1917 comes to Peacock! The summer so far has certainly not disappointed with the amount of new releases. With Netflix churning out new seasons of Stranger Things and Umbrella Academy and HBO Max being busy at work hyping the new season of Westworld, there’s definitely a lot to be jazzed about. But when the noise of new releases gets to be a little too much to keep up with, it’s nice to slow down, kick back, and enjoy a classic film of yesteryear. NBC’s streamer Peacock has a lot to offer on that front. Here are three standout classic films now streaming on Peacock.
1917 (2019)
Directed by Sam Mendes, 1917 takes place against the backdrop of the turmoil of World War I, as the title would suggest.
The film begins as two young officers, Blake (Dean Charles Chapman) and Scofield (George MacKay), are ushered out of a deep sleep and assigned a highly confidential new mission. The pair learn that few miles away, another company that includes Blake’s brother plans to launch an attack to push the Germans back even further after they made a hasty retreat. But the retreat is likely a ruse on the part of the Germans to lure the Brits into a position vulnerable to attack.
It’s then that Blake and Scofield learn their orders in 1917: to traverse “No Man’s Land,” the treacherous war zone that separates the British infantry troops from the Germans to deliver the message to Colonel Mackenzie of the nearby battalion that the Germans are baiting them and an attack would mean certain death.
Upon release, the film garnered much attention for appearing as though it was shot in one take from start to finish. Though it was not, Mendes employed tactics to achieve that look that were challenging for cast and crew. “The biggest challenge was the unrelenting nature,” MacKay told Variety. “We would go again and again and again during these long sequences. And because there is no edit, you can’t go home unless it is absolutely perfect.”
Mendes pulls off the seemingly impossible in 1917 with the “one take” shot, with an end result that led to popular and critical acclaim as well as a slew of Oscar nominations.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Like many Steven Spielberg films of the era, at its heart, E.T. is a film about the loneliness and ennui of the American suburbs. The film follows Elliott (Henry Thomas, now a fixture in horror master Mike Flanagan’s projects), a curious but lonely latchkey kid raised by a single mother in the suburbs. Elliott finds friendship with E.T., and enigmatic yet friendly creature Elliott discovers in his backyard.
Though E.T. does enjoy earthly pleasure like Reese’s Pieces, ultimately the dude just wants to get home. To do so, he needs to make a very long distance call. Elliott (and younger sister Drew Barrymore) rush to help E.T. escape earth before the government agents who have been sniffing around can find him and make him a science experiment forever.
E.T. has stood the test of time, becoming a beloved comfort watch for generations of kids and adults alike. It still holds up likely due to Spielberg’s honest and thoughtful representation of childhood. His approach to the characters and to the actors was to acknowledge their thoughts, feelings, and perspective without being condescending or dumbing anything down. For that reason, suburban childhood as its presented here feels authentic and relatable, an authenticity that viewers have turned to again and again for decades.
Jaws (1975)
With Jaws, Spielberg inadvertently created what came to be known as the Summer Blockbuster. In the summer of 1975, American audiences just couldn’t get enough of the film, heading back to theaters again and again to lay eyes on one very realistic animatronic jumbo shark. As a result, Jaws became one of the most recognizable and most watched horror films in history.
Set on Fourth of July weekend on Amity Island, Maine, the film starts with a bang after a swimmer is attacked and killed by what appears to be an unusually aggressive sea animal. All evidence points to the attacker being a shark, but Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) doesn’t want to discourage tourists and orders Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) to keep the beach open. When his decision backfires, the town demands answers.
During a town meeting about the attack, local character Quint (Robert Shaw) offers to find the shark. The film then follows three bounty hunters–Scheider, Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper–as they traverse the ocean deep looking to capture or kill the maneater before it strikes again.
Spawning numerous sequels and innumerable copycats, Jaws was the film that solidified the summer season as movie season and cemented Spielberg as THE young talent of his generation, giving him enough industry clout to push through pet projects like E.T.
On the hunt for more streaming recs? Subscribe now!