YouTube launches movie rentals

Don’t you love it when tech giants like Google gently patronise us? Like YouTube saying that people in the UK probably enjoy watching films because the first “motion picture” was developed on celluloid here. Aren’t we quaint? Following on from launches in the US and Canada, we can now stream over 1000 films on YouTube Movies. Expect the usual Hollywood blockbuster fare plus some British classics like Monty Python and Lock, Stock.. thrown into the mix to show that they understand us. We could moan about stereotypes but actually it’s quite a nice touch.

Like iTunes, you’re given a 30 day period and once you start viewing the film you’ve got 48 hours to finish streaming it, should you get distracted. Most films are priced at £2.49, or £3.49 for some new releases.

Hover over the title and you’ll get the plot, cast and Rotten Tomatoes rating. Warning to YouTube film buffs: we got quite a few green splodges on the first batch of available rentals.

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Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home