The 15 best movies on Starz to watch again and again

Apollo 13 (1995)

The United States’ fifth trip to the moon was expected to feature NASA’s third walk on the lunar surface. But when an explosion onboard the service module compromised the Apollo 13 mission and the safety of the astronauts, NASA’s priority shifted to getting their people home safely.

Ron Howard’s dramatization of the 1970 space emergency was a hit among critics and viewers when it was released in 1995, earning nine Academy Award nominations, including a nod for Best Picture. This interpretation of the events pledges fealty to the source material, sometimes at the expense of character development, but the film’s all-star cast is more than equipped to pick up the slack. —Ilana Gordon 

Where to watch Apollo 13: Starz

EW grade: B

Director: Ron Howard 

Cast: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris

Bourne Identity (2002)

The first of five films in the Jason Bourne franchise, this action film serves as the origin story for the man who goes from government agent to government target. After an unidentified male is fished out of the water with two gunshots in his back and a total lack of memory or identity, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) goes on a mission to find out who he is, where he came from, and why so many shadowy operatives are hunting him. A spycraft thriller that doesn’t skimp on chase scenes or fight sequences, The Bourne Identity might not be the best the franchise has to offer, but it possesses a magic all its own. —I.G.

Where to watch The Bourne Identity: Starz

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

Mike Nichols put a bow on his illustrious directing career in 2007 with Charlie Wilson’s War, a biographical comedy about Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks). A legislator more known for his partying than his policy, Wilson makes it his mission to covertly organize artillery support for Afghan rebels fighting the Soviet Union.

Aaron Sorkin wrote the script, which is set in 1980 during the Soviet-Afghan War, and Nichols packs his project with A-list talent, including Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hanks takes a detour from his traditional nice guy roles to sleaze it up as the hard-drinking, sweet-talking Wilson, and that alone is worth a watch. —I.G.

Where to watch Charlie Wilson’s War: Starz

Director: Mike Nichols

Cast: Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams, Ned Beatty

Dazed and Confused (1993)

During the summer of 1992, Richard Linklater gathered all the up-and-coming talent in young Hollywood and shipped them off to Texas to make a film about the last day of the 1976 school year. Dazed and Confused is the vehicle that launched Matthew McConaughey’s career, but truthfully, his performance would have been lost without the movie’s strong, mostly undiscovered ensemble.

Linklater used Dazed and Confused to continue developing his signature style — as seen in his first feature, Slacker (1990) — for making naturalistic movies crammed with contemporary dialogue, some of which was improvised by his cast. The film flopped upon release, but Linklater’s ability to capture the nostalgia and hopefulness of this particular life period earned Dazed and Confused the third slot on EW’s list of the 50 best high school movies. —I.G.

Where to watch Dazed and Confused: Starz

Director: Richard Linklater

Cast: Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The life lessons of Steven Spielberg’s tender sci-fi masterpiece remain as potent as they were in 1982. After young Elliott (Henry Thomas), a child of divorce, meets with an alien left behind on Earth by his species, a unique friendship is formed as Elliott tries desperately to protect him and help reconnect him with his home planet. Emphasizing the value of tolerance, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial also evokes childlike wonder in adults through John Williams’ arresting score and Spielberg’s expert direction, making for the perfect family viewing. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: Starz

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler’s feature directorial debut, also represents the beginning of his creative partnership with Michael B. Jordan. The duo’s onscreen legacy — which includes the Creed and Black Panther franchises, and 2025’s Sinners — begins on Dec. 31, 2008, in an Oakland train station. Jordan plays Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old father who was killed by BART Police on New Year’s Day 2009, after defending himself in a fight on a train; the film chronicles the last day of his life.

Grant’s real-life death was one of the many instances of police brutality that precipitated the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the film premiered the same year BLM was founded. Coogler’s work helped further the cause, with EW’s review stating, “He puts us in touch with the full, wrenching humanity.” —I.G.

Where to watch Fruitvale Station: Starz

EW grade: A

Director: Ryan Coogler

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray

Gladiator (2000)

The 1960s were known for ”sword-and-sandal movies” — splashy epics like Ben-Hur and Spartacus that centered Roman Republic heroics against backdrops of sand dunes and ancient architecture. In 2000, Ridley Scott revived the genre, casting Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix as opposing forces in a battle for Roman political control.

Crowe plays Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, a family man with a fierce aptitude on the battlefield. When Commodus (Phoenix) learns his father, the emperor, plans to make Maximus his successor, Commodus has his father and Maximus’ family killed. Maximus’ quest to avenge his loved ones takes him on a journey from soldier to being enslaved, forced to do battle in the arena in the hopes of securing his freedom and justice for his family. —I.G.

Where to watch Gladiator: Starz 

EW grade: A–

Director: Ridley Scott 

Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi

Hot Fuzz (2007)

The buddy cop genre goes British in Hot Fuzz, a film about Sgt. Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) who is transferred to a different district for being too good at his job. Instead of kicking down doors and catching bad guys, Sergeant Angel finds himself in the charming village of Sandford, where the crime rate is nonexistent — but, somehow, the villagers keep winding up dead.  

Directed by Edgar Wright — who previously collaborated with Pegg on the zombie hit Shaun of the Dead — Hot Fuzz is for people who like Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys, but wish those films offered more of a cottage core aesthetic. EW’s critic notes Wright and Pegg’s “sharp instincts for the hilarity of cultural differences. They just love mucking around in the pond of temperamental differences that separates the U.K. and the States.” —I.G. 

Where to watch Hot Fuzz: Starz

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent

Loving (2016)

Loving is a historical drama about the 1967 Supreme Court decision that invalidated state laws that prohibited interracial marriage. But, it’s also a romance about the marriage at the center of that case. Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton star as Mildred and Richard Loving, the Virginia couple who were told they couldn’t live in the same state for 25 years, took their case to the Supreme Court, and the rest is history.

„I think it’s time to celebrate them and what they achieved,“ Negga tells EW, „and, you know, it’s also just a beautiful love story, the most beautiful love story that’s ever been told, to be honest.“ —Lia Beck

Where to watch Loving: Starz

EW grade: B

Director: Jeff Nichols

Cast: Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

It’s impossible for anyone to fully capture Nelson Mandela’s impact, and the biggest issue in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is that the film tried. Released only a few months before the activist’s death at the age of 95 in December of 2013, Mandela is a comprehensive remembering of his story, starting with his political awakening and incarceration, and ending with his rise to power as South Africa’s president in a postapartheid world. 

Idris Elba doesn’t look like Mandela, but he doesn’t need to: His towering performance captures the former president’s spirit and convictions. Released around the same time as 12 Years a Slave, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom doesn’t pack the same emotional punch, but it remains an important biography of a once-in-a-lifetime leader. —I.G.

Where to watch Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom: Starz

Director: Justin Chadwick

Cast: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Lindiwe Matshikiza

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

We have Night of the Living Dead to thank for our modern idea of zombies and the many tropes attached to the subgenre. Legendary director George Romero was inspired by the 1954 novel I Am Legend for this independent horror classic, which centers the action on a farmhouse overrun by ravenous, undead “ghouls.” The film’s allusions to then-current events (the Vietnam War) just make it all the more resonant. —K.J.

Where to watch Night of the Living Dead: Starz

Director: George Romero

Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Judith Ridley

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Tom Holland’s third solo Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, ties up some loose ends and touches hearts while doing it. The film’s actors and production team were vigilant about keeping spoilers under wraps, and almost five years later, it’s still worth protecting some of the movie’s most special moments. Suffice it to say that a number of characters return, fans and critics loved the film, and Holland continues to take impeccable care of Peter Parker during his Marvel tour of duty.

EW’s critic applauds the ending, writing “what seems at first like pure fan service turns out to be some of the best and by far the most meta stuff Marvel has done, tender and funny and a little bit devastating.” —I.G.  

Where to watch Spider-Man: No Way Home: Starz

EW grade: B+

Director: Jon Watts

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau

Waterworld (1995)

Waterworld cost $200 million to make, required 166 days to shoot, and got a bad rap when it arrived in theaters. Often compared to Mad Max, time and global warming have given people reason to reconsider the merits of this postapocalyptic science fiction film. Set in 2500, the movie finds the planet underwater after rising seas and melting ice caps covered the land, driving humans onto floating communities. Waterworld is, 30 years after its debut, depressingly prescient.

Kevin Costner stars as the Mariner, a nomad with a boat and a talent for defending himself against the gangs that travel the seas, raiding local communities. When the Mariner rescues a woman named Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and a young girl named Enola (Tina Majorino), he discovers he might have found the key to accessing dry land. —I.G.

Where to watch Waterworld: Starz

EW grade: B

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Cast: Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Michael Jeter

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

There are many reasons why Nora Ephron movies are considered the gold standard of romantic comedies — and When Harry Met Sally is one of those reasons. A classic tale of “will they or won’t they?” Rob Reiner’s film follows Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as Harry Burns and Sally Albright, recent college grads who first meet on a road trip from Chicago to New York City. As the years pass, the two grow up and settle down separately in the Big Apple, where they continue to run into each other, building a relationship to be envious of.

Ephron’s witty screenplay stands solidly on its own, but also benefits from the inclusion of Crystal’s riffs and improvisations, including the now infamous line, „I’ll have what she’s having.“ —I.G.

Where to watch When Harry Met Sally: Starz

Director: Rob Reiner

Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby

World War Z (2013)

When you take away a zombie’s one weakness — its tendency towards slow-motion movement — you get World War Z, a zombie film in which the villains don’t so much stagger as swarm. Brad Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a former U.N. Investigator with the skills and connections necessary to save his wife and two young daughters — but only if he agrees to identify the origin of the outbreak, and help humanity survive a planet-wide zombie apocalypse.

EW says the film may be „the most entertaining and accomplished zombie thriller since George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead,“ and if that’s not incentive enough, you get to see Pitt in a role that has him exemplifying „feral grace under pressure.“ —I.G.

Where to watch World War Z: Starz

EW grade: A–

Director: Marc Forster

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale