Classic movie lovers, you’re in luck. Netflix has only shed a single classic film since our last update for this post. And while we’ll miss Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the additions of Scarface, Psycho, Sixteen Candles, and The Karate Kid more than make up for it.
Netflix doesn’t have a lot of films from the 1980s and 1970s and even fewer from the 1960s. So it’s worth taking the time to appreciate these classics while they’re still around. Netflix has a habit of dropping older movies more quickly than modern hits. Chances are some or even all of these movies will be off the streamer by the end of 2024. So make the most of the time you have, and check out the best classic movies on Netflix right now.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Scarface (1983)
Michael Corleone might be Al Pacino’s most famous role, but Tony Montana is right behind thanks to the actor’s unforgettable turn in Scarface. While Pacino’s performance as Michael had a touch of humanity in The Godfather films, Tony is hilariously over-the-top at times. But Tony is also ruthlessly efficient, pulling himself up from nothing to become a drug lord.
Michelle Pfeiffer plays Tony’s wife, Elvira, while Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio co-stars as his sister, Gina. Both of those relationships turn toxic, due in large part to Tony’s extreme paranoia, jealousy, and drug addiction. He’s on a self-destructive journey, and there’s only one real question to answer: How many people will Tony drag down with him before the end?
Watch Scarface on Netflix.
Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock directed a long list of classic movies, perhaps none more revered than Psycho. The real genius of this film is that it lulls the audience into believing it’s a different kind of movie before unleashing the twist. Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane, a woman who has just made the biggest mistake of her life. The guilt and paranoia haunt Marion in her scenes, right up until she has the misfortune to meet Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his beloved “mother.”
Marion’s sister, Lila Crane (Vera Miles), and private investigator Sam Loomis (John Gavin) soon show up at the Bates Motel looking for answers about Marion’s disappearance. What they find is something very disturbing and a killer who has no qualms about murdering anyone in their way.
Watch Psycho on Netflix.
Sixteen Candles (1984)
It was the dawn of the Brat Pack in Sixteen Candles, one of the earliest films by John Hughes. Molly Ringwald stars as Samantha “Sam” Baker, a teenager overlooked by her own family in the wake of her sister’s impending wedding. Even worse, Sam can’t seem to make her crush, Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), notice her at school. The only guy regularly pursuing a romance with Sam is Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), an incredibly geeky guy whom she is not attracted to.
What Sam doesn’t realize is that Jake has noticed her and he is interested. But fate and misunderstandings keep the two from talking about their feelings. It’s going to take a birthday miracle to bring these two together.
Watch Sixteen Candles on Netflix.
The Karate Kid (1984)
This Cobra Kai prequel movie created the franchise that endures to this day. The original Karate Kid had a greater sense of drama and pathos than its sequels, thanks to an Oscar-nominated performance by Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi. His character is mourning the loss of his family decades earlier when he meets Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), a local teen harassed by Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and other students from the Cobra Kai dojo.
Miyagi brokers a deal with Johnny’s sensei, John Kreese (Martin Kove), to end the harassment in exchange for Miyagi training Daniel to face the Cobra Kai students in an upcoming karate tournament. Under Miyagi’s tutelage, Daniel learns a lot more than just martial arts. But he still faces overwhelming odds against seasoned karate veterans.
Watch The Karate Kid on Netflix.
Midnight Run (1988)
How influential is Midnight Run? Even Deadpool & Wolverine clearly took a few cues from this classic action comedy. Robert De Niro stars as Jack Walsh, an ex-cop turned burned-out bounty hunter. Jack is ready to quit the business when he gets assigned to a “midnight run” to bring a bail-jumping mob accountant, Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas (Charles Grodin), back for trial.
Catching Jonathan is the easy part. Getting him there alive may prove to be more of a challenge, as federal agents attempt to take Jonathan themselves, while mobsters have a contract out on his life. As long as Jonathan is in his custody, there’s a target on Jack’s head as well.
Watch Midnight Run on Netflix.
Jaws (1975)
You’re gonna need a bigger boat as Jaws closes in on its 50th anniversary. Stephen Spielberg’s first blockbuster movie adapts Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel and scared a generation of kids out of the water. A tourist town, Amity Island, is under assault from a vicious shark, and Mayor Larry Vaughn (Carl Gottlieb Meadows) just won’t close the beaches.
That’s why it comes down to Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and an enigmatic hunter called Quint (Robert Shaw) to take on the shark by themselves. Unfortunately, once the trio are in the water, they’re the ones being hunted.
Watch Jaws on Netflix.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
There are so many future stars who came out of Fast Times at Ridgemont High that it’s easy to lose track of them. But Sean Penn makes the biggest impression as Jeff Spicoli, a slacker who drives his history teacher, Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), up a freaking wall. The funny thing is that Spicoli isn’t that important in this high school movie.
Instead, the focus largely falls on Mark “Rat” Ratner (Brian Backer), his buddy, Mike Damone (Robert Romanus), as well as Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates), her friend, Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and Stacy’s brother, Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold). Rat desperately wants to date Stacy, but Mike betrays their friendship by courting her first. Meanwhile, Brad has a very famous fantasy sequence about Linda, yet his actual life is anything but a fantasy as he has to work at some humiliating dead-end jobs just to get by.
Watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High on Netflix.
Field of Dreams (1989)
Before Kevin Costner settled on Westerns, baseball movies were his thing. Costner’s Field of Dreams might be one of the very best in the genre. Costner plays Ray Kinsella, a struggling farmer who hears a mysterious voice that encourages him to build a baseball field in his cornfield. Much to his shock, this summons dead baseball legends, some of whom need redemption, like Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and the Chicago Black Sox.
But for Ray, the field has a deeper meaning as he helps a former player, Archibald “Moonlight” Graham (Burt Lancaster), recapture his youth and dreams. Ray feels that maintaining the field is his penance for never reconciling with his late father. It’s also his chance for redemption.
Watch Field of Dreams on Netflix.
Stand by Me (1986)
Stand by Me is one of the rare Stephen King movies that isn’t a horror story. Instead, it’s a coming-of-age film about a group of kids: Gordon “Gordie” Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman), and Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell). In 1959, the boys discover that the body of a child their age has been spotted by Vern’s brother. They decide that they can be heroes if they find the corpse and report it to the police.
Along the way, the boys are menaced by John “Ace” Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland) and his gang. However, the bonds of friendship that they’ve forged resonate into the present.
Watch Stand by Me on Netflix.
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