Amazon’s Prime Video to Remove 30 Movies In 12 Days: The 5 to Watch

By Phillip Swann
The  TV Answer Man – Buy Me a Coffee

Amazon’s Prime Video plans to remove 30 movies from its streaming lineup after January 31, 2026. Here are the five to watch (or rewatch) before they leave, in my humble opinion:

Bull Durham (1988)
Bull Durham, the 1988 baseball comedy from director Ron Shelton (a former minor league baseball player in the Orioles organization), stars Kevin Costner as a career-long minor leaguer who’s summoned to tutor a talented but dimwitted pitcher (Tim Robbins). Shelton’s personal experience in the bush leagues brings a realism to this fun film.

Hoosiers (1986)
Based on a true story, the late great Gene Hackman stars as the basketball coach at a small Indiana high school who inspires his team to dream it can win the state tournament despite being undersized and under-appreciated. One of the greatest sports movies ever made, Hoosiers over the years has also inspired viewers with its simple but powerful message that anything can happen if you just believe in yourself. In addition to prime Hackman, Dennis Hopper is touching as his booze-soaked assistant coach as is Barbara Hershey as a fellow teacher.

The King of Comedy (1983)
Robert De Niro stars in this black comedy from director Martin Scorsese as a nobody who obsesses of landing a stand-up spot on a late-night talk show. Jerry Lewis plays the talk show host with low-key charisma and De Niro is fascinating as the psycho comedian wannbe, Rupert Pupkin. The film received mixed reviews upon release but The King of Comedy was ahead of its time in portraying the dangerous lure of fame, something quite apparent in the era of Tik Tok.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The remake of the 1956 same-name movie starring Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams is steeped in the pervasive paranoia of the 1970s, fueled by assassinations, government cover-ups and God knows what else. Rather than serve as an allegory of Communist infiltration, as the 1956 film did, this version screams (pun intended; nod to chilling final scene) that you can’t trust anyone, particularly in high places. If you’re not familiar with the plot, an invading force from above drops little pods that transform you into robotic servants when you’re sleeping. Sutherland and Adams play San Francisco city employees who try to root out the cause of the sudden change in people’s behavior. The great supporting cast includes Jeff Goldblum as a conspiracy-minded and failed writer and Leonard Nimoy as his very successful counterpart. (Also look for a quick cameo from Kevin McCarthy who starred in the original.)

Platoon (1986)
Director Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam drama stars Charlie Sheen as a grunt in the brush who’s torn between two sergeants (Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe) who have violently different views of how to conduct the war. This is Stone’s masterpiece, perhaps even surpassing 1991’s JFK, in large part because it feels so authentic thanks to the director’s personal experience in the war. Sheen is particularly good and a rewatching of this film and 1987’s Wall Street will make you wonder why he didn’t become a top-tier actor instead of a late-night punchline.

Movies Leaving Amazon Prime After January 31, 2026

Rush
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Romeo Is Bleeding
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
Deuces Wild
Platoon
Good Will Hunting
Hoosiers
Empire Records
12 Angry Men (1957)
Sicario: Day of the Soloadd
Copycat
The Siege of Firebase Gloria
Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland
Bull Durham
Hackers
God’s Own Country
The Grey
Ghosts Can’t Do It
The Rise and Fall of El Chapo
First Daughter
The Beast Within
Flamin’ Hot
Man on Wire
The King of Comedy
Basic Instinct 2
Don’t Say a Word
Heatwave
The Claim

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