Prince famously declared he wants to “party like it’s 1999,” but at Netflix in August, the streamer’s best movies all come from a different year — 1993.
The best new movies on Netflix were released within months of each other in 1993, and they all still hold up in 2025. They have something else in common — they all have a 90 percent or higher score on Rotten Tomatoes.
That’s a great indicator that Jurassic Park, Dazed and Confused and Groundhog Day are all worth watching on Netflix in August or any time of the year.
‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94 percent
Alright, alright, alright! Coming of age never felt so good — or felt so cool — than it did in Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater’s seminal comedy about growing up in 1976 Austin, Texas. Set over 12 hours on the last day of school, the film follows freshly minted seniors and incoming freshmen as they drive around looking for a killer party.
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There’s precious little plot in Dazed and Confused; instead, there’s plenty of hang time with such memorable characters as Slater (Rory Cochrane), who is perpetually stoned out of his mind; Darla (Parker Posey), the borderline psychotic leader of a group of senior girls; Newhouse (Adam Goldberg), who has strange, erotic dreams about Abraham Lincoln; and Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey), a twentysomething loser who still hasn’t grown up.
And that’s just part of a stacked cast, some of whom went on to bigger — but not necessarily better — things. Because it’s set at the beginning of summer, it’s the perfect movie to watch right now, but really, you can watch this around Christmas and still enjoy all of its subtle, hidden pleasures.
‘Jurassic Park’ (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 91 percent
Everyone’s seen Jurassic Park by now. But have you rewatched it lately? If not, do so — it’s still a magical experience that has never been replicated in all the sequels and reboots that came after it.
As Jurassic Park opens, old rich guy John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is about to open a theme park with genetically cloned dinosaurs. He invites several experts, including Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), to make sure everything is safe. But the dinosaurs soon break free, and the park becomes a dangerous place that the humans, including Hammond’s grandchildren, have to escape from before they become the dinos’ next meal.
It doesn’t take much to recommend Jurassic Park. The groundbreaking CGI that brought ancient dinosaurs to life is still breathtaking and surprisingly realistic; when the T Rex chases a speeding jeep through a forest, it looks and sounds terrifyingly real. Director Steven Spielberg is a master at helming fantastic action set pieces, but he never loses sight of the heart of the story or his characters. The result is a rare sci-fi movie that’s unabashedly emotional and inspiring.
‘Groundhog Day’ (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94 percent
Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is a weatherman who hates his job, and he particularly loathes his latest assignment: covering the annual Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. But what starts as a routine assignment soon turns hellish — at least for Phil — as he begins to relive the same day over and over again. Phil being Phil, he initially exploits this purgatory for all of its carnal worth — he sleeps with the hot townie, he eats whatever he wants, and he commits criminal acts that lead to his arrest or even death. No matter; the next day, he’s back where he started — waking up to Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You, Babe.”
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In lesser hands, this movie would be either too broadly funny or too depressing. But somehow, director Harold Ramis finds the right balance — he mines existential angst for laughs, and he gets them. This movie is funny in ways few comedies are, and it gives Murray one of his best roles as a cynical asshole who finds out he has a heart buried underneath all that sarcasm. Groundhog Day is so good, you can watch it over and over again — and you won’t need a cosmic time loop for you to do it.
