The VOD market has found itself becoming an increasingly important component of the movie business in recent months as the Coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on both the shooting and release schedules of virtually every major project that was in some stage of production. The studios have taken to releasing their theatrical efforts on home video a lot sooner than they would have originally anticipated, while plenty of titles have skipped theaters entirely and been sent straight to digital as a cost-cutting measure.
Up until the advent and unstoppable rise of streaming services, a movie being released straight to video was often seen as a mark of poor quality, but these days, there are some pretty big stars and filmmakers seeing their work bypass cinemas altogether, and this week is no different, with several projects featuring high-profile names making their way to VOD.
Mel Gibson may have recently found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons again, but the actor’s fans will no doubt be keen to check out Force of Nature, which sees the Lethal Weapon star take a supporting role alongside Emile Hirsch and Kate Bosworth. Although, a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 14% isn’t exactly encouraging for this thriller about a “gang of thieves who plan a heist during a hurricane and encounter trouble when a cop tries to force everyone in the building to evacuate.”
Ironically, Gibson’s son Milo stars in another of this week’s VOD releases, except this one is the subject of widespread critical acclaim. Also featuring fellow second generation actor Scott Eastwood, The Outpost is sitting pretty on a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating, with praise being showered on the true-life war drama’s nail-biting tension and visceral authenticity.
Those that don’t fancy action-packed genre fare though can check out documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble, which follows the journey of the titular civil rights icon, along with fellow factual pieces Greg Warren: Where the Corn Grows, Beyond Skiing Everest and Suzi Q, along with comedy special Claudia Oshry: Disgraced Queen.
That’s quite a lot of content, to be sure, and below you can see the full list of what arrived on VOD this week:
To Buy:
The Outpost
We Bare Bears: The Movie
To Rent:
John Lewis: Good Trouble
Claudia Oshry: Disgraced Queen
Beyond Skiing Everest
Greg Warren: Where the Field Corn Grows
No Small Matter
Suzi Q
Force of Nature
Four Kids and It
Mr. Jones
While a lot of people will no doubt find themselves occupied by 4th of July celebrations, there’s still more than enough variety arriving this weekend to appeal to viewers that dwell outside of the United States that are looking for something new to watch.
