For all the harm that was done in the 1980s, from deregulation to the drug wars, the decade did deliver the age of the blockbuster, and several of its best examples are streaming on Netflix right now. Directors such as Spike Lee, Ridley Scott, Rob Reiner, Harold Ramis, Barry Levinson and Ivan Reitman delivered grand adventures, prestige drama and silly comedy that still hold up four decades later. It was the age of the numbered sequel, and the drive to make every film bigger and bolder than the previous. It’s no surprise that the ’80s movies on Netflix get a lot of attention.
These films are likely to leave Netflix soon, so enjoy your blockbusters while you can. Here are the best movies from the 1980s you can stream on Netflix right now.
Back to the Future
Year: 1985
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson
Rating: PG
The three-part epic journey of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and his legitimately insane mentor Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) not only provides the crucible through which practically every comedy-adventure made since must pass, it proves that even one insignificant kid’s actions make a universe of difference. There is little to add to a popular discussion of these films besides pointing out their diminishing returns with each successive entry, but that hardly takes away from the brilliance of Zemeckis’s storytelling. No plot point is wasted, no shot infused with anything less than humor and emotional breadth—if this sounds a bit schmaltzy, or a bit overboard with praise, then stop to consider how cherished these films are in the course of American cinema. As they mess with history, so too do they make history, and from that standpoint, it’s hard to imagine anyone feeling the need to go back to make this trilogy any better. —Michael Burgin
Uncle Buck
Year: 1989
Director: John Hughes
Stars: John Candy, Amy Madigan, Jean Louisa Kelly, Macaulay Culkin, Laurie Metcalf
Rating: PG
In a long lineage of playing good-hearted cinematic oafs, surely Buck Russell stands out as perhaps the great John Candy’s finest hour. An inveterate slacker and slob with a heart of gold, Buck is like writer-director John Hughes’ idea of a certain brand of Midwestern non-exceptionalism, an example of who the likes of Ferris Bueller might turn out to be if he never got around to growing up. Suffice to say, Buck is finally thrust into a position of responsibility when he has to step in any look after his brothers’ rambunctious kids while they’re out of town, an acting assignment that first exposed most Americans to the joys of an adorably precocious Macaulay Culkin, no doubt winning him the role in next year’s Home Alone. Candy, meanwhile, applies his unique brand of gruff, straightforward (but bumbling) sarcasm to ultimately help the family through a difficult period, while salvaging his own dignity in the process. And it doesn’t hurt that the timeless gags (like Buck dressing down a cruel grade school principal) are as funny as ever. —Jim Vorel
Stand By Me
Year: 1986
Director: Rob Reiner
Stars: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman
Rating: R
Stephen King has referred to Stand By Me as one of the best-adapted films, which is curious, because it’s such a sincere film, hitting only some of the author’s signature themes. Still, it really captures some of the mythological aspects of childhood—the way the junkyard dog’s fearsome reputation can’t possibly stand up to reality, or how friendship can be a source of healing or how friendships change after innocence is lost. Gordie Lachance’s (Wil Wheaton) group of friends are the kinds of pals one has as a child: They come from very different worlds, but haven’t yet learned that they’re not supposed to hang out together. Would that real-life friendships could persist and reflect these ones more often. —Jim Vorel
She’s Gotta Have It
Year: 1986
Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Tracy Camila Johns, Spike Lee, John Canada Terrell, Tommy Redmond Hicks
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: R
An explosively frank feature debut that immediately announced Lee’s brave, fresh new voice in American cinema, She’s Gotta Have It, shot like a documentary, is a levelheaded exploration of a young black woman named Nola (Tracy Camilla Johns) trying to decide between her three male lovers, while also flirting with her apparent bisexuality, in order to, first and foremost, figure out what makes her happy. What’s refreshing about the film is that Lee always brings up the possibility that “none of the above” is a perfectly viable answer for both Nola and for single women—a game changer in 1986. The DIY indie grainy black-and-white cinematography boosts the film’s in-your-face realism. —Oktay Ege Kozak
Field of Dreams
Year: 1989
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Stars: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster
Rating: PG
Pop this one in next time you’re visiting the ‘rents if you want to watch Dad have a good cry. Field of Dreams isn’t just about father issues, though. It’s about that pesky American Dream, when it’s okay to chase it and when it’s time to hang it up. Sure, it’s hokey and totally Hollywood (see: dialogue like “Is there a heaven?” “Oh yeah. It’s the place dreams come true”), but you’ve got a heart of steel if you can’t suspend disbelief and get a little misty when Ray finally has a catch with his dad’s ghost. On paper, it’s hard to believe people would pay money to watch a movie involving an Iowa farmer who plows over his crops because he heard a voice that told him to, time travel and a magical baseball field that may or may not be purgatory, but “Oh, people will come, Ray.” People will most definitely come.—Josh Jackson
The Breakfast Club
Year: 1985
Director: John Hughes
Stars: Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall
Rating: R
There’s no other movie that better encapsulated and enhanced the 1980s teenage experience, with all the positive and negative connotations that might conjure, than John Hughes’ iconic high school dramedy. The charm of The Breakfast Club lies in the simplicity of its premise: The whole thing is basically a chamber piece wherein each archetypal member of an ’80s movie high school clique is stuck in detention on a Saturday, left to work through their differences and confront their inner demons by gradually opening up to one another—but not without indulging silly teen comedy stuff, like how smoking marijuana apparently gives one the power to break glass by screaming. As such, some of the broader material may feel dated, but the tender performances by the future Brat Pack members, brought together by Hughes’ insightful writing when it comes to capturing the teenage experience of the time, serves a delicate balance between a time capsule into the period and a still-relevant examination of pubescent troubles. —Oktay Ege Kozak
