Classic Dramas on Netflix

Framed for murder, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison and gradually forms a close bond with older inmate Red.

Year: 1994
IMDb: 9.3
Netflix rating: 4.5/5
Runtime: 02:22:33
Netflix ID: 70005379 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When an organized-crime family patriarch barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son steps in to take care of the would-be killers.

Year: 1972
IMDb: 9.2
Netflix rating: 4.4/5
Runtime: 02:57:03
Netflix ID: 60011152 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This second film in the trilogy explores the Corleone family roots, tracing Don Vito's journey from Sicily to a life of organized crime in New York.

Year: 1974
IMDb: 9
Netflix rating: 4.3/5
Runtime: 03:22:00
Netflix ID: 60011663 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Quentin Tarantino's stylized crime caper weaves together stories featuring a burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner and a washed-up boxer.

Year: 1994
IMDb: 8.9
Netflix rating: 4.1/5
Runtime: 02:34:29
Netflix ID: 880640 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Oskar Schindler becomes an unlikely humanitarian, spending his entire fortune to help save 1,100 Jews from Auschwitz during World War II.

Year: 1993
IMDb: 8.9
Netflix rating: 4.4/5
Runtime: 03:15:04
Netflix ID: 60036359 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Forrest Gump, a friendly, simpleminded man, finds himself in the middle of nearly every major event of the 1960s and '70s.

Year: 1994
IMDb: 8.8
Netflix rating: 4.3/5
Runtime: 02:22:28
Netflix ID: 60000724 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This gripping gangster opus follows real-world mobster Henry Hill, who dreamed of making it big but landed in the Witness Protection Program instead.

Year: 1990
IMDb: 8.7
Netflix rating: 4.3/5
Runtime: 02:25:23
Netflix ID: 70002022 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Léon, a hit man in New York, becomes the unwilling custodian of Mathilda, a vengeful 12-year-old whose family was wiped out by a crooked DEA agent.

Year: 1994
IMDb: 8.5
Netflix rating: 4.1/5
Runtime: 01:49:28
Netflix ID: 7880857 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a Sicilian boy is mesmerized by the movies at his local theater, he befriends a projectionist who tells him to leave home and pursue his dreams.

Year: 1988
IMDb: 8.5
Netflix rating: 4/5
Runtime: 02:04:10
Netflix ID: 60022965 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Al Pacino stars as Cuban refugee Tony Montana, who becomes a Florida drug kingpin but makes the fatal mistake of getting high on his own supply.

Year: 1983
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 4.1/5
Runtime: 02:49:49
Netflix ID: 60029681 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Marine recruits endure the grueling ordeal of basic training and later face the unrelenting Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive in this grim drama.

Year: 1987
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 4.1/5
Runtime: 01:56:30
Netflix ID: 528677 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

While looking out for a misguided child prostitute, an unhinged cabbie descends into madness while grappling with society’s moral decline.

Year: 1976
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 01:53:52
Netflix ID: 18907685 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This Oscar-winning epic tells the true story of T.E. Lawrence, who helped unite warring Arab tribes to strike back against the Turks in World War I.

Year: 1962
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 4.2/5
Runtime: 03:47:04
Netflix ID: 70012020 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Nominated for six Oscars, this edge-of-your-seat dramatic triumph follows the trials of a German U-boat crew during World War II.

Year: 1981
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 03:28:18
Netflix ID: 319867 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

While investigating the appearance of mysterious monoliths throughout the universe, two astronauts battle their ship's intelligent computer system.

Year: 1968
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 02:28:47
Netflix ID: 207856 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The theatrical cut of Wolfgang Petersen's epic drama delves into the lives of a German U-boat crew patrolling treacherous waters during World War II.

Year: 1981
IMDb: 8.3
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 02:29:06
Netflix ID: 70189475 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Retired gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes one last job -- and even more reluctantly accepts a boastful young man as a partner.

