Great Movies You Can't Watch Anywhere

Film distribution is a pretty complex business. When a studio shoots a picture, it doesn't always distribute it, and there are also different agreements in different countries, which is why you can sometimes watch movies that aren't available in the United States when you're abroad. Sometimes a film will jump from one streaming platform to another — or it will simply disappear entirely. When the latter happens, it can be incredibly frustrating for viewers.

If you have a particular movie in mind and you feel like you've checked everywhere for it to no avail, it could be that your film of choice isn't available to watch anywhere. All of the movies listed here aren't viewable in the United States — at least, not through legal channels. Some are illegally posted to YouTube and other sites, but, other than illicit viewing, you're limited to physical copies of these films.

Since physical media is slowly disappearing from store shelves, watching some of these films may require visiting a fellow cinephile in the hope that they have a copy you can borrow. If they don't, then we're sorry to tell you that you're out of luck for the time being. You may never be able to watch any of the following films ever again in the United States, and that's a real shame, because some of them are genuine classics.

If you missed "Drop Dead Gorgeous" when it was released in 1999, there's a good chance you've never seen it. However, if you watched it back then, you probably love it to this day. The film bombed upon release and received mixed reviews from critics, but it went on to become a cult classic. Hyperreal Film Club called it "the only reason to still own a DVD player" in 2023, praising the way it stood out as "a black sheep amongst a generation of squeaky clean teenage rom-coms that didn't dare break dress code."

This satirical, mockumentary-style black comedy features an all-star cast, with Kirsten Dunst playing the lead alongside Ellen Barkin, Brittany Murphy, Allison Janney, Kirstie Alley, Amy Adams, and Denise Richards. It's about a small-town beauty pageant and the fierce competition that pushes the contestants to lethal lengths to secure the title. Sadly, "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is now like many other cult classics in that you need a physical copy to watch it. Fortunately, they do exist, but streaming is a different story: The film has popped up briefly on a few different streamers, but never seems to last.

One of the greatest martial arts actors in the history of cinema, Jackie Chan has made a ton of movies over the decades, and while some of them are more popular in his native Hong Kong than they are in the West, he remains a household name across the world. One of his more interesting films, "Who Am I?" features Chan in the starring role as none other than Jackie Chan — but with a bit of a twist. Chan plays an amnesiac, so when he comes to be in a tribal village in Africa, he repeatedly asks "Who Am I?" in English. This becomes his name, and throughout the film, Chan is referred to as "Whoami."

Chan is best known for the likes of "Shanghai Noon" and the "Rush Hour" series in the States, and many of his most famous films are available to stream on various platforms, but if you've heard about "Who Am I?" and want to check it out, you can't. It isn't available on any streamers, and that's a shame, because it's an underrated gem. "One of Jackie Chan's best," said Fred Topel in a review for About.com. "A compelling mystery plot and some of the greatest action he's ever done." Fortunately, "Who Am I?" has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, so if you really want to see it, you can.

Rightly or wrongly, Nicolas Cage has a reputation for taking pretty much any job and chewing the scenery in terrible movies, some of which have a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While that's probably true of late, in the 1990s, Cage was at the top of his game. At the beginning of the decade, he starred in David Lynch's "Wild at Heart," a romantic crime drama with a supporting cast including Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Harry Dean Stanton, Diane Ladd, and Isabella Rossellini that, sadly, isn't available to stream anywhere.

It's the tale of Sailor Ripley (Cage) and Lula Fortune (Laura Dern), a couple who go on the run after Fortune's mother puts out a hit on Ripley. It has an unusual structure (which shouldn't surprise fans of Lynch's work), with a very episodic feel to it. "Wild at Heart" is one of those movies that didn't do well when it was released but has since been re-evaluated and is now seen in a more favorable light. It's a great watch for fans of Lynch, Cage, and Dern, but if you want to see it, you'll need to buy a physical copy.

"Lady Sings the Blues" is a biopic about legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, loosely adapted from Holiday's 1956 autobiography of the same name. Diana Ross plays Holiday in her feature film debut, and she's joined by an impressive cast, including Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams. The picture focuses on Holiday's rise to fame, beginning in 1928 and taking the viewer through some of the most pivotal moments in her life. Ross is fantastic in the role — her ability to sound just like Holiday in her portrayal sets "Lady Sings the Blues" apart from many other music biopics.

