The Best River Movies on Free Services

What it's about: A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirre, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to "the golden city", or to certain destruction?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, Shout Factory TV & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, Shout Factory TV & 2 others) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: At the start of the first World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Gang-du is a dim-witted man working at his father's tiny snack bar near the Han River. Following the dumping of gallons of toxic waste in the river, a giant mutated squid-like appears and begins attacking the populace. Gang-du's daughter Hyun-seo is snatched up by the creature and he and his family are taken into custody by the military, who fear a virus spread by the creature.. In detention, Gang-du receives a phone call from Hyun-seo, who is not dead, merely trapped in a sewer. With his family to assist him, he sets off to find Hyun-seo.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a subscription service (Monsters Nightmares & Warriors Gangsters) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor, Shout Factory TV & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: The just out of college effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was little.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix, SnagFilms & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: Present days. A man and his companion go on a journey to cremate the dead body of the former beloved wife, on a riverbank in the area where they spent their honeymoon.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor & Kanopy).

What it's about: A terrifying tale of survival in the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Vudu).

What it's about: In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant's body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A group of friends and their girlfriends head out for what is expected to be a vacation of hiking, camping and a good time, but when a backwoods mama finds them on her turf, it becomes anything but a vacation.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shout Factory TV & ConTV), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Two fathers, a Romanian searching for his daughter who was forced into prostitution in Kosovo, and a Serbian seeking the body of his son killed in a car accident in Romania, meet on the river Danube. A boatman recounts the 200 year-old legend of Romanian peasants struggling unsuccessfully to move an old wooden church up the hill to their village at a time when building Orthodox churches was prohibited.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, YouTube & FandangoNOW).

What it's about: A group of American tourists heading down an African river make a brief stop at Snake Island, an island that has been virtually abandoned for years. When they end up getting trapped on the island overnight, they find thousands of deadly snakes intent on reclaiming the tropical island for themselves.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & IMDb TV) & rent or buy from $5.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).