Top 20 Romantic Movies on DVD
Pass the Time Until the Wedding Watching a Great Romance Film
Apr 3, 2009
The months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes leading up to a greatly anticipated wedding can just seem to crawl by ever so slowly. So why not pass the time by watching one or more of the following movies on DVD or Blu-ray.
Listed in chronological order, the selection is entirely arbitrary, and certainly some folks’ favorites are missing. All are readily available from the corner rental store or through such online services as Netflix?
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Vivien Leigh plays Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, amid the tragic pageantry of the Civil War. Screenplay by Sidney Howard and others, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell.
“I can’t go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands.”
Casablanca (1942)
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman love passionately and nobly in Paris and Morocco during World War II.
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Real-life lovers Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy play husband-and-wife lawyers battling it out in the courtroom. Screenplay by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin.
“Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called in-breeding; from this comes idiot children—and other lawyers.”
Roman Holiday (1953)
Incognito princess Audrey Hepburn and incognito reporter Gregory Peck fall for each other in the Eternal City.
Sabrina (1954)
Wealthy brothers Humphrey Bogart and William Holden vie for the love of a chauffeur’s daughter, played by Audrey Hepburn.
An Affair to Remember (1957
Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr star as strangers who fall in love on an ocean liner, agree to meet six months later, and are almost kept tragically apart. Screenplay by Leo McCarey and Delmer Daves.
“There must be something between us, even if it’s only an ocean.”
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Party girl Audrey Hepburn and struggling writer George Peppard find unlikely love in Manhattan.
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Omar Sharif plays the title role, Julie Christie his true love, Lara, in this epic set against the Russian Revolution. Screenplay by Robert Bolt.
“Good marriages are made in heaven…or some such place.”
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Young English actors Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey play Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers in this opulent film.
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Playwright Christopher Reeve hypnotically time-travels back seven decades to connect with true love Jane Seymour. Screenplay by Richard Matheson, based on his novel.
“There is so much to say. I cannot find the words. Except for these: 'I love you.'”
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
Navy flyer and officer candidate Richard Gere does bad and good by factory worker Deborah Winger.
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Patrick Swayze teaches naïve teen Jennifer Grey how to dance and love at a Catskills family camp.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Wacky comedy combines with passionate romance as stable boy/pirate Cary Elwes rescues true love/princess Robin Wright. Screenplay by William Goldman, based on his novel.
“Westley and I are joined by the bonds of love. And you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.”
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) meet, hate each other, and then learn to love each other. Screenplay by Nora Ephron.
“I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
Pretty Woman (1990)
L.A. “working girl” Julia Roberts undergoes a Cinderella transformation in a romance with millionaire businessman Richard Gere.
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Widowed father and architect Tom Hanks and single engaged journalist Meg Ryan fall in love long distance after she hears him on late-night call-in radio. Sreenplay by Nora Ephron.
“Marriage is hard enough without bringing such low expectations into it.”
Titanic (1997)
Steerage passenger Leonardo DiCaprio and first-class voyager Kate Winslet find true love just before the great ocean liner sinks into the Atlantic.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Young noblewoman Gwyneth Paltrow masquerades as a male actor while winning the heart of young Will, Joseph Fiennes. Screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.
“Love knows nothing of rank or riverbank.”
Notting Hill (1999)
Shy British bookstore owner Hugh Grant and top American movie star Julia Roberts fall in love in one of London’s most charming neighborhoods. Screenplay by Richard Curtis.
“I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”
Love Actually (2003)
A kaleidoscope of romances merrily intertwine in modern London, starring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Keira Knightly, and many others. Screenplay by Richard Curtis.
“Beautiful Aurelia, I've come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I seems an insane person—because I hardly knows you—but sometimes things are so transparency, they don't need evidential proof.”
Whatever the choice, all of those films listed are likely to raise a smile or coax a tear while helping the happy day draw nearer. (Want to learn about more great themed movies? Check out the Top 20 Food and Drink Films on DVD!)
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