Why Some Classic Films Still Aren’t Streaming, From ‘Jungle Fever’ to ‘Silkwood’

If you have faced a similar situation when you open your streaming service account to watch some of the best classic films of all time but you do not find anything extraordinary to watch, you are not alone.

Surprisingly, classic movie lovers have to face the same scenario every now and then because finding popular old movies on different online streaming services has become a tedious task.

If you are a fan of classic films like us and want to discover why some Oscar-nominated films are not available for streaming online, continue reading this post.

Why are some classic movies not available for streaming?

When you subscribe to any video on-demand streaming service, you tend to examine its media library thoroughly. Surprisingly, you see a plethora of original and successful movies on your screens. In case, you want to explore anything made between the 1970s to 1980s, prepare yourself for a big disappointment.

There is a strong likelihood that you will not find your favorite classic titles.

It means streaming platforms have stopped adding older movie titles to their content libraries.

Frankly speaking, online streaming services have decided to replace the classic movies section with their original films catalog to keep their subscribers engaged and excited all the time.

The basic reason behind this initiative is to ensure that online streaming services can produce and broadcast their own original movies on their respective platforms. This way, they can earn a huge amount of profit to support their routine operations and other miscellaneous expenses after spending millions of dollars in terms of original content production.

From viewers’ point of view, it is a win-win situation. They have options galore when it comes to watching original movies of their choice. Luckily, they can turn to various online video on-demand streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Stan, etc. as revealed by howtowatchinaustralia to watch popular original movies like Extraction, The Social Dilemma, Magic Camp, Black Beauty, etc. on different devices such as desktops, laptops, mobile devices, gaming consoles, and Smart TVs, etc from anywhere.

This is one of the major reasons why original content has become the need of the hour in 2021. Original content aside, obtaining digital rights to broadcast classic movies on their respective platforms is a cumbersome task for many online streaming services including Netflix, Hulu, and others.

In addition to this, target audiences of different streaming services are mostly teenagers and young adults. Therefore, these services are bound to invest billions of dollars to produce original content because teenagers and young adults prefer to watch original movies based on contemporary issues.

As far as classic or old movies are concerned, not many teenagers and young adults are attracted by them. These movies have been picturized in a relatively traditional manner so they do not come up with the expectations of younger audiences mostly.

Therefore, it will not be a surprise if subscribers of numerous streaming services do not know about other underrated classic movies like A Woman Under The Influence, Breaking Away, Back to School, etc. that are worth bingeing.

In short, we live in an online streaming age where media streaming giants like Netflix, Disney, Amazon, and Apple are influencing our media consumption habits to a certain extent. They have already invested billions of dollars in creating original streaming content for their subscribers.

Therefore, their first priority would be to make sure that their viewers are eager to watch original movies rather than classic or old movies, as these classic films will not help them reap rewards in the form of big financial gains.

Famous classic films that are not available for streaming online

Considering all the problems faced by classic film fanatics in exploring their favorite old movies, we have created a list that will save their precious time as they cannot watch these movies online because of various reasons as mentioned above.

This list includes Oscar-nominated and some other popular movies such as:

• Jungle Fever
• Silkwood
• My Fair Lady
• Sleuth
• Straw Dogs
• Dawn of the Dead
• Pink Flamingos
• The Cannonball Run
• Pink Floyd: The Wall
• Mask
• Cocoon
• Super Mario Bros
• Wild at Heart
• Dogma
• Prizzi’s Honor
• Pink Floyd: The Wall
• Il Postino

How to watch classic movies online?

When it comes to watching classic films on your preferred devices, you can rely on different options. These options are:

• TCM (Turner Classic Movies)
• Kanopy
• MUBI
• Fandor
• Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
• Criterion Channel

All these options help you to watch numerous classic movies of all time online without any difficulty.

Wrapping Things Up

Unfortunately, you cannot watch some of the classic films on your preferred devices due to the above-described reasons. We are dependent on various streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus, Hulu, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer to accomplish our media cravings.

As previously discussed, the main motive of these streaming services is to support their original content. Therefore, they do not put extra effort into obtaining exclusive media rights to old movies. As a result, the subscribers have to pay the price as they cannot watch such incredible and vintage films.

Overall, the above scenario indicates that original content will rule the future of streaming significantly. As expected, all the leading players in the online streaming industry are focusing on enhancing the quality of their original content to improve their current subscription base to the next level. Therefore, it is highly unlikely you will see all these classic movie titles available on various streaming platforms in the future.