Every year, thousands of South Africans take advantage of the Easter public holidays to travel to holiday destinations around the country. Some will go to seaside towns or game reserves. Others will travel to music festivals, or take part in endurance sports events.
Many more, however, will stay at home. It may be that they left their planning to late, or that they can’t afford to travel. There is also, of course, the possibility that staying at home and chilling for a long weekend is the most relaxing thing they can think of doing.
If you fall into any one of those categories, it may well be worth using the extended break to catch up on some of the biggest film franchises of the past few years.
One place where you can find many of those franchises is Google Play Movies. We had a look through its catalogue and found some of the more notable ones.
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
Look, you’re going to need some serious endurance to get through all 16 MCU movies currently available on Google Play Movies.
Starting with 2008’s Iron Man and finishing with 2017’s Spiderman: Homecoming, the combined films have a run-time of more than 40 hours. For many South Africans, that’s a standard working week.
Still, if you really love superheroes and seeing how all the elements of the different films fit together, then the time invested may well be worth it.
The Fast and the Furious
Despite largely being panned by critics, The Fast and the Furious is one of the most successful and resilient film franchises in recent history.
Few would’ve guessed that it would have such lasting appeal when Paul Walker faced off against Vin Diesel in the original movie back in 2001.
If you start with the first film in the franchise and end with 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, you’ll need to spend to spend around 16 hours in front of your screen.
That at least means you’ll be able to occasionally get outside and remind yourself that the world isn’t populated exclusively by fast-driving petrol-heads.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is one of those franchises which caught the imagination of an entire generation. It had people wondering what house they’d be placed in were they to go to Hogwarts and wanting to taste things like chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.
It also turned its child stars — Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint — into full-blown celebrities with lasting star power.
If, for some reason you’ve never seen the films (or maybe you just fancy watching them all over again), Google Play Movies has all eight.
Be warned though: watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione go from pre-teens in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to adults trying to still look like teens in Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part II is a little unnerving.
Still, with a total run time of around 19 hours, you should be able to comfortably fit this franchise into your long weekend.
Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit
If you’re looking for something a little less taxing, you could immerse yourself in the Tolkienverse.
Were you to watch the extended versions of all three Lord of the Rings and all three The Hobbit movies, you’d need to set aside nearly 20 hours of screen time.
Because Play Movies has the standard editions, however, you’ll be able to cut off a few hours.
That may not please the mega-fans, but for the average watcher, it’s more than enough fantasy for one long weekend.
Star Wars
With more than 11 Star Wars movies planned for the next few years, it’s probably worth binging the series while it’s still a manageable length.
Eight of the last nine films in the franchise are available on Google Play Movies (along with the Clone Wars series), meaning you should comfortably be able to fit them into a long weekend.
If you want to watch in strict chronological order, start with The Phantom Menace (the first in the prequels trilogy). From there, watch the rest of the trilogy, before moving onto Rogue One, the original trilogy (starting with A New Hope), and ending off with The Force Awakens. Of course, there are plenty of other suggestions when it comes to the ideal watching sequence for the franchise.
One thing worth noting when it comes to Star Wars on Google Play is that you will have to buy each film outright (for around R148 a film) rather than renting it.
James Bond
With 25 films to date, watching the entire James Bond series from 1962’s Dr No to 2015’s Spectre probably isn’t possible over the course of a long weekend, especially if you plan on eating or sleeping.
In fact, you’d have to watch for more than two full days. That’s no easy feat, no matter how much you love guns, innuendo, and cars loaded to the brim with gadgets.
Still, you could make up some pretty significant ground with the franchise, especially if you’re not familiar with the earlier films.
As is the case with Star Wars, you’ll have to buy each installment in the franchise. Each film will set you back around R138.
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