Pirate Movie Downloads

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Last time we did this, we were talking about software. This time, let's talk media. That is movies, music, TV shows, and everything else the copyright lawyers scream about.

How to Pirate Software Without Getting Caught

Pirating software you don't own is always illegal. But there are times when you do own…

Low-Tech Hacks

This is really about the path of least resistance. And often, that is just using what's available to you. Let's go to the Game of Thrones argument. HBO won't shut up and take your money for HBO Go a la carte. Right. Well, if your dad subscribes, or your Great Aunt Betty who loves her talkies but doesn't work the computer so good, then you can take advantage of their subscription on HBO Go.

All you've got to do is log in with a subscriber's cable service online information. So: call your dad and ask for his password. Problem solved. Same goes for Amazon Prime. If you don't have the service, an account is permitted to cover multiple family members.

For books, there is the little-used Public Library ebook lending option. And also, Project Gutenberg has an expansive collection of free public domain works. Many of the more obscure works aren't in the marketplaces, while some more popular books cost a nominal fee of $0.99 elsewhere.

Now on to the real stuff.

Protect Your Identity

First and foremost, take precautions against being found out. The methods explained in this guide are as safe as they get, but being a little safer is never a waste of time.

We went over using proxies and VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) in the software version of the piracy guide, and you should do the same thing here. They're still the digital condoms of the internet, and are surprisingly easy to use.

Additionally, you should never, ever, under any circumstances pirate media on your work network. It should be obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many nitwits get caught plowing through terabytes of downloads by their network administrators.

Finally, if you end up using torrents, you should enable outgoing encryption in your client. That's generally found in Preferences > BitTorrent > Outgoing Encryption. It won't do anything to hide your elevated bandwidth use from your ISP, but you'll at least mask what you're doing. It's like hiding a piano under a rug. They'll know something's going on, but they won't be able to definitively prove what it is.

Use Direct Download

When you think piracy, you probably think of torrents. Rightly so, since they're the most ubiquitious form, but you are still at risk of being targeted in a broad-brush lawsuit, like the Hurt Locker case. Instead, try direct download sites. You know, like Megaupload.

A direct download site is one that let's you download directly from a server—no peer-to-peer involved. And here's the big advantage: The real sin of getting caught torrenting, or Napstering, or whatever else P2P has been called, is not stealing content. It's distributing it. That's how you end up paying hundreds of thousands in damages for a few dozen songs. With direct download, you don't run that particular risk. Kim Dotcom is the one locked up—not his users. That's why they're the safest way to download.

While the Megaupload direct download kingdom is in ruins, or at least tied up in court for a very long time, there are dozens of replacements waiting in the wings. Sites like Mediafire, Rapidshare, DepositFiles, 4Shared, Hotfile, Filehost, File4Sharing, and gazillions of others, offer an even more anonymous means of downloading than torrents.

This also means you have to get used to the parlance of the pages. You almost never want to click the DOWNLOAD HERE buttons. Instead, scroll around for the 'Slow Download' button. After that, most sites will have a 30-60-second wait time before you can continue. There will be a Captcha test before or after the wait, and then finally you'll be able to download your file.

Afterward, a lot of places will require free users wait 30-60 minutes to download another file. Thankfully, if you are downloading more than one file, you can simply cycle to different sites. Alternatively, you can cherrypick the no-limit or high-limit sites (Mediafire and Rapidshare are good ones, in the absence of Megaupload), or just pay for a subscription somewhere.

These processes change from site to site, and some sites are just eternal loops of frustration for non-paying users. It's fine to make sure you're not the one screwing up, but know when to cut your losses, too. That's why it's important to know where to get your links.

Find Your Links

Actually finding things to download is pretty much the main skill in knowing how to pirate stuff. But finding links to direct downloads is a lot different from finding torrents. You don't just join a community and use a torrent tracking search engine. It's more of a wild west.

The easiest way to find what you are looking for is to just Google the name of what you are looking for, plus the name of a download site. So, 'Action Movie 0001 mediafire' would return pages with links to that movie. Or that episode of a TV show. Or whatever else you're looking for.

Beyond Google, you can use a metasearch site that scans all of the uploads on the direct download sites. FilesTube is a popular one. There, you can just search for your term.

TV shows are generally organized by S#E##. So, episode 12 of season 2 of Game of Thrones, for instance, would be 'game of thrones s2e12'. (Some releases also have a ## for season.)

Another trick for finding a title that's just a common word is to add the year it was released to your search, instead of something broad, like 'movie.' So 'action 2007' works better than 'action movie'. Make sense?

Advanced Maneuvers

This relates to finding links, but more specifically, finding working links. That's necessary because the longer a link is up, the greater the chance that it's been removed for copyright infringement. Imagine that.

Certain types of media are released on specific days. Comic books on Wednesdays, for instance. Albums are on Tuesdays.

The one exception is recently released movies, which are cam versions and take a few weeks to poop out something watchable most of the time.

