10 Blockbuster Movies That Feel Like Arthouse Movies (2024)

Hollywood has been chasing the success of massive blockbuster films ever since Jaws and Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope ascended to the top of the box office charts in the 1970s. It is often suggested that this is the point in which the industry made a major shift that turned away from the “New Hollywood” movement that had begun a decade earlier with Bonnie and Clyde; instead of trying to bring to life bold artistic films from noted auteurs, Hollywood was chasing films that could be the next big franchise.

However, it is possible to make widely accessible films that still have nuanced sensibilities, and can shoehorn in ambition ideas. While audiences may have had their fill of superhero movies, many of the highest grossing films in recent years are far more filled with depth than they may have initially been perceived to be. Here are ten blockbusters that feel like arthouse movies.

10 ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969)

Directed by Peter R. Hunt

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is unlike any other entry in the James Bond franchise, as it was the first and only installment to star George Lazenby, who replaced Sean Connery after his role in You Only Live Twice. Lazenby wasn’t interested in simply doing an impression of the same calm, collected espionage agent that Connery had already played; he instead gave a more vulnerable performance as a version of Bond who actually considers leaving MI6 and his duty altogether when he falls in love with the woman Tracy (Diana Rigg).

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is both a romantic and a deeply psychological neo-thriller, and contains some of the most visually spectacular moments in the franchise’s history. While Bond films were mixed on it at the time of its release, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is now accepted to be a classic.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

PG

Action

Adventure

Crime

Romance

Thriller

Release Date

December 12, 1969

Director

Peter R. Hunt

Cast

George Lazenby , Diana Rigg , Telly Savalas , Gabriele Ferzetti , Ilse Steppat , Angela Scoular

Runtime

142

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Simon Raven , Richard Maibaum , Ian Fleming

Tagline

Far up! Far out! Far more! James Bond 007 is back!

Website

http://www.mgm.com/view/movie/1411/On-Her-Majesty%E2%80%99s-Secret-Service/

Watch on Prime Video

9 ‘Batman’ (1989)

Directed by Tim Burton

Batman has a lot riding on it to succeed, as the superhero genre was considered to be dead after the disastrous reception to Superman IV: The Quest for Peace a few years earlier. Although the success of Tim Burton’s first comic book film inspired a new wave of superhero stories on the big screen, Batman was heavily inspired by noir cinema, as well as the German expressionist movement of the 1930s.

Batman frames its characters in a subversive way; although the audience knows every detail about the origin story of the Joker (Jack Nicholson), there are very few details given about Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton). Despite how strange it was, Batman became a big enough success that Burton was able to get even weirder with his sequel, Batman Returns, which emphasized its noir themes and featured more overt political commentary.

Batman

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Superhero

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.

Release Date

June 23, 1989

Director

Tim Burton

Cast

Michael Keaton , Jack Nicholson , Kim Basinger , Billy Dee Williams , Robert Wuhl , Pat Hingle , Michael Gough

Runtime

126 Minutes

Tagline

Budget

$48 Million

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Watch on Max

8 ‘Miami Vice’ (2006)

Directed by Michael Mann

Miami Vice was a passion project for Michael Mann, who got the rare opportunity to helm a reboot of the show that he had created in the 1980s. The original Miami Vice was a breakthrough within dramatic television because of its slick, stylized visuals; however, the 2006 reboot grounded the story in the real world, and used the groundbreaking digital technology that Mann had developed to create a more tactile, authentic crime thriller.

Miami Vice is an absorbing meditation on loss, failure, and the cycles of the criminal lifestyle, and is only bolstered by the incredible performances by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as far darker versions of the characters from the original show. Even for those unfamiliar with the original source material, Miami Vice serves as a cutting commentary on the ways in which “cops and criminals” are portrayed in popular culture and the media.

Miami Vice

R

Action

Crime

Drama

Based on the 1980s TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.

