Do you feel a need to get your mojo back? To make one million dollars? To celebrate any of the other myriad catchphrases that defined comedy in the early days of MySpace?
Then you, like so many before you, want Austin Powers, the swinging subject of the film trilogy to which he lends his name. Luckily, despite his repeated forrays into time travel, the chronology of the series is pretty straightforward — watch them in the order in which they came out, and you shouldn’t have any problems following the plot. Honestly, you shouldn’t have any problems following the plot even if you don’t binge them in their correct order — they’re goofy movies about a hairy guy who likes women. It’s not exactly Tenet.
But where can you watch the Austin Powers movies? Now that’s the question.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
The first entry in the Austin Powers saga was a breath of fresh air when it hit cinemas in 1997. It was something unique — a technicolor, puerile examination of British spy tropes, lambasting James Bond and, in an instant, teaching a generation of unwitting middle schoolers how to do a Lorne Michaels impression.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery marked a lot of firsts. It catapulted the career of director Jay Roach, proved that Mike Myers could hold his own without wearing a Wayne’s World hat, and made its audience believe a cat could lose its hair in cryogenic stasis.
The film is currently unavailable to stream in the United States but can be rented or purchased on Prime Video, AppleTV, and the rest of the usual list of digital video providers.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
On paper, Austin Danger Powers couldn’t have picked a worse summer to release his second outing. He was going up against the long-awaited fourth entry in the Star Wars franchise, a film that couldn’t possibly disappoint considering all the prep time that the production had and how important the franchise was to all the fans.
Then, thanks to the following that the first entry had found on home video and a particularly inspired ad campaign, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me broke box office records, debuting in the number one spot and becoming the highest-grossing comedy in history at the time. What’s more, the sequel introduced audiences to iconic characters like Mini Me and Mini Mister Bigglesworth, owned the fact that time travel is better if you just don’t think about it, and kept the Baby Back Ribs song in regular rotation at college parties for another two decades.
Also, this movie was nominated for an Oscar. Keep that in your back pocket for the next time someone you know treats an awards show seriously.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me isn’t currently streaming for free in the U.S., but you can rent it from Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and Apple TV.
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
You either die an indie success story… or live long enough to see Kevin Spacey’s cameo in your threequel.
Following the gangbuster success of The Spy Who Shagged Me, expectations for an unavoidable threequel were understandably through the roof. Everything was bigger in Goldmember. The guest stars were more famous. The budget was colossal. The Mike Myers characters were covered in more prosthetics, and the joke about what that thing in the sky looks like went on for, just, so much longer. Still, the addition of Michael Caine as Nigel Powers was inspired casting, and the film strived to give struggling artists a shot — it marked the big screen debut of aspiring musician Beyoncé Knowles, who has since sadly vanished into obscurity.
And strike three: Austin Powers in Goldmember isn’t available to stream for free, but you can rent or purchase it digitally wherever fine Dutch accents are sold.
