25 of the Most Rewatchable Movies Ever Made
Reading Time: 7 minutesI could watch a new movie, sure, but what if I don’t like it?
Without question, we live in an era of media over-saturation. Even post-COVID (lol), the industry is still pumping out new movies and new streaming services to host them on at an alarming rate—and those same services mean we also have easy access to thousands of films from the last century. I never need to rewatch a film again! And yet still, here I am, rewatching Back to the Future.
Because sometimes, you just want a known quantity, and some movies seem designed to be rewatched again and again. The criteria for a rewatchable film varies, but there are some common themes: They tend to have multiple memorable set pieces—scenes that stand out, and that draw our attention, even when the movie’s just playing in the background, whether a musical number, an action sequence, or even a strong emotional beat. They also need to build to a satisfying conclusion—it helps if it’s uplifting, though that’s not a requirement; a worthwhile catharsis will do (think of the ending of The Shawshank Redemption).
It’s also matter of taste, of course (I’ll rewatch Citizen Kane as readily as I’ll rewatch Charlie’s Angels), and nostalgia never hurts. Do we rewatch films because they’re great? Or do we enjoy them because they hit at just the right point in our lives? In spite of that personal variability, the following films are certainly worth seeing more than once. Or twice. Or…
What makes it rewatchable: The time loop has become a wee bit of a trope, but it’s never been done with as much charm as in this, one of its earliest and most iconic incarnations. Andie MacDowell is great, and Bill Murray is at his curmudgeonly best as he slowly comes to accept that moving forward in his life (both metaphorically and literally) might require changing everything about himself.
Where to stream: Starz
What makes it rewatchable: A feel-good prison story that incorporates elements of murder, corruption, and money-laundering, Shawshank is bittersweet (the title’s promised redemption arrives more-or-less on schedule) but never cloying. Happy endings are easy, but this one offers something harder won, and a bit more satisfying, making this Stephen King adaptation more than simple comfort food. The movie also has the resume to back up its rep: It was a cable-TV mainstay for decades, creating a sense of familiarity fed by its ubiquity.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: After years of back-to-back holiday marathons and merchandising, A Christmas Story became very much a victim of its own slow-building success (it did OK at the box office, but not well enough to warrant its afterlife). So, in one sense, A Christmas Story is rewatchable because we’ve had no other choice. That oversaturation, though, hasn’t completely dulled the film’s charms, nor lessened its innovations: it’s cynical about the holiday season, serving as a bit of counter-programming that’s often genuinely funny, but it’s not so dark that the whole family can’t watch. It’s sort of like curling up with a good memoir.
Where to stream: Sling TV, TNT, TBS, Tru TV
What makes it rewatchable: It’s a movie about family and the power of community, big-hearted without being treacly. It’s also the kind of thing that gets played at many a holiday gathering.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: A great action movie needs a great protagonist, and benefits tremendously from a great setting. This one has both—Bruce Willis is doing all the stuff we like about Bruce Willis, and the Nakatomi Plaza setting is brilliantly utilized—we understand the space and therefore always know where John McClane is in relation to the terrorists. It’s all very carefully constructed.
Where to stream: Peacock
What makes it rewatchable: The boozy chemistry between all-time greats Myrna Loy and William Powell gives The Thin Man the kind of loose energy that makes it not only easy to rewatch, but a joy, whether or not you’re paying any attention to the central murder mystery. The other Thin Man movies are good, but none is quite as good (nor nearly as endlessly rewatchable) as the original.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: Endlessly quotable, The Princess Bride is a masterwork of tone, mixing in disparate elements in just the right measures. It’s a parody and a farce, a fairy tale, a fantasy, and a genuinely satisfying love story that adds in pirates for good measure. It’s weird, but not so much as to be off-putting, and always returns to the central character relationships whenever things are getting too silly. It movies from memorable scene to memorable scene effortlessly, which ensures that it’s nearly as enjoyable in bits and pieces as it is from beginning to end.
Where to stream: Disney+, Hulu
What makes it rewatchable: Unlike many beloved classics, The Wizard of Oz wasn’t the slow build its reputation sometimes suggests: The movie actually did very well in theaters initially, and only built its popularity through theatrical re-releases and then endless TV airings. It has hardly lost any steam over the past eight decades. And why would it? It’s a fun all-ages fantasy and a singable musical with a career-making lead performance, with themes around childhood anxieties that still more-or-less hold up.
Where to stream: HBO Max, TNT, TBS, Tru TV
What makes it rewatchable: Written by Tina Fey (shortly before she became a household name), the script balances super sharp comedy with an incisive understanding of high school politics and a worthwhile message about the hollowness of the drive to be the best and prettiest.
Where to stream: Paramount+
What makes it rewatchable: It doesn’t all hold up perfectly (the women here are mostly the objects of the jokes), but there’s still a reason Friday became a cult classic. At a time when white America was particularly worked up about rap and hood culture, it dared to have a little fun. And when it’s funny, it’s really funny.
Where to stream: Paramount+
What makes it rewatchable: We love a heist, and this one is cleverly constructed in the ways in which it goes right, and then wrong, and the setup and execution are slippery enough that you kind of forget how it all goes down between viewings. The all-star cast adds panache.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: Though this is a Black story told by a largely white team behind the camera, it’s Steven Spielberg at his most humane. The multigenerational story includes some of the best actors of their generations playing some of their most memorable characters. While not everyone gets a happy ending, the conclusion is about as satisfying as they come.
Where to stream: Tubi
What makes it rewatchable: It’s just tremendous fun, with jokes that remain funny and gravity-defying dance numbers that all look effortless, even when it’s clear that the incredibly talented cast must’ve been working their asses off in order to make things look so easy.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: Another one that works whether you’re paying attention or not, Hitchcock knew that the singular charms of his heroes and villains were more than enough to carry a picture, provided that the action set pieces offered suitable thrills. I’m not even sure what the baddies are after here, but I’ve never turned it off.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: Raiders of the Lost Ark remains the best of the series, but a good case can be made that Last Crusade is the more rewatchable entry (I’m sure I’m not alone in having seen both of them plenty of times). Crusade is a bit lighter than its predecessor, a little bit looser and more fun, with great chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.
Where to stream: Digital rental
What makes it rewatchable: Making wacky comedies that were also kind of art was a particular skillset that ’80s filmmakers seemed to possess, and there’s a meticulousness to the film’s construction that belies the cynical-but-easygoing vibe that Bill Murray personifies. It’s goofy, but it all holds together. (The 2016 remake lacks the solid construction that made this one a classic, but is also rewatchable for its similarly talented cast; a hill I shall die on).
Where to stream: Freeform
What makes it rewatchable: The first Sister Act is a better movie, a highlight of the era when we were moving away from R-rated sex comedies into more family-friendly fare (for better and worse). But the second Sister Act is both more real with its characters’ move into the inner city, but also campier and weirder in its efforts to blend the Lean on Me-style school drama with a singing nuns/mistaken-identity farce. Nineties kids instantly recognize the jams, mom jeans, and spontaneous break-dancing as signifiers of the era. It also builds to a genuinely joyful finale, even if you’re a bit embarrassed for the white boy rapping in overalls.
Where to stream: Disney+
What makes it rewatchable: In these days of manufactured camp, there’s more value than ever in something that’s simply the product of queer weirdos putting their heads together. Most frequently experienced as a communal event, and demanding very little beyond a willingness to sing along and maybe pull on some fishnets, it’s the kind of movie that, I suspect, very few people have seen just once.
Where to stream: Digital rental
What makes it rewatchable: There’s a great supporting cast here, but this is Eddie Murphy at his ’80s best—wildly funny, and just profane enough. It’s just scene after memorable scene.
Where to stream: Digital rental
What makes it rewatchable: It is, by far, the most standalone of the many Star Trek movies, working on its own as a sci-fi cat-and-mouse movie with a wildly memorable protagonist. [Editor’s note: Star Trek VI though?]
Where to stream: Digital rental
What makes it rewatchable: It’s several things at once, and does them all well. New Jack City is a serious, thoughtful crime crime drama; it’s an impressively thrilling action movie; and it’s a time capsule of ’90s cool, as epitomized by Wesley Snipes.
Where to stream: Tubi
What makes it rewatchable: The iconic movie of Hollywood’s golden age, you know the lines (and the ending) even if you’ve never seen it. If you have seen it, it’s unlikely you’ve seen it only once.
Where to stream: HBO Max
What makes it rewatchable: Slasher fans are loyal (putting my hand up), so a list of rewatchable movies could easily be overrun with Freddys, Jasons, Michaels, and Ghostfaces. So, though this choice is slightly arbitrary, Dream Warriors is Freddy at his height, still scary in the era just prior to his wise-cracking huckster phase. Every scene/kill here is memorable on its own, and there’s an almost Avengers-like quality to the anti-Freddy team that assembles to bring him down.
Where to stream: Tubi
What makes it rewatchable: Ferris is the coolest kid in school, somehow managing that without being insufferable (mostly). There are elements to his laid-back attitude and concern for his friends that most of us could stand to learn from. This is another that goes from memorable scene to memorable scene.
Where to stream: Paramount+, Pluto TV
What makes it rewatchable: A band of outsiders teams up to stop an alien invasion on a council estate. It’s energetic and action-packed, with memorable characters and even more memorable aliens. Plus, it’s the movie that teamed up a future Star Wars lead (John Boyega) with a future Doctor Who (Jodie Whitaker).
Where to stream: Starz
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What makes it rewatchable: Ripped from the pages of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s heavily manga-influenced graphic novel series, this 2010 Edgar Wright underperformer seemed designed to play better on a second (of fifth) viewing. The humor is incredibly dense, every shot peppered with background gags and onscreen graphics, and the episodic plot—with goofy loser ‘hero’ Scott going up against his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriends in cartoonish one-on-one showdowns—recreate the experiences of moving from level to level in a video game you just can’t put down.
Where to stream: Peacock