The Internet Archive is a repository for all sorts of things. While you probably know it for the ever-useful Wayback Machine, it’s also great for public domain films, independent media, TV broadcasts and newsreels and other media that you’re free watch—and to use and remix on your own, if you want.
There are plenty of movies—organized by categories like sci-fi, horror or film noir—in addition to art films, educational videos and films, special collections that were made available to the Internet Archive for posterity, documentaries and even collections of stock footage. It’s not the most easily browsable archive, nor is it organized for mobile screens, but it’s certainly a treasure trove of interesting material.
This story was originally published in 2016 and updated in July 2019 (by Nick Douglas), May 2020 (by Emily Long), and on Feb. 12, 2021 by Joel Cunningham. Our updates include the following: new screenshots, revised movie lists, and the addition of Plex to our list of streaming options. We also removed MoviesFoundOnline, which no longer functions reliably since the demise of Adobe Flash Player.