And if you're running into a brick wall trying to find what you're looking for, well, it probably isn't too common. That's when it's time to hit the message boards. Like private torrent communities, a lot of message boards are locked down. Some require you to participate in their community for a while; some are by reference only. But once you're in, requests, even obscure ones, can usually be fielded.

Download the Right Format

One boon to pirated media today is how easy it is to beam it right to your television. But not every device can play the same formats. Apple TV, for instance, can only take M4A and MOV files. So if you're going to be streaming to one of those, you should look for files that work on whatever you're going to be using. Likewise, if you've only got a 720p TV, or a similar resolution on the monitor you will be using, there's no sense downloading that 1080p file, is there?

If you absolutely can't find the right format, there are free programs—like the beloved Handbrake—that will let you convert the file to what you need. But unless you've got a monster machine, you're going to spend more time encoding the video than you will watching it, and you're probably losing some resolution in the bargain, too.

For larger files, you might encounter multi-part downloads. Most of the time that's going to mean a multi-part RAR file. On OS X, you can compile and uncompress these files with UnRARX. On Windows, you can use the WinZip utility.

Get into a Private Torrent Community

As an alternative to direct download, you can go the private torrent community route. We talked a little bit about closed communities in the software edition, but with media, the communities are a little more specific. Like, say, if you're only interested in movie torrents, you might want to get into a community that specializes in nothing but movies.

Here are the best, by category:

Movies: passthepopcorn.me
TV Shows: tvtorrents.com
Music: what.cd

The downside to wonderful content selection and well-seeded torrents is, of course, the need to maintain a good ratio. What does that mean? You've got to upload just as much as you download, or close to it, if you don't want to get kicked out. In addition to stressing your home network while you try to do other stuff, this also increases the chance that your ISP will come knocking. So it's a tradeoff: less work to get your content, but much more work and risk to keep your source running.

It ain't easy to get into these communities, but if you hassle your nerdier friends, you'll probably be able to turn up an invite, or at least a lead on one. And even though one of our rules for general torrenting is 'Don't Seed,' you better seed your ass off once you're in, or you won't be in there for long.

Books

Books get their own header, here, because they are a little different than the other formats. Why? Well, they are not uploaded with as much aplomb, for one. So while just about every movie ever filmed can be downloaded somewhere, there are no ebook copies of a lot of books. And the ones that are out there are often not up for download. It's true: No one reads anymore. Especially pirates, it seems.

You won't find many books on the direct download sites, but there are tons of torrent packs—every Pulitzer Prize-winning work of fiction, for example—and the good news is that book files are super light. So, if you want to reproduce every book on your bookshelf on your Kindle, it won't take much time to download them at all, if you can find them. Then you've just got to get them on your reader.

That's the easy part. Calibre is an ebook sorting app that also doubles as a Kindle-cracking hack machine. What makes it so great? It converts any ebook, no matter its format, into formats any ereader can use.

For example, the Kindle is the most locked-down ereader. It only accepts Amazon's proprietary AZW format and MOBI files. Calibre can take an ordinary EPUB file, or even a plain text file, and turn it into a MOBI file that you can load right onto your Kindle.

The Overkill Method

Have you ever heard of Usenet? Maybe in passing, but chances are you've never sunk your teeth into it. Basically, it's a group of decentralized servers that host content. And a lot of it's pirated content.

Here's our explainer on Usenet from a few years ago. It remains a mostly unmonitored, hyperspeed playground with early access to downloads and content. It also remains an esoteric horror show for the average user.

How To: Kick Your Torrent Addiction With Usenet

Usenet: Everyone's heard of it, nobody uses it. This is ridiculous. Not only is it a fantastic …

But Seriously, Don't Be a Dick

Yeah, there are legitimate reasons to download things illegally. But the more common case is just a lazy sense of entitlement. While we support you rising up and saying, 'Hey, I already bought this damn movie—three times!' it's pretty dickish to, say, download the entire discography of every indie band you heard about sohpomore year because man did you SEE the girl who put you onto them? You can use Spotify for that. Or at least buy a damn concert ticket afterward.

If we left out your favorite trick, or if you just think we got something wrong, let us know in the discussions below.

Looking for a torrent site for downloading movies, music, and more? This list of top torrent sites includes old favorites and some newer offerings that are sure to provide the high-quality material you want.

We don't condone illegal sharing of copyrighted files. Please see our full disclaimer and warning for new torrent users at the bottom of the page.

Tips for New Torrent Users

If you're new to torrents, our Beginner's Guide to Torrent Filesharing explains how BitTorrent filesharing works, what a torrent file is, how to protect yourself, and how to get the movies and music you want in the safest and most efficient way possible.
Remember, you'll need a torrent client to get these files.
Beware of fake torrents. Fake torrents are a big problem and something new users may not expect.
Make sure to run fully updated anti-malware software before you visit any torrent site.
A VPN helps keep your torrent activity and other browsing private and secure.

All torrent sites here are working as of the latest update to this page. Let us know (feedback@lifewire.com) if we need to adjust a listing.

