10 Best Classic Movies on Netflix (August 2026): ‘Clueless’ and More

Clueless, a classic? As if! Unfortunately, it’s been over 30 years since the Amy Heckerling comedy was released, which qualifies it as a classic of a bygone age. That doesn’t mean it isn’t sharp or hilarious; on the contrary, the film’s observations of California living and teen romance are just as effective in 2026 as in 1995.

Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is a Beverly Hills teen with a knack for matchmaking her teachers and friends. When awkward new girl Tai (Brittany Murphy) enrolls in her school, she and best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) take her under their wing and try to set her up with some of the hottest guys in class. But Cher is blind to her own love match that’s right in front of her – her stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd), who is so wrong for her, he could be Mr. Right.

Moments after Lawrence of Arabia starts, its hero, T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole), dies in a motorcycle accident. That’s not a spoiler so much as a warning – this is a film that isn’t concerned with narrative logic or telling an ordinary story. Lawrence was a real-life figure who worked for the British Army during World War I. His main mission is to help Prince Faisal (Alex Guinness) battle the Turks and unite the bickering Arab nations of the Middle East. But as he is drawn more into conflict, the less Lawrence feels like himself. Or maybe the opposite is true – maybe Lawrence loves the thrill of conflict and the excitement of killing his foes in battle?

That is only a part of what Lawrence of Arabia is about – the film is 222 minutes long and uses every second of it to tell a complicated story about Western involvement in the Middle East that still has relevance today. Even if you’re not interested in what Lawrence of Arabia is about, you’ll be dazzled by what the film is – a groundbreaking epic that contains some of the most beautiful and striking images ever put on film. The Oscar-winning score by Maurice Jarre is magnificent, too, as is the Oscar-nominated performance by O’Toole as a sexually ambiguous officer who discovers he’s no gentleman in private. Lawrence of Arabia is essential viewing, even if you’ve seen it a few times.

Prosperous American rancher Joe Grant (Ralph Bellamy) has a problem – a bandit, Jesus Raza (Jack Palance), has kidnapped his wife, Maria (Claudia Cardinale), and taken her across the Mexican border. He hires four professional mercenaries, each one with their own speciality, to get her back. But as the men travel deeper into the heart of Mexico, they realize their mission isn’t as straightforward as it initially seemed.

The Professionals is almost forgotten about today, but it was highly praised when it was released in 1966. Nominated for three Oscars, including Best Director for Richard Brooks, the film was worth the praise – it’s absorbing, with a second-act twist that completely changes the movie’s direction. With a cast that includes genre vets like Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin, The Professionals is a classic Western that’s gritty, violent and very satisfying.

Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is desperate and running out of money. That’s a bad combination, and it leads the normally sensible car salesman to do an irrational thing – he hires two low-life criminals to kidnap his wife and demand a ransom from her rich father. But as what usually happens in situations like these, something goes wrong, and more than one person winds up dead. There’s only one person who can figure out what’s going on – Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), a pregnant small-town sheriff who is sharper and smarter than her pleasant demeanor suggests. Marge can crack the case, but will she survive it?

Directed by the Coen Brothers, Fargo is an undisputed American masterpiece. It’s both a very funny black comedy and a gruesome crime thriller, spinning a story that’s both ridiculous and tragic. McDormand deservedly won her first Best Actress for playing Marge, but Macy is equally great as a man with no spine for crime and no stomach for the consequences of his despicable actions.

When lower-class lad Charlie (Peter Ostrum) finds a Golden Ticket in his Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) chocolate bar, he’s thrilled. A Golden Ticket means he’s invited to tour Wonka’s closed-off candy factory with his beloved grandpa, Joe (Jack Albertson), and four other children and their parents. At first, Charlie is amazed by the chocolate rivers, fields of candy and the orange-skinned Oompa-Loompas that populate Wonka’s factory. But the tour proves to be far more dangerous than Charlie initially thought, especially for children who can’t help but be selfish or mean to others. Charlie isn’t like that, but does Wonka even care?

Are you ready to go back to “a world of pure imagination”? For over 50 years, Willy & Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has endured as a beloved kids’ classic, and no amount of subpar remakes, and prequels and AI-assisted reality shows can diminish its weird wonder. In addition to the still-trippy visuals and catchy tunes, the film boasts a truly bizarre, one-of-a-kind performance from Wilder, who doesn’t sugarcoat Wonka’s vaguely sinister nature. (Seriously, did Willy kill Augustus Gloop (Michael Böllner) and traumatize Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson) forever?)