Unfortunately, "Lady Sings the Blues" wasn't a big hit upon release, at least not financially. However, the soundtrack reached the top of Billboard's Hot 200 Album Chart and the movie itself received five Academy Award nominations, including a best actress nod for Ross. In the years since, the film has gained positive attention, but it's not available on anything other than physical media. A Blu-ray was released in 2021, so the film is out there — even if it's not easy to find. That being said, if you're a fan of either Holiday or Ross, it's well worth hunting down.

Early in his career, director Kevin Smith established a cinematic universe known as the View Askewniverse, which features many of the same actors and characters from his films. These inclusions don't always make logical sense, but that doesn't matter as far as each film's narrative goes. "Dogma" is Smith's fourth film in the View Askewniverse, and it's certainly a controversial one. It's about two fallen angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), who have been stuck on Earth for eons. They hatch a scheme to attain God's forgiveness, but doing so would prove that God (Alanis Morissette) isn't infallible, destroying all of creation in the process.

The film started getting "attention from the Catholic League" even before it came out, Smith told The Wrap. The director famously attended a protest against "Dogma" himself without being recognized and even gave an interview to the reporters in attendance. The publicity stunt is still remembered fondly to this day and the news report is available to watch on YouTube, but the film itself cannot be streamed anywhere. That's because disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein still owns the rights to it and has refused to sell them back to Smith, the filmmaker told The Wrap. "My movie about heaven is in limbo," he said.

"The Brave Little Toaster" is an animated musical film based on Thomas M. Disch's 1980 novella of the same name. In the film's world, appliances and consumer electronics come to life whenever humans aren't around. It focuses on Toaster (Deanna Oliver), Lampy (Tim Stack), Radio (Jon Lovitz), Blanky (Timothy E. Day), and Kirby (Thurl Ravenscroft), who reside in a remote family cabin. All five appliances desperately await the return of their "master" Rob McGroarty (Wayne Kaatz), their original owner. They go on a quest to find Rob and have several adventures along the way.

"The Brave Little Toaster" didn't make a splash at the box office, but it did well on The Disney Channel and in the rental market. This led to the creation of two sequels ("The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue" and "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars"), both of which are available for streaming. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the first film in the trilogy, which is a cult classic beloved by millennials and animation fans of all ages. Disney owns the rights to the sequels, which are on Disney+, but the Mouse House doesn't own the original. Those rights belong to Hyperion Pictures, so it seems as though "The Brave Little Toaster" won't appear on Disney+ (or anywhere else for that matter) anytime soon.

The Mel Brooks film "Silent Movie" is precisely what the name implies: It's a silent picture that was released almost 50 years after the first talkie. Brooks leaned heavily into the gimmick to great effect, scoring rave reviews. "Brooks has taken a considerable stylistic risk and pulled it off triumphantly," said veteran film critic Roger Ebert. The comedy icon plays a down-and-out film director trying to convince a failing studio to make the first silent film in decades in an effort to stave off a takeover.

Sadly, while many of Brooks' most famous films are available to stream, "Silent Movie" is not on any streaming platforms at the time of this writing. However, it is available to buy on DVD if you're willing to part with about 18 bucks. There's also a VHS version that can be picked up for a fraction of the price, and while this may not offer the best quality, it will certainly add to the retro experience.

"The Flamingo Kid" is a critically acclaimed, Garry Marshall-directed rom-com starring Matt Dillon, Janet Jones, Héctor Elizondo, Richard Crenna, and Jessica Walter. The film is set in the 1960s and revolves around Jeffrey Willis (Dillon), an 18-year-old Brooklyn native who takes a summer job at a fancy beach resort in order to be closer to a girl he met there. His pursuit of Carla Sampson (Jones) translates into a coming-of-age arc that remains as relevant today as it was when the film first arrived in cineplexes.

The leading man was widely praised for delivering a heartfelt performance that showed plenty of promise, and many still regard his turn here as one of his best — Variety called it "his fullest, least narcissistic characterization to date." While the film isn't available for streaming, it hasn't exactly left popular culture: A remake was being considered at one stage, and it was adapted into a theatrical production that came to a close in 2019.

Based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album "The Wall," the 1982 film "Pink Floyd: The Wall" is a mishmash of surrealist animation and live-action spread across a musical exploration of the band, and it's fascinating. The film's plot revolves around a rock star named Pink (Bob Geldof), whose work brings on high levels of stress and, eventually, neurosis. He constructs a symbolic wall to protect himself, but this backfires, leaving Pink to strive for freedom.

