We truly are living in the streaming era as another streaming service has hit the market! Paramount Plus is the latest streamer for viewers to buy into, promising viewers “a Mountain of Entertainment” in all its adverts. So, does Paramount+ live up to its slogan? No, not yet, but there is promise!
The Godfather Trilogy missing
There has always been interest in Paramount's streaming service. The studio has made some of the biggest films of all time, such as The Godfather Trilogy, A Quiet Place and its hit sequel along with the Mission: Impossible franchise. So if you're expecting to see all these films on the service at launch, prepare to be severely disappointed. Sure, five of the six Mission: Impossible movies are on the service (only Rogue Nation is missing) but for a service that is meant to be the home of all things Paramount, you would expect everything to be there.
Another thing that Paramount Plus is lacking is an abundance of classic films. Like I said before, The Godfather movies are not to be seen on the service but films like Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Collateral and a few of Hitchcock's classics are also nowhere to be seen.
Halo and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
One thing that Paramount Plus does have on launch is a great selection of exclusives; especially TV. Sci-fi fans will be in love with Halo and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. While if you're in the mood for a drama, The Offer and The First Lady are available. These are the standout shows that the service has to offer as of right now but the iCarly reboot will definitely keep the kids entertained!
On the movie side, it does seem to be a bit more lacklustre. The brand new Beavis and Butt-head film is certainly entertaining and there are a few hour-long episodes of South Park but that content is fairly dry and clearly relies on its weak catalogue of other movies.
No 4K content
However, the most baffling decision Paramount Plus has made is to launch with no 4K content or HDR. In 2022 where most people have TVs that stream in 4K and all other major services offer 4K playback, it is a huge missed opportunity and one that doesn't make much sense in hindsight. In comparison, when Disney Plus launched, a huge chunk of its content had 4K playback along with HDR10 on some of its blockbusters (such as Marvel and Star Wars).
When it comes to pricing, Paramount Plus costs £6.99 per month; which is more than its rivals Apple TV+ and Prime Video. When both of these services mentioned have established themselves much better, Paramount+ just doesn't seem like a ‘must have' service. One plus to the service is offering itself to Sky Cinema customers at no extra price. So, if you have Sky Cinema, check your Sky box and you will be eligible for a free service.
Conclusion
A buggy user interface aside, Paramount Plus is a lacklustre service that shows promise. With Scream (2022), The Lost City, Jackass Forever and Top Gun: Maverick all confirmed to be hitting the service at some point in the next year, hopefully the service can turn itself around. If you have Sky Cinema, then I recommend you sign up as the service is free but I cannot recommend the service to people who will be paying £6.99 for it. That is far too much for what they're offering. However, if 4K content becomes available and the app can make itself available on games consoles, I can see this being up there with Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ as the greats in the streaming wars.