Push play on Father's Day: Dads just want to have fun

He protec, he attack, but most of all he … love snack? If you’re wailing in despair at yet another Father's Day suggestion list that somehow goes straight from biltong and alcohol, to a Weber Summit FS38 braai for R125 999, or a R6.9 million Maserati MC20 and a chance to punch FIFA in the face, dry your tears, little buddy.

We might not know your specific dad, but odds are what he’d really love is a bit of quality couch time together. No demands, no phones, no interruptions. Just his pack kicking back and having fun together. 

We’ve gathered 10 sets of our proven dad pleasers – the comedies, action films, superheroes and epic legends. And for dedicated dad lovers, we’ve included our special collections for a marathon binge over the Youth Day long weekend. Or you could make every night dad’s choice in the month ahead. 

But don’t interrupt if he slumps over with his eyes closed. Daddy’s watching the movie, okay? Let the man honk-sshhhu in peace.

The meme master dad

If your dad hit movie-going age in the late 1990s, you’ll have a classic comedy quotes model dad. His and his friends’ braai-side banter might be lifted straight from these movies. 

Austin Powers collection: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember. Mike Myers (Shrek) plays both “sexy” 1960s British superspy Austin Powers and his nemesis Dr Evil in these colourful spoofs that gave James Bond an atomic wedgie. Key phrase: “One miiiillion dollars?” (Evil laugh). In the same vein, check out Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English Reborn.

Will Ferrell: Will Ferrell goes feral in outrageous slapstick comedies Old School, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Step Brothers, which are about (respectively) guys in their 30s who start a fraternity, a macho drag racing legend, and 40-year-old guys who become stepbrothers. Key phrase: “Did we just become best friends?”

The Big Lebowski: A case of mistaken identity drags professional slacker Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) into the middle of a mob murder, kidnapping and ransom plot. Key phrase: "That rug really tied the room together."

The pranks and pratfalls dad

Does your dad tell hair-raising stories about his youth that make you wonder how he survived? When he tells these stories, is it a full-body reenactment? Your dad’s a legend and you know it! Here are some of his spirit animals. 

Jackass collection: Jackass 2.5, Jackass 3.5, Bad Grandpa, and Bad Grandpa 0.5: Johnny Knoxville and his fearless gang of lunatic friends bring us the ultimate in “don’t try this at home” prank activities. You’ll laugh yourself sick at how off-the-wall imaginative they are, even while you cringe in full-body horror. 

Liar, Liar and The Mask: These high-energy, rubber-faced Jim Carrey classics are “Sssssmokin!” In Liar Liar, an ordinary guy wakes up to find himself unable to lie about anything. And In The Mask, he’s taken over by a mischievous green-faced spirit who can interact with the real world as if it’s a Looney Tunes cartoon. 

Mr Bean’s Holiday: Rowan Atkinson once described Mr Bean as having the mind of a 10-year-old boy in an adult body. Expect pratfalls galore as he wins a trip to Cannes in France. 

The conspiracy dad

Maybe he believes it, maybe he just loves to sink his teeth into a thought experiment. If your dad has a rant about faking the moon landing, Area 51, or the planet being controlled by Lizard People, remove the tinfoil helmet and broadcast these through his fillings.

Men in Black: Men in Black, Men in Black II, and Men in Black III: Would you believe that there’s a group of secret agents hard at work keeping the people of Earth safe from dangerous space aliens? Leather-tough Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) recruits a brash New York City cop (Will Smith) to become Agent J, one of the “Men in Black”.

Inception: In Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic, Leonardo DiCaprio leads a team of unusual thieves who can enter into and manipulate people’s dreams to steal corporate secrets.

The standup dad

This quick-witted dad always has a hot take or a smart point of view on life. And while he loves his kids, to love is to roast!

Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking: The former SNL star turned late night comedy talk show host shares personal stories and sly observations about becoming a dad and raising his three kids, aged eight to two.

James Acaster: Hecklers Welcome: British comedian and master storyteller James lets his audience fight back, admits his issues with standup comedy, and pokes fun at his own insecurities. 

Alex Edelman: Just For Us: Alex tells the story of how he, a white, Jewish man, crashed a meeting of white Nationalists (neo-Nazis), and gave them hints about improving their communication on social media … before he was found out.

Ramy Youssef: Feelings and Ramy Youssef: More Feelings: Not just jokes, Ramy’s funny, thoughtful take on his life in the US as an Arab, Muslim American, and rejecting the role of  “mayor of Muslim disaster”. More Feelings addresses the genocide in Gaza, along with his new life as a married man. 

The action man dad 

The franchise with the best movie stunts in the business and an epic spy plot to boot. If your dad spends his weekends trail running, mountain biking, power boating, cross-fitting, bungee jumping, parkouring, and making a Jack Russell terrier look like Mildred the tea lady, sit him down with the Mission: Impossible collection and more. 

For a refresher on which film is which, read our easy Mission: Impossible guide, or just get stuck in with Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 2, Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

If he wants to try something off-menu, try Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes’ sci-fi action comedy Demolition Man, or The Fall Guy: Ryan Gosling plays Colt, a Hollywood stuntman who has to survive by his quick wits and ability to roll with the punches when he’s pulled into an international criminal conspiracy. Read more about it here, and watch along with the stuntmen doccie series Action, which goes behind the scenes on The Fall Guy. 

