From classic epics to hidden treasures ready for rediscovery, Paramount+ is overflowing with classic films.

10 timeless classics on Paramount+ for movie lovers

From classic epics to hidden treasures ready for rediscovery, Paramount+ is overflowing with classic films.

By Declan Gallagher

May 7, 2026 4:00 p.m. ET

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Claudia Cardinale in the Old West; Cary Grant on the French Riviera; Samuel L. Jackson in the Valley. Credit:

getty (2); Miramax

Paramount+ has become a hub for lovers of classic movies, offering a carefully curated and diverse library. The streamer’s selection spans the studio's golden age, New Hollywood, the dawn of modern cinema, and beyond. From mid-century masterpieces to iconic genre films, you’ll find several movies that shaped film entertainment as we know it.

While many streaming platforms primarily chase the newest releases, Paramount+ leans into its studio legacy, giving subscribers access to titles that defined eras, launched stars, and influenced generations of directors.

This library includes timeless favorites that still resonate, like *Chinatown* and *Pulp Fiction*, and genre gems that younger movie obsessives may not have gotten around to yet, like *Once Upon a Time in the West*. One way or another, every film here is ripe for discovery — or rediscovery.

Whether you’re revisiting a childhood favorite, exploring film history for the first time, or simply craving a night of nostalgia, these 10 classics offer a reminder of why certain stories endure. They’re not just milestones, but windows into the periods that shaped American culture.

Almost Famous (2000)

Billy Crudup is the guitarist with mystique in 'Almost Famous'.

DreamWorks/courtesy Everett Collection

Inspired by filmmaker Cameron Crowe’s own experiences as a much-younger-than-expected music journalist covering the 1970s rock scene, *Almost Famous *tracks 15-year-old *Rolling Stone *freelancer William (Patrick Fugit) as he embeds himself with Stillwater, a band on the rise.

Perhaps by dint of its autobiographical nature, this is Crowe’s most vibrant picture. It paints an engrossing and grounded portrait of a seminal point in music history, while earning its coming-of-age beats the hard way.

The supporting cast — including Billy Crudup as the band’s enigmatic guitarist, Philip Seymour Hoffman as real-life critic Lester Bangs, and Frances McDormand as William’s mom — is remarkable. That includes Kate Hudson’s Oscar-nominated role as the groupie Penny Lane.

Chinatown (1974)

Jack Nicholson gets a breath of fresh air in 'Chinatown'.

Courtesy Everett Collection

1930s private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) finds himself wrapped up in a case far more complex than he’s used to dealing with. First, a woman named "Evelyn Mulwray" hires him to track her husband. Then the *real *Evelyn Mulwray shows up, and the husband winds up dead. It all has to do with a sprawling conspiracy involving the Los Angeles water department and Evelyn’s very powerful father (John Huston).

Roman Polanski, directing Robert Towne’s brilliant screenplay, creates a master class in character and fatalistic suspense. Taking ample inspiration from Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, *Chinatown* is both a throwback to cinema of decades past and a searingly modern, formally experimental update of film noir traditions.

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Fist of Fury (1972)

Bruce Lee gets ready to take on an entire martial-arts community by himself.

Bruce Lee is Chen Zen, a master martial artist in the early 20th century who returns home to marry his fiancé (Nora Miao), but runs afoul of a group from a Japanese dojo (headed by Chikara Hashimoto).

Words are exchanged, threats are made, and before you know it there’s a bloody rivalry between our hero and the other dojo. A mid-film reveal makes the situation even more personal for Chen. The body count that ensues is… impressive.

*Fist of Fury* is a seminal Bruce Lee work, one of a handful of films, alongside *Enter the Dragon* (1973), in which his ferocious charisma is matched by the filmmaking.

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Al Pacino in his comfy chair in 'The Godfather Part II'. Everett Collection

Francis Ford Coppola’s astonishing sequel exceeds even the grand scope of *The Godfather* (1972). More to the point, it creates a profound other half we didn’t even know the original needed. Expanding the past and foretelling the future of the Corleones, the film finds its predecessor’s corrupted hero Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) ruthlessly expanding his empire in the late 1950s.

