At a reasonable $ 5.99 a month in the US ($ 9.99 for the ad-free version), Paramount + has a mountain (forgive the pun) IP in the form of its massive Star Trek empire that continues to out expand with the addition of two upcoming series: Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The streamer also recently announced its adaptation of the Halo video game franchise, with Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief premiering on Paramount + in early 2022. At launch, new titles such as The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, The Real World Homecoming: New York, and the For Heaven’s Business documentary are available to stream for free for subscribers. While the user interface is a bit awkward and not as aesthetically pleasing as some other streaming platforms out there, Paramount + is making a strong debut with many movies and apps starting at launch.
Paramount +’s TV shows and movies
With more than 2,500 movie titles available at launch from Paramount’s extensive catalog, there are enough titles to stream from different genres. If you fancy action, Paramount + has three of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible movies and all four Indiana Jones titles. On the classic film front, some highlights include To Catch a Thief, the Godfather trilogy and Chinatown.
And for the scientists out there, Paramount + is the place to be for all things Star and Trek is old and new. Whether you want to watch episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation or eventually catch up on newer entries like Picard or Discovery, Paramount + has you covered. At launch, none of the three JJ Abrams-produced Star Trek movies are available.
The streamer also develops films exclusively for Paramount +, which include new versions of Paranormal Activity and Pet Sematary, as well as an original supernatural story, titled The In Between, starring The Kissing Booth’s Joey King. Paramount + will also stream upcoming films to a 30-45 day theater series, including A Quiet Place Part II, Mission Impossible 7 and Paw Patrol: The Movie.
Although there is no denying that Paramount + is a huge library with over 30,000 episodes of old TV shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Reno 911! And Chappelle’s Show did not, the streamer is missing in the original section compared to competitors like Amazon and Netflix. At the time of this writing, the original library of Paramount Plus consists of about 20 series, four of which take place in the Star Trek universe. Other original titles, including the grim crime drama One Dollar, the Twilight Zone Reload and Strange Angel, have already been canceled.
Although Paramount still has a long way to go to catch up with part of its competition in terms of its original series, there are several exciting series in development from leading Hollywood creators. Some notable titles include a new animation studio dedicated entirely to creating movies and TV shows that play in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Universe, the two new Star Trek series, Halo, and a reload of Back gear with the original cast.
Paramount +’s user interface
Even after the renaming, Paramount Plus’ user interface looks basically the same as when it was called CBS All Access, which is not a good thing. It’s not that the UI is awful in any way, but on set-top boxes and smart TVs, the whole experience feels uncomfortable and not aesthetically pleasing compared to Netflix or Apple’s attractive interfaces. If I had to compare it to another streaming UI, I would say it looks a lot like Amazon Prime Videos, which also needs a facelift.
On mobile and desktops, however, Paramount + is a much smoother experience and offers colorful animations (a la Disney +) when your mouse hangs on one of the six ViacomCBS station branches. Streaming pillars such as “keep watching” and the ability to download movies and TV shows for offline viewing are easily accessible throughout, though there is no way to create a “favorite” or “watch later” list not, which is a surprising omission, as most providers offer the specific feature.
In terms of picture and sound quality, Paramount + 4K delivers Dolby Vision HDR for its “Paramount + Originals” such as Star Trek: Discovery and Stephen King’s The Stand. The only caveat here is that you have to pay for the premium level of $ 9.99 per month to access 4K HDR content, which Netflix does too, although the premium level currently costs $ 17.99. In general, the layout is easy to navigate, with headers indicating where to go for ‘Movies’, ‘Shows’ and ‘Live TV’. And while it is certainly not the most beautiful user interface on the market, Paramount + will not make you feel lost if you navigate the table of contents.
Paramount +’s price
In terms of pricing, Paramount + falls into the cheaper level of streaming services at $ 5.99 per month with ads and $ 9.99 for the ad-free version. An important note here is that Paramount Plus’ lowest price will drop by one dollar to $ 4.99 per month from June 2021, but there is a catch. While current subscribers still have access to live local CBS stations at the lowest level of the platform, the base subscriber plan in June will not allow you to stream the stations, but you can still watch live sporting events such as the NFL and UEFA Champion league.
Even with the lack of 4K HDR and local CBS channels, $ 5.99 per month with commercials ($ 4.99 in June) is a pretty good price, considering the deep library of movies and TV shows that the launch is available, plus the 1,000 live sporting events annually, which include the PGA Tour, NCAA, SEC, the PGA Championship, UEFA Europa League, the National Women’s Soccer League, Concacaf and more.