Top 20 Romance Movies

20. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)

Starring Jim Carrey at his best and Kate Winslet at her kookiest, Eternal Sunshine is a refreshing take on a modern love story with a surreal twist. Written by Charlie Kaufman, and directed by Michel Gondry, the movie focuses on Joel Barish (Carrey) who is left broken hearted when he learns his ex girlfriend Clementine (Winslet) undertook a procedure to erase him and their love affair from her memory. In a fit of sadness and anger, Joel undertakes the same procedure, but as he watches his memories of Clementine fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and tries to hold onto his memories of her before she disappears forever.

19. Moulin Rouge (2001)

A young English poet (Ewan McGregor) arrives in Paris in 1899. He meets a group of Bohemians who take him to the Moulin Rouge – Paris’ most famous underworld nightclub – where his eyes are drawn to Satine (Nicole Kidman); the club’s most enchanting and sort after courtesan. The pair fall head over heels, however, the owner of the Moulin Rouge invests Satine to a wealthy Duke who will only pay to keep the club going if the courtesan is his and his alone. A passionate love triangle ensues within a barrage of music and wondrous dance routines, but ultimately ends in tragedy.

18. Wuthering Heights (1939)

Emily Bronte’s only novel was first brought to the big screen in 1939, starring Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Catherine (the actors reportedly hated each other, but never mind).

Heathcliff is a ragged boy from the city brought during the early 19th Century to live with a Yorkshire farming family. The daughter Catherine becomes his soulmate, and after her parents die the two grow up wild and free on the moors. But when Catherine meets the son of a wealthy neighbour she marries him for his status and it all turns to tragedy.

17. Shakespeare In Love (1998)

A fictional romantic comedy about how William Shakespeare came to write his classic play Romeo and Juilet. Suffering from writers’ block, Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) holds auditions for his Romeo character. Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), an aspiring actress banned from acting because of her gender, maserades as a man to get the part. When Shakespheare discovers her true identity, the pair begin a forbidden love affair, and his passion for Viola provides him with the inspiration to complete the play.

16. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

A brilliant romantic comedy examining issues of male / female friendship. Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) are Chicago graduates who meet when Sally gives Harry a lift to New York. As the years go by, the pair continuously bump into each other, causing a close friendship to blossom between them. They’re both happy with things as they are, but can a man and a woman ever just be friends without sex getting in the way?

15. Ghost (1990)

From the director of Airplane! (Jerry Zucker) comes this multi Oscar nominated movie that may have been a corny take on a romantic fantasy, but never fails to send the heart into a flutter. Sam and Molly (Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore) are a young couple walking back to their apartment when Sam is attacked and murdered by a mugger. Trapped on Earth as a ghost, he learns that his murder was not an accident, and that Molly’s life is in danger. In order to warn her, he starts communicating through the only person who can see him – psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg).

 

14. Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)

This flirty and fun movie, directed by Blake Edwards and loosely based on the novella by Truman Capote, is Audrey Hepburn’s most complex performance. Paul Varjak (A-Team’s George Peppard) is a struggling writer who moves into a New York apartment building, and is captivated by his quirky, free spirited neighbour Holly Golightly (Hepburn). Golightly’s introvert/extrovert persona confuses and fascinates Paul; they ultimately fall for each other, but are confused and insecure about the other’s feelings. It all works out in the end, though

13. Dirty Dancing (1987)

Guaranteed to be found in many women’s DVD collections, Dirty Dancing was THE romantic movie of the 80′s. The sight of Patrick Swayze’s chiselled self turning Frances (Baby) from a girl into a woman never fails to make a hot blooded lady swoon.

It’s the summer of ’63, and privileged daddy’s girl, Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman fails for hunky dance instructer, Johnny (Swayze), at a holiday resort in the Catskill Mountains. As they rehearse passionate latin dances they find themselves falling in love. However, Baby’s father doesn’t approve, bans her from seeing him, and Johnny finds himself fired. But Johnny returns to perform the final dance of the season, plucking Baby from her family’s table with the immortal line “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

12. My Fair Lady (1964)

Audrey Hepburn appears on our list again in this classic Broadway musical adaptation co-starring Rex Harrison as misogynistic professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins.

Higgins accepts a bet that he can take Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle under his wing and transform her into an elegant lady, fooling high society in the process. He succeeds in his challenge, but their platonic relationship crumbles when Higgins takes all the credit for her transformation and she decides to marry a young aristocrat.

