11 Best Classic Movies on Netflix (September 2026): ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and More

Architect Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) doesn’t believe in love. Can you blame him? His beloved wife died of cancer, and he’s still so sad that he moves from Chicago to Seattle with his eight-year-old son, Jonah (Ross Mallinger). Jonah wants his dad to be happy, which is why he impulsively calls a radio shrink on New Year’s Eve and forces him to publicly confess that love doesn’t happen twice. Across the country, Baltimore reporter Annie (Meg Ryan) begs to differ, and concocts a plan to meet Sam — even though she’s already engaged! Annie isn’t quite sure what she’s doing; all she knows is that she needs to meet Sam to see if she really loves him.

Written and directed by Nora Ephron, Sleepless in Seattle is a timeless classic about a grieving widower and a woman who wants the kind of love she’s only seen in movies. The 1957 film An Affair to Remember hovers over the film as both an inspiration and aspiration — it’s what Annie wants to happen with her and Sam, and vice versa. Hanks and Ryan have such great chemistry together that they don’t even need to share the screen to sell the movie’s far-fetched love story. Sleepless in Seattle is a one-of-a-kind movie, and to resist its spell is like swimming against a rising tide.

How do you make a sequel to a classic? For director James Cameron, you make a completely different film and amp up the action — and acid-spewing baddies. In the intense sci-fi flick Aliens, Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley is still alive — and still plagued by aliens who want to kill her and every human they encounter. When she accompanies a crew of hardened space marines to investigate the disappearance of a human colony on a distant planet, she knows they’re in for trouble, but no one listens to her. She’s proven right when the aliens start attacking, but that doesn’t do her or orphaned girl Newt (Carrie Henn) any good when the bodies start piling up. They need to leave as soon as possible, but will they last long enough to escape?

Aliens is one of the most intense movies ever made, but that’s what makes it so fun to watch. Like a rollercoaster, you’re both terrified at what’s going to happen next and can’t wait for it, too. Cameron and composer James Horner make this sequel almost unbearable to watch — just when you think you can relax, a facehugger leaps out from the shadows and attacks yet another poor character. The heart of the film is Weaver, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. This time around, her Ripley is hardened by her first brush with those pesky Xenomorphs, but she still has enough humanity left in her to care for the motherless Newt. Ripley’s climactic duel with the Alien Queen is an ‘80s film highlight, as is her iconic line that begins it: “Get away from her, you bitch!” 

Don’t. Go. In. The. Water. That’s the main message of Jaws, the 1975 summer blockbuster that changed the way movies were made, marketed and seen. When a young swimmer dies from an unexpected shark attack in a New England resort town, panic ensues, but the mayor doesn’t want to close the beaches for fear of driving away tourists. That leaves Martin (Roy Scheider), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw) with no choice but to hunt and kill the shark themselves. Can this ragtag trio overcome one of nature’s most fearsome beasts?

Over 50 years later, Jaws has lost none of its power. Director Steven Spielberg knows when to turn the screw long enough to generate sufficient tension without sacrificing character development. This is a blockbuster with depth, taking its time to build up its three central leads before they head out to the ocean for their final battle with their Great White Shark nemesis. The iconic score by John Williams has been parodied over the years, and yet when you hear it in this film, it still raises the hair on the back of your neck. The same could be said for Jaws itself, a ‘70s thriller that still packs a punch in 2026.

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?)

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.

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