Release Date

July 28, 2006

Director

Michael Mann

Cast

Colin Farrell , Jamie Foxx , Li Gong , Naomie Harris , Ciarán Hinds , Justin Theroux

Runtime

132 Minutes

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Michael Mann , Anthony Yerkovich

Rent on Amazon

7 ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’ (2006)

Directed by Justin Lin

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a true outlier in The Fast and the Furious franchise, as it does not focus on Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) or Brian (Paul Walker). Instead, Justin Lin’s first entry in the action series centers on the new character Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), who goes on his own series of adventures throughout Japanashe runs into some dangerous criminals.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift took the premise from the other films, but chose to turn the style into an absorbing noir with a strong coming of age component. It’s a film that relies on its visuals to tell its story, and indicated that Lin was capable of turning a franchise out of films that had initially been viewed as being simply copycats of Point Break. It’s no surprise that Lin has since returned to make some of the best The Fast and the Furious films.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

PG-13

Action

Crime

Thriller

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) always feels like an outsider, but he defines himself through his victories as a street racer. His hobby makes him unpopular with the authorities, so he goes to live with his father in Japan. Once there and even more alienated, he learns about an exciting, but dangerous, new style of the sport. The stakes are high when Sean takes on the local champion and falls for the man's girlfriend.

Release Date

June 16, 2006

Director

Justin Lin

Cast

Lucas Black , Damien Marzette , Trula M. Marcus , Zachery Ty Bryan , Brandon Brendel , Daniel Booko

Runtime

104 minutes

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Chris Morgan

Tagline

On the streets of Tokyo speed needs no translation.

Website

http://www.thefastandthefurious.com/

Watch on Netflix

6 ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ (2017)

Directed by Rian Johnson

Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the breath of fresh air that the Star Wars saga needed, as the franchise was risking being entirely derivative of itself. Rian Johnson drew from the films of Akira Kurosawa (who was also a key influence on George Lucas) to tell an exciting story about the necessity of “balance” within the galaxy far, far away; while Rey (Daisy Ridley) learns that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is not everything he is remembered as being, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) being to notice the faults in the dark side as he turns against his mentor, Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis).

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is easily the most visually dynamic film within the entire franchise, and no amount of toxic fan backlash to the progressive themes will prevent it from being remembered as the best Star Wars film of its generation.

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi

PG-13

Sci-Fi

Action

Fantasy

Adventure

The Star Wars saga continues as new heroes and galactic legends go on an epic adventure, unlocking mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.

Release Date

December 15, 2017

Director

Rian Johnson

Cast

Daisy Ridley , Oscar Isaac , Mark Hamill , Carrie Fisher , John Boyega , Adam Driver , Andy Serkis , Lupita Nyong'O , Anthony Daniels , Gwendoline Christie , Kelly Marie Tran , Laura Dern

Runtime

152 Minutes

Writers

Rian Johnson

Budget

$317 million

Studio(s)

Lucasfilm

Distributor(s)

Disney

Sequel(s)

Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker

prequel(s)

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace , Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones , Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith , Solo: A Star Wars Story , Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope , Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back , Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi , Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Franchise(s)

Star Wars

Watch on Disney+

5 ‘Blade Runner 2049’ (2017)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Blade Runner 2049 is pretty much a miracle, as the original Blade Runner was a cult classic that did not perform that well at the box office during its initial theatrical run in 1982, even though it was subsequently hailed as a masterpiece. Blade Runner 2049 didn’t fare much better financially, but it is not all that surprising, as Denis Villeneuve crafted a deeply moving science fiction epic about the downfall of humanity.

Blade Runner 2049 questions what it means to be human and the faults of technological dominations, and crafts a very emotional connection between the new hero, Agent K (Ryan Gosling, and the original film’s protagonist, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford). It goes without saying that the cinematography is excellent, as Blade Runner 2049 was the film that finally won Roger Deakins his first Academy Award in the category.

Blade Runner 2049

R

Sci-Fi

Action

Drama

Mystery

Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.

