They don’t make ’em like they used to. Older generations often harp on the inadequacies of modern filmmaking, from an overreliance on special effects to Hollywood’s capitalist-driven quest to make several sequels to every original movie. Whatever the reason for hating 21st-century cinema, people who prefer old pictures have plenty of options when they tune in to streaming services like Netflix.
With a rotating selection of films that changes monthly, subscribers should always look for what’s leaving and what’s entering the service when logging into Netflix. For folks more interested in the glory of the 20th century, we have plenty of pre-2000 movies to pick from right here!
Recommended Videos
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
137m
Genre
Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
Stars
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
Directed by
James Cameron
Watch on Netflix
James Cameron is one the best action filmmakers to ever live, and Terminator 2 is one of his defining achievements. This sequel turns a relatively low-budget sci-fi horror film into something much larger scale. Set years after the first film, this one follows a young John Connor as a T-800 comes from the future to protect him against an even more advanced model. Along the way we learn even more about how the AI takes over, but this time, we get to see Arnold Schwarzenegger play the hero, and he savors every second of it.
Jaws (1975)
124m
Genre
Horror, Thriller, Adventure
Stars
Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Watch on Netflix
Everything we’ve ever heard about Jaws suggests that it wasn’t very fun to make that movie. The film, which was just Steven Spielberg’s third job as a director, was shot largely on the water, and it turns out that making a movie on the water is really hard. Even so, Jaws remains an utterly riveting piece of blockbuster filmmaking. Telling the simple story of a small New England town attacked by a uniquely persistent shark, the film remains a great example of how you can tell a simple story super effectively and keep your audience engaged from minute one.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
98m
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Stars
Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald
Directed by
John Hughes
Watch on Netflix
One of the defining teen comedies of its era, The Breakfast Club follows five teenagers from different walks of life who find themselves trapped in a Saturday detention together. Featuring an all-star lineup of young acting talents and a sharp script from John Hughes, the film is ultimately about the ways high school divides us, and it’s had an impact on generations of young people since it was first released in 1985. Crucially, though not everything about the film holds up, most of it still does, and it’s well worth watching at least once in your life.
Midnight Run (1988)
126m
Genre
Action, Comedy, Crime
Stars
Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto
Directed by
Martin Brest
Watch on Netflix
There are movies that are high art, and then there are movies that make art out of simply being entertaining. Midnight Run is about as much fun as you can have with a movie. It follows a bounty hunter who finds himself escorting a man who embezzled funds from the mob across the country by every conceivable means. Along the way, they deal with the FBI, the mob, and another bounty hunter who wants the prize for himself. Midnight Run is a great comedy and a great action movie, and it features a great performance by Robert de Niro and Charles Grodin. What more do you want?
The Deer Hunter (1978)
183m
Genre
Drama, War
Stars
Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale
Directed by
Michael Cimino
Watch on Netflix
One of the great war movies ever made, The Deer Hunter tells the story of young men from a small factory town who go off to serve in Vietnam and come back fundamentally broken. Anchored by tremendous performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter is an epic that has time for examinations of life in the U.S. and in Vietnam. It’s a war movie that is less about war than about the scars it leaves on those who fight it.
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
100m
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery
Stars
Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin
Directed by
James Foley
Watch on Netflix
Great plays don’t always make for great movies, but when you assemble a cast like the one in Glengarry Glen Ross, you get something pretty terrific. The film tells the story of a New York real estate office that is told that everyone but the top two salespeople will be let go by the end of the week. As they begin to claw at each other’s throats to earn new sales, we get to see actors like Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, and Ed Harris show us exactly why they’re some of the best to ever do it.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
91m
Genre
Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Stars
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle
Directed by
Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Watch on Netflix
It’s hard for comedies to age well, in part because humor can be so tied to the era when it was first created. Monty Python and the Holy Grail remains funny, though, which feels like a testament to the movie’s enduring strength. A bawdy, deeply silly reimagining of the story of King Arthur’s court, the Monty Python crew really just use the premise as an excuse to make excellent jokes in virtually every scene. There are so many memorable lines and bits from this movie that singling any one out feels wrong, but suffice it to say that few movies have had a bigger impact on comedy than this one.
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
103m
Genre
Crime, Documentary
Stars
Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose
Directed by
Errol Morris
Watch on Netflix
True crime documentaries may be all the rage now, but The Thin Blue Line was way ahead of the trend. This 1988 documentary tells the story of a man who was falsely accused and convicted of killing a police officer, laying out all the evidence that proved he was innocent. This is the rare documentary that actually had an impact on the case it focused on, as it proved to be such a convincing argument about its central subject that it was ultimately proven that he was innocent. Even decades later, though, the film’s ability to coherently lay out the case it’s making remains deeply impressive.
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
84m
Genre
Comedy, Romance
Stars
Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell
Directed by
Spike Lee
Watch on Netflix
A brilliant comedy that Spike Lee directed before Do the Right Thing propelled him to superstardom, She’s Gotta Have It tells the story of a girl who can’t make up her mind about who she wants to date, and so she simply decides to date three men at the same time. The movie’s comedy is built out of this premise, and out of the archetypes that all three of these men represent. Although the movie hasn’t held up perfectly, She’s Gotta Have It is a reminder that Lee can operate in a bunch of different moods and tones, and be a great filmmaker in all of them.
Léon: The Professional (1994)
111m
Genre
Crime, Drama, Action
Stars
Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman
Directed by
Luc Besson
Watch on Amazon
Crime thrillers are a dime a dozen, but Léon: The Professional implements several techniques to separate it from contemporary works of the 1990s. Jean Reno and Natalie Portman display impressive chemistry as a fully grown man and a pre-adolescent girl who fight together. Portman’s debut certainly gave her credence in Hollywood and might have helped lead to her casting in Star Wars. Gary Oldman is also in fine form as the antagonistic Norman Stansfield.
