Want to know what’s coming soon to digital and what to watch right now on Vudu? Here is your weekly guide to the latest releases:
What are the latest new releases to watch right now?
One of the biggest movies of the year is now available to own digitally from Vudu: F9: The Fast Saga continues the worldwide — and now literally out of this world — adventures of the Fast & Furious franchise. Vin Diesel returns as Dominic Toretto, joined by his team, er, “fam,” consisting of Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuel and Jordana Brewster.
This time, they’re up against a special threat: Dom’s long-lost brother, Jakob, played by John Cena. He’s after some sort of hacking gadget, with help from Charlize Theron’s Cypher. And saving the planet is going to take two of the heroes into space. As usual, you can expect some unbelievable driving stunts and some surprise appearances from characters you thought were dead.
When you buy F9 on Vudu, you get the theatrical version and Justin Lin’s director’s cut, both in 4K UHD. Additional bonus content includes a gag reel, videos on the women of the franchise, the movie’s Tokyo Drift reunion and justice for a certain character, plus many featurettes on the filming, the stunt work and the pyrotechnics involved in the making of the Fast & Furious sequel.
What movies are great to pair with that new release?
Obviously, if you’re going to pick up F9: The Fast Saga, you’re going to want to own the rest of the Fast & Furious franchise. Fortunately, as of today, all nine installments of the Fast Saga are available together in one bundled collection for just $69.99. That’s less than $8 per movie! Otherwise, if you get them a la carte, they’re each $14.99 on their own. And they’re all the extended cuts and director’s cuts where available.
What are some great gambling movies to buy this week?
In honor of the upcoming theatrical release of Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter, which stars Oscar Isaac as the titular Blackjack player, Vudu has a sale on movies involving gamblers and gambling, including the true-story card-counting blackjack drama 21, the Western classic Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the iconic Rita Hayworth film noir Gilda, Martin Scorsese’s Casino and the Paul Newman and Robert Redford pairing The Sting.
There are also plenty of double features to enjoy among the bunch: the original version of The Gambler with the Mark Wahlberg-led remake (available together in a bundle); the Paul Newman pool shark classic The Hustler with its Scorsese-helmed sequel, The Color of Money; Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight with Wayne Kramer’s The Cooler; and the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Mississippi Grind.
Are we celebrating any big movie and TV anniversaries this week?
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the theatrical release of Bulletproof, the action comedy pairing Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans. Other movies turning 25 this week include Albert Brooks’ Mother and the ensemble crime film 2 Days in the Valley. Meanwhile, Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King and Jodie Foster’s Little Man Tate both turn 30 and the cartoon The Smurfs turns 40.
Going back further, the ‘70s King Kong remake with Jeff Bridges turns 45, along with Alan Parker’s kid-filled gangster musical Bugsy Malone. Also, the original Star Trek TV series and the original Space Ghost cartoon turn 55, as does Francois Truffaut’s film of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Plus, the horror classic The Bad Seed turns 65 and Elia Kazan’s iconic drama A Streetcar Named Desire and the original Angels in the Outfield both turn 70.
More recent titles with anniversaries include the Mark Wahlberg movie Rock Star, the Stephen King adaptation Hearts in Atlantis, the Hughes brothers’ From Hell, John Dahl’s Joy Ride, the World War II series Band of Brothers and the nature series The Blue Planet, all of which turn 20. Also, Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, Jonathan Levine’s All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn and Ridley Scott’s A Good Year all turn 15.
Plus: the Brad Pitt baseball movie Moneyball, the MMA drama Warrior, the hockey comedy Goon, the martial arts cult classic The Raid: Redemption, Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America, Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights, Adam Wingard’s You’re Next, Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, Jonathan Levine's 50/50 and Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt turn 10.
And the Da Vinci Code sequel Inferno, the musical animated feature Sing, Adam Wingard’s horror remake Blair Witch, Nacho Vigalondo’s comedic monster movie Colossal, J.A. Bayona’s fantasy drama A Monster Calls, Antoine Fuqua’s Western remake The Magnificent Seven, the Dev Patel drama Lion, the Florence Pugh period-piece drama Lady Macbeth and Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire are all already 5 years old!
Can you recommend some more great movie deals on Vudu?
Football season has begun, so Vudu has a spotlight on Rotten Tomatoes’ essentials involving the sport of kings. All your favorites are available, including Rudy, Remember the Titans, the movie of Friday Night Lights, the tearjerker Brian’s Song and the Adam Sandler comedy The Waterboy.
Fans will also enjoy the original Longest Yard, as well as ‘70s hits Semi-Tough and North Dallas Forty and the recent Kevin Costner vehicle Draft Day. I recommend also picking up the excellent documentaries Undefeated and Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.
The latest Actor’s Spotlight showcases movies starring two-time Oscar-nominee Jessica Chastain, four-time Oscar-nominee Willem Dafoe, Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis and under-appreciated actor Michael Peña.
I recommend the following under-seen gems starring each of them: A Most Violent Year, Take Shelter, and Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak for Chastain; Motherless Brooklyn, Odd Thomas and eXistenZ for Dafoe; Widows, Ender’s Game and Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven for Davis; and End of Watch, World Trade Center and the documentary Underwater Dreams for Peña.
Do you love old movies? Vudu has a sale on films of the ‘50s for just $5 and a sale on films of the ‘60s for just $6. Absolute must-own triple features from the former include Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo, all of them starring James Stewart, and Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17 and Sabrina, all of which star William Holden.
As for the ‘60s selection, add some more from Hitchcock with Psycho and The Birds, plus the monster movie Mothra, Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, the classic drama To Kill a Mockingbird and all of these necessary Westerns: True Grit, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Shenandoah, The Great Silence, Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Which must-see movies are coming soon to Vudu?
One of the wildest and most unique movies of the year is coming to Vudu later this month. Sion Sono’s Prisoners of the Ghostland arrives on digital simultaneous with its theatrical release on Friday, September 17. The action-heavy Western-horror flick stars Nicolas Cage as “Hero,” a criminal sent to a dark supernatural alternate universe in order to rescue the governor’s missing adopted granddaughter (The Mummy’s Sofia Boutella). You can pre-order the movie now ahead of its debut.
What are the 10 most popular movies on Vudu?
The biggest hits on Vudu over the last seven days were led by Disney’s Jungle Cruise following its VOD release last week. The adventure comedy, based on a theme park ride and starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, was joined on the top 10 chart by three other newcomers, all sequels: Don’t Breathe 2, The Boss Baby: Family Business and Space Jam: A New Legacy.
See the full list below.
1. Jungle Cruise
2. Don’t Breathe 2
3. The Boss Baby: Family Business
4. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
5. F9: The Fast Saga
6. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
7. Wrath of Man
8. Space Jam: A New Legacy
9. Respect
10. Black Widow