The dino dad

The bigger and bitier the pet, the more there is to love! Treat your nature-loving dad to our epic creature features as he sits there cuddling the family dog he “didn’t want” and “refuses” to let on the couch. 

Jurassic Park collection: Brought back from the grave by science, genetically engineered dinosaurs run wild after security protocols at an island theme park fail (in a series of scenes engineer and computer programmer dads will adore). Watch Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). Also watch Brendan Fraser discover dinos living under our planet’s surface in Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008).

Giant apes and monster lizards: Watch Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005), Godzilla (2014), and Godzilla X King: The New Empire (2024). Also watch Rampage (2018), with Dwayne Johnson as a primatologist who has a giant albino gorilla best buddy. 

Sssnakes and sharks: Anaconda (1997) and Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004), The Meg (2018) with Jason Statham, and Deep Blue Sea (1999) with Samuel L Jackson.

The mint-condition collectables dad

Daddy loves you, and he’s built endless LEGO kits with you and shared his love of comic books and superheroes, debated which is the “real” Spider-Man, and taken you to the cons in costume. But there’s some stuff you don’t touch, or he’ll transform before your eyes into the villain known as “Big Mad Dad”. 

LEGO lover: The LEGO Movie (2014), The LEGO Movie 2 (2019), The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)

The Spidey obsessed: Spider-Man (2002, Tobey Maguire), Spider-Man 2 (2004, Tobey Maguire), Spider-Man 3 (2007, Tobey Maguire), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012, Andrew Garfield), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014, Andrew Garfield), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017, Tom Holland), Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019, Tom Holland), and Venom: The Last Dance (2024, Tom Holland as Eddie Brock/Venom).

The comic book classics: Watchmen (2009), Aquaman, Joker (2019, with Joaquin Phoenix)), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023, a gorgeous, fun animation with a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating), Shazam (2019) (don’t sleep on Zachary Levi’s superhero flick, it has a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating), and Blue Beetle (2023, and 78% on Rotten Tomatoes).

Collect them all: Wonder Woman 1984, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Superman Returns, and Suicide Squad.

Coming soon: The Dark Knight (2008, Christian Bale Batman. Coming 19 June),  The Dark Knight Rises (2012, Christian Bale Batman. Coming 19 June), Batman Begins (2005, Christian Bale Batman. Coming 26 June), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016, Ben Affleck Batman. Coming 26 June), Justice League (2017, Ben Affleck Batman. Coming 30 June), Man of Steel (2013, Henry Cavill Superman. Coming 30 June). 

The pedal to the metal dad

Don’t touch his Dinky Toys! This metal-polishing, never-eat-in-my-car dad specimen is king of the road, and never happier than when he’s spending a Saturday lovingly washing his pride and joy. He deserves a little time to tell you about every model of car getting tin-can-crushed in our Fast & Furious, Transformers, and Mad Max collections.

Fast & Furious collection: The Fast and the Furious (2001), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Fast & Furious (2009), Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), Fast & Furious 9: The Fast Saga. You know the drill: Ving Rhames, Paul Walker, fast cars, super stunts and above all, “It’s about family”. (Note for completists: Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, and Fast X are all currently off platform)

Transformers collection: Awesome alien robots from outer space continue their battle of good vs evil with human allies as they disguise themselves as any type of vehicle. Watch Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018), and Transformers One (2024, this brilliant animated movie will throw dad right back into his Saturday morning and after-school cartoons nostalgia)

Mad Max collection: Australia becomes a post apocalyptic wasteland roamed by car, bike and truck-obsessed gangs. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024). Read about them here.

The best friends are forever dad

This dad is not afraid to say, “I love you, man”. He prizes loyalty, courage and effort, and is still best friends with the kids who swung on the monkey bars with him in primary school. He loves a quest, a touch of magic in everyday life, and long, long, long movie marathons.

My Precioussss collection: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. 

Sherlock Holmes: There’s no better crime fighting duo than Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) and Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

The Hogwarts collection: Swish and flick every Harry Potter film, along with two Fantastic Beasts: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016), and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

ET The Extra-Terrestrial: A flashback to dad’s childhood in the early 1980s! Steven Spielberg’s beloved 1982 blockbuster movie centres on a boy who befriends an alien who’s been left behind on Earth, and helps him to make his way home. 

Just-watching-for-the-kids dad

You put that fun animated comedy movie for the kids? Okay, sure, dad. We see you singing All Star, yelling about your swamp, swinging your tail with King Julian, demanding your Wensleydale cheese, and kicking back with Po the Panda, Jack Black style. No shame in the game.

Despicable Me collection: Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, Despicable Me 4, Minions

Shrek collection: Shrek The Third, Shrek Forever After, Puss in Boots

Madagascar collection: Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Penguins of Madagascar

Kung Fu Panda collection: Kung Fu Panda, King Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, Kung Fu Panda 4.

And don’t miss: Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Babe, and Babe: Pig In the City