Apple recently opened up a limited-time sale within iTunes for a selection of movies dating back to the 1950s, which the company has grouped into "Iconic" and "Essential" collections (via Variety). The bundles include movies like Dr. Strangelove, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and many more.

The sale starts with a group of $19.99 "Iconic" movie bundles for each decade, beginning with the 1950s, each including ten movies.

itunes movie sale decades
All of the movies included in every collection are listed below:

  • 1950s: The Country Girl, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Sabrina, Sunset Boulevard, To Catch a Thief, War and Peace, Houseboat, A Place in the Sun, The Greatest Show on Earth, Funny Face
  • 1960s: The Odd Couple, Alfie, Barbarella, Hud, Barefoot in the Park, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, In Harm’s Way, True Grit, The Italian Job, The Nutty Professor
  • 1970s: Paper Moon, The Great Gatsby, Love Story, Grease, The Out-of-Towners, Harold and Maude, Heaven Can Wait, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, The Bad News Bears, Plaza Suite
  • 1980s: The Naked Gun, Airplane!, Footloose, Urban Cowboy, Clue, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, Terms of Endearment, Crocodile Dundee, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
  • 1990s: Wayne’s World, Clueless, The Truman Show, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Galaxy Quest, Ghost, Kingpin, Superstar, Runaway Bride, Tommy Boy
  • 2000s: Zoolander, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Tropic Thunder, Almost Famous, School of Rock, I Love You, Man, She’s the Man, Mean Girls, Old School

The "Essential" films aren't bundled under one price point, and instead iTunes has accumulated popular films from each decade and marked them down to $4.99 each. The amount of movies included in each decade's Essential sale ranges from 26 to nearly 100, although the 1950s are not included.

itunes movie sales essentials
Some of the $4.99 films in each decade's sale are listed below:

  • 1960s: Dr. Strangelove, Lawrence of Arabia, The Graduate, Psycho, West Side Story
  • 1970s: Rocky, Carrie, Apocalypse Now, The French Connection, Serpico, Marathon Man
  • 1980s: Back to the Future, Die Hard, The Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing, WarGames, The Thing
  • 1990s: The Big Lebowski, Fight Club, American Beauty, Jerry Maguire, Reservoir Dogs, The Silence of the Lambs
  • 2000s: Shaun of the Dead, Juno, (500) Days of Summer, Cloverfield, Ghost World, Legally Blonde, Bring It On

iTunes has also marked down specific categories of Essential films, including "Summer Blockbuster Essentials," "Based on a True Story Essentials," "Essential Actors + Directors," and more.

Apple regularly runs sales within the movies section of iTunes, most recently giving the storefront a LEGO-themed makeover and placing some DC movies on sale to coincide with the digital release of The LEGO Batman Movie. Last year, the movies section of iTunes turned ten years old and in celebration Apple debuted bundles of ten films for $10 each.

Tag: iTunes
Related Forum: Mac Apps

Top Rated Comments

JBaker122586 Avatar
103 months ago
It's not a bad deal but you'd buys 10 older films on dvds for less than $19.99
Who wants DVD-quality films in 2017?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
svendobbelaere Avatar
103 months ago
I sure hope the Apple Music equivalent of movies will be coming soon... Gone are the days that I, along so many others, will pay certain amounts of money just to watch a movie once.
Netflix?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bigsk8r Avatar
103 months ago
The fact it always takes someone who isn't white, for anyone to notice an unfair practice is precisely why the world is trying to fight racism in the first place.
I would submit that in this case, you are a little late. Until the 2000's, there just weren't a lot of hit movies made with non-white leads, proportionally speaking.

Direct that angst at the people who made the movies available in the first place. Given that Apple doesn't have agreements with every studio, you might be painting with a bit of a broad brush there.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
103 months ago
What happened here!? This is yesterday's news...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dilster3k Avatar
103 months ago
I sure hope the Apple Music equivalent of movies will be coming soon... Gone are the days that I, along so many others, will pay certain amounts of money just to watch a movie once.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bbeagle Avatar
103 months ago

Why would you buy anything you only plan to use once?
Movie tickets, plane tickets, concert tickets, hamburgers, pizza, soda ... most things in life are things you buy that you only plan to use only once.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...