Amazon Dips Toes Into Ultra HD Streaming Waters

If you recently threw down some cash on a sleek new Ultra HD (or 4K) TV and you’re still waiting for content to show off to your friends (or justify the expense to yourself), here’s some mixed news for you. Amazon is finally getting into the 4K-streaming game, but the offerings aren’t really anything to celebrate right now.

Amazon Prime members looking to stream Ultra HD content had better be fans of movies that are at least a decade old, as the current options are limited to four movies — Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Funny Girl, Hitch, and Philadelphia. Of those, only Crouching Tiger would really benefit from viewing on a massive 4K TV screen.

Prime subscribers fare slightly better with the TV show offerings, with Amazon original shows like Transparent, and the second season of Alpha House available for Ultra HD streaming at no extra charge (if your pricey TV has the Amazon app on it). Upcoming Amazon series, including Mozart in the Jungle, The After and Red Oaks will be available in Ultra HD from the start. BBC America’s Orphan Black is also included in the 4K Prime lineup.

If none of these interest you, or if you aren’t a Prime member, Amazon is selling a small slate of Ultra HD titles — including After Earth, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Godzilla, Hancock, Moneyball, The Monuments Men, The Amazing Spider-Man (and its sequel), and The Da Vinci Code (but not my unofficial fan-made sequel, The Bezu Fache Chronicles).

Thing is, those movies will cost you $19.99 just to get the 4K version. That’s more than it cost to see any of them in the theater, so we’re not quite sure how many people are going to fork over this amount of money.

[via Amazon]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist