40 Best ’80s Movies You Can Watch Right Now
Imagine, if you will, a time of wild economic inequality, global conflict and Donald Trump every time you turn on the TV. But all this in neon lights and with a much cooler soundtrack. I’m talking, of course, about the 80s: the decade that gave us Spike Lee, Hayao Miyazaki, Tim Burton, John Hughes and serious actress Cher. Arnold blew up a whole bunch of stuff; Michael J. Fox went back in time to avoid sleeping with his mom; Eddie Murphy made cops seem fun and approachable; and people walked around and asked, “Where’s the beef?” for reasons that remain unclear. It’s been quite a while.
It was also an era when beloved blockbusters could come in all shapes and sizes, and there were almost 100% fewer Marvel films. The decade’s massive hits included action films, as well as romantic comedies, horror films and family dramas. It doesn’t have the reputation of the 1970s as a golden age of cinema, but there is something to be said for the sheer volume of enduring classics produced by the decade’s filmmakers. Here are some of the best and where to find them.
Moonlight (1987)
Cher won an Oscar for her portrayal of Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini, who decides whether to live in comfortable middle age with the man her parents want for her or go crazy with her brother, played by Nicolas Cage.
Where to watch: Paramount+, Showtime.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Director Spike Lee scored his greatest triumph with this funny, quotable, and ultimately explosive film about the racial tensions that erupt in a Brooklyn neighborhood on a hot summer day.
Where to watch: Criterion Channel.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Eddie Murphy was never hotter than in the first film of this action-comedy that turned him from comic genius to international superstar. If you grew up in the 1980s, try listening to some of the soundtrack without being transported.
Where to watch: Paramount+, Showtime.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Tim Burton is at his strangest and wildest in this homage to the afterlife, in which the ghosts of Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin team up with Michael Keaton’s lewd poltergeist to scare a living family out of their home.
Where to stream: Max
Top Gun (1986)
Tom Cruise feels the need for speed in this action-packed film about sweaty competitive pilots who definitely like the girls. Definitely.
Where to watch: Paramount+
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My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
This beautifully animated Hayao Miyazaki favorite follows sisters Satsuka and Mei as they move into an old country house with their father to await their mother’s long-awaited recovery from illness. In the house they find playful spirits who lead them on an adventure.
Where to stream: Max
The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg’s tacky TV horror classic stars Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis as a scientist and journalist at the center of a teleportation project that goes horribly wrong. The film skillfully combines gory thrills with themes that were particularly relevant during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Where to stream: Max
Desert Hearts (1985)
A divorced professor, Vivian (Helen Shaver), goes to a cattle ranch where she meets Kay (Patricia Charbonneau), the rancher’s daughter, who helps Vivian come out of her shell. A charming romance, and also, refreshingly, one of the few LGBTQ+ films of the era that didn’t lean toward tragedy.
Where to watch: Max, The Criterion Channel
Back to the Future (1985)
Great Scott! Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd combine brilliantly in this time-traveling comedy in which Marty McFly visits the 50s and explores the lives of his parents when they were in high school. And he discovers that his mother is in love with him. Heavy.
Where to stream: Peacock
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
In the sea of teen slacker comedies that were popular in the early 1980s, Fast Times is something different, with director Amy Heckerling and writer Cameron Crowe capturing the silly minutiae of high school life. There’s a lot of raunchy humor here, but at its core it’s a coming-of-age film about the awkwardness of nascent sexuality.
Where to watch: Netflix
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze shine here in what is without a doubt the sexiest movie ever set at a family-friendly resort in the Catskills. But still somehow touching?
Where to watch: Freevee
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Probably the purest example of the sadly lost genre of ’80s fantasy films, most of which featured gleaming, muscular bodybuilders fighting magical villains using only their fists and swords. This film made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star, and James Earl Jones is very funny as Thulsa Doom’s nemesis.
Where to watch: Netflix
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
I’m sure no one back in the early 1980s thought we’d still be going to see Indiana Jones movies, but Raiders of the Lost Ark is that good. The sequels may have diluted its power a bit, but it’s a real adventure.
Where to watch: Disney+, Paramount+, Pluto.
