Netflix '80s Fix: RoboCop Gets Moonstruck By D.A.R.Y.L. While Dirty Dancing With Mr. Mom

Newly available '80s movies on Netflix streaming are just a click away! January 1st became a huge disappearing act for a slew of '80s favorites, but luckily several new movies are here to ease the pain. Get ready to rewatch some classics as well as revisit a couple films that I'm pretty sure haven't been to Netflix streaming before. Also after several months of no new TV shows, I've got two ready to pass along this month.

Also check out this month's exclusive features including the 80s Pop Twenty and a couple films featuring some acting debuts. It's time to get your fix!

RoboCop (1987)

Rated R Add to queue

In Paul Verhoeven's landmark sci-fi thriller, the monolithic corporation controlling a futuristic, crime-riddled Detroit transforms a dead cop into a cybernetic law-enforcement unit called RoboCop, and soon the streets are safe.

RoboCop returns to Netflix with his full arsenal of films including RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. I watched the series a couple years ago on Netflix which like most movie series gets progressively worse. I was never a big fan as a teenager which maybe the reason why I didn't mind the remake that came out in 2014.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse (1986-90)

Rated TV-PG Add to queue

Pee-wee Herman brings his stage show to the masses with this innovative live-action kids series that invites viewers into his quirky, childlike world.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse was a staple in my Saturday morning TV schedule for several years. It was just a fun show that had a little bit of everything. Watch all 5 seasons plus the Christmas Special if you've got the post-holiday blues. And if that's still not enough Pee-Wee, Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-Wee are also available!

Moonstruck (1987)

Rated PG Add to queue

In this slice-of-life comedy about the Italian American residents of a Brooklyn neighborhood, an independent-minded widow falls in love with a one-handed misfit baker, much to the chagrin of her betrothed.

I've only seen bits and pieces of this movie on cable as I've never been much of a Cher fan, but I know it was critically acclaimed and that Cher's role earned her an Academy award.

Footloose (1984)

Rated PG Add to queue

The movie that shot Kevin Bacon to the stratosphere of fame features the actor playing Ren McCormack, a decidedly urban teen who's transplanted to a small Midwestern town where dancing is outlawed. Recruiting his best pal, the quiet Willard (Chris Penn), and his girlfriend (Lori Singer), a clergyman's daughter, Ren starts a revolution by moving to the beat.

Footloose returns to Netflix fresh off it's 30th anniversary which included Kevin Bacon performing an awesome entrance on the Tonight Show. It's a film I didn't catch until my high school years in the early 90s which I believe helped me enjoy it more.

D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)

Rated PG Add to queue

After escaping from a maximum-security research facility, D.A.R.Y.L. (Barret Oliver) -- Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform -- is rescued and adopted by the Richardson family (Michael McKean and Mary Beth Hurt). Domestic bliss ensues until D.A.R.Y.L.'s actual "parents," two scientists, come to claim him. The Richardsons are shocked to realize that their adopted son isn't just flesh and blood, but wires and microchips as well.

I've never seen this movie so it tops my list of movies to watch this month!

Mr. Mom (1983)

Rated PG Add to queue
After Jack is informed that his job has been furloughed, his wife goes to work at an advertising agency. Their three young kids are left with Jack, who must get accustomed to vacuuming, soap operas, school drop-offs, grocery stores and flirty moms.

I'm very happy to see this movie return to Netflix. As I've mentioned before on the Fix, it's one I've grown to love more and more over the years especially in parenthood.

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Rated PG-13 Add to queue
Expecting the usual tedium of summer in the mountains with her family, 17-year-old Frances is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional dancer -- and falling in love with the resort's free-spirited dance instructor.

Another dance film favorite of the '80s returns to streaming. It's one that I have more nostalgia for the soundtrack than the actual film itself.

Also this month on Netflix catch the long-running sitcom Roseanne. Movies include two from the Amityville horror series, Amityville II: The Possession and Amityville 3. Plus, watch Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man and everyone's favorite stoners in Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, 

'80s Pop Twenty
Here are the 20 most popular '80s movies currently available on Netflix and their location on the previous month's countdown. Netflix dropped four in the top 20, but that left room for some of the new movies to enter the countdown.

1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (8th consecutive month)
2. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (+1)
3. Das Boot: Director's Cut (+2)
4. Good Morning, Vietnam (+2)
5. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (+3)
6. Manhunter (+3)
7. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (+3)
8. The Thin Blue Line (+3)
9. Clue (+3)
10. Trading Places (+6)
11. Day of the Dead (+2)
12. Romancing the Stone (+2)
13. The Burbs (+2)
14. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (+3)
15. Adventures in Babysitting (+3)
16. The Cook, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (new)
17. Heathers (+3)
18. The Fox and the Hound (new)
19. Labyrinth (new)
20. Stand By Me (new)

Removed from Netflix was The Breakfast Club, Big Trouble in Little China, Batman and Beverly Hills Cop.

Film Debuts...

After scanning this month's list, I found a couple of films featuring acting debuts by some big Hollywood stars.

Mystic Pizza (1988)
Rated R Add to queue
In this quirky linchpin of 1980s cinema, reality rudely intrudes on the plans of three blue-collar New England teens -- wild-child Daisy, levelheaded Kat and wisecracking Jojo -- who share their dreams while slinging hash at a pizzeria.

Although one of her earliest films, this is not the debut of Julia Roberts (Satisfaction), but it did earn her first critical success. The debut in this movie is Matt Damon in which he gets just a single line of dialogue.

Bright Lights, Big City (1988)

Rated R Add to queue

In this downbeat drama based on Jay McInerney's autobiographical novel, New York City yuppie and aspiring writer Jamie Conway (Michael J. Fox) seeks oblivion in cocaine and the glittery nightclub scene as his life falls apart. With his hard-partying friend Tad Allagash (Kiefer Sutherland) continuing to up the ante, Jamie finds it increasingly difficult to show up at his unfulfilling job as a fact-checker for a literary Manhattan magazine.

You can watch Frasier alum David Hyde Pierce make his feature film debut as the bartender at the fashion show in this film.

If you've missed a previous month's post, check the Netflix '80s Fix archive. Some featured titles could still be available to stream. Also, feel free to comment with any movies or shows you've recently rediscovered.

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