Five classic films to binge before they disappear from Netflix
You just hate it when you see that word “leaving” on Netflix, because what do you mean? Unfortunately, that’s how the streaming world works, and we have no option but to bear with it.
What stings more is the removal of old classics because the recent ones haven’t been watched just yet. What you crave most of the time is nostalgia, the slow-paced movies. The ones where chaos and overdoing things were the fashion.
But they are leaving. All five. Netflix is dragging them out the door on February 1st, and it might look like it’s not a big deal, but it is. All five movies are ABSOLUTE classics, and consider this your warning to binge them before the weekend.
So no excuses this time, as you have to treat them like the royalty they are. Because when they are gone, you will scroll through the app, see nothing but silence, and wish you had just watched them one more time.
Five classic films to binge before they disappear from Netflix
Charlie’s Angels (McG, 2000)
If you have never seen Drew Barrymore backflip off a racing car in slow motion while Destiny’s Child is playing in the background, have you even lived? Charlie’s Angels is what happens when the early 2000s go completely off the rails and where gravity moves out of the picture when it comes to hair and action sequences. These sequences laugh in the face of physics, and why not when you have three women who are so effortlessly iconic you forget the plot halfway through because you are too busy watching them obliterate bad guys in couture?
Apart from Barrymore, you’ve got Cameron Diaz dancing like no one’s watching and Lucy Liu walking like she owns the FBI. And Drew? Drew makes motorcycle crashes look flirty. It’s when the action decides to flirt with glossy, and that’s how a masterpiece like Charlie’s Angels is created. If you grew up on this, you already know. If you didn’t? Fix that now, before it’s gone.
Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
Bill Murray wakes up. Again. And again. And again. We have all had days when we have the realisation that we are stuck in the same boring loop. Work, screen, sleep, repeat. Groundhog Day is that feeling turned into a movie, but it’s hilarious and full of existential dread that goes down easy with a touch of romance. It’s one of those movies that are made for fun but become accidentally deep.
You start laughing at the ridiculous repetition, but somewhere in the middle, you realise you are emotionally invested in this man figuring out how not to be the worst. And by the end, it feels so, so comforting that even a grumpy weatherman can change.
Mr & Mrs Smith (Doug Liman, 2005)
Ah, the ultimate Hollywood sensation from the early 2000s that made people believe in hot married people who might also be undercover assassins. Mr & Mrs Smith is pure adrenaline and unresolved tension disguised as a marriage crisis, and yes, it still slaps. And god, it’s sexy! Forget everything; the tension between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is so sharp that it doesn’t even need dialogue. Their body language has more drama than most entire films.
And to be fair, this film’s not exactly about plot; it’s about vibe, as every scene is a duel, a dance, a breakup, or a betrayal. Kudos to director Doug Liman for making it all flirty. They fight in formalwear as they destroy their own house and then have dinner like it’s normal. It should be ridiculous, and maybe it is, but it’s also impossible to stop watching.
The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
No intro needed for this one, and if you know, you know. The Terminator was never just a sci-fi movie. This film was the blueprint of the future. An inspiration to an entire genre of films. It rewrote what movies could look like. You get dystopia, you get time travel, and you get Arnold Schwarzenegger stomping through LA. Umm, that’s more than enough!
It’s about a woman named Sarah Connor who is living a normal life when she finds out a killer robot has been sent from the future to get rid of her. At the same time, another man from the future shows up to protect her. That is all you need to know, and the rest is pure tension.
Dr Dolittle (Betty Thomas, 1998)
Eddie Murphy talking to animals, and that’s it. That’s the pitch, and it works. Dr Dolittle isn’t some deep, layered masterpiece but just pure 90s comedy doing exactly what it came to do and doing it better than it had any right to. The jokes land, and the animals? They don’t just talk… these creatures roast, gossip, and deliver punchlines.
DR Dolittle is one of those films where you realise that you have seen this movie way more times than you admit. Murphy carries every second, of course, and even the wildest moments feel like comfort food for your brain. If this film raised you, rewatch it. If you missed it, now is your shot. And hurry up as it leaves February 1st.