Release Date

October 6, 2017

Director

Denis Villeneuve

Cast

Ryan Gosling , Harrison Ford , Jared Leto , Ana De Armas , Robin Wright , Lennie James , Dave Bautista , Carla Juri , Hiam Abbass , Barkhad Abdi , David Dastmalchian , Mackenzie Davis , Sylvia Hoeks

Runtime

163 Minutes

Writers

Michael Green , Hampton Fancher

Budget

$150 Million

Studio(s)

Alcon Entertainment , Columbia Pictures , Scott Free Productions , Bud Yorkin Productions , Torridon Films , 16:14 Entertainment

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

prequel(s)

Blade Runner

Franchise(s)

Blade Runner

Rent on Amazon

4 ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ (2017)

Directed by Matt Reeves

War for the Planet of the Apes is a brutal unpromising epic about the true costs of war, and may be the single most bleak summer blockbuster released in the last decade. While the Planet of the Apes franchise has always had a strong component of political and social commentary, War for the Planet of the Apes depicts a harrowing parallel to genocide, as it centers on a plot by an evil warlord known only as “The Colonel” (Woody Harrelson), who decides to round up and eliminate all apes from existence.

War for the Planet of the Apes uses its amazing visual effects to tell a better story, as the photorealistic CGI allowed for a greater depth of emotion. While the franchise is continuing on, War for the Planet of the Apes marks the perfect conclusion to the arc for the character Caesar (Andy Serkis).

War for the Planet of the Apes

PG-13

Science Fiction

Action

Adventure

Drama

In the midst of a relentless war between humans and apes, Caesar leads his people with wisdom and empathy, hoping to find a peaceful resolution. However, when a merciless Colonel orchestrates a devastating attack on the apes, Caesar is consumed by a desire for revenge. Accompanied by a small group of loyal followers, he sets out on a mission to confront the Colonel and end the conflict. As Caesar faces intense battles and moral dilemmas, he must balance his thirst for vengeance with his duty to ensure the survival of his species. The story culminates in a dramatic showdown that will shape the future of both apes and humans.

Release Date

July 14, 2017

Director

Matt Reeves

Cast

Judy Greer , Steve Zahn , Mercedes de la Zerda , Max Lloyd-Jones , Woody Harrelson , Alessandro Juliani , Amiah Miller , Terry Notary , Andy Serkis , Aleks Paunovic , Ty Olsson , Devyn Dalton , Gabriel Chavarria

Runtime

140 Minutes

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Writers

Matt Reeves , Mark Bomback , Rick Jaffa

Budget

150–152 million

Studio(s)

TSG Entertainment , Chernin Entertainment

Distributor(s)

20th Century

Sequel(s)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

prequel(s)

dawn of the Planet of the apes movie , Rise of the Planet of the Apes , Planet of the Apes

Franchise(s)

Planet of the Apes

Rent on Amazon

3 ‘Toy Story 4’ (2019)

Directed by Josh Cooley

Toy Story 4 is perhaps the oddest film in its franchise, as Toy Story 3 ended on such a pitch perfect note that many fans of the series were concerned about another sequel ever being able to live up. That being said, Toy Story 4 is brilliant because it dares to ask uncomfortable questions about how the best things do not last.

Toy Story 4 examines the deepest aspects of Woody’s personality, and features some of the best voicework that Tom Hanks has ever done with the character. Although Woody has been very protective over both Andy and Bonnie, Toy Story 4 suggests that he could take on a paternal role if he was able to help Forky (Tony Hale) believe in his right to exist. Even the most pensive viewers may have had a hard time not shedding tears at the end of Toy Story 4.

Toy Story 4

G

Animation

Adventure

Comedy

Family

When a new toy called "Forky" joins Woody and the gang, a road trip alongside old and new friends reveals how big the world can be for a toy.