Lean on Me (1989)
Morgan Freeman plays the real-life Joe Louis Clark, the principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. The real story might have been a little more complicated, but Freeman’s Clark is terrific: a tough, no-nonsense educator willing to do whatever it takes to lead his students to the film’s rousing conclusion.
Where to stream: Max
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
This punk horror-comedy is both a clever parody of zombie films and an impressively gory thriller that pushes the entire genre forward. It also has a great death rock soundtrack.
Where to stream: Tubi, MGM+
I’m Gonna Give You Bitch (1988)
Before making the cult classic In Living Color in the 1990s, Keenan Ivory Wayans directed this deeply silly but often hilarious parody of the previous generation of blaxploitation films. The cast includes not only up-and-coming (at the time) actors such as Chris Rock and Dawn Lewis, but also many of the stars of the films being parodied (Bernie Casey, Isaac Hayes, etc.).
Where to watch: Tubi, MGM+, Pluto
9 to 5 (1980)
Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda are one of the screen’s most powerful trios in this fast-paced comedy about women working for a sexist, selfish, deceitful and hypocritical bigot (the always great Dabney Coleman) who manage to exact revenge after accidentally nearly killing his.
Where to stream: Max
Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
Robert Townsend stars as Bobby Taylor, a satire about the perils of navigating the Hollywood system for an actor who is both too black and not black enough for the tastes of studio bosses. Through elaborate fantasy scenes and parodies of popular films, Townsend creates poignant and often extremely funny stories that are, unfortunately, still relevant today.
Where to stream: Tube, Pluto
Stay with Me (1986)
One of the best Stephen King adaptations doesn’t qualify as horror at all, but is a coming-of-age drama set in the 1950s about four best friends who go on a quest to find a dead body. The film depicts both the real and imagined trials of growing up.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Karate Kid (1984)
The film that started not only the karate mania of the 1980s, but also a franchise that has lived a surprisingly long life. This movie has everything you want in an uplifting underdog sports movie: Loser nerd Daniel (Ralph Macchio) comes to a new town where he is the immediate target of bullies (including Johnny William Zabka) – until he meets a mentor Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). It all builds up to a fun finale with some catchy 80’s tunes.
Where to watch: Netflix
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
One of John Hughes’ funniest (and – bonus – least problematic) films, it’s a joyful tribute to the ability to give up everything you should be doing in favor of much cooler things. It’s impossible that the film’s main trio (Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara and Alan Ruck) would have learned as much if they had gone to school.
Where to watch: Netflix
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988)
The beloved horror host makes her big-screen debut in this gloriously silly film in which Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) travels to the small, conservative town of Fallwell, Massachusetts, where her revealing clothing and brash behavior quickly turn much of the town against her. It’s kind of like Footloose with black magic and boobs.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, Plex.
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Mention this movie to the right crowd and you’ll see tears welling up in your eyes, but it’s also very funny, totally quotable and full of great performances from an all-star cast of Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis. , Julia Roberts and Daryl Hannah.
Where to watch: Netflix, Fubo
Thing (1982)
John Carpenter’s very loose take on the 1950s classic is more faithful to the original novella, Who Goes There? which they are both based on, but much darker than either of them. It is a masterpiece not only for its creature effects, but also for the sense of claustrophobic dread it evokes and its strong belief that other people will always be far more terrifying than outside threats.
Where to stream: Peacock
Highlander (1986)
Immortal beings roam the earth, forced to fight to the death with swords because there can only be one of them. Or something. The silly idea is played out with dead seriousness by Christopher Lambert as the titular Highlander. As a result, the film works as both sci-fi action and pure camp, ably aided by Sean Connery’s Ramirez, an immortal Egyptian from Spain who, for some reason, sounds entirely Scottish. Queen’s theme song “Princes of the Universe” is simply amazing.
Where to stream: Peacock
The Untouchables (1987)
Brian De Palma’s very loose history lesson about Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) as he forms a team (with the help of Sean Connery) to take down Al Capone (Robert De Niro). This is a popular crime thriller that also offers brilliant performances and deft, smart direction.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Hoopla, Pluto.
Coming to America (1988)
In the wealthy (and fictional) African country of Zamunda, Crown Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) is tired of his lavish lifestyle and hopes to meet an independent-minded woman who will care about him and not his status. What else to do but go to Queens? It’s a mixture of farce and romantic comedy that Murphy somehow pulls off.
