Disney
Last Updated: July 25th
Films from the 1980s often get a bad reputation, culturally dominated as they were by family-friendly films (E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Short Circuit), the rise of blockbuster franchises (Back to the Future, Star Wars, Indiana Jones) and lots of Reagan-era excess: Big hair, terrible fashion, and synthesizer music that’s done more to date good ’80s movies than telephone technology. It obviously wasn’t all bad, of course, or the 1980s wouldn’t be such a rich resource for remakes and reboots.
Below are 15 of the best ’80s movies on Netflix streaming to watch tonight. Some highlight the excesses of the decade. Others flaunt formula and subvert topes made famous by other 1980s films. Still others are singular achievements that would stand out in any decade.
Related: The 15 Funniest Shows On Netflix Right Now
Universal Pictures
The Money Pit (1986)
Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 6.3/10
A timeless Tom Hanks comedy classic, The Money Pit is a cautionary tale for every couple who is considering buying a fixer-upper and turning it into the home of their dreams. It’s more likely to become a nightmare, but Hanks and Shelly Long at least make a seriously funny and occasionally sweet nightmare. It also contains the best laugh scene in the history of comedy. Ahh, home crap home!
Buena Vista Pictures
Turner & Hooch (1989)
Run Time: 97 min | IMDb: 6.1/10
Not all that well received by critics upon its release, Turner & Hooch has nevertheless gained a cult-like status as an amiable buddy-dog film. The plot is a mess, and the jokes are mostly juvenile, but the combination of the always delightful early Tom Hanks, a slobbering dog prove, and a lot of heart prove to be irresistible.
Getty Image
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Run Time: 128 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
Peter Weir’s warm coming-of-age drama Dead Poets Society stars Robin Williams as Professor Keating, a teacher and mentor to an English lit class made up of a who’s who of future stars (Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles). It’s a movie about the power of non-conformity set in a strict private school that values discipline and rule following. The Oscar-winning screenplay gives Williams one of his first and most powerful dramatic roles, and while the movie is incredibly sentimental, most will have a difficult time holding back the tears. It’s a beautiful movie, worthy of its Best Picture nomination.
Buena Vista Pictures
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
Run Time: 102 min | IMDb: 6.9/10
Before Chris Hemsworth brought Thor to the big screen, Vincent D’Onofrio — with a full head of glorious ’80s hair — played a version of The Mighty Thor for the enjoyable Christopher Columbus comedy Adventures In Babysitting. A veritable who’s who of before they were stars (D’Onofrio, lead Elisabeth Shue, Bradley Whitford, Penelope Ann Miller, Anthony Rapp). It’s light and formulaic, but very sweet and very funny, and holds up surprisingly well.
Buena Vista Pictures
Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
Run Time: 94 min | IMDb: 6.7/10
Another teen film that wasn’t particularly well regarded by critics at the time, Can’t Buy Me Love nevertheless struck a nerve with its target demographic and became something of a cult teen comedy over the years. Every generation needs its Pygmalion remake, and this one is gender-reversed. A high-school nerd (Patrick Dempsey) pays a cheerleader (Amanda Peterson, R.I.P.) to date him, believing her popularity will rub off on him by association. She, of course, also gives him a She’s All That makeover. Which is to say Dempsey takes off his glasses and magically turns into a teen hunk. The gambit works, and naturally the two fall in love. Can’t Buy Me Love is trite, predictable, and formulaic, but it’s also incredibly cute, sweet, harmless and strangely irresistible.
New World Pictures
Heathers (1988)
Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Heathers was a vicious counterpoint to the John Hughes ’80s teen flicks. Where Hughes found the magic in high school, Heathers dwelled on its hell, subverting high-school politics and making a punchline of teenage suicide. (“Don’t do it!”) It’s a deranged Breakfast Club, twisted and turned inside out and layered in scathing satire and school violence that might not sit as well in a post-Columbine world even if the spirit of Heathers continues to resonate. For younger viewers who have always wondered what the big deal about Christian Slater was, Heathers should provide all the answers.
Warner Brothers
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Run Time: 116 min | IMDb: 8.3/10
Stanley Kubrick’s war film is arguably the best ever Vietnam War flick featuring an astounding performance from Vincent D’Onofrio. It’s broken in two halves, and while the first half — boot camp — is inarguably better, as a whole it a brilliant, triumphant, darkly comic and at times bleak piece of filmmaking that deserves its iconic status.
