Free (and legal!) Classic SF Movies and TV Shows Online
Posted on June 14th, 2007
They are free and they are online, but I can’t recommend the site without caveat. LikeTelevision (”only better,” they say) is an online site that offers, among other films, such classics as Metropolis, The Boy with Green Hair (seeing Dean Stockwell young is stranger than his green hair), Boy and His Dog (horny Don Johnson has his talking dog finding tail for him), The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (girlfriend decapitated, horny doctor finds beauty pageant body to put the head on), Planet Outlaws (Buster Crabbe as Buck Rogers), etc. Not really a huge sci-fi movie selection, but there are also trailers as well as episode of old television shows such as Flash Gordon, Superman, Radar Men, and One Step Beyond.
Unfortunately, LikeTelevision is seeking subscribers for its full size high quality versions of films, i.e., those of a size you can actually watch on a TV. So while the free offerings are decent enough resolution, they are only of a size you can enjoy on a laptop or smaller screen. For example, no matter which computer I streamed Boy and His Dog to, I couldn’t figure out a way to get the widescreen/letterbox aspect films (16:9) to appear any larger than about 4 inches by 2 inches. Full screen aspect films (4:3) and television shows appeared to be around 4 inches by 3 inches on my computers (imagine that!) and were a bit easier to watch.
There were also advertisements displayed in the sidebar for the free versions, but a little manipulation with the Real Player display settings got rid of them easily. I would recommend using Real Player, because I did have problems trying to use alternatives. Lastly, the subscription model LikeTelevision uses is ridiculous, at those prices a viewer would be better off subscribing to Netflix or a similar service with better variety for less cost.
So, while the site definitely has its drawbacks, there is some classic free content that streams well on broadband connections and might pass the time if you’re on a laptop. Savvy viewers could probably even figure out a way to capture the content and convert it to enable viewing on a portable device as well.
Filed under Free Stuff, Movies, TV | No Comments »