were mind-blowing at the time (they still hold up), and every scene is full of piercing cinematography. The film is not only fierce but often funny, and, in its final moments, it even finds a way to tug on your heartstrings. Terminator 2 was a huge hit, and to most minds, the best of the series. The success of Terminator 2 led to three sequels and a television series. However, none captured the public’s imagination like T2 did.
Titanic (1997)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 89%
- Average Audience Score: 69%
- Notable Cast: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathy Bates
This box-office-busting all-time favorite tragic drama about the infamous sinking of the fabled ship, Titanic is among the most successful films ever. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as star-crossed lovers on a doomed voyage, the film won 11 Oscars (including best picture and best director for James Cameron) and was the highest-grossing movie ever — until Avatar took that mantle 12 years later. Both Winslet and DiCaprio became massive stars after the film’s release, and the theme song by Celine Dion (My Heart Will Go On) was the biggest hit of her career.
Total Recall (1990)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 81%
- Average Audience Score: 78%
- Notable Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this mind-bending sci-fi/action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Based loosely on the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,” Schwarzenegger plays a construction worker who is unsure of what is real and what is not due to having implanted memories. His search to recover his reality takes him to Mars, where he finds himself caught up in a revolt against the planet’s governor. If any of that sounds confusing, well, that’s because it is! It’s also one heck of a wild ride, and even when your mind is getting boggled, the action and momentum of the film will keep you entertained. (Don’t confuse this version with the 2012 remake starring Colin Farrell. You’ll likely be disappointed.)
True Lies (1994)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 71%
- Average Audience Score: 76%
- Notable Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee-Curtis, Tom Arnold
Suppose James Bond had a family, lived in America, and had a thick Austrian accent? That may be too simple a description for True Lies, but we think it fits. James Cameron directed this solid hit with Schwarzenegger in the leading role as a man trying to keep his wife (a terrific Jamie Lee Curtis) from finding out he’s a spy while attempting to foil a terrorist attack. It may not be the deepest film director James Cameron ever made, but one could argue it’s his most purely enjoyable. True Lies probably deserved a sequel or two (it seems tailor-made for at least one), but alas, it was not to be.
X2 (2003)
- Average TOMATOMETER Score: 85%
- Average Audience Score: 85%
- Notable Cast: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen
The first X-Men movie was well-reviewed and made a decent chunk of change at the box office, but it was the second film (the simply titled X2) where the series truly took off. The increased budget for the second installment really shows in terms of the action and special effects, but more importantly, the themes the movie wants to get across about the loneliness and ostracizing of those that are “different” really came through in the sequel. The finale of the film is surprisingly moving, and the actors all feel much more at home in their roles (especially Hugh Jackman as Wolverine). The success of this film led to five sequels and two spin-offs (Deadpool, The New Mutants).
So, there you have it. Those are the 10 best movies on demand at AMC Premiere. For a full list of shows and movies available on the service, just go to AMC.com.
*Current as of August 2020