20 Classic Movies to Watch on Netflix Canada
Updated: May 01, 2023From Taxi Driver to Dirty Dancing, these classic titles will take you back!
In the Line of Fire (1993)
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Thirty years later, Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood), the last remaining Secret Service agent who was guarding Kennedy that afternoon, is still haunted by his failure. Enter Mitch Leary (John Malkovich): a disenchanted former CIA operative who plans to assassinate the current president—and who taunts Horrigan along the way. In the Line of Fire features top-notch direction and a taut screenplay, but it’s Malkovich who threatens to steal the show in an Academy Award-nominated turn that surely inspired one or two future Joker performances.
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Jurassic Park (1993)
As far as action movies go, it’s hard to top the Jurassic Park franchise (Netflix is also streaming The Lost World, Jurassic Park III and 2015’s Jurassic World). Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original appeals to kids and adults alike by effortlessly keeping audiences laughing and on edge—often at the same time. Case in point: the scene in which a lawyer (Martin Ferrero) gets eaten by a T-Rex while sitting on a toilet.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction may still be the best version of Quentin Tarantino Land: a colourful locale filled with pop culture references, hyper-literate characters and exploding heads. Take your pick of storylines: John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson’s chatty hitmen, Uma Thurman’s dance-loving moll or Bruce Willis’ love-drunk ex-boxer. Nearly 30 years later, Pulp Fiction is still exhilarating—like an adrenaline shot to the heart, so to speak.
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Silverado (1985)
The film that kickstarted Kevin Costner’s career, Silverado is one of the few truly great Westerns made during a decade that almost saw the genre ride off into the sunset. Writer-director Lawrence Kasdan’s epic tale follows four misfit cowboys (played by Scott Glenn, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover and Costner) who meet under less-than-ideal circumstances and travel to the titular frontier town, where they battle the corrupt sheriff (Brian Dennehy).
Léon: The Professional (1994)
The “action-thriller” label does not do justice to how menacing, twisted and campy Léon: The Professional truly is. All the pieces are in play for a bona fide classic: Jean Reno’s stoic introduction to American audiences; Natalie Portman’s star-making turn; a lean, mean script; and Gary Oldman as corrupt detective Norman Stansfield, chewing the scenery like no actor has before (or since). By the time Stansfield orders the big guns against our titular assassin, one cannot help but think that they don’t make ’em like this anymore.
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Good Will Hunting (1997)
When 20-year-old janitor Will Hunting (Matt Damon) isn’t wreaking havoc with his aimless buddies, he’s solving math problems that stump even the professors at MIT. Leave it to Robin Williams—in his greatest role—to set the young punk on the right track. Damon and co-star Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning screenplay is a sharp meditation on love, trauma and boy geniuses—and a true ’90s touchstone. How do you like them apples?
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Gangs of New York (2002)
This battered and bloody historical epic—released to polarized reviews in 2002—is looking more and more like a misunderstood classic with every passing year. In 1862, Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) moves back to the chaotic Five Points neighbourhood of Lower Manhattan to avenge his father’s death. His target? The psychotic Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis), a local gang leader who loves killing almost as much as he hates immigrants. If director Martin Scorsese adapted Dickens, the result might not look that different from Gangs of New York.
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Donnie Brasco (1997)
In this underrated mob drama, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone (a wonderfully understated Johnny Depp) goes undercover to infiltrate New York City’s Bonnano crime family in the late 1970s. Adopting the persona of jewel thief “Donnie Brasco,” Pistone strikes up a friendship with Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), an aging low-level gangster who sees in “Donnie” the son he never had.
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Top Gun (1986)
Sure, Top Gun’s spectacular, 30-years-in-the-making sequel boasts some of the greatest action sequences ever committed to film, but there’s no beating the original’s prowess in the “good time” department. Take your pick of choice cuts: a barroom rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”; that Kenny Loggins-backed volleyball game; the unintended sexual tension; the one-liners! Plus, Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards have the kind of chemistry you just can’t repeat.
Total Recall (1990)
The absurd tale of a brainwashed construction worker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who discovers his secret-spy past and ventures to Mars to save its mutant population, Total Recall has more to say about our relationship with violence than most movies of its era. (Director Paul Verhoeven’s own Robocop comes close.) Perfectly balancing audience-pleasing action with the philosophical interests of its source material (Total Recall is, after all, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick), what makes watching this classic so fun is knowing that a major studio will never again green-light a film that’s as proudly bonkers as this.
