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Best Romance Movies of the 1980s
#1 Cinema Paradiso (1988) · ★ 8.4 · 4,985 votes · 2h 4m · romance, dramaA filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.…
#2 Castle in the Sky (1986) · ★ 8.0 · 4,826 votes · 2h 5m · action, fantasy, adventureA young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.…
#3 Wings of Desire (1987) · ★ 7.8 · 1,540 votes · 2h 8m · fantasy, romance, dramaTwo angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting wit…
#4 Nostalgia (1983) · ★ 7.8 · 629 votes · 2h 4m · romance, dramaRussian poet Andrei Gorchakov journeys through Italy with his interpreter Eugenia to research the life of an 18th-century Russian composer who once lived abroad. Isolated and consu…
#5 The Princess Bride (1987) · ★ 7.7 · 5,305 votes · 1h 39m · comedy, fantasy, adventureIn this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murde…
#6 Maurice (1987) · ★ 7.6 · 635 votes · 2h 20m · romance, dramaAfter his lover rejects him, Maurice attempts to come to terms with his sexuality within the restrictiveness of Edwardian society.…
#7 Somewhere in Time (1980) · ★ 7.5 · 691 votes · 1h 43m · fantasy, romance, dramaYoung writer Richard Collier is met on the opening night of his first play by an old lady who begs him to "Come back to me". Mystified, he tries to find out about her, and learns t…
#8 When Harry Met Sally... (1989) · ★ 7.4 · 4,757 votes · 1h 36m · comedy, romance, dramaSex always gets in the way of friendships between men and women. At least, that's what Harry Burns believes. So when Harry meets Sally Albright and a deep friendship blossoms betwe…
#9 The Big Blue (1988) · ★ 7.4 · 1,627 votes · 2h 48m · adventure, romance, dramaChildhood friends Jacques and Enzo share a passion for the danger of free diving. Jacques, following in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy, harbors…
#10 The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) · ★ 7.4 · 1,180 votes · 1h 22m · comedy, fantasy, romanceCecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia…
#11 Crossroads (1986) · ★ 7.4 · 501 votes · 1h 39m · romance, drama, musicA wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.…
#12 Dirty Dancing (1987) · ★ 7.3 · 6,690 votes · 1h 40m · romance, drama, musicExpecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a…
#13 Sophie's Choice (1982) · ★ 7.3 · 968 votes · 2h 31m · romance, drama, warStingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survi…
#14 On Golden Pond (1981) · ★ 7.3 · 528 votes · 1h 49m · romance, dramaFor Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love…
#15 Big (1988) · ★ 7.2 · 4,191 votes · 1h 44m · comedy, fantasy, romanceWhen a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big, he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight, but he is…
#16 Tootsie (1982) · ★ 7.2 · 1,983 votes · 1h 56m · comedy, romanceWhen struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego—Dorothy Michaels—in order to land a part in a daytime drama, he unwittingly becomes a feminist…
#17 Dangerous Liaisons (1988) · ★ 7.2 · 1,310 votes · 1h 59m · romance, dramaIn 18th century France, Marquise de Merteuil asks her ex-lover Vicomte de Valmont to seduce the future wife of another ex-lover of hers in return for one last night with her. Yet t…
#18 Steel Magnolias (1989) · ★ 7.2 · 766 votes · 1h 57m · comedy, romance, dramaA young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship and welcome her into the f…
#19 The Last Metro (1980) · ★ 7.2 · 536 votes · 2h 11m · romance, drama, warIn occupied Paris, an actress wed to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.…
#20 Top Gun (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 9,954 votes · 1h 50m · action, adventure, romanceFor Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But…
#21 The Lost Boys (1987) · ★ 7.1 · 2,403 votes · 1h 37m · comedy, thriller, romanceWhen an unsuspecting town newcomer is drawn to local blood fiends, the Frog brothers and other unlikely heroes gear up to rescue him.…
#22 Witness (1985) · ★ 7.1 · 1,966 votes · 1h 52m · thriller, romance, dramaWhile protecting an Amish boy—the sole witness to a brutal murder—and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life comes under threat.…
#23 Out of Africa (1985) · ★ 7.1 · 1,584 votes · 2h 41m · romance, drama, historyTells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiog…
#24 An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) · ★ 7.0 · 1,201 votes · 2h 4m · romance, dramaZack Mayo is an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he arrives at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense dril…
#25 Say Anything... (1989) · ★ 7.0 · 1,159 votes · 1h 40m · comedy, romance, dramaAverage student and eternal optimist Lloyd Dobler seeks to capture the heart of Diane Court, a beautiful but unattainable valedictorian classmate. He surprises just about everyone…
#26 A Room with a View (1986) · ★ 7.0 · 861 votes · 1h 57m · romance, dramaWhen Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation.…
#27 Rumble Fish (1983) · ★ 7.0 · 787 votes · 1h 34m · romance, drama, crimeAbsent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.…
#28 Body Heat (1981) · ★ 7.0 · 709 votes · 1h 53m · thriller, romance, crimeDuring an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.…
#29 Coming to America (1988) · ★ 6.9 · 4,899 votes · 1h 57m · comedy, romanceAn African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant,…
#30 Starman (1984) · ★ 6.9 · 1,057 votes · 1h 55m · fantasy, romance, dramaWhen an alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona, the government tries to stop them.…
#31 Overboard (1987) · ★ 6.9 · 1,046 votes · 1h 52m · comedy, romanceHeiress Joanna Stayton hires carpenter Dean Proffitt to build a closet on her yacht—and refuses to pay him for the project when it's done. But after Joanna accidentally falls overb…
#32 Mannequin (1987) · ★ 6.9 · 854 votes · 1h 29m · comedy, fantasy, romanceJonathan Switcher, an unemployed artist, finds a job as an assistant window dresser for a department store. When Jonathan happens upon a beautiful mannequin he previously designed,…
#33 Can't Buy Me Love (1987) · ★ 6.9 · 735 votes · 1h 34m · comedy, romance, dramaNerdy high schooler Ronald Miller rescues cheerleader Cindy Mancini from parental punishment after she accidentally destroys her mother's designer clothes. Ronald agrees to pay for…
#34 Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) · ★ 6.9 · 563 votes · 1h 35m · comedy, romance, dramaKeith Nelson, an artsy high school outcast, tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts. However, Watts realizes she likes…
#35 The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) · ★ 6.9 · 523 votes · 2h 51m · romance, dramaSuccessful surgeon Tomas leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza, and brings her back with him. Tereza is surprised to learn that Tomas is already h…
#36 Sixteen Candles (1984) · ★ 6.8 · 2,261 votes · 1h 33m · comedy, romance, dramaWith the occasion all but overshadowed by her sister's upcoming wedding, angst-ridden Samantha faces her 16th birthday with typical adolescent dread. Samantha pines for studly olde…
#37 Romancing the Stone (1984) · ★ 6.8 · 2,128 votes · 1h 46m · action, comedy, adventureThough she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turn…
#38 Fatal Attraction (1987) · ★ 6.8 · 1,761 votes · 1h 59m · thriller, romance, dramaA married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.…
#39 Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) · ★ 6.8 · 1,650 votes · 1h 53m · thriller, romance, dramaWinston Smith is a government employee whose job involves the rewriting of history in a manner that casts his fictional country's leaders in a charitable light. His trysts with Jul…
#40 Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) · ★ 6.8 · 1,423 votes · 1h 30m · comedy, romance, dramaA group of Southern-California high school students ignore their studies in favor of indulging in their teenage distractions.…