Release Date

June 21, 2019

Director

Josh Cooley

Cast

Tom Hanks , Joan Cusack , Patricia Arquette , Kristen Schaal , Laurie Metcalf , Annie Potts

Runtime

100 minutes

Main Genre

Animation

Writers

John Lasseter , Andrew Stanton , Pete Docter , Lee Unkrich , Will McCormack , Stephany Folsom

Studio

Disney Pixar

Tagline

Toy Story IV: The Quest for Peace

Watch on Disney+

2 ‘The Batman’ (2022)

Directed by Matt Reeves

The Batman is a film that faced immediate skepticism from the moment that it was announced, as Christopher Nolan had done such a great job with The Dark Knight trilogy that it was unclear if another Batman story would be able to do something different. While it is not technically an origin story, The Batman explores how Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) begins to realize he needs to be an actual hero, and not just an instrument of rage that goes out beating the city’s criminals to a pulp.

The Batman has allusions to many classic neo-noir films, as it addresses a commentary on political infrastructure that is similar to Chinatown, and features a serial killer storyline involving the Riddler (Paul Dano) that is reminiscent of Se7en. That would all be without mentioning the incredible cinematography from Greg Fraser and the fantastic score by Michael Giacchino.

The Batman

PG-13

Crime

Action

Drama

In a dark city plagued by crime and corruption, a masked crusader investigates a puzzling string of crimes linked by cryptic messages. His journey into the depths of the city's sinister underworld reveals connections among its most powerful citizens and forces him to confront his own complex relationship with justice.

Release Date

March 4, 2022

Director

Matt Reeves

Cast

Robert Pattinson , Zoë Kravitz , Jeffrey Wright , Colin Farrell , Paul Dano , John Turturro , Andy Serkis , Peter Sarsgaard , Barry Keoghan , Jayme Lawson , Gil Perez-Abraham , Peter McDonald , Con O'Neill , Alex Ferns , Rupert Penry-Jones , Kosha Engler , Archie Barnes , Janine Harouni , Hana Hrzic , Joseph Walker , Luke Roberts , Oscar Novak , Stella Stocker , Sandra Dickinson , Jack Bennett , Andre Nightingale , Richard James-Neale , Lorraine Tai , Joseph Balderrama , James Eeles

Runtime

176 minutes

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Matt Reeves , Peter Craig , Bob Kane , Bill Finger

Budget

$200 million

Studio(s)

DC

Sequel(s)

The Batman Part II

Franchise(s)

DC Universe , DC Comics

Character(s)

Bruce Wayne / The Batman , Selina Kyle , Lt. James Gordon , Oz / The Penguin , The Riddler , Carmine Falcone , Alfred , District Attorney Gil Colson , Unseen Arkham Prisoner , Bella Reál , Officer Martinez , Kenzie , Chief Mackenzie Bock , Commissioner Pete Savage , Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. , Mrs. Mitchell , Mitchell's Son , Carla , Annika , Young Riddler , Thomas Wayne , Young Bruce Wayne , Martha Wayne , Dory , Travis , Ritchie , Glen , Cheri , Lead Detective , Another Officer

Watch on Max

1 ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ (2024)

Directed by George Miller

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga was a radical new take on the Mad Max franchise, as it examined the history of the wasteland’s power struggle through the perspective of a young Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy). Although Furiosa: A Mad Max Story does serve as an origin story about the young hero before she became an “imperator,” it’s the rare prequel that actually makes its predecessor, Mad Max: Fury Road, into a more emotionally impactful film.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is one of the more overtly political entries in the Mad Max saga, as George Miller shows the lengths of depravity people will go to in order to acquire resources. Additionally, the rise of the charismatic warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), whose domain is built on a series of lies, is a startling mirror to the reign of a certain right wing populist.

710

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

R

Action

Adventure

Sci-Fi

The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and team-up with Mad Max.

Release Date

May 24, 2024

Director

George Miller

Cast

Anya Taylor-Joy , Chris Hemsworth , Tom Burke , Alyla Browne , Nathan Jones , Angus Sampson , Daniel Webber , Lachy Hulme

Runtime

148 minutes

Main Genre

Adventure

Writers

George Miller , Nick Lathouris

Studio(s)

Village Roadshow Pictures , Kennedy Miller Mitchell

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros.

Sequel(s)

Mad Max: Fury Road

prequel(s)

Mad Max , Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior , Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Franchise(s)

Mad Max

Watch on Max

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