Which Streaming Service Has The Best Movies? [Updated]

Some streaming services have more movies, some have new movies, some have original movies — but which streaming service has the best movies? We compared the top movies of all time from IMDB, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes with the movies available on Netflix, Presto and Stan. Here are the results.

While deciding what movies are the ‘best’ can never truly be impartial, we’ve grabbed our rankings from a number of different sources to try and get a wholistic look at some of the best movies you can stream right now. We’re also limited to the films that actually can be found on Australia’s various streaming services.

Some notable absences include Del Toro’s fairytale masterpiece, Pan’s Labyrinth and that classic of cinema Citizen Kane, which come next to each other on this Reddit masterlist at number 16 and 17 respectively. Hitchcock’s famed Rear Window also misses out on streaming in Australia, and the beautiful animated Ghibli film that is Spirited Away (one of the top rated animated films on most of these lists) is also missing a streaming host. But let’s move on to the movies that did make it in:

Films

The best films of all time — at least according to the internet. This is a mix of classics and just plain enjoyable films, largely taken from Reddit user Zonark000’s comprehensive list that averages out ratings from IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to come up with some ‘definitive’ scores.

Of these ten top films, who has the most?

Netflix: 5/10
Stan: 6/10
Presto: 3/10

Here’s the full list:

The Godfather

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Presto, Stan
IMDb: 9.2
Metacritic: 100
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Won 3 Oscars

Seven Samurai

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Stan
IMDb: 8.6
Metacritic: 99
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.
Nominated for 2 Oscars

12 Angry Men

Where can you watch it? Stan
IMDb: 8.9
Metacritic: —
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
A jury holdout attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence.
Nominated for 3 Oscars

Metropolis

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 8.2
Metacritic: 98
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Boyhood

Where can you watch it? Presto
IMDb: 8.0
Metacritic: 100
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
The life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Where can you watch it? Stan
IMDb: 8.9
Metacritic: 94
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Won 11 Oscars

Schindler’s List

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 8.9
Metacritic: 93
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
In Poland during World War II, Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Won 7 Oscars

Pulp Fiction

Where can you watch it? Presto
IMDb: 8.9
Metacritic: 94
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Won 1 Oscar

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Stan
IMDb: 8.9
Metacritic: 90
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

North By Northwest

Where can you watch it? Stan
IMDb: 8.4
Metacritic: —
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.
Nominated for 3 Oscars

Kid’s And Family Films

While many of these films are strong enough to stand on their own against the films above (Ratatoille, for example, came at number eight in Metacritic’s top movies of all time ranking), they’ve been separated out for those who are watching Netflix/Stan/Presto with their kids, or just straight up prefer some (largely) animated fun. Many of these are Oscar-winning films, with a large number of them taking out Best Animated Film and others yet picking up more than one award.

So of these ten top films, who has the most?

Presto: 6/10
Netflix: 5/10
Stan: 0/10

Here’s the full list:

WALL-E

Where can you watch it? Presto
IMDb: 8.4
Metacritic: 94
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
Won 1 Oscar

Inside Out

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 8.2
Metacritic: 94
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
Won 1 Oscar

Toy Story

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Presto
IMDb: 8.3
Metacritic: 92
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy’s room.
Nominated for 3 Oscars

Toy Story 3

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Presto
IMDb: 8.3
Metacritic: 92
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it’s up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren’t abandoned and to return home.
Won 2 Oscars

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Where can you watch it? Presto
IMDb: 7.7
Metacritic: —
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Snow White, pursued by a jealous queen, hides with the Dwarfs, but the queen learns of this and prepares to feed her a poison apple.
Nominated for 1 Oscar

Up

Where can you watch it? N/A
IMDb: 8.2
Metacritic: 88
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Seventy-eight year old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his home equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
Won 2 Oscars

Ratatouille

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 8.0
Metacritic: 96
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous restaurant.
Won 1 Oscar

Finding Nemo

Where can you watch it? Presto
IMDb: 8.1
Metacritic: 90
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
Won 1 Oscar

E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 7.9
Metacritic: 91
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world.
Won 4 Oscars

The Incredibles

Where can you watch it? N/A
IMDb: 8.0
Metacritic: 90
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world.
Won 2 Oscars

Documentaries

While documentaries don’t make it on to Top 100 lists as often as the preceding categories, many of them do make a good showing, such as Man On Wire on Rotten Tomatoes’ list, and Hoop Dreams on Metacritic’s. Beyond these, the range of amazing documentaries available on Australian streaming services is well worth a mention, and other films listed below are either highly rated or Academy Award-winning films.

So of these ten top docos, who has the most?

Netflix: 9/10
Presto: 5/10
Stan: 5/10

Here’s the full list:

Hoop Dreams

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Stan
IMDb: 8.3
Metacritic: 98
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Nominated for 1 Oscar

Man On Wire

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Stan, Presto
IMDb: 7.8
Metacritic: 89
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
A look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City’s World Trade Center’s twin towers in 1974, what some consider, “the artistic crime of the century.”
Won 1 Oscar

Life Itself

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 7.9
Metacritic: 87
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
The life and career of the renowned film critic and social commentator, Roger Ebert.

Blackfish

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Stan, Presto
IMDb: 8.1
Metacritic: 83
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
A documentary following the controversial captivity of killer whales, and its dangers for both humans and whales.

Virunga

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 8.3
Metacritic: 95
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
A group of brave individuals risk their lives to save the last of the world’s mountain gorillas; in the midst of renewed civil war and a scramble for Congo’s natural resources.
Nominated for 1 Oscar

The Cove

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Presto
IMDb: 8.5
Metacritic: 84
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
Won 1 Oscar

Searching For Sugar Man

Where can you watch it? Stan, Netflix
IMDb: 8.2
Metacritic: 79
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
Won 1 Oscar

The Fear Of 13

Where can you watch it? Netflix
IMDb: 7.6
Metacritic: —
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
A convicted murderer who has spent 23 years on Death Row tells his story.

Bowling For Columbine

Where can you watch it? Netflix, Presto
IMDb: 8.0
Metacritic: 72
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America’s predilection for gun violence.
Won 1 Oscar

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Where can you watch it? Stan, Presto
IMDb: 8.0
Metacritic: 85
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
The story of how an eccentric French shop-keeper and amateur film-maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.
Nominated for 1 Oscar