Downloading shows/movies to watch offline on a Mac

May 9, 2015 11:31 AM

I'm about to get on a long international flight. I'd like to download some TV shows and movies to my Mac laptop before I go, so that I can watch them offline while in the air. Most sites seem to be focused on streaming these days, so what are my best options for obtaining offline content? I'm in the U.S. Thanks!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

I just did this.i downloaded a bunch of movies to my Mac included a few that I rented from iTunes and transferred to my iPad. (Obviously you do not have to transfer to an iPad). I also borrowed some dvd's fm my public library and burned them to disk (handbrake).

Simple.
posted by prk60091 at 11:40 AM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: So you can rent a non-streaming movie from iTunes? That seems ideal. I'd rather not have to buy movies I will likely only watch once.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:43 AM on May 9, 2015

Sure just buy/rent trough iTunes on your iPad.
Download but don't start watching yet...

Alternatively rent DVD's trough Netflix and use Handbrake to rip them.
posted by Mac-Expert at 12:05 PM on May 9, 2015

Response by poster: I have a Macbook Air, not an iPad, though I don't think that should make a difference. I also don't have a Netflix account, and I'm getting on a plane tonight, so DVDs are not an option.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 12:12 PM on May 9, 2015

Rent movies on iTunes. Download but don't start watching until you are on the airplane (although I think the rental stays valid for several days after it begins to be viewed).
posted by slkinsey at 12:25 PM on May 9, 2015

Yes - you can rent movies on iTunes. Make sure you select the download option after you rent it. Then it will be stored on your computer for 30 days, and you can start watching anytime within those 30 days.

Once you click 'play' you have 24 hours to watch the rental video.

I do this in advance of long flights too!
posted by barnone at 12:25 PM on May 9, 2015

You can also rent or buy movies from Amazon and watch them on an iPad using the Amazon Instant Video app. (You have to get the movie on Amazon.com, then select the movie from the app and pick "download").
posted by phoenixy at 12:48 PM on May 9, 2015

If on youtube or similar site, try youtube-dl
posted by z11s at 1:50 PM on May 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

There are many full length movies on YouTube, mostly older stuff. You can find a place that consolidates them and use one of those YouTube downloader browser add-ons and then convert to the right format using Handbrake.
posted by jessamyn at 2:02 PM on May 9, 2015

Check your mefi mail.
posted by ryanrs at 2:54 PM on May 9, 2015

Also what airline are you on? Most international flights I've been on lately have either the headrest setup with a database of 100+ movies or free streaming using an in flight service.
posted by k8t at 6:37 PM on May 9, 2015

You could also sign up to Mubi's free trial and download any of the movies they currently have (they have a rolling selection of 30 different movies available at any one time).
posted by ontheradio at 7:14 PM on May 9, 2015

Response by poster: I wound up renting/buying a bunch of stuff off of iTunes. Not interested in illegal downloads.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 12:22 PM on May 11, 2015

Amazon is capital for this. Click the download link obvs.
posted by ostranenie at 5:42 PM on May 12, 2015