Where to Get Free Movie Downloads Legally

It's never been easier to get free movie downloads so you can keep them to watch again and again. There are a few great websites out there that you can visit to find thousands of movies to download for free.

It's important to note that if you want to download free movies legally, you'll be limited to movies that fall under public domain. When a movie is public domain it means that the copyright isn't held by any one individual any longer — the public owns the movie. This means you can watch and download these free movies as many times as you like, completely legally.

Even though scouring the internet for "free movie downloads" or any other similar search, will give you lots of results, know that most of them are illegal. This is why it's so important to know how to recognize a legal movie website. Fortunately, the sites for downloading movies, listed below, are 100% legal and free.

Consider Streaming Movies

Don't limit yourself to downloading when there's the option of streaming. You'll find many more movie choices if you'll consider watching free streaming movies online instead of downloading them. The movies may not be yours to keep but you'll get to watch them often in high-quality, and stream them directly from the websites, usually as many times as you like.

You also may want to try out a free movie streaming app if you're looking to watch free movies on a mobile device.

If you already pay for a streaming subscription service, you might have the option to download movies offline so that you can still watch them without an internet connection. Check with your service to see if this might be a good option for you.

Also see these free Redbox rentals if you're looking for more ways to get free entertainment.

Internet Archive's Movies

Picture of a couple watching a movie on a laptop — © nullplus / E+ / Getty Images

The Internet Archive is a great place to go to download free movies online. There are free movie downloads of comedies, film noir, sci-fi / horror, and foreign films.

Look on the left side of the page to view all the topics where the movies are categorized. You can also do a search through the millions of results.

Another way to find a movie to download here is to browse the sub-collections. After choosing movies as the "Media Type," picking a topic/subject lets you see the full-length movies you can download.

You can download these free movies in several different file formats, most of which will be supported by the video player already on your computer. However, VLC Media Player is a good alternative that can play a variety of video file formats.

Free Classic Movies

Picture of a family watching television — © Martin Barraud / Getty Images

Just as the website name suggests, you can download 100% free and legal classic movies from a massive collection of several terabytes here at Free Classic Movies.

You can browse all the movies at once in a huge list or look through specific time periods like 1897–1919, 1960–1969, and several others in between. Another way is to look through the movies alphabetically by person.

A full summary of the film plus the list of actors are given on each download page. You can either stream the movie there or use the download links to get an MP4 version of the movie, some of which are available in multiple sizes (e.g., 720x526, 986x720, etc.).

Tip: If the movie plays in your web browser without asking you to download it, just right-click the video box and choose to save it to your computer.

Public Domain Torrents

Another place you can get free movie downloads is at Public Domain Torrents, which offers classic and b-movies that can be downloaded and then played on your computer or TV.

Browse through the free movie downloads by viewing the top twenty or newest twenty, or by browsing the genres or showing a list of all the movies available for download.

All the movies here can be downloaded as Divx AVI files. The videos might be supported by the video player already on your computer, but if not, try using DivX Plus Player. Some of the movies can also be downloaded as videos for the PSP, PDA, and iPod.

Tip: Use Public Domain Torrents as a last resort for downloading movies since the website doesn't always work as advertised.

Download Movies From an Existing Subscription

Screenshot showing the download button on a Netflix movie — A Netflix Movie With a Download Button.

If you already pay for a movie streaming subscription, you might be eligible to download those movies for free and watch them offline.

However, unlike the sites above, subscription services don't just give you the movie file. You can download the movie only in a specific app, so it can't be copied, saved elsewhere, or burned to a DVD.

Netflix is one example of a subscription service that lets you download its movies and TV shows. Netflix lets you download videos to a mobile device or computer (with the Windows 10 app) using the down arrow shown next to any download-supported video.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers can download movies and shows as well. To download an Amazon Prime Video title, look for the Download button on the same screen where you can stream the video.

Vudu users can download movies with the Download button in the Vudu mobile app or Vudu To Go desktop program. Just like with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, you can only download Vudu movies for free if you've already purchased the video.

YouTube Premium subscribers have support for offline movies, too. To download a movie from YouTube, visit the video page in the YouTube app and use the download button to save it.