March 2018’s Best Streaming Titles: Ghostbusters, Voltron, Jessica Jones, James Bond, Hackers & more

Peter Venkman and Co. are coming to Netflix, bringing with them proton packs, ghost traps, and of course, Ecto-1. All of which comes in handy when New York is beset by freaky paranormal activity. The less acclaimed sequel, Ghostbusters 2, will start streaming on Netflix, too. And if you still need some supernatural shenanigans after watching the movies, The Real Ghostbusters (aka, my favorite Saturday morning cartoon) is currently streaming on Netflix.

Duncan Jones’ Moon is proof that you don’t need big budget special effects to craft an appealing and enjoyable sci-fi film. The only worker on a remote lunar base (played by Sam Rockwell) is struggling with the psychological strain of his isolation when he stumbles across a darker secret. Rockwell gives a solid performance and Jones ably proves that less is more with the film’s stripped down, minimalist approach.

In this latest Netflix original, a vicious serial killer is tracked by a legendary investigator — which begins to reveal a government conspiracy involving human experimentation. B: The Beginning is a collaboration between Netflix and Production I.G, the studio behind the various Ghost in the Shell titles as well as Patlabor and Eden of the East.

Voltron’s fourth season ended with a cliffhanger as former antagonist Prince Lotor turned on the Galra empire and suggested an alliance with Team Voltron. Season five will explore the ramifications of that alliance, as Team Voltron continue to fight the Galra empire while coming to terms with the possible threat their new ally represents. Netflix’s Voltron remake has been a big favorite here at Opus HQ, and I expect nothing less in this new season.

The first season of Jessica Jones received considerable acclaim in large part due to Krysten Ritter’s gritty performance as a superhero trying to overcome the trauma and stress of being victimized by the villainous Kilgrave (played with creepy charm by David Tennant). Jones was last seen in last year’s Defenders, so it’s good to see her back on her own, and this time, she’s trying to find answers to harrowing questions about her past.

Children of the Whales is based on an Abi Umeda manga series about a society sailing across a sea of sand on a gigantic vessel. Certain individuals in this society have psychic powers but shortened lifespans. When one of these individuals discovers a mysterious girl on an island, the discovery could disrupt their entire world. Children of the Whales first caught my eye with its detailed, almost painterly artwork, and I’m curious to see if the storyline lives up to the visuals.

It seems like every couple months, various James Bond movies leave Hulu and then come back. But hey, it’s James Bond so here we go (again). GoldenEye was Pierce Brosnan’s first turn as 007, and it’s still one of my favorite Bond movies. While not as gritty as the Daniel Craig movies, GoldenEye did bring Bond into the modern era without sacrificing any of the character’s suave style and smoothness.

Hackers is completely unrealistic in its depiction of computers and technology. And yet, it’s one of the best computer movies ever made because of its over-the-top sense of style and joyful, anarchistic idealism. (I highly recommend reading this oral history of the film’s genesis and production.) Yeah, I can nitpick and mock its depiction of hacking and how computer networks and interfaces work. But secretly, I totally wish all of that stuff really did work (and look) like it does in Hackers.

Stop me if you’ve seen this plot before: a grizzled veteran cop gets paired with a new, fresh-faced partner straight out of the academy. But series creator Neil Cross (the man behind Luther) throws in an apocalyptic twist: the new partners stumble across a conspiracy to cover up an extinction-level event that could wipe out all life on Earth in five years.

The first Wolf Warriors starred Wu Jing (who also directed the movie) as a sniper recruited into an elite special forces unit in the Chinese military. In the sequel, his character is now living in Africa, where he runs afoul of some local mercenaries. Suffice to say, tons of insane action sequences will most likely be the result. (In fact, The AV Club’s Tom Breihan called it 2017’s most important — and insane — action movie.)

Takashi Miike has made many kinds of films over the years: stomach-churning cult/exploitation films (Ichi the Killer), lovely arthouse dramas (The Bird People in China), and family-friendly fantasies (The Great Yokai War). For his 100th film, Miike adapts Hiroaki Samura’s popular manga about an immortal samurai who must fight the deadliest warriors in Japan. This one looks like it’ll have copious amounts of bloodshed — it is a Miike film, after all — but hopefully, the final result will be more compelling than 13 Assassins.

Sometimes you just really want to watch Hugh Grant at his most British, and when that’s the case, you should definitely watch The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain. In this charming period piece set during WWI, Grant plays a cartographer sent to a remote Welsh village to measure its so-called mountain. What follows is a tale of colorful characters and community that has plenty of heart to go with its quirky, bawdy humor.

A long-running passion project of Luc Besson, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is an adaptation of the influential French comic series Valérian and Laureline. Besson has always been a visionary director — watch The Fifth Element, The Professional, or Nikita if you have any doubt — and Valerian is no different, with a dizzying array of alien races and cultures. Unfortunately, the film received lackluster reviews and performed poorly at the box office. But it also looks like the kind of film that’s destined to be a cult favorite in the coming years.