Netflix has over 5000 movies in their movie database, but it can be difficult to find the best 80s movies on Netflix with so many options.
There are plenty of ways that you might go about this task, which is why we have decided to help narrow down your options into just a few great choices: the best 80s action movies on Netflix, best 80s horror movies on Netflix, best 80s funny movies on Netflix, and lastly, the best 80s romance movies on Netflix. All combined into one amazing article focusing on the must-watch titles on Netflix.
Here are the overall 50 best 80s movies on Netflix you should watch right away.
45 Best 80s Movies On Netflix Canada Right Now!
1. Tootsie (1982)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Writer(s): Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr
Tootsie revolves around Michael Dorsey, a struggling actor who can’t find work. So in an unfortunate turn of events, he disguises himself as a woman to get a part on a soap opera that would have been otherwise cast to another man.
As his character becomes more popular, Michael must juggle his secret life with the constant pressure to come clean about his true identity. This is among the best 80s funny movies on Netflix you need to watch.
2. The Natural (1984)
Director: Barry Levinson
Writer(s): Phil Dusenberry, Roger Towne, Bernard Malamud
Cast: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close
Roy Hobbs is a talented up-and-coming baseball player that quickly rises through the ranks of the major leagues. However, his success is cut short when a mysterious woman shoots him.
Unable to play, Roy struggles through life until he is given another chance at the plate. The natural is among the best 80s action movies on Netflix you should watch.
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Director: John Hughes
Writer(s): John Hughes
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara
Ferris Bueller is the coolest kid in high school. He skips class whenever he pleases and is adored by many peers.
So when Ferris discovers that one of his classmates needs a day off from school, he hatches a plan to make the best out of the situation. Does he succeed? You can stream this movie to get the whole story.
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer(s): Jeffrey Boam, George Lucas, Menno Meyjes
Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr., the renowned archaeologist, vanishes while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent historian and accomplished investigator, Indiana must team up with Marcus Brody, Sallah, and Elsa to locate his missing father. This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix you can stream.
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer(s): Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, Phillip Kaufman
Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
The year is 1936, and Indy has uncovered a golden relic — one that attracts the attention of a massive manhunt.
Indy then embarks on an epic adventure to find his father and uncover the mystery of his disappearance, leading him to a lifelong adventure that reveals the truth about his past. You can watch this movie on Netflix.
6. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
Director: David Zucker
Writer(s): Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker
Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J Simpson
In this slapstick comedy of errors, a bumbling cop goes after an inept criminal who tried to kill Queen Elizabeth II. The police lieutenant Frank Drebin is always on hand to stop whatever potentially deadly crime occurs.
After foiling the assassination attempt, Drebin pursues the would-be killer and his beautiful partner to Miami Beach, where he gets caught up in a deadly game of cat and mouse involving an amusement park’s computer control system, which could spell disaster for all of southern Florida.
7. Popeye (1980)
Director: Robert Altman
Writer(s): Jules Feiffer (based on the comic-strip “Popeye” created by E.C. Segar)
Cast: Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Ray Walston
Popeye the Sailor Man, a clumsy but lovable chap who has received much abuse from his girl Olive Oyl and her formidable mother, discovers a mysterious pirate named Bluto trying to steal ‘spinach’ (which turns out to be a giant can of spinach) and decides to defend both himself and the precious vegetable.
As Popeye and Bluto fight, other characters get involved, and soon they’re all fighting over the can of spinach.
8. Purple Rain (1984)
Director: Albert Magnoli
Writer(s): Albert Magnoli, William Blinn
Cast: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day
The fictional rock and roll band The Revolution and its lead singer, “The Kid,” later reprised in the 2000s by Prince.
After The Revolution is offered a record deal, The Kid uses his creatively egotistical ways to create drama in his relationships, leading to the band’s breaking up. It’s among the best 80s movies on Netflix you can’t miss watching.
9. Blade Runner (1982)
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer(s): Hampton Fancher (story), David Peoples (screenplay)
Cast: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
This is one of the best movies you can find on Netflix. In this movie, set in Los Angeles, A blade runner tries to terminate four replicates who stole a ship in space.
They have returned to Earth to get their creator. Do they manage? You need to stream this movie to get the whole story.
10. La Bamba (1987)
Director: Luis Valdez
Writer(s): Luis Valdez
Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto
The story of Chicano rock star Ritchie Valens. He became a star at age 17 with his song “La Bamba,” but he died in a plane crash at age 18, along with the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly.
