Liam Neeson’s 10/10 R-Rated Action Thriller That Started A New Hollywood Tradition Is Changing Free Streaming Homes Very Soon

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Liam Neeson is now a hugely popular action movie star, and one of his most famous films will soon be available on a different free streaming service.

Starring Liam Neeson, The Grey tells the story of John Ottway, a security chief at an Alaskan oil facility, who is grieving the loss of his wife. After a plane crash leaves him and his colleagues stranded in the frozen wilderness, they must fight to survive both the brutal elements and a relentless pack of wolves whose hunting grounds they’ve invaded. The film is based on Ian MacKenzie Jeffers’ novel Ghost Walker, which Jeffers also co-wrote for the screen.

It’s been a little over 14 years since the film The Grey was a popular success, and now it’s moving to new free streaming platforms. It was previously available on Tubi, but as of February 1st, you can now watch it for free on The Roku Channel, Shout! Factory, Plex, and Hoopla (through your local library).

As a big fan of Liam Neeson’s action films, I always come back to The Grey. It’s really something special in his filmography, especially considering how many he’s made. It’s still one of his best-reviewed, believe it or not! According to Rotten Tomatoes, it actually ranks as his third best, even before the huge success of Taken. Critics gave it an 80% approval rating, which is pretty good – only surpassed by In the Land of Saints and Sinners (83%) and, of course, Batman Begins (85%). Directed by Joe Carnahan and featuring Frank Grillo – they often work together – The Grey just feels different from his other action movies.

Furthermore, The Grey kicked off a common practice in Hollywood: adding positive reviews from critics (and now social media influencers) directly into a film’s trailer. Before this, these kinds of quotes were mainly found on posters or promotional materials used during awards season. Now, they’re a frequent marketing tactic to generate excitement for movies and TV shows.

I was really surprised by how divided people were about the movie! It actually gave Liam Neeson his lowest audience score on Rotten Tomatoes in almost ten years – it landed at 61%, the same as The Chronicles of Narnia did back in 2005. A lot of people thought it played with the usual survival movie formulas in interesting ways, but honestly, the biggest complaint I kept hearing was about the ending. It sets up this huge showdown between Neeson’s character and the wolf pack leader, but then just… cuts off before we actually see the fight. It was frustrating for a lot of us!

Much of the marketing for The Grey emphasized Liam Neeson battling wolves, so many viewers were surprised by the ambiguous ending. The post-credits scene, showing Ottway lying on top of a wolf without revealing who survived, added to this confusion. The film also sparked debate because director Joe Carnahan and screenwriter Jeffers focused heavily on the characters’ internal struggles and philosophical debates, which some felt detracted from the movie’s action and suspense.

Even though opinions on it were mixed, The Grey was a commercial success, earning over $81 million globally and consistently ranking high on streaming services. Now that it’s leaving Tubi for other free platforms, it will be interesting to see if it gains popularity again and potentially attracts the interest of a streaming service willing to pay for the rights to show it.

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2026-02-01 18:11