11. City Lights (1931)

A silent romantic comedy as funny as it is touching; City Lights is Charlie Chaplin at his very best. Albert Einstein himself attended the premiere, so it must be pretty smart.

The Little Tramp (Chaplin) meets and falls in love with a poor blind girl, who mistakes him for a wealthy duke. She tells him that she needs an operation to restore her sight, so he sets out to earn the money doing various jobs, with comic consequences. The Little Tramp finally manages to raise the money, but his efforts get him arrested and thrown into prison. When he is released months later, the Tramp walks by a flower shop and sees the flower girl. Her sight is restored, but she does not recognise him…

10. The African Queen (1951)

Tagline: The greatest adventure a man ever lived…with a woman! The African Queen is a classic tale of when opposites attract. Directed by John Huston, the movie tells the story of two mismatched personalities – Rose Sayer (Katharine Hepburn) and Captain Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) – who fall in love during the war, whilst travelling downriver on an African steamboat.

9. Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Baz Luhrmann made the Shakespeare classic accessible to a younger audience by putting a modern, hip, and sexy twist on it. Set in modern day Verona Beach, the Montagues and Capulets are two families at war with each other. Their children, Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes), meet and fall in love, but must conceal their relationship from everyone. A good movie choice for loved up teenagers.

8. Pretty Woman (1990)

This romantic comedy about the prostitute and the rich man was the perfect modern day fairytale for the 1990s. Wealthy businessman Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) hires Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) to be his escort to several business functions. During the course of the week, a relationship begins to form between them, and Edward ultimately turns Vivian from a down and out prostitute into a lady of high society. It’s basically My Fair Lady again. Or Cinderella.

7. Titanic (1997)

James Cameron’s epic romantic weepy about the sinking of the Titanic, and a passionate love affair, became the highest grossing film of all time and sealed Leonardo DiCaprio’s place in heartthrob history. It’s the late 1990s and 101 year old Rose DeWitt (Kate Winslet) recounts how she was once a wealthy woman engaged to be married who fell in love with a poor street artist, Jack Dawson (DiCaprio), but lost him to the freezing cold waters when the Titanic was destroyed

6. An Affair To Remember (1957)

Handsome playboy and painter Nicky Ferrante (Cary Grant) has a chance encounter with beautiful nightclub singer, Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) on cruise from Europe to New York. Despite being engaged to other people, they have a brief romance, and decide to meet each other again at the top of the Empire State Building in six months time. However, Terry is injured in an accident on the day of the meeting, preventing her from making it. Nicky walks away believing that she is happily married and no longer loves him. Eventually, the truth comes to light.

5. An Officer And A Gentleman (1982)

Richard Gere makes it onto our list again in this 1982 romantic drama about a young man with an attitude problem learning the value of love, friendship and personal growth as he trains in Navy Flight School. The final scene where Gere carries Debra Winger into the sunset like a knight in shining armour is one of the strongest romantic images in cinema.

4. The Notebook (2004)

Nick Cassavetes’s modern classic is a beautiful and heartbreaking romance drama. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams star as Noah and Allie; a young couple whose story about how they meet and fall in love in the 1940s is narrated from the present day by an elderly patient. There are many obstacles that prevent the young couple from being together, but they eventually overcome them in the saddest but most beautiful way. Be prepared to sob a river.

3. West Side Story (1961)

The energetic 1961 musical is an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, set in New York. Two rival street gangs – the Sharks and the Jets – battle each other on the streets of Manhattan to gain territory. However, whilst attending a dance, Tony, best friend of Jet leader Riff, falls in love with Maria – the sister of Sharks leader Bernardo. The two conceal their love from everyone as they meet in secret and their feelings from each other grow stronger. But the two gangs are preparing for a final showdown to proclaim control of the streets. Is the romance doomed to failure, or can it overcome?

2. Gone with the Wind (1939)

This eight time Oscar winner starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh focuses on the love between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara – a woman with a selfish streak who refuses to confess her feelings for Butler, and loses him in the process.

1. Casablanca (1942)

Set during WWII, bitter bar owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) must decide if he is to help his ex Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the woman he still loves, and her Resistance leader husband flee the city of Casablanca, and in doing so lose her forever. The ultimate conflict of the heart, in one of the greatest love stories ever told.