Memorial Day is a holiday designed to commemorate those we’ve lost in war, but it’s also a celebration of life. While many people get an extra day off, deciding what to do with that day can be difficult.
If you’re looking for something easy to do over the long weekend, we’ve got you covered. We’ve pulled together five movies on Amazon Prime Video that are all worth your time. Check them out below.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Bull Durham (1988)
Although Memorial Day is mainly about remembering the fallen, baseball has always been crucial to its celebration. Bull Durham tells the story of a veteran minor-league baseball player (Kevin Costner) who mentors a much younger player (Tim Robbins) bound for the majors. As the two of them learn from each other, they both become involved with the same woman (Susan Sarandon), who just happens to be a superfan of their team.
Bull Durham is a movie about what it means when your dream becomes your job and the moment you realize that while you might be great at something, you aren’t the best at it.
You can watch Bull Durham on Amazon Prime Video.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
A remarkable war movie that reminds us how much soldiers lose even if they get to return home, The Deer Hunter follows a group of friends living in a small Pennsylvania town as they prepare to ship out for Vietnam. When Nick, one of them, returns home, he finds it difficult to return to normal life, so much so that he heads back to Vietnam in search of a friend who never came home.
Anchored by remarkable performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter is a thoughtful meditation on war that spends most of its time away from the conflict.
You can watch The Deer Hunter on Amazon Prime Video.
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Based on a true story, BlacKkKlansman follows a Black cop in the 1970s who decides to infiltrate the KKK simply by putting on a white voice. When he recruits a more seasoned cop for help, the two of them work to take down the Klan even as the organization is working hard to sanitize its own image.
Written and directed by Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman also has plenty of style. At its core, though, it’s a movie about racism in America and all the ways that it has and hasn’t changed over the decades since this film’s events took place.
You can watch BlacKkKlansman on Amazon Prime Video.
Fury (2014)
Set in the final days of World War II, Fury follows the hardened crew of a single tank as they execute a mission deep inside Nazi territory. Anchored by one of Brad Pitt’s great movie star performances, Fury is the kind of war movie that acknowledges both how much danger these soldiers are in and how much war can pervert the incentives of people who aren’t necessarily professional soldiers.
With direction from David Ayer, Fury is definitely more hardcore than any other movie on this list, and that’s undoubtedly intentional.
You can watch Fury on Amazon Prime Video.
Till (2022)
Till is an examination of one of the most well-known murders in the history of American race relations. Till tells the story of Emmett Till, a young Black boy from Chicago who is lynched while visiting family in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett’s death is a well-known story, but Till spends most of its time following Emmett’s mother as she works to seek justice for her murdered son and to prove that he was lynched.
Anchored by a phenomenal central performance from Danielle Deadwyler, Till is riveting and surprising in ways few movies of this kind manage to be.
You can watch Till on Amazon Prime Video.