There's a great deal of metaphor and symbolism here, and it all contributes to one of the most unusual and oddly beautiful films ever conceived. "Pink Floyd: The Wall" did well with critics and remains known as a cult classic, but, despite that, it's impossible to stream at the time of this writing. It's currently not on any streaming platforms, though the film is thankfully available on physical media. If you don't want to buy it, you'll have to find a Pink Floyd-loving cinephile to borrow it from.

William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A." is a film about obsession and revenge. After Secret Service agent Richard Chance's (William Petersen) partner is killed just a few days before his retirement, he sets his sights on the man responsible, a counterfeiter named Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe). Chance becomes increasingly reckless in his pursuit of Masters, much to the concern of his new partner (John Pankow). "Truly unexpected plot twists follow, as well as a staggering, wrong-way freeway chase, but the film's most memorable attribute is its cold-asphalt heart, which would echoed in more famous L.A. crime films such as 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Training Day,'" said the Los Angeles Times, which hailed the film as one of the best to be set in the city.

Right now, the only way to watch "To Live and Die in L.A." is to get your hands on a physical copy (the film is available on Blu-ray and DVD, but copies aren't exactly cheap, with DVDs going for around 30 bucks on Amazon at the time of this writing). It's a crying shame that this neo-noir classic isn't available to stream anywhere, because it's a fantastic film with some great performances and is arguably William Friedkin's greatest work.

Danny Boyle's horror film "28 Days Later" is an unusual entry in the zombie apocalypse subgenre because it technically doesn't have zombies. Every person who looks and acts like a zombie is infected with a fast-acting virus that robs them of their capacity to feel anything beyond rage — they're far from the shuffling brain-eaters popularized by George A. Romero, and arguably a lot scarier. The England-set film centers around Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma 28 days after the outbreak to find London has been overtaken by the infected.

"28 Days Later" was a massive hit upon release and retains an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A sequel called "28 Weeks Later" followed, and a third entry entitled "28 Years Later" entered production in 2024. Unfortunately, while it used to be available on Hulu, that's no longer the case — Disney no longer has the rights to the film, which is also out of print on Blu-ray. You'll be able to stream "28 Weeks Later" ahead of the third film, but watching the original is almost impossible these days. Hopefully, new rights owners Sony will change that in the near future.

While the 2007 remake starring Ben Stiller was trashed by critics, 1972's "The Heartbreak Kid" remains a firm favorite, with a rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. This classic black comedy stars Charles Grodin as a caddish salesman named Lenny, who marries a woman he hasn't been dating long and quickly decides that she's not for him. Despite the fact that he's on his honeymoon, Lenny decides to pursue a younger girl on vacation with her wealthy parents.

Despite its standing as one of the AFI's 100 funniest American movies of all time, "The Heartbreak Kid" isn't easy to watch, as it's not available for streaming due to a rights issue. The film is owned by the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, which briefly flirted with Hollywood when it bought Palomar Pictures International. A handful of films were produced by them, "The Heartbreak Kid" among them, but Bristol-Myers Squibb dissolved Palomar Pictures International after just two years, leaving this beloved movie in limbo.

In the Italian film "Il Postino" (The Postman), Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi) is a lonely mailman working on a small island, where he's fallen in love with a beautiful waitress. Unfortunately, he feels like he's unable to pursue her, but that changes when exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret) arrives on the island. Ruoppolo delivers Neruda's mail and learns from the poet how to woo the woman he desires.

The film was a success upon release (it was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for best music), and it remains one of the highest-grossing foreign language films in the United States. With a best picture nomination to its name and plenty of critical praise (it boasts a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), you'd think that "Il Postino" would be available to stream in the States, but that's not the case. Fortunately, you can find "Il Postino" on physical media, with VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray options on Amazon.

You might assume that every Alfred Hitchcock movie is available to stream somewhere, such is the late filmmaker's reputation as a master of the medium. Sadly, that's not the case, and it's rather baffling when it comes to the psychological thriller "Rebecca." This is a best picture-winning film that was nominated for 11 Academy Awards in total and it's widely regarded as a Hitchcock movie everyone needs to watch at some point in life, yet it's practically vanished.

"Rebecca" is based on Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name. The titular character is never actually shown in the film, which centers on her widower, Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), who lives his life with the ever-present memory of Rebecca. When he remarries, his second wife (Joan Fontaine) lives in the shadow of his first. It's a gripping watch, but if you want to see it, your best bet is to keep an eye on Turner Classic Movies listings. If you can't wait then you could always check out Netflix's "Rebecca" remake starring Lily James.