This film is based on events beginning with Ritchie Valens being given his first guitar by his sister through his rise to fame until his death. So book it into your movie list!
11. The Evil Dead (1982)
Director: Sam Raimi
Writer(s): Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard Demanincor
This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix. Here, a group of friends travels to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
What happens next? You can stream this movie while in your office or in the comfort of your home. It is among the best 80s horror movies on Netflix right now.
12. Raging Bull (1980)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer(s): Jake LaMotta, Joseph Carter, Peter Savage
Cast: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
A mentally unstable, jealous, and violent boxer’s journey through life, as the violence and temper flare-up in his personal and professional lives.
This is one of the many best 80s action movies on Netflix that will leave you in awe. Include it in your movies list this year.
13. Child’s Play (1988)
Director: Tom Holland
Writer(s): Don Mancini, John Lafia, Tom Holland
Cast: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent
This movie revolves around a single mother of one. She buys her son the much-wanted birthday doll, but it turns out not as expected.
This doll is possessed with the evil soul of a serial murderer. What happens next? You need to watch the movie to get the full story.
14. She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
Director: Spike Lee
Writer(s): Spike Lee, Zora Neale Hurston
Cast: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell
Three different men romantically pursue a woman. Each of them fails in their advances, but one of them won’t take no for an answer.
This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix you need to watch. So ensure you book it for this coming weekend.
15. Back to the Future (1985)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer(s): Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale
Cast: Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
A typical American teenager of the Eighties, Marty McFly, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean “the time machine” invented by a mad scientist.
During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love so that he can get back to the Future.
16. The Dark Crystal (1982)
Director: Jim Henson, Frank Oz
Writer(s): David Odell, Jim Henson
Cast: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Kathryn Mullen
This is one of the must-watch movies. In this film, happening on another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of an orb.
This shard will restore balance to his world before the grotesque race of Skeksis finds and uses it for evil. You can stream this movie on Netflix!
17. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer(s): Melissa Mathison
Cast: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote
E.T is among the best 80s movies on Netflix you need to watch. This movie features a troubled child who gets the courage to help an alien, later becomes a friend, escape the unwelcome Earth, and return to his alien world.
Does he manage to accomplish his goal? Watch the movie for the whole story.
18. Eddy Murphy: Raw (1987)
Director: Robert Townsend
Writer(s): Eddie Murphy, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Tayana Ali, Billie Allen
Eddie Murphy unleashes his stand-up comedy on the world. Hilarious routines about homemakers, dancing, and family are not to be missed.
Need to be entertained? Have a Netflix account and enjoy these best 80s funny movies on Netflix!
19. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Writer(s): John Hughes, 1989 Jeremiah S. Chechik
Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis
Griswold wants to have the perfect Christmas, so he involves his family in elaborate Christmas light displays. However, things turn out into a big disaster.
What happens next? You can stream this movie on Netflix!
20. Do the Right Thing (1989)
Director: Spike Lee
Writer(s): Spike Lee
Cast: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee
In Bedford-Stuyvesant on a hot summer day, tensions between the neighbourhood’s black residents and Italian-American shop owners reach a boiling point as racial slurs are traded and small acts of vandalism escalate into much uglier confrontations. Watch this awesome movie only on Netflix.
21. Mystic Pizza (1988)
Director: Donald Petrie
Writer(s): Amy Holden Jones, Perry Howze. Randy Howze
Cast: Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor
This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix. The movie follows three teenage girls who work at a pizza parlour in Mystic, Connecticut.
One falls for the son of a sailor, one wants the rebellious ex-boyfriend of her older sister to leave the latter alone, and the other is looking for true love. Watch the movie to see what happens next.
22. The Golden Child (1986)
Director: Michael Ritchie
Writer(s): Dennis Fieldman
Cast: Eddie Murphy, J.L Reate, Charles Dance
A private investigator is given the difficult task of saving a young boy who is the key to a major mystery.
But, as his investigation leads him closer to discovering the truth, he begins seeing visions that cause him to question his sanity. You need to watch this fascinating movie on Netflix.
23. Zoot Suit (1981)
Director: Luiz Valdez
Writer(s): Luiz Valdez
Cast: Daniel Valdez, Charles Aidman, Edward James Olmos
Set in early 1941, Los Angeles is a complex story about the events leading up to the infamous Zoot Suit Riots, a series of racial attacks against Mexican-Americans.
They were falsely accused of attacking US sailors. You can watch this and other best 80s action movies on Netflix!
24. Midnight Run (1988)
Director: Martin Brest
Writer(s): George Gallo
Cast: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto
Bounty hunter Jack Walsh is hired by bail bondsman Eddie Moscone to bring accountant Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas back to L.A.
The FBI also wants the accountant because he embezzled $15 million from Chicago mob boss Jimmy Serrano before skipping the jury. This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix you need to watch.
25. The Blue Lagoon (1980)
Director: Randal Kleiser
Writer(s): Novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole, Douglas Day Stewart (Screenplay)
Cast: Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins, Leo McKern
Two young children – Emmeline and Richard – are shipwrecked on a beautiful and secluded island in the South Pacific.
Raised by a carefree nanny who reads to them from Robinson Crusoe, they learn about love and the world’s ways as they reach adolescence. You need to watch this awesome movie on Netflix.
26. Rain Man (1988)
Director: Barry Levinson
Writer(s): Ronald Bass, Barry Morrow
Cast: Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Valeria Golino
Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt’s father left a final wish in his will to see his estranged son on his deathbed.
So Charlie heads to Cincinnati and meets his brother, part of a family that includes an autistic savant brother Raymond and a well-off mother with whom Charlie has nothing in common.
What happens next? Watch this movie on Netflix.
27. Hard Lessons (1986)
Director: Paul Aaron
Writer(s): Eric Monte, Babaloo Mandel
Cast: Pat Morita, Louis Gossett Jr., Corey Haim, Cynthia Kania
A teacher is fired after he gets into a fight with the biggest troublemaker in his class. The principal recommends that he return to his old high school, which doesn’t go well with the students.
What happens next? Watch this movie to get the whole story.
28. Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
Director: Sergio Leone
Writer(s): Harry Grey, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi
Cast: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern
A group of Jewish ghetto kids grows up loyal to each other and to the impoverished community where they live.
Later, after it’s revealed that one of them is an undercover cop, he must question his loyalties when he attempts to infiltrate a gang of criminals led by a childhood friend.
29. Strange Voices (1987)
Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman
Writer(s): Robert Dacks, Nancy Geller, Donna Powers
Cast: Nancy McKeon, Valerie Harper, Stephen Macht
This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix you shouldn’t miss watching. In this movie, a family gets devastated and begins to fall apart because their eldest daughter (Nancy) is among the people with schizophrenia. What happens next? Stream the movie for the whole story.
30. Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story (1988)
Director: Roy Campanella II
Writer(s): Barry Morrow
Cast: Paw Dawber, Michael Nouri, Bess Meyer
This made-for-TV drama chronicles the life of high school football player Charlie Wedemeyer, who has to deal with the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).
The story follows Wedemeyer throughout his struggles and triumphs, including playing football in front of 75,000 people at the Rose Bowl. You can stream this movie on Netflix.
31. A Stoning in Fulham County (1988)
Director: Larry Elikann
Writer(s): Jackson Gillis, Jud Kinberg
Cast: Ken Olin, Jill Eikenberry, Maureen Mueller
When a young girl is murdered at a picnic by three teenage boys, the town’s residents seem to take their anger out on the entire Muslim population – including the teenagers’ parents.
The three boys are brought to trial for the murder, where only one is found guilty while the other two are acquitted.
A huge furor erupts in the town, with many of them calling for an immediate stoning of the boy while some stand up for him and his rights.
32. Police Academy (1984)
Director: Hugh Wilson
Writer(s): Neal Israel, Pat Proft, Hugh Wilson
Cast: Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, Kim Cattrall
When Carey Mahoney’s criminal record prevents him from getting a job as a police officer, he decides to join the NYPD training program along with his motley crew of friends and misfits.
They have a difficult time at first, but eventually, they all start to get the hang of things and learn how to work together as a team. This is one of the best 80s movies on Netflix.
33. Red Dawn (1984)
Director: John Milius
Writer(s): Kevin Reynolds, John Milius
Cast: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson
It’s the tail end of World War III, and an American city is under siege by Russian paratroopers. The city’s in ruins, its inhabitants have fled or died, and the American rebels, a group of high school students, are taken captive.
Just when their capture seems certain, a squad of Green Berets arrives to free them, instructing them on how to work together as a team to take back their city. It is among the best 80s horror movies on Netflix!
34. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer(s): Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, George Lucas
Cast: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan
Indiana Jones and his sidekick Short Round find themselves in India after a run-in with a nightclub singer. They end up in the country’s interior as guests of a local Maharajah who owns a village populated by kids working as slave labourers.
Indy and Short Round soon realize that the Indian children are being forced to mine for the sacred Sankara Stones. What happens next? You need to watch this movie on Netflix for the full story.