Intercut alongside that is the story of his father Vito’s (Robert De Niro) humble beginnings near the turn of the century, as he emigrates from Sicily to America and rises from nothing to something. A sprawling epic of family and the American dream, *The Godfather Part II* has earned its reputation as one of the greatest movies ever made.

Grease (1978)

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in 'Grease'. Paramount Pictures/Fotos International/Getty

*Grease* is still the word five decades later, and for good reason. Randal Kleiser directed this spirited throwback to ’50s Technicolor musicals, which stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as star-crossed lovers Danny and Sandy.

Fractured by the heartless social hierarchy of high school, the two must contend with the judgments and expectations of their own cliques — the greasers and the Pink Ladies (led by the incomparable Stockard Channing as Rizzo) — if they want their love to last beyond graduation. The songs are classics for a reason, and the chemistry between Travolta and Newton-John is electric.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda have a little history in 'Once Upon a Time in the West'.

Sergio Leone’s epic follows a railroader who unleashes his hired hand (Henry Fonda, in a role that remains shockingly against type) to spook the owner off a patch of land. Frank, however, is not in the spooking business — he’s in the killing business. He guns down the whole family… except the rancher’s new wife (Claudia Cardinale), who arrives in town only *after *the massacre.

Suddenly Frank has a new problem on his hands — make that three, including an outlaw (Jason Robards) and the mysterious Harmonica (Charles Bronson).

*Once Upon a Time in the West* is a masterful spaghetti Western. Leone’s pacing is patient and his eye for detail unrivaled. It’s pulse-quickening and heartbreaking, with a collection of images that will live long in your memory.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Samuel L. Jackson takes a bite of Brett's tasty burger in 'Pulp Fiction'. Miramax

Quentin Tarantino’s magnum opus is a classical hard-boiled anthology presented in a distinctly modern voice. The overlapping tales concern a pair of hitmen (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), a past-his-prime boxer (Bruce Willis), a crime lord (Ving Rhames) and his wife (Uma Thurman), and an unfortunately placed gold watch.

*Pulp Fiction* reinvented the crime genre, inspiring a generation of indie filmmakers to try their hand at it… though few, if any, would come close to striking the same kind of lightning. It’s a perfect symbiosis of inspiration and originality from a voice that only comes along once in a generation.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Mia Farrow is positively glowing in 'Rosemary's Baby'.

Roman Polanski helmed this ultra-creepy psychological nightmare about Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), a housewife having the most traumatic pregnancy in movie history.

It’s not just the physical anomalies that she insists (but others deny) are out of the ordinary — it’s that the whole pregnancy is overseen with such unsettling zeal by her elderly neighbors, Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon).

It’s almost a given that the twists of *Rosemary’s Baby* are known to every viewer, even those who haven’t seen the film. But if you’ve managed to avoid significant spoilers, this is one of the most satisfying blind watches of all time and a magnificent exercise in mounting terror.

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson in 'Terms of Endearment'.

Paramount Pictures/Getty

James L. Brooks’ Best Picture winner (based on Larry McMurtry’s novel) stars Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger as Aurora and Emma Greenway, a mother and daughter who are emotionally inseparable yet diametrically opposed. Among their many points of contention is Emma’s decision to marry Flap (Jeff Daniels) and move to Iowa.

*Terms of Endearment* is a rare dramedy that’s hilarious and tragic in equal measure. It’s a magnetic combination of airtight scripting and standout work from the ensemble cast, which also includes Jack Nicholson, John Lithgow, and Danny DeVito.

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Cary Grant takes a spin in 'To Catch a Thief'. Mondadori via Getty

Alfred Hitchcock’s comedic thriller about a retired cat burglar (Cary Grant) who sets out to clear his name amid a spate of copycat crimes is often criticized as slight, but that’s somewhat missing the point.

*To Catch a Thief* contains none of the macabre horrors for which the Master of Suspense’s best-known films are known, but that’s to its benefit: This is a delightful and successful shift in the legendary filmmaker’s oeuvre.

Grant and his co-lead Grace Kelly are sparkling, and together they weave an indelible romantic chemistry in one of the era’s most thrilling and handsomely produced pictures.

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Source: “EW Movie”