Conan the Barbarian
Year: 1982
Director: John Milius
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Sandahl Bergman, Max von Sydow, Mako, Ben Davidson
Rating: R
The absolutely quintessential 1980s fantasy epic, sword-and-sorcery spectacular Conan the Barbarian was also the film that indisputably crafted the legend of Austrian muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger for western audiences. Arnie had appeared in several American films at this point, but it was Conan that first harnessed his raw charisma and surprising physical comedy chops, starting him down the path toward Terminator and beyond. Conan is a rather dry character, a brooding brute driven by revenge and the understandable desire to “crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the women.” But the key is the colorful characters he’s surrounded by, like odious snake priest Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), or the thespian grace of Max von Sydow. The supporting characters flesh out the lush, low-fantasy world into which Conan is always ready to hack and slice. —Jim Vorel
Grave of the Fireflies
Year: 1988
Director: Isao Takahata
Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi
Rating: NR
Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies is the harrowing story of two children whose lives are left devastated by the 1945 firebombing of Kobe. Adapted from the autobiographical story of Akiyuki Nosaka, the film follows Seita, a young Japanese boy forced to care for his younger sister Setsuko in the wake of a devastating Allied attack that leaves his hometown in ruins. To describe the sum of their tragedies as “horrifying” feels like a gross understatement. The horror of Grave of the Fireflies is not reliant on brooding over callous acts of violence or fixating on the macabre, but rather on the heart-wrenching futility of Seita and Satsuko trying desperately to cling to some shred of normalcy in a world devoid of peace and security. Whether it’s the scene of Seita setting eyes on his mother for the first time after the firebombing, or Satsuko inadvertently stumbling across a corpse while playing at the beach, the film raises these children’s hopes of escaping a living hell on earth as quickly as it dashes them. The film is extraordinary in that it shows the audience, with no uncertainty, that these children will perish and somehow through its hour-and-a-half running time compels the viewer to hope that this fate can be averted. Grave of the Fireflies is a chilling portrait of the fragility of human life when confronted by the indifferent brutality of an uncaring world, a film utterly unlike anything Studio Ghibli had produced before or since. Tragic in the truest sense of the word, Grave of the Fireflies is not only one of the greatest films the studio has ever produced, but unmistakably one of the greatest anime films of all time.—Toussaint Egan
Dune
Year: 1984
Director: David Lynch
Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Jurgen Prochnow, Francesca Annis, Patrick Stewart, Sting, Brad Dourif, Virginia Madsen
Rating: PG-13
Before Denis Villeneuve, popular consensus on Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi novel Dune was that it might be unfilmable … because the great David Lynch had already tried to do just that in 1984, with mixed results. Lynch’s version of Dune has not maintained the best reputation among rank and file film fans, though it’s not hard to find ardent defense of it from cinematic aesthetes and devotees of Lynch’s filmography. What it undeniably has going for it is a grandiosity of visual style and panache, with incredible, overwrought costuming and set-dressings that evoke the interstellar peacocking that is absolutely present in Herbert’s tome. Less faithfully transcribed is Dune’s plot and themes of unavoidable horrors inherent in trying to exercise and wield power, even with good intentions. Lynch’s film isn’t given the space and running time necessary to really plumb these depths, an advantage now possessed by Villeneuve. The result is a more conventional revenge and messiah story, albeit one with all the idiosyncrasies of filming and performance one expects from Lynch’s oeuvre. Today, it’s worth watching for the costuming alone. —Jim Vorel
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
Year: 1988
Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Stars: Toru Furuya, Shuichi Ikeda, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Maria Kawamura, Nozomu Sasaki, Koichi Yamadera
Rating: TV-14
The first Gundam theatrical film and final chapter in the original saga begun in 1979 with the “Universal Century Timeline” of the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series, Char’s Counterattack has the weight of three seasons of TV behind it. Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of the Gundam series, directed and wrote the film, adapting it faithfully from his novel, Hi-Streamer. Widely considered the best film in the Gundam franchise, Char’s Counterattack is most successful at wrapping up the 14-year rivalry between the “hero” of the Earth Federation, Amuro Ray, and the leader of Neo-Zeon, Char Aznable. The story involves a classic Gundam dilemma: Char’s Neo-Zeon force attempts to drop an asteroid filled with nuclear weapons onto Earth, which would free the colonies from the yoke of oppression by their rivals, the Earth Federation, and kill everyone on Earth in the process. As with all of the best Gundam tales, Tomino approaches the story from a hard sci-fi point of view, clearly laying out the science behind things like giant mobile suits and “newtypes” (humans that have evolved to acquire psychic abilities). Tomino carefully lays out the reasoning behind Char and Amuro’s passions and hatreds, not allowing the viewer to choose a clear side. Gundam series have always been willing to take on discussions about the horrors of war and how mankind, for all its advancements, never seems to be able to free itself from humanity’s baser instincts. Char’s Counterattack attempts this as well, yet it’s mostly concerned with wrapping up the rivalry between Amuro and Char—and on that note, it succeeds wildly. Featuring gorgeous, tense fight sequences set in space, an excellent soundtrack by Shigeaki Saegusa, and some of the most lauded Gundam designs in the history of the franchise, the film is inarguably one of the high points of the Gundam Universe. One downside: If you don’t have the investment of spending hundreds of episodes of television with these characters, the plot can be confusing, and Char/Amuro’s ending will likely not resonate as strongly. Regardless, Char’s Counterattack remains a key moment in the Gundam universe, one still worth checking out almost 30 years later. Hail Zeon!—Jason DeMarco