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Dirty Dancing (1987)
Few romantic dramas are as unabashedly campy as Dirty Dancing, a 1960s-set forbidden romance you no longer need to feel bad about calling a guilty pleasure. Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze are perfectly cast for writer Eleanor Bergstein’s semi-autobiographical script, which tells the story of a rich young woman who falls for a dance instructor while vacationing with her family in New York’s Catskill Mountains.
Taxi Driver (1976)
A lonely Vietnam War veteran (Robert De Niro) becomes a cabbie to help him deal with his insomnia and depression. After experiencing New York City’s seediest characters firsthand, however, his mental condition deteriorates even further—leading him to purchase an arsenal of handguns, target a Presidential hopeful and befriend a child prostitute (Jodie Foster). Martin Scorsese’s best films (Goodfellas, Raging Bull) are ones in which the menace and violence threaten to leap off the screen, and Taxi Driver is no different. This nightmarish vision remains unparalleled.
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The Karate Kid (1984)
Seventeen-year-old Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is the ultimate underdog of the Eighties. After moving to Los Angeles from Newark, he draws the ire of local bully Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), only to be saved and mentored by an eccentric neighbour, the karate master Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita). Almost four decades after its release, The Karate Kid’s classic dialogue, choice music cues and rousing depiction of friendship and tenacity still makes for rewarding viewing. Wax on, wax off, indeed.
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She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
This feature directorial debut launched Spike Lee’s career and—more significantly—helped kickstart the North American indie film industry. Shot over the course of two weeks with only a $175,000 budget, She’s Gotta Have It showcases the era’s big ideas, changing norms, and shifting power dynamics while giving voice to a character, Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), who is nothing short of revolutionary. Also: it’s very funny—especially John Canada Terrell’s character, whose vanity knows no limits.
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Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
This classic comedy follows Brian (Graham Chapman), a half-hearted rebel living in Judea under Roman rule during the time of Jesus. Wanting to impress a girl (while evading crucifixion at the hands of Pontius Pilate’s guards) Brian makes the fatal error of cribbing some of the text from one of Jesus’ sermons. Suddenly, he’s adopted as the Messiah—a role he is definitely not cut out for. Fun fact: funding fell through days before filming, and the project was saved by none other than Python fan George Harrison.
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Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
It’s not often that a sequel lives up to an original, but Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a rare exception. Reuniting Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton with writer-director James Cameron, T2 again follows Sarah Connor, who’s now tasked with saving herself and her son (Edward Furlong) from a next-gen T-1000 Terminator model (Robert Patrick) with the ability to shape-shift into anything it fancies. With nothing less at stake than the future of the entire human race, it’s Terminator vs. Terminator in this thrilling, immensely re-watchable classic.
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The Graduate (1967)
Who would have thought a modest comedy-drama about a college grad’s affair with an older woman—and his subsequent infatuation with her daughter—would change movies forever? After all, The Graduate grossed almost $105 million in the U.S. ($859 million in today’s terms), launched Dustin Hoffman’s career and finally convinced American studio heads to tell more offbeat, youth-oriented stories on-screen. More than 50 years after its release, its wry observations on twenty-something malaise and the generation gap still ring true. (And we still picture the dazzling Anne Bancroft when listening to Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” too.)
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Matilda (1996)
In this quirky adaptation of the Roald Dahl book of the same name, a brilliant little girl discovers she has telekinetic powers, and uses her newfound gift to turn the tables on her abusive parents and tyrannical principal. Embeth Davidtz shines as Matilda’s saintly teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey, as does star-director Danny DeVito, but the film’s real star is child actor Mara Wilson.
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python has made better films (Life of Brian) and even more philosophical ones (The Meaning of Life), but neither match Monty Python and the Holy Grail in sheer irreverence, sight gags and laughs per minute. From its wonky opening credits—complete with fake Swedish subtitles—to its out-of-nowhere finale, The Holy Grail sees history’s most famous comedy group firing on all cylinders. You’ll never look at rabbits the same way again.
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Spirited Away (2001)
Thanks to some truly gorgeous animation and an intricate plot that requires patience to unravel, Spirited Away is one of the few films that genuinely gets better with each successive viewing. After wandering into an abandoned amusement park on the way to her new country home, 10-year-old Chihiro learns that she’s accidentally stumbled into a spirit world occupied by dragons, demon slayers and evil witches. An all-ages extravaganza with surprisingly adult themes, it’s no stretch to claim Spirited Away as one of the greatest films of this century.
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