In a lot of ways, the 1990s was an excellent decade, filled with fashion trends, iconic television shows, and an explosion of award-winning movies in every genre. Even though times have changed and some films have aged, there are the 90s gems that will stand the test of time and remain fan-favorites, specifically when it comes to the decade's romance movies.
Sure, there's the typical boy-meets-girl, boy-and-girl-fall-in-love-and-live-happily-ever-after story, but by the 1990s, directors knew there had to be more than that. Romance movies that came out of the 1990s also launched a lot of present-day A-lister's careers, with beautiful storylines that were not only intriguing but mixed in a good dose of fairytale and real-life situations.
10 1990 - Pretty Woman
Starting the decade with a bang, Pretty Woman gave the world an odd love story of two people that came from different worlds. When Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere, is in Beverly Hills for business, he takes a chance at going to Hollywood Boulevard in search of an escort for the week, that will have no attachments or opportunity for heartbreak.
Edward finds Vivian Ward, played by Julia Roberts, who agrees to the plan, and is given a whole new look to match these upper-class events. Things change when Vivian and Edward start to get to know each other, and at the end of the week, they fall for one another. While this wasn't Julia's first role in Hollywood, her portrayal of Vivian in Pretty Woman launched her career into superstar status.
9 1991 - The Man In The Moon
Starring Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, and a young Reese Witherspoon, The Man in the Moon has got to be one of the best romance movies that came out of 1991. Based in rural Louisiana and set in 1957, Elvis Presley was all the rage. Dani Trant, played by Witherspoon, is a 14-year-old girl who is discovering teenage-hood and growing up. When a widow and her children move in next door, everything seemingly changes.
Dani falls for the 17-year-old Court Foster, even though he doesn't necessarily feel the same. After falling for Dani's sister Maureen instead, Dani experiences her first heartbreak, loss, and how much her family means to her in the end. Reese Witherspoon has been in a lot of movies since 1991, but The Man in the Moon will be known as her first major film debut, and one of her best roles.
8 1992 - The Cutting Edge
In 1992, director Paul Michael Glaser a fun little romantic film called The Cutting Edge. Starring D.B. Sweeney as Doug Dorsey and Moira Kelly as Kate Moseley, their meet up was very coincidental. Doug, a professional hockey player for the U.S. team in the 1988 Winter Olympics, injures himself and is side-lined. Across the pond, Kate has her eyes on a gold medal too, as a talented figure skater, until she takes a nasty fall during her program and ruins her chances that year.
After going through many partners thus far, Kate is paired with Doug, who just wants to skate again and get to the Olympics. After trials and errors, long days on the ice, and many disagreements, they start to fall for one another as their next chance at the gold is right around the corner.
7 1993 - Sleepless In Seattle
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are not only known as a great actor and actress, but as the main characters in one of the most well-known movies from the 1990s: Sleepless in Seattle. Tom Hanks is Sam, a father and widower. He relocates to Seattle with his son to start over. Months later, at the prompting of his son, Sam goes on a radio show to explain how much he misses his wife, while thousands of women around the country listen.
When Annie Reed, played by Meg Ryan, hears Sam on the radio, she wants to meet him, despite being engaged. It's then that Sam and Annie fall for one another from afar, not knowing who each other is. Tom Hanks has racked up a lot of great movies in his career, and his role as Sam in Sleepless in Seattle is one of them.
6 1994 - Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks was busy making memorable movies in the 1990s and another of his most famous roles is Forrest in Forrest Gump. There is truly no other movie quite like it, and Tom was the perfect actor to play the role. Some people may argue that this film is more of a drama, but it also has an underlying romance story. Forrest Gump is a man from Alabama with some learning difficulties, but he shows that anyone can achieve their dreams if they work at them.
After getting through a bully-infested childhood, Vietnam, jogging across the country, and being a successful ping-pong player, all Forrest really wants is to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart, Jenny Curran, a troubled woman who has lived the fast-life. This doesn't matter to Forrest, and the movie shows how perseverance and true love endure. There are some very successful movies from the 1990s, but without a doubt, Forrest Gump is one that defined cinema.
5 1995 - Before Sunrise
Before Sunrise follows Jesse, played by Ethan Hawke, who is a tourist in France. By chance, he meets Céline, a local, and connects with her so well that he asks her to spend the day with him before his flight back to America.
They don't have much time, but with the time they do have, they connect on a deep level at a fast-pace. They share everything with one another, thinking they won't ever see each other again. Although the next day is on their minds, the connection they have is true, touching, and awfully romantic.
4 1996 - Romeo + Juliet
In 1996, direct Baz Luhrmann took a beloved story written by William Shakespeare and turned it into a turn-of-the-century movie about the simplicities and difficulties of young love. Romeo + Juliet, based on the famous play, is re-worked into a bright, over-the-top film in the suburb of Verona about two kids that find another despite their family's differences.
Romeo is played by the beloved Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes co-stars as Juliet. They have a beautiful connection to one another that tells the classic tale well. There might be some differences between the play and the novel, but nonetheless, Baz Luhrmann's take on Romeo + Juliet was iconic.
3 1997 - Titanic
Staying on the DiCaprio train is a film that blew away all other movies that came out in 1997, and the decade as a whole, to become one of the most beloved romance stories in movie history. Director and writer James Cameron took his love of the tragic story of the 1911 sunken ship and updated it with a specific fictional backstory of two people from different sides of the tracks.
Rose Dewitt Bukater is a young woman on the verge of marrying a rich, older man. She travels with him and her mother back to America and is very unhappy. After a chance meeting, Jack and Rose begin their odd relationship, before the fate of the R.M.S. Titanic comes into play. Not only do Leo and Kate's careers take off at this point, Titanic also became one of James Cameron's best-directed movies, as well.
2 1998 - Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black is a unique film about Death itself, love, and life. Joe Black is Death, disguised as a man put on Earth to follow a media mogul named William Parrish, played by Anthony Hopkins. In the process, Joe, played by Brad Pitt, notices William's daughter Susan, and takes a liking to her, which uproots the process of taking William Parrish to the afterlife.
It's then when Joe starts to like Earth and what it has brought to his front door. It's a very unique storyline that isn't quite like anything else.
1 1999 - Notting Hill
Notting Hill tells a simple story of a lonely bookstore owner named William Thacker and a popular actress named Anna Scott. Anna enters William's bookstore and both their lives change forever. They run into each other again over the next few days, and unknowingly start falling for one another.
William cannot believe he has the attention of one of the most beautiful women in the world, but he also realizes that being with a woman like her means a lot of attention. Some films have aged quite a bit since the 90s, but Notting Hill remains a great rom-com.
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January 06, 2021 at 04:30AM