Year: 1992
IMDb: 8.2
Netflix rating: 4/5
Runtime: 02:10:36
Netflix ID: 1080395 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

An inept Czech peasant is torn between greed and guilt when the corrupt, Nazi-backed bosses of his small town appoint him 'Aryan controller' of an old Jewish widow's button shop in this drama that earned an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Year: 1965
IMDb: 8.2
Runtime: 02:07:01
Netflix ID: 60011355 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Sylvester Stallone shot to fame as Rocky Balboa, an unknown fighter who's given a shot at fighting world champ Apollo Creed as a publicity stunt.

Year: 1976
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 01:59:35
Netflix ID: 915927 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When four boys seek adventure in the woods while looking for a missing teenager's dead body, they learn some truths about themselves along the way.

Year: 1986
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix rating: 4.1/5
Runtime: 01:28:35
Netflix ID: 994992 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This sweeping epic is set in a World War II Japanese prison camp, where British prisoners are forced to build a bridge as a morale-building exercise.

Year: 1957
IMDb: 8.1
Netflix rating: 4/5
Runtime: 02:42:11
Netflix ID: 60002970 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Hoping to earn some cash during the Thanksgiving holiday, a poor prep-school student agrees to look after a blind and cantankerous retired colonel.

Year: 1992
IMDb: 8
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 02:36:20
Netflix ID: 937499 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Ben Kingsley stars as the diminutive attorney who stood up against British rule in India and became a global symbol of nonviolence and understanding.

Year: 1982
IMDb: 8
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 03:08:23
Netflix ID: 60010384 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Dustin Hoffman turns in a landmark performance as a naïve college graduate who is seduced by a middle-aged neighbor in this Oscar-winning classic.

Year: 1967
IMDb: 8
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 01:45:57
Netflix ID: 555221 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When an insatiable great white shark terrorizes Amity Island, a police chief, an oceanographer and a grizzled shark hunter seek to destroy the beast.

Year: 1975
IMDb: 8
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 02:03:54
Netflix ID: 60001220 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A young physician and his beautiful mistress get swept up in the danger and drama of the Bolshevik Revolution in this Oscar-winning epic.

Year: 1965
IMDb: 8
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 03:19:56
Netflix ID: 449931 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide -- and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's sent to the remote Western frontier.

Year: 1990
IMDb: 8
Runtime: 03:01:06
Netflix ID: 60028940 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Everyone wants to tame 10-year-old Eda, from his conservative father to his regimented new school teacher. But Eda is a free, and mischievous, spirit.

Year: 1991
IMDb: 8
Runtime: 01:40:44
Netflix ID: 81192010 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The athlete, the brain, the criminal, the princess and the basket case break through the social barriers of high school during Saturday detention.

Year: 1985
IMDb: 7.9
Netflix rating: 4/5
Runtime: 01:37:03
Netflix ID: 330210 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Director Spike Lee chronicles trivial events that bring festering racial tensions to the surface on a sweltering day in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

Year: 1989
IMDb: 7.9
Netflix rating: 3.6/5
Runtime: 01:59:47
Netflix ID: 448860 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A shady mayor hires a magical minstrel to lure away rodents with his flute but fails to pay him. Soon, the children of the town begin disappearing.

Year: 1972
IMDb: 7.9
Runtime: 01:30:27
Netflix ID: 70100329 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a neurologist tests an experimental drug on a catatonic patient, he must come to grips with life as an adult as he awakens from a 30-year coma.

Year: 1990
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 02:00:41
Netflix ID: 268371 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

This stirring drama follows the first African-Americans to serve in combat during the Civil War -- and shows how they helped turn the tide of the war.

Year: 1989
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 4/5
Runtime: 02:02:12
Netflix ID: 547335 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Steven Spielberg's 1982 smash hit tells the heartwarming story of the special bond 10-year-old Elliot forges with an alien he names E.T.

Year: 1982
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 01:59:55
Netflix ID: 60022398 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

An assassin agrees to take on one final assignment to raise money for a woman he accidentally maimed during a shootout in John Woo's action thriller.

Year: 1989
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 01:46:35
Netflix ID: 70020140 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Ted is a career-driven yuppie whose wife leaves him and their 6-year-old son. As he adjusts to life as a full-time dad, she comes to reclaim the boy.