35. Little Monsters (1989)
Director: Richard Alan Greenberg
Writer(s): Terry Rossio, Ted Elliot
Cast: Fred Savage, Howie Mandel, Daniel Stern
When a boy named Brian gets a junior model of an electronic games device for his birthday – the same one given to his father – he soon realizes that the machine has a life of its own, and it brings out the monster in anyone who plays with it. This is one of the best 80s movies on Netflix you need to watch.
36. Big (1988)
Director: Penny Marshall
Writer(s): Gary Ross, Anne Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia
When a 12-year-old boy wishes he was big, his wish comes true in a bizarre way: He wakes up the next morning and is transformed into an adult.
He soon realizes that all the problems of being an adult are still there, but now he has to deal with them as an adult, and they seem even worse than before.
37. Dirty Dancing (1987)
Director: Emile Ardolino
Writer(s): Eleanor Bergstein (screenplay)
Cast: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Frances “Baby” Houseman is a 17-year old girl spending the summer with her family at a resort hotel in the Catskills.
There, she meets the hotel’s dance instructor Johnny Castle, and they fall madly in love with each other during summer romance. You need to watch this awesome movie on Netflix for the full story.
38. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Director: John Hughes
Writer(s): John Hughes
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald
Five students from different walks of life come together one Saturday in detention. They are an athlete, a beauty queen, a geek, a rebel, and the daughter of the town’s police captain.
They have nothing in common, but they bond together when faced with a strict disciplinarian of a teacher and discover how their lives are all connected in more ways than they can imagine. This movie is on Netflix.
39. Risky Business (1983)
Director: Paul Brickman
Writer(s): Paul Brickman
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano
This is one of the best 80s movies on Netflix you need to watch as soon as possible. In this film, a straitlaced high school senior turns his house into a brothel while his family is away on vacation.
However, the situation quickly gets out of hand. Watch the movie to see what happens next.
40. Beetlejuice (1988)
Director: Tim Burton
Writer(s): Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren (screenplay), Larry Wilson (story by)
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton
Newly-dead spirits in the afterlife find themselves stuck in a limbo called the Neitherworld.
They must figure out how to improve their status, but they are met by creatures who try to help them achieve that goal in sometimes very creepy ways. Watch the movie for the whole story.
41. Stand by Me (1986)
Director: Rob Reiner
Writer(s): Stephen King (novella “The Body”), Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans (screenplay)
Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman
This coming-of-age drama is about the journey of Gordie Lachance, Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio, who travel across the countryside to get to a rumoured dead body.
However, to achieve their goal, they must first learn how to become adults.
42. St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Writer(s): Carl Kurlander (story), Carl Kurlander
Cast: Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy
This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix. The movie is about several friends that grew up in the city of Washington D.C. and how they deal with growing into adulthood (and some deal with growing out of their adolescence) while still dealing with their demons, such as cancer, adultery, race, suicide attempts, suicides, drug abuse, death.
43. Footloose (1984)
Director: Herbert Ross
Writer(s): Dean Pitchford
Cast: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow
When the main character’s family moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, he takes it upon himself to challenge the ban and revitalize his fellow teenage peers’ love for dancing through the power of music. You can stream this movie on Netflix.
44. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Director: Amy Heckerling
Writer(s): Cameron Crowe (story)
Cast: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold
A high school girl is trying to decide what college to go to deals with her tough-love father, an unplanned pregnancy, “being cool,” and of course, high school boys.
This is among the best 80s movies on Netflix that will blow up your mind. Never miss watching it.
45. Heathers (1989)
Director: Michael Lehmann
Writer(s): Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty
A dark comedy with a twist about Veronica Sawyer and her darker side. She struggles with the “Heathers,” who is popular at her high school, but things go from bad to worse when a new kid comes into the group, and Veronica finds herself in a love triangle. Stream this awesome 80s movie on Netflix.
Conclusion
Though you can watch anything and everything on Netflix, including comedy, thriller, horror shows, Halloween movies, suspense, horror movies, cartoon, action, romance, cooking shows, sci-fi, reality, emotional drama, Marvel shows, and documentaries – best 80s movies on Netflix are a must-watch.
After reading this article, I am sure you are more than willing to check out these best 80s movies on Netflix. This is perfect for those who want the old nostalgic feeling of watching an 80s movie or just want background knowledge of some popular movies they have never seen before.
These movies were major during their time and have stood the test of time. I hope you enjoy these movies on the list!