ROMEO AND JULIET (1996)
Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the Shakespearean story is 100% stylised, 100% peak attractiveness Leo, 100% devastating.
THE GRADUATE (1967)
Endlessly parodied, The Graduate is one of the most iconic romances in Hollywood history. Who knew "boy has affair with older married woman then falls in love with her daughter" could be so romantic? Extra props for the chic '60s costumes and Simon and Garfunkel-heavy soundtrack.
THE NOTEBOOK (2004)
The only thing more devastating than this movie? The fact that Noah and Allie (Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling) got together then broke up IRL. Still not over it.
LOVE STORY (1970)
If you think A Walk to Remember is heartbreaking, wait until you see Love Story. It's the story of a rich boy meets a poor girl mixed with a tragic terminal illness—Aka devastating.
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982)
Uniforms! Testosterone! Hats! Young Richard Gere! Hands up if you've also fantasised about being swept off your feet and literally walked into the sunset?
GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
The original Hollywood epic, Gone With the Wind is a three-hour emotional rollercoaster fit with deaths, betrayals and affairs, all against the backdrop of the American Civil War.
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961)
Audrey Hepburn was immortalised as Holly Golightly, the gold-digging socialite who falls in love with her poor, struggling writer neighbour and, somewhere in the process, became a style and cultural icon for the next fifty years.
ANNIE HALL (1977)
As problematic as Woody Allen is, nobody can deny the romantic pull of Annie Hall—regarded by many as his best film (it took home four Oscars). Bonus points to Diane Keaton's wardrobe—she insisted on styling herself.
Amélie (2001)
Amélie; The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain is a technicolour Parisian dream following the romantic journey of Amélie—an anti-Manic Pixie Dream Girl, played by Audrey Tatou.
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
The Philadelphia Story is essentially the cornerstone for all good romantic comedies. Ultimate legend Katharine Hepburn basically is generally independent while Cary Grant and James Stewart fight over her.
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
King of Hollywood Romance Rob Reiner really outdid himself with his fairy tale fantasy The Princess Bride, which skyrocketed Robin Wright's film career and made countless adolescent teenagers fall in love with Cary Elwes (where is he now?!).
GHOST (1990)
Who knew a supernatural love story could be so moving? Who knew pottery could be so sexy? Who knew a movie could make you cry so much?
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989)
"Can men and women be friends?" Asks late legend Nora Ephron, screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally. According to the film, no, apparently, but we don't care, as long as these two ended up together.
SOMERSAULT (2004)
Now-classic Australian drama Somersault isn't your traditional love story—a promiscuous teen, played by Abbie Cornish, meets sexually confused farmer's son, played by Sam Worthington—but it's compelling viewing and surprisingly touching.
WALK THE LINE (2005)
The real-life romance of Johnny Cash and June Carter is one of the most romantic in music history. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix did so well in bringing the story to the silver screen that Reese took home the Oscar.
TITANIC (1999)
Hands up if you've cried hysterically watching this movie? Yes? It's essentially Romeo and Juliet on a sinking boat with young Leonardo and young Kate. Of course you did.
CASABLANCA (1942)
Casablanca is arguably the most important romantic movie ever. So many quotable lines, so much sexual tension, so much at stake.
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle could be the corniest thing ever, but it just works. Thank Nora Ephron's razor-sharp writing and the not-so-subtle references to An Affair to Remember.
ATONEMENT (2007)
This World War I set tragedy centres around a string of tragic events that all begin with a single lie. That green dress, and that bookcase are bound to go down in history as one of the best sex scenes of all time.
NOTTING HILL (1999)
A Hollywood superstar (Julia Roberts) falls in love with a British bookshop owner (Hugh Grant), against the backdrop of London's chic Portobello Road in the '90s.
THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1997)
Oscar-favourite The English Patient is everything you want from a tragedy: steamy affairs, a tragic plane crash in the Libyan desert, all against the backdrop of the final days of World War II.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)
Ang Lee's groundbreaking '60s era Western romance broke all sorts of boundaries, and proved Hollywood was ready for a same-sex love story.
DIRTY DANCING (1987)
The music! The dancing! The unbearably '80s outfits! Dirty Dancing will live on in all of our hearts forever.
LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)
If you don't watch this film every Christmas (meaning you've watched it at least 12 times), you're doing Christmas wrong. Every love story in this movie—with the possible exception of that guy who goes to America to sleep around—is so romantic.
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1991)
Tim Burton's unconventional love story is all the more romantic since Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder met and fell in love while shooting.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
Jim Carey gives an uncharacteristically dramatic performance against Kate Winslet in this off-kilter romantic comedy by French director Michel Gondry.
MOULIN ROUGE (2001)
Baz Luhrmann called on Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman to star in his bohemian-era Parisian musical, about a prostitute who falls in love with a writer. So. Sad.
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE (2011)
This six-degrees-of-separation rom-com is a winner for so many reasons. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have so much chemistry, Steve Carrell is characteristically hilarious, the women are smart and well developed. Go you, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (1999)
One of the few high-school dramas to stand the test of time, 10 Things I Hate About You is actually a modernisation of Shakespeare that we love because a) Julie Stiles plays a strong, independent woman with no interest in dating and b) because Heath Ledger.
YOU'VE GOT MAIL (1998)
Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks reunite five years after Sleepless In Seattle for a tech-themed rom-com in which two bookshop owners (why is it always bookshops?) fall in love online.
OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
Meryl Streep and Robert Redford are the unlikely romantic match of your dreams in this epic, seven Academy Award winning flick based on the true story of a Danish woman who managed her own farm in East Africa in the early 1900s.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000)
This critically acclaimed film is an angsty will-they, won't-they set in conservative '60s era Hong Kong. Sexual tensions and missed opportunities make this a must-watch.
THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001)
An adopted brother and sister falling in love just shouldn't be a thing but Wes Anderson makes it work in this cult comedy. Inadvertent style icon Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) tells her adopted brother Richie (Luke Wilson), "I think we're just gonna to have to be secretly in love with each other and leave it at that, Richie."
BETTY BLUE (1986)
A man falls in love with an increasingly mentally unstable young woman in this French cult drama. Strangely haunting.
ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)
Audrey Hepburn makes yet another appearance on our list as a Vespa-riding European princess who falls in love with an American reporter.
MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012)
We're not privy to a romance featuring two pre-teens but Wes Anderson, yet again, pulls it off. Moonrise Kingdom is a visual feast with amazing performances by then 14-year-old Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman.
BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY (2001)
Renée Zellweger was so good as the overweight, bit-of-a-mess (British) Bridget Jones that she actually got nominated for an Oscar. The rom-com is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth reprising his role as the uptight Mr. Darcy.
500 DAYS OF SUMMER (2009)
Quirky rom-com 500 Days of Summer turned the usual girl-meets-boy trope on its head, with Zooey Deschanel playing the aloof, uninterested girl and Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the romantic, keen to settle down guy.
HER (2013)
Spike Jonze's 2013 Oscar-favourite is a semi-dystopian love story set in a time where people can have relationships with computers. So beautiful.
MY FAIR LADY (1964)
In this '60s musical Eliza Dootlittle (Audrey Hepburn) is "transformed" from a working class Cockney to a sophisticated Duchess as part of an academic experiment. Along the way, she falls for a young man called Freddy.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008)
Danny Boyle's Indian-set, decades-long love story tracks the story of Jamal, who goes on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" to try and find his lost love, Latika. Dev Patel and Frida Pinto, who star as the leads, also fell in love while making the movie (!!).
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995)
Okay, okay, it's officially a mini-series. But this adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel will go down in history as one of the most romantic on-screen love stories ever. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, emerging from that lake, anyone?
SABRINA (1954)
Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn = a match made in romantic comedy heaven. Bogart plays the older brother of Hepburn's initial love interest, who tries to make her fall for him to save his brother's engagement, which will ensure a great corporate deal for their family business. Of course, he actually does fall in love with her in the process.
SAY ANYTHING (1989)
Is there a more iconic image from '80s rom-coms than John Cusack holding a boombox over his head, wooing Ione Skye's Diane? Nope, we couldn't think of one either.
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
This World War II-set Hollywood classic stars heavyweights Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr and Montgomery Clift, set in the Hawaiian army barracks in the days preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. That beach scene = classic.
LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)
Sure, it's not strictly a "love story", but there's something so romantic about the interactions between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning classic.