Year: 1979
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 01:44:54
Netflix ID: 60010559 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A Southern woman's correspondence with her sister in Africa and friendship with a singer help her escape an abusive husband and a hardscrabble life.

Year: 1985
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 02:33:43
Netflix ID: 60026621 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In this Merchant-Ivory period drama, a dutiful butler dedicates himself to tending his lord's house, turning a blind eye to his Nazi sympathies.

Year: 1993
IMDb: 7.8
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 02:14:15
Netflix ID: 60011325 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In this Academy Award-winning World War II flick, a U.S. Army major is tasked with turning a group of conscripted convicts into a crack fighting unit.

Year: 1967
IMDb: 7.8
Runtime: 02:29:34
Netflix ID: 445422 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Two wealthy Californians consider themselves progressive until their daughter brings home a black fiancé amidst tense race relations in the 1960s.

Year: 1967
IMDb: 7.8
Runtime: 01:48:08
Netflix ID: 564122 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A South Central Los Angeles high schooler struggles to please his father and to stay straight in a community polluted by drugs, violence and racism.

Year: 1991
IMDb: 7.7
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 01:52:12
Netflix ID: 328438 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A canoeing trip down a Georgia river turns sinister when redneck locals descend on a group of friends and force them to kill or be killed.

Year: 1972
IMDb: 7.7
Netflix rating: 3.6/5
Runtime: 01:49:02
Netflix ID: 433193 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

As the military junta ruling Argentina fails, a history teacher begins to suspect that her worst fears about her country and her husband are true.

Year: 1985
IMDb: 7.7
Runtime: 01:55:20
Netflix ID: 80245563 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A railroad apprentice working at a train station in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia carves out some excitement by exploring his sexuality.

Year: 1966
IMDb: 7.7
Runtime: 01:29:05
Netflix ID: 60010240 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A Cairo newsstand vendor's fantasies morph into a dangerous fixation with a lemonade seller as a serial killer begins terrorizing the city.

Year: 1958
IMDb: 7.7
Runtime: 01:13:29
Netflix ID: 70124714 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The Ludlow clan -- father William and brothers Alfred, Tristan and Sam -- splinters when Sam leaves to fight in World War I against his dad's wishes.

Year: 1994
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 02:12:52
Netflix ID: 693960 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Lifer Frank Morris plans his unauthorized departure from Alcatraz in this thriller based on the penitentiary's only successful jailbreak.

Year: 1979
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix rating: 3.9/5
Runtime: 01:51:52
Netflix ID: 480144 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A Jewish master forger is shielded from the atrocities of the concentration camps by agreeing to create counterfeit currency for the Nazis.

Year: 2007
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 01:34:20
Netflix ID: 70083950 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

As inexplicable events baffle experts worldwide, a UFO-obsessed man is drawn to a mysterious mountain that leads to a life-changing encounter.

Year: 1977
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix rating: 3/5
Runtime: 02:14:42
Netflix ID: 70144496 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Arrested in 1970 after trying to smuggle two kilos of hash out of Turkey, American student Billy Hayes faces a nightmare 30-year jail sentence.

Year: 1978
IMDb: 7.6
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 02:00:59
Netflix ID: 759396 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A fisherman returns home after a three-year absence only to find the woman he loves drifting away, the sailors feuding and his community unraveling.

Year: 1956
IMDb: 7.6
Runtime: 01:44:15
Netflix ID: 81252546 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

The Sultan of Egypt and Syria launches a campaign to retake Jerusalem amid the Crusades.

Year: 1963
IMDb: 7.6
Runtime: 03:14:03
Netflix ID: 81252549 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Prem is a budding businessman being tutored by his elder brother, Rajesh. Nisha is the carefree favorite of her elder sister Pooja. Although it's love at first sight for Prem and Nisha, they decide to sacrifice their happiness for their families.

