From 80s and 90s classics to beach films and epic love stories, we’ve put together a list of movies that remind us of summer – then and now. So if you’re planning on staying in to beat the heat, power up your Roku device and let’s get streaming!
National Lampoon’s Vacation – Advertising executive, Clark Griswold, becomes consumed with taking his family cross-country to Wally World, a California amusement park. | Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
The Parent Trap – Identical twin sisters are separated shortly after birth by the break-up of their parents. Unaware of each other’s existence, the girls coincidentally meet at summer camp. | Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
The Goonies – A group of misfit kids search for buried treasure in a subterranean cavern. | Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu
The Baby-Sitters Club – Kristy Thomas and her six best friends struggle to make their successful business – the Baby-Sitters Club – into a full-fledged summer day camp. When a group of try to shut down the camp, the girls must band together to keep their dream alive. | Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
The Little Rascals – Mischievous youngsters Spanky and Buckwheat lead an anti-girl organization, and they pick their buddy Alfalfa to represent them in an all-important soapbox car rally. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Heavyweights – Gerry is not looking forward to his summer vacation, since he’ll be spending it at a camp for overweight boys in order to shed pounds. | Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Dirty Dancing – Baby is one summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she’s disappointed when her family decides to spend the summer at a sleepy resort. | Prime Video, Hulu, FandangoNOW, Vudu, Redbox
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – When they turn 16, four lifelong friends are upset over the prospect of spending their first summer apart. As they scatter to different locations, their one bond is a cherished pair of jeans they’ve shared. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Grease – In the summer of 1958, local boy Danny Zuko and vacationing Sandy Olsson meet at the beach and fall in love. When the summer comes to an end, Sandy—who is going back to Australia—frets that they may never meet again, but Danny tells her that their love is “only beginning.” | Netflix, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
My Girl – The story of eleven-year-old Vada, a small-town tomboy, whose world is turned upside down when her widowed father decides to remarry. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Mamma Mia – Longing to discover the identity of her true father before she exchanges her wedding vows, the daughter of a once-rebellious single mother secretly invites a trio of paternal candidates to her upcoming wedding. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Comedy
Wet Hot American Summer – It’s the last day before everyone goes back to the real world, but there’s still a summer’s worth of unfinished business to resolve. At the center of the action is camp director Beth, who struggles to keep order while she falls in love with the local astrophysics professor. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Adventureland – A recent college graduate discovers that he’ll have to get a minimum-wage job at a local amusement park instead of spending his summer drinking German beer, visiting world-class museums, and flirting with cute French girls. | Netflix, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Do The Right Thing – Salvatore “Sal” Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Weekend at Bernie’s – Fun-loving salesmen Richard and Larry are invited by their boss, Bernie, to stay the weekend at his posh beach house. Little do they know that Bernie is the perpetrator of a fraud they’ve uncovered and is arranging to have them killed. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Girls Trip – When four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there’s enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush. | Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Action/Thriller
Jaws – When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry Vaughn overrules him, fearing that the loss of tourist revenue will cripple the town. | Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu
Point Break – After a string of bizarre bank robberies in Southern California, with the crooks donning masks of various former presidents, a federal agent, Johnny Utah, infiltrates the suspected gang. | Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu
Cats & Dogs – Unknown to humans, a secret war has been raging between cats and dogs for eons, but a fragile truce has long held the order of the animal kingdom in place.
Charlotte’s Web – After learning that a young pig’s days are numbered, a literate spider weaves an elaborate plan to save her friend from the butcher’s block.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Spawned from a lab experiment gone awry, teenage terrapins Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael live in the sewers beneath New York. Although their rodent sensei, Splinter, advises against showing themselves above ground, the justice-loving, pizza-eating brothers can’t stand idly by while evil Shredder and his minions terrorize the city.
The Perfect Storm – Based on a true story, the film tells of the courageous men and women who risk their lives every working day, pitting their fishing boats and rescue vessels against the unpredictable forces of nature.
Two Weeks Notice – Dedicated environmental lawyer Lucy Kelson goes to work for billionaire George Wade as part of a deal to preserve a community center.
Looking for even more to watch? Here’s what’s new on Netflix in July.
Happy Summer Streaming!
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Carolyn Galvante
