5 classic movies on Paramount+ I wish I had watched sooner

Published Nov 8, 2026, 4:15 PM EST After graduating from Marist University with a degree in communications and journalism, Dan Girolamo has over 10 years of experience writing about entertainment and sports. Dan's work can be seen in various publications, including Digital Trends, SportsCasting, and Tom's Guide. Throughout his career, Dan has interviewed several high-profile filmmakers and creatives, including Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis, Caitriona Balfe, Frank Grillo, Miranda Cosgrove, Jai Courtney, Chris Columbus and James Cameron. Dan joins How-To Geek as a Senior Editor. When he's not writing about entertainment, Dan is either watching a movie or praying for the New York Knicks to win a championship. Ask any film fan, and they'll tell you some classic movies they've never seen. I've never seen Gone with the Wind. It's frequently ranked among the highest-grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation. That's probably one I need to check off of my list sooner rather than later. I would categorize all five of the movies on this list as classics, though some of them are cult classics. You'll notice directors like Brian De Palma and Paul Thomas Anderson as well as stars, including Kevin Costner and Eddie Murphy. I watched these later in life, but they impacted me to the point where I've since seen them multiple times. Now, you can stream all five of these classic movies on Paramount+. The Running Man Stephen King's novel gets the Arnold Schwarzenegger treatment If you're watching 1987's The Running Man hoping to see a faithful adaptation of a novel by Stephen King (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman), you've come to the wrong place. Glen Powell's 2025 adaptation resembles the book more than Schwarzenegger's movie, but the former is considered a massive financial failure, while the latter has achieved cult classic status. In a dystopian future, Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) is framed for massacring innocent people and sent to jail. After an escape attempt fails, Richards is forced to compete on The Running Man, a televised game show where contestants ("runners") can earn their freedom by surviving a group of trained killers ("stalkers"). The Running Man is pure 1980s camp. Schwarzenegger delivers more one-liners than a stand-up comedian. The villains rival theme park employees in their costumes. Richard Dawson's Damon Killian is ahead of his time as an eccentric, morally bankrupt television host. It's a fun action romp that I watch whenever I catch it on TV. Ghost Pottery, anyone? Reading about the critical and financial success of Ghost blows my mind, not because it's a bad movie, but because it would never happen in 2026. A romantic drama could never become the highest-grossing film of the year, but Ghost did that in 1990 ($505 million worldwide). It's improbable that a supernatural love story would win two Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Whoopi Goldberg and Best Original Screenplay for Bruce Joel Rubin. Stats aside, Ghost is undoubtedly a crowd pleaser with three likable leads in Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Goldberg. After being tragically murdered, Sam Wheat (Swayze) becomes a ghost and learns his girlfriend Molly Jensen (Moore) is still in danger. Sam can only communicate with one person: Oda Mae Brown (Goldberg), a psychic medium who reluctantly agrees to help Sam. Is Ghost sappy at times? Sure, but it's very entertaining and surprisingly funny. It still contains the most iconic pottery scene in movie history. Ghost Release Date July 13, 1990 The Untouchables I think I'll have a drink Costner embarked on a heater from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, culminating with his Oscar wins for Dances With Wolves. Costner's historic run starts with The Untouchables, De Palma's 1987 crime film set during prohibition. Prohibition agent Eliot Ness (Costner) is tasked with doing what seemed impossible in 1930: bring down Chicago-based gangster Al Capone (Robert De Niro). To take down a criminal, Ness assembles a four-man team, including officer James Malone (Sean Connery), police academy trainee George Stone (Andy Garcia), and accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith). De Palma's slick camera techniques and David Mamet's fast-paced dialogue are a winning combination. Connery won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but Costner arguably wins the movie, delivering a performance that helped establish him as a leading man for the next two decades. Hard Eight PTA's career begins ​​​​​​​ In the list of PTA's greatest movies, Hard Eight is rarely mentioned at the top. I'm not here to argue that it's Anderson's best movie or even in its top three. I watched movies like Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood before seeing Hard Eight, so I'm glad I finally went back to the start and watched the blueprint for the character dramas and distinct visual style that would come to define PTA's career. In Las Vegas, Sydney Brown (Philip Baker Hall) is an experienced gambler with a mysterious past who takes the goofy John Finnegan (John C. Reilly) under his wing. Two years later, John is thriving under Sydney's guidance, but cocktail waitress Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his shady friend (Samuel L. Jackson) threaten to bring him down, forcing Sydney to intervene. Complex characters forced to make difficult choices are the PTA way. 48 Hrs. The star is born With some actors, you can tell within minutes that they're destined for stardom. Murphy had been making audiences laugh on Saturday Night Live since 1980, but 1982's 48 Hrs. is the movie that showcased his movie star potential. The hard-nosed Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) is a San Francisco police inspector tasked with capturing two criminals who killed other cops. I grew up watching Murphy's movies from the 1990s, so going back to his 1980s filmography helped me understand why he became a star. In an unprecedented move, Jack seeks the help of Reggie Hammond (Murphy), a criminal who knows one of the murderers. Jack forges a document to have Reggie released from prison and put into his custody for 48 hours to help with the investigation. Murphy's wisecracking performance and Nolte's tough-minded portrayal laid the blueprint for a buddy cop comedy that many films would follow. 48 Hrs Release Date December 7, 1982 More Paramount+ content to check out Once HBO Max and Paramount+ combine, consumers will theoretically be able to watch Game of Thrones alongside Dutton Ranch on the same service. Until then, check out Paramount+'s intriguing sci-fi collection, including Interstellar and Star Trek. 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