The Top Torrent Sites

These seven sites made the top of the list. They're not the only torrent sites out there, but they are among the best.

Best Overall: The Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay torrent site is a classic and one of the most popular on the web. TPB has been around in one incarnation or another for a long time, and the torrents here are considered trustworthy.

Icons indicate different things about the torrents, such as if it's a trusted torrent or a VIP torrent (meaning it's been around awhile and is less likely to be fake).

Read Our Overview of Pirate Bay

TPB occasionally moves around. If you're experiencing issues reaching TPB, try these listings on the ProxyBay. It's possible you'll find another way into the site.

At RARBG, it’s about quality, not quantity. RARBG is for movie enthusiasts and is full of quality, high-resolution video torrents.

Top 10 lists help users find the most popular movies on the site, and a Detail page for the download includes a variety of information, from the size of the file and the date it was added to actor information and the number of seeders and leechers for the download.

Best for Obscure Files: 1337X

If you're after older or more obscure torrents, 1337X might be for you. This torrent database isn't nearly as large as some others, but it might have just what you're after. The front page is regularly updated with current and popular information about torrents, torrenting, and categories of interest.

The level of advertising you’ll encounter on this site is frustrating. Links often require two clicks: one to bring up an ad (in a separate window) and one to access the information you want. However, once you get beyond the advertising, the search results pages contain useful information.

Best for Verified Torrents: Torlock

Torlock is adamantly against fake torrents. In fact, the site actually pays its users $1 per fake torrent they find and claims to have more than 6 million verified torrents.

You’ll find current and popular files to download in movies, anime, software, games, and music, as well as other categories. A Top 100 list reveals what’s popular with seeders and peers.

Read Our Interview With a Torlock Administrator

The Bay Pirate Movie Free Download

Best for Movies: YTS

Focusing exclusively on movies, YTS has an easy-to-use layout and a wide variety of titles both old and new. The torrents themselves are known to be easy on bandwidth, which will make those with data caps happy.

YTS is the unofficial successor to the now-defunct YTS/YIFY group, which closed its virtual doors in 2015. The current site has a massive user base, which helps the BitTorrent protocol work more efficiently.

Best for Selection and Quality Torrents: TorrentDownloads

The straightforward torrent detail page at TorrentDownloads is excellent; the site also offers a large database and high-quality torrents.

Find current torrents in a variety of categories. The ability to rate and leave comments on files helps reduce the number of fake files on the site. An Advanced Search option also allows users to narrow the field of possible returns by category, provider, and status.

Best for Legitimate Torrents: LimeTorrents

Don't miss LimeTorrents in your torrent search. Users say the site's database is impressive and the frequency of legitimate torrents is enough to keep them coming back.

It’s easy to quickly determine whether a torrent is worth downloading. Internal lists show the date added, size, seeder, and leechers, as well as a health meter for each file. The information page for each download also provides additional information about the file.

Other Torrent Search Sites

Here is a list of more torrent search sites.

The advertisements on many of these sites are often of the NSFW variety. Use caution when accessing these sites from public computers or with children present.

Pirate Movie Download Sites

Popcorn Time: Popcorn Time is a site dedicated to streaming movies for free, so it's not actually a torrent download site. However, if you want to watch movies on your PC, you'll find plenty of options here to watch as often as you like.
Torrentz2: This is like a super torrent index, searching for torrents across dozens of other torrent sites. It was launched as a clone of the original Torrentz site after it was taken over by the U.S. government.
ETTV Torrents: This is a good, active site that includes television episodes. The search functionality is sufficient and the site has a nice, clean design.
Torrent Galaxy: A decent database of torrents, good search features, and a clean website design make Torrent Galaxy another site to consider.
KAT: This is the official torrent site! Don't be tricked by mirrors of the same name.
EZTV: Users say the quality of the torrents found here is good, even if the number of available torrents isn't huge. This site can go down at times, so exercise patience.

Torrents.io: This meta-torrent site makes the list because of its interestings still a very usable site.
Zooqle: Users love the size of Zoogle's database and the frequency of legitimate torrents.
BitTorrent Database: With a huge database and clean interface, this site has gained in popularity.
YourBittorrent: The clean interface is a big reason to try this torrent searcher, especially if you're new to BitTorrent.

Disclaimer & Torrent Legal Warning

Lifewire does not condone the illegal sharing of copyrighted material. While P2P filesharing technology itself is completely legal, many of the files traded through P2P are indeed copyrighted. Uploading these copyrighted files puts you at risk of a civil lawsuit in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, at a minimum.

Lawsuits can be targeted at individual users or groups of users. These P2P civil lawsuits are very real and, whether or not they are successful, they are often an extreme financial and emotional burden on the defendants.

Pirate Movie Downloads Free Online

Additionally, your Internet Service Provider may choose to release a history of your download and upload activity to potential copyright plaintiffs. In general, the more data you download and upload, the more risk you have of being sued by copyright protection groups. As mentioned earlier, a torrent-friendly VPN service can help protect you.