Year: 1994
IMDb: 7.5
Netflix rating: 3.5/5
Runtime: 03:13:07
Netflix ID: 60035870 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A small-town music teacher is visited by an old friend who is a professional musician, setting in motion events that are both reflective and amusing.

Year: 1965
IMDb: 7.5
Runtime: 01:13:45
Netflix ID: 81289310 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A distinguished professor is kidnapped by a mysterious submariner in this innovative blend of visual techniques inspired by the works of Jules Verne.

Year: 1958
IMDb: 7.5
Runtime: 01:22:31
Netflix ID: 81289479 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Feisty New York writer Helene mails a note to a small London bookshop, sparking a touching and humorous correspondence with reserved bookseller Frank.

Year: 1986
IMDb: 7.4
Netflix rating: 3.5/5
Runtime: 01:39:22
Netflix ID: 60023132 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

An argument about fidelity sends a married physician reeling into the night, where he finds himself in a surreal succession of sexual encounters.

Year: 1999
IMDb: 7.4
Netflix rating: 3/5
Runtime: 02:39:00
Netflix ID: 5670434 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When a husband, acting in his family's 'best interest,' does not accept his wife's deathbed wish, providence dictates that he pay for his duplicity.

Year: 1992
IMDb: 7.4
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 02:22:31
Netflix ID: 60029366 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

On the night before two of them leave for college, four high school pals cruise around town finding love and mischief in this coming-of-age classic.

Year: 1973
IMDb: 7.4
Runtime: 01:52:26
Netflix ID: 70019013 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Living in Alexandria during World War II, an Egyptian teen enamored with American films dreams of making it in Hollywood.

Year: 1979
IMDb: 7.4
Runtime: 02:11:07
Netflix ID: 60001801 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In this bittersweet drama, five tight-knit women congregate at a beauty parlor in a small Louisiana town to laugh, cry and discuss their lives.

Year: 1989
IMDb: 7.3
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 01:58:12
Netflix ID: 60001533 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In this counterculture classic, two freewheeling hippies hop on their motorcycles and ride across America, picking up a boozy lawyer along the way.

Year: 1969
IMDb: 7.3
Netflix rating: 3.6/5
Runtime: 01:35:30
Netflix ID: 467895 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A Denmark native shares a marriage of convenience with a womanizing baron. But when they move to Nairobi, she falls for a free-spirited hunter.

Year: 1985
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix rating: 3.8/5
Runtime: 02:40:54
Netflix ID: 60000019 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When bullied teen Daniel LaRusso teams with a martial arts master, he ends up learning much more than just self-defense in this classic underdog tale.

Year: 1984
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 02:06:57
Netflix ID: 60036164 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A well-bred New Yorker engaged to an appropriate, cultured woman puts society's mores to the test when her alluring cousin comes along.

Year: 1993
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix rating: 3.4/5
Runtime: 02:18:26
Netflix ID: 60011002 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

When an intriguing visitor arrives with videotapes of women confessing their sexual secrets, he turns the lives of three people inside out.

Year: 1989
IMDb: 7.2
Netflix rating: 3.3/5
Runtime: 01:39:57
Netflix ID: 952082 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Murder complicates the relationship between a famous singer and her estranged daughter, who's now married to someone from her mother's past.

Year: 1991
IMDb: 7.1
Runtime: 01:53:26
Netflix ID: 80192820 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Gus Van Sant's indie hit hones in on the friendship between Mike and Scott, two hustlers living on the streets of gritty Portland.

Year: 1991
IMDb: 7.1
Runtime: 01:43:55
Netflix ID: 60035031 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Sam is killed by a mugger, but his love for his girlfriend, Molly, endures beyond the grave as Sam's spirit tries to warn Molly that she is in danger.

Year: 1990
IMDb: 7
Netflix rating: 3.6/5
Runtime: 02:06:37
Netflix ID: 60010395 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A vain, self-righteous nobleman falls in love with a village girl and tries to transform her into his version of the ideal woman.

Year: 1971
IMDb: 7
Runtime: 02:33:16
Netflix ID: 80158481 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Dreams of being a Navy pilot prompt Zack to enroll in officer training school, where he runs afoul of a drill instructor who aims to change his ways.

