Amazon Prime Video is receiving a large collection of new movies this month. The list includes popular installments in several mega franchises including The Fast and the Furious, Batman and… VeggieTales. But what we’re interested in is the highest-rated new additions.
As there are so many new movies hitting Prime Video in November 2023, we’re rounding up the ones with a 90% or higher score on Rotten Tomatoes to help you pick out the real gems. While a high rating on the review aggregate site is not a guarantee of quality it’s a useful indication that a majority of critics consider a movie worthy of a spot in your watchlist.
Just a forewarning, this list is mostly comprised of classic movies with only a single release from this century, but great cinema is timeless, and the seven picks here are just as delightful today as they were all those years ago. Without any further introduction, let’s dive into the best new to Prime Video movies this month.
All the President’s Men (1976)
This biographical movie chronicles the Washington Post investigation that would eventually compel President Richard Nixon to resign from his post. Commonly referred to as the Watergate Ssandal, what initially appeared to be a minor break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters snowballed into an exposé that went right to the heart of the government.
Framed as a highly compelling political drama, All the President’s Men features Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford as the reporters at the heart of the story and this is a real actors movie with both leading men shining. However, it was Jason Robards' performance as the Post’s executive editor Ben Bradlee that took home Oscar gold at the 49th Academy Awards. The movie’s most dramatic moments may take place in an overcrowded newsroom, but the stakes are just as high and the tension just as tight as in any modern-day thriller.
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Stream it on Prime Video
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Set in the mythical Viking village of Berk, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) doesn’t quite fit in among his warrior family. Struggling to live up to the expectations of his village chieftain father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), Hiccup hopes to earn acceptance by slaying a dragon. But when he encounters a supposedly-dead Night Fury dragon he is unable to kill the beast.
Instead, Hiccup befriends the creature and nurses him back to health from a damaged tail fin. Naming him toothless, the unlikely duo join forces to put an end to the terror that is wreaking havoc on both their worlds and also prove that Vikings and dragons don’t have to be enemies. With charming animation, excellent comedy and a heartfelt story, How to Train Your Dragon is a movie the whole family will enjoy.
Genre: Adventure
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
Stream it on Prime Video
Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park is easily one of the most iconic movies of all time. Its legendary status among the giants of cinema is well-established, and the entire original trilogy of films is hitting Prime Video this month. While its sequel The Lost World has its fans (The less said about Jurassic Park 3 the better), the original is the undisputed apex predator and as good now as it’s ever been.
Directed by Steven Speilberg, Jurassic Park sees a wealthy businessman, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) create a wildlife park on the fictional Isla Nulbar that resurrects dinosaurs from their extinction. While touring the park ahead of its opening to the public, a small group of guests, including Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), must fight for their survival when the dinosaurs break free. Even if you’ve never watched it before, you’ll probably recognize many scenes and hum along to its earworm main theme song.
Genre: Adventure
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Stream it on Prime Video
Raging Bull (1980)
From one undisputed Hollywood classic to another, Raging Bull is a strong contender for the top spot in any ranking of Martin Scorsese movies. The fourth collaboration at the time between Scoreses and Robert De Niro, the much-celebrated actor plays Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxer who rises and falls through the scene with his dramatic personal life filled with paranoia, jealousy and anger is topped only by his rage-filled bouts in the ring.
The first movie to be selected in its first year of eligibility for preservation in the Library of Congress, Raging Bull is nothing short of a masterpiece. Scorsese weaves LaMotta’s professional drive and ambition expertly with his behind-the-scenes struggles and De Niro’s performance is the driving force that underpins it all. De Niro won his second Oscar for his work here, and once you’ve seen this movie you’ll understand why. A cinematic knockout.
Genre: Sports
Rotten Tomatoes score:
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What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1994)
If the high Rotten Tomatoes score isn’t enough to convince you to give What’s Eating Gilbert Grape a watch, then perhaps the impressive cast will. This 1994 movie features early performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and Juliette Lewis, and remains an emotionally impactful coming-of-age drama to this day.
The conflict at the heart of the movie sees the eponymous Gilbert (Depp) torn between his family responsibilities and his budding romance with a young woman named Becky (Lewis). Caring for his morbidly obese mother, Bonnie (Darline Cates), and his mentally impaired brother Arnie (DiCaprio), Gilbert’s newfound romantic freedom with Becky is threatened when his burdensome family dynamic pulls him back. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a tad formulaic but it’s tender and poignant enough to make that minor nitpick easy to forgive.
Genre: Drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Stream it on Prime Video
No Way Out (1987)
An underrated 80s thriller starring Kevin Costner, No Way Out sees the veteran actor play a navy officer, Tom Farrell, posted to the Pentagon. Reporting to the Secretary of Defence (Gene Hackman), he begins an affair with Susan Atwell (Sean Young), who happens to be his superior's mistress. If that wasn’t a tangled enough web, when Susan is found dead, Tom is tasked with finding her killer.
However, the officer could soon become a suspect when a Polaroid negative hinting at their romantic relationship is discovered at Susan’s home and will be developed in a matter of days. This leaves Tom with just a few hours to identify the killer before he is implicated in the crime. Referred to by some film historians as a “career-making” performance from Costner, No Way Out is a suspenseful ride with a few ridiculous twists thrown in for good measure.
Genre: Thriller
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
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An American in Paris (1951)
A true movie musical classic, An American in Paris stars the affable Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan, an American soldier who remains in the European capital after fighting in World War II. Jerry has hopes of becoming an artist, but so far is struggling to rise above the ranks of being a struggling painter, but his luck appears to change when he is discovered by an influential heiress (Nina Foch) named Milo Roberts.
At the same time, Jerry falls for Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), a young French girl already engaged to a cabaret singer. And if that situation wasn’t messy enough, Milo is interested in more than just Jerry’s art. With a love triangle taking shape, Jerry’s stay in the beautiful French city gets complicated. A critical and commercial success upon release, An American in Paris would go on to win six Academy Awards including one for Best Picture, and remains a thoroughly charming watch even all these decades later.
Genre: Musical
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream it on Prime Video
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