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, duhhhh, aa-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da – pardon my humming, but I can’t help it, and neither will you after you watch Rocky for the hundredth time. The seminal sports classic is back on Netflix, along with its many sequels and Creed spinoffs, and it’s just as fresh and hard-hitting as it was 50 (!) years ago when it was first released.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is just another working-class bum in Philadelphia when he’s selected to fight the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Rocky doesn’t stand a chance against the champion, but if he trains harder than he’s ever trained before, maybe he can show Apollo – and the world – that Rocky is no quitter, and he can go toe-to-toe with the world’s best – at least for a few rounds.

Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) is a Danish aristocrat who doesn’t mind being in a marriage of convenience with Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer). She gave him money to invest in a coffee farm in Africa, and he’ll make it such a success that she won’t have to worry about taking care of herself ever again. But as she settles in Africa and becomes enamored with the continent’s people and customs, a complication appears in the form of Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford). He’s a big-game hunter who stirs Karen’s practical heart, and they begin a love affair. But as the world plunges into a devastating war, can their love survive being torn apart by forces they can’t control?

The epitome of a big, sweeping epic, Out of Africa is gorgeous to look at – and I admit, sometimes boring to watch. Based on Blixen’s autobiographical book of the same name, it takes too long to get to the good stuff – Karen’s relationship with Denys – but once it does, oh boy, watch out because you might swoon. (The hair-washing scene alone will make you break out the Head and Shoulders as an aphrodisiac.) Streep and Redford are a couple straight out of a romance novel, and they’re so good you don’t mind that the director, Sydney Pollack, took some generous liberties with the real-life Karen’s story. Does it matter when the fantasy is so much better than the reality? Stream Out of Africa and judge for yourself.

During World War II, German industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) needs workers for his newly built enamelware factory. With the help of Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), he hires hundreds of Jewish laborers who would’ve otherwise been shipped off to concentration camps or killed outright. As the Nazis step up their efforts to slaughter as many Jews as possible, Schindler risks his fortune and life to protect as many of his workers as possible.

Based on an incredible true story, Schindler’s List is one of the rare modern movies that can be called a flawless masterpiece. From its striking black and white cinematography to its haunting John Williams score, Steven Spielberg’s film evokes a time that witnessed one of humanity’s worst acts, one that continues to reverberate today. As the sadistic SS lieutenant Amon Goeth, Ralph Fiennes all-too-convincingly conveys the human embodiment of pure evil. The end, which depicts the survivors of the Holocaust thanks to Schindler’s efforts, is one of the most moving closing scenes in cinema history.

New York City cellist Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) has a big problem — her refrigerator houses a giant demon from another dimension, Zuul. I hate it when that happens, and so do Peter (Bill Murray), Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Egon (Harold Ramis). Otherwise known as the Ghostbusters, the three men, alongside new recruit Winston (Ernie Hudson), soon discover Zuul wants to take over the city and needs Dana and nebbish neighbor Louis (Rick Moranis) to open otherworldly portals to let all kinds of supernatural forces run rampant in the Big Apple. Can the Ghostbusters live up to their name and bust some ghostly butt?

One of the defining hits of the era, Ghostbusters holds up surprisingly well — the special effects still seem special and all the jokes land as they should. This is a movie that has the right director, right script and right cast, and it was made when sci-fi comedies were the exception rather than the rule. It’s hard to pick a favorite scene, but the arrival of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man has to rank near the top.

In Spike Lee’s feature directorial debut, Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) decides to date three men at once to figure out what kind of man she wants to be with. She goes for Greer Childs (John Canada Terrell), self-obsessed, rich and handsome; Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks), protective and macho; and Mars Blackmon (Lee), a good-hearted, if awkward, nerd. Despite widening her options, Nola feels ever further from reaching a decision.

She’s Gotta Have It features a provocative and boundary-pushing take on female sexuality and monogamy, allowing the lead protagonist the sexual freedom men are often allowed to enjoy. It’s an energetic debut from a confident new director who helped to bolster the American independent film movement of the 1980s