Year: 1982
IMDb: 7
Runtime: 02:04:15
Netflix ID: 60004564 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

While picking hops in the country for the summer, a misunderstood teen experiences first love that soon stirs up both conflict and musical harmony.

Year: 1964
IMDb: 7
Runtime: 01:29:03
Netflix ID: 81289312 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Tom Cruise plays a hotshot pilot who struggles to balance life, responsibility and a love affair while competing at the Navy's fighter-weapons school.

Year: 1986
IMDb: 6.9
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 01:49:32
Netflix ID: 1056189 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Privileged Harvard jock Oliver sparks the anger of his steely, demanding father by falling in love with and marrying a plebeian Radcliffe student.

Year: 1970
IMDb: 6.9
Netflix rating: 3.5/5
Netflix ID: 60020297 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In the 22nd century, the crew of a Russian spaceship travels to a mysterious planet orbiting Alpha Centauri that may be home to extraterrestrial life.

Year: 1963
IMDb: 6.9
Runtime: 01:23:54
Netflix ID: 81289477 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Fate and a tenacious 8-year-old boy conspire to unite a lovelorn widower and an unhappily engaged journalist in this Oscar-nominated romantic comedy.

Year: 1993
IMDb: 6.8
Netflix rating: 3.7/5
Runtime: 01:45:05
Netflix ID: 973331 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

By day, 19-year-old Tony Manero is a paint store clerk, but at night he's a polyester-clad stallion who rules a Brooklyn disco in this iconic film.

Year: 1977
IMDb: 6.8
Netflix rating: 3.5/5
Netflix ID: 60010860 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

In a dystopian future where humans are given narcotics to suppress their emotional and sexual desires, two city dwellers rebel against the status quo.

Year: 1971
IMDb: 6.8
Netflix rating: 3.1/5
Runtime: 01:28:31
Netflix ID: 70000760 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Gangster Bugsy Siegel builds a gambling mecca in the middle of the Nevada desert, but his affair with a screen siren would ultimately bring him down.

Year: 1991
IMDb: 6.8
Runtime: 02:16:08
Netflix ID: 70058803 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A British rock musician rises to superstardom during the 1960s, but handling the pressures of fame proves to be more difficult than he had expected.

Year: 1974
IMDb: 6.7
Netflix rating: 2.9/5
Runtime: 01:47:28
Netflix ID: 80010630 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

A group of peasant farmers fights to protect their village against a corrupt landowner. Adapted from the popular novel by Abdel Rahman al-Sharqawi.

Year: 1970
IMDb: 6.4
Runtime: 02:09:30
Netflix ID: 81252548 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Competition between sugar cane producers turns deadly after a greedy landlord conspires against an agricultural engineer who falls for his daughter.

Year: 1954
IMDb: 6.2
Runtime: 01:56:17
Netflix ID: 81252547 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Longing for a country getaway, a family buys a ramshackle cottage from an aging farmer who, it is soon evident, has no intention of ever leaving.

Year: 1976
Runtime: 01:36:12
Netflix ID: 81225190 · Watch on Netflix

This collection restores films from women who tackled hot-button issues, transcended norms, and left a mark on the history of cinema and the industry.

Year: 1925
Netflix ID: 81030762 · Watch on Netflix · IMDb

Inexperienced young factory worker Andula falls for visiting pianist Milda after they spend one night together in this touching drama. Longing for Milda after he's gone away, Andula decides to track him down in Prague.

Year: 1965
Runtime: 01:20:46
Netflix ID: 60010616 · Watch on Netflix

At the peak of his career, Yehia joins a hunger strike, becomes smitten and reckons with a creative crisis — but finds a new muse.

Year: 1989
Runtime: 01:49:17
Netflix ID: 60001803 · Watch on Netflix

While undergoing heart surgery in London, Yehia reflects on his life as his heart chamber becomes a courtroom where he's tried for his mistakes.

Year: 1982
Runtime: 02:08:59
Netflix ID: 60001802 · Watch on Netflix