Where to watch: Netflix
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Subsequent sequels made Freddie (Robert England) a star, but Wes Craven’s original followed Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), a high school student whose friends are tormented in their sleep by the man their parents killed. Freddy had never been so scary again, and he had never been such an equal opponent.
Where to stream: Max
Harlem Nights (1989)
Eddie Murphy directed and starred in this period piece set in a Prohibition-era bar full of gangsters and gamblers. It doesn’t quite work, but it’s a unique cast that includes Murphy, Richard Pryor, Red Fox, Della Reese, Jasmine Guy, Arsenio Hall, etc., and it’s fun to see them. everyone shares the screen together.
Where to watch: Paramount+
Ghostbusters (1984)
There was a certain skill to 80s comedies that I’m not sure still exists: take something like Ghostbusters or Back to the Future , sci-fi comedies that don’t feel overly bombastic and with with jokes that hit the mark at least as often as they don’t. There’s a reason we’re still watching them.
Where to stream: Peacock
The Little Mermaid (1989)
As much as the recent live-action remake is loved, it’s unlikely to fully replace the original, gorgeously animated Disney classic. With its slightly subversive themes and huge box office success, the film also almost single-handedly revived the then-Disney company into the company it is today (with all the good and bad that entails).
Where to watch: Disney+.
Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Despite its awkward title, Steven Spielberg’s charming, big-hearted sci-fi story of a boy (Henry Thomas) who protects his alien friend from overzealous government agents became a mega-blockbuster that captivated the world and also briefly convinced us that Reese’s Pieces were excellent candies with a flattened spheroid shape.
Where to stream: Peacock
Blue Velvet (1986)
David Lynch’s neo-noir begins with a college student finding a severed human ear in a field, leading him into a world of strange sex and violence. It introduces several of the director’s main themes, particularly the idea of a small town that seems completely normal until you pull back the curtain, at which point it looks like a David Lynch film. Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and Dean Stockwell lead the impressive cast.
Where to stream: Max
Akira (1988)
This beautiful cyberpunk classic is set in a dystopian 2019. Biker Kaneda is forced to fight his friend Tetsuo after he gains telekinetic powers in an accident. The incredibly kinetic film and its highly detailed world set a new standard for anime – we’re still living in the world of animation that Akira gave birth to.
Where to watch: Hulu
They Live (1988)
The metaphor in this John Carpenter classic isn’t particularly subtle, but that’s for the best. Roddy Piper plays a nameless drifter who realizes that there are secret subliminal messages everywhere: they tell us to shop more, stick with the status quo – in other words, never question American-style capitalism. Everything is put in jeopardy when our protagonist gains glasses that allow him to see the truth around him.
Where to stream: Peacock, Tubi
Hint (1985)
A star-studded comedy murder mystery? Klue was in Knives Out before that movie even crossed Rian Johnson’s radar, and it’s deliciously stupid. It wasn’t particularly popular upon its initial release, but has since become a cult classic.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Paramount+.
Running Man (1987)
This is the future as it was imagined in the 1980s, and it’s actually not that far off. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a criminal forced to compete in a competition program, the film anticipated our reality-focused television culture, the use of artificial intelligence and other technologies to alter perceived reality, and our ever-increasing willingness to allow entertainment to distract us. from what is actually happening around us. This fun little action movie feels almost prophetic.
Where to watch: Paramount+, MGM+, Fubo.
The Princess Bride (1987)
An impeccably entertaining fantasy, The Princess Bride works on almost every level: as a quotable comedy, a fast-paced romance, and a Robin Hood-style action movie that has fun with the tropes of such films. Just a delight.
Where to watch: Disney+.
Raising Arizona (1987)
It’s not always the first film that comes to mind when we think of the Coen Brothers, but this crazy-over-the-top kidnapping crime comedy (by Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter), as crazy as it is, is ultimately quite enjoyable. sweet.
Where to watch: Hulu
Die Hard (1988)
It’s a Christmas movie that came out and filmed It’s a Wonderful Life right from the 35th floor of the Nakatomi Plaza Tower. A great classic action movie.
Where to watch: Hulu, Starz