Columbia Pictures
Ghostbusters (1984)
Run Time: 105 min | IMDb: 7.8/10
Ivan Reitman’s iconic 1980’s comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as a group of paranormal investigators holds up remarkably well nearly 35 years later. The storyline — four guys save New York City from ghosts, culminating in a showdown with a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man — is not exactly Kubrickian, but it doesn’t matter. The characters and the chemistry between them were what made Ghostbusters such a huge hit and that cannot be diminished by time. Ghostbusters is an insanely fun and funny comedy with an occasional scare, and though the CGI monsters may look cheap and cartoonish, it does not diminish how incredibly funny this movie is, or Bill Murray’s droll, triumphant comedic performance.
New World
Hellraiser (1987)
Run Time: 94 min | IMDb: 7/10
The debut of horror author Clive Barker as a director, Hellraiser (based on Barker’s Hellbound Heart) is a grisly bit of fun, a vicious, bleak and terrifying horror flick. It involves a puzzle box stolen by a man named Frank, who opens it up only to discover that it’s a portal to hell, where the Cenobities reside, S&M creatures from another dimension who rip their victims’ bodies apart. Years later, a drop of blood spills on the box, partially resurrecting Frank, but he needs to the blood of other victims to make his resurrection complete. Hellraiser is weird and disturbing, and definitely not for the squeamish.
Paramount Pictures
Trading Places (1983)
Run Time: 116 min | IMDb: 7.5/10
A terrific, profane 80s version of The Prince and the Pauper, Trading Places sees Eddie Murphy play a down-on-his-luck homeless guy who is given a chance to switch places with a Wall Street trader played by Dan Aykroyd in a bet orchestrated by two wealthy men. Can a poor man be corrupted by wealth? Will a rich man robbed of his wealth find himself on the streets? It was Murphy’s second big-screen feature, and perhaps the best work of his career: A hilarious comedy with a heavy dose of Reagan-era satire and a remarkably fun turn from Jamie Lee Curtis.
Warner Brothers
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 7/10
A story about a guy and his bike, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is Tim Burton’s directorial debut and a thoroughly original and creative road-trip movie co-written by Paul Reubens and SNL’s Phil Hartman. It’s a bizarre kids film that also appeals twisted adults. Big Adventure is silly, surreal, and totally weird, but somehow it works, almost like a live-action cartoon with at least one terrific, memorable scare that has stuck with children of the 80s for three decades (“Tell ’em Large Marge sent ya!”)
Criterion
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Run Time: 101 min | IMDb: 8/10
Errol Morris’ Thin Blue Line transformed the documentary form, and without it, there’d be no The Jinx or Making a Murderer. Depicting the story of a man convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit, The Thin Blue Line also had real-world consequences: A year after its release, the man at the center of the documentary, Randall Dale Adams, was released from prison.
Netflix
She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
Run Time: 84 min | IMDb: 6.6/10
Before you tune into the Netflix revival, check out the original Spike Lee-directed drama about a young black woman exploring her sexuality and finding herself in the big city. Nola Darling is a carefree Brooklynite enjoying affairs with three different men before her suitors find out about each other and force her to choose between them. Nola confronts her own complicated feelings about monogamy and love but the film is less about relationship drama and more about female empowerment.
Warner Brothers
The Lost Boys (1989)
Run Time: 97 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
Before Buffy the Vampire Slayer did it with the 1992 movie or the subsequent television series, Lost Boys first combined horror movie with teen movie. Starring a who’s who of future stars (Keifer Sutherland, Jason Patrick, Coreys Feldman and Haim, among others), Lost Boys concered two brothers who move to Southern California and discover that their town is a haven for vampires. Lost Boys is suitably schlocky for the times (its director Joel Schumacher also directed two very bad Batman films), but thanks to its deadpan humor, it is able to successfully combine genres, balancing both the comedy and the horror. I would not call it Shakespeare, but it’s a fun movie for teenagers and scratches a particular nostalgic itch for adults.
New World
Children Of The Corn (1984)
Run Time: 92 min, IMDb: 5.6/10
Based on the short story by Stephen King, Children Of The Corn is set in the fictitious town of Gatlin, Nebraska, where children are drawn to ritualistically murder both the local adults and hapless passers-by to ensure a plentiful corn harvest. They act on the whims of “He who walks behind the rows,” a mysterious, bloodthirsty deity. The film’s become something of a cult classic, spawning eight sequels, as well as a TV remake in 2009 that more closely followed King’s original story.
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