The 16 Most Underrated Romance Films of the 1980s
1980s romance movies for every mood. Delight in the passion, the humor, and the drama.
There is a collective nostalgia about certain portions of the 1980s; that decade held a strange middle ground between the fast-paced era of high Internet technology, and the simpler, grittier ages that came before.
A sense of dystopia arose on the horizon, as neoliberal capitalism joined forces with rugged individualism beneath the banner of the Cold War.
One of the shining lights of the 1980s is the romantic tinge to so much of the media — a certain glamour that sparkled on the silver screen.
It was as if the cinematography took tips from the Golden Age of Hollywood, when the bright lights made the actors, already larger than life, burst from the screen like cultural gods.
Within the genre of romance movies from the 1980s, a great range also existed. From the incredibly self-serious, to the profoundly silly, we saw an incredible array of exploration into the nature of love and lust.
Some of the great early films focused on non-hetero relationships also started being made, showcasing LGBTQ+ relationships in a different way, taking what had once been more avant-garde (more “artsy”) and allowing it to be seen by more mainstream crowds.
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Actors: Christopher Reeve, Christopher Plummer, Bill Erwin, George Voskovec, John Alvi
Through self-hypnosis, a Chicago playwright magically dives into the past to find the actress whose portrait he cannot get out of his mind.
Below the surface
Somewhere in Time (1980) failed to win the love of most of the critics of the year, and is totally a hit-or-miss with modern viewers as well.
Personally, I like this sort of romance story: yes, it’s deeply dramatic, and the film does miss out on some of the fun that could have been had with the time travel concept, but that’s not what it’s about.
This is a film about an impossible over-the-top sort of stylized romance, the kind that makes the room fall quiet. It’s asking us to believe in more than just magical time-travel mumbo-jumbo, it’s asking us to believe in a fairly spiritual sort of romance… if you put aside your preconceptions and let yourself sink into that — if you meet the film where it's at — it works.
Out of Africa (1985)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Actors: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep
A Danish author moves to Africa at the beginning of the 20th century, trying to build a new life for herself. Based on a 1937 autobiographical novel by Karen Blixen.
Below the surface
Out of Africa (1985) is a sprawling, powerful romance that offers the true Golden Age classic romance experience for more modern audiences.
There’s a sumptuous charisma between Streep and Redford, and Streep’s performance here is really to be admired. This is definitely a slow film, but that continental pacing is all in service of a moving human romance intelligently crafted and beautifully portrayed.
Just One of the Guys (1985)
Director:
Actors: Joyce Hyser, Clayton Rohner and Billy Jayne
A loose adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, where a teenager who wants to become a journalist finds that her sexist male teachers don’t have any faith in her. She decides to see how the other side lives in an effort to prove that her writing stands on its own merits. Disguising herself as a guy, she enters a strange new world.
Below the surface
Just One of the Guys (1985) doesn’t explore things in the same way as a modern gender-explorative film would, but for its time the gender-swap laughs came alongside a healthy dose of questions regarding the nature of gender identity.
The film ultimately does pretty much what you’d expect, but it does it really well, offering good comedy, solid performances, and some deft screenwriting along the way.
Endless Love (1981)
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Actors: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt
Based on the 1979 Scott Spencer novel.
Below the surface
Endless Love (1981) suffers from the same problem as many film adaptations of original novels: it fails to understand the point of the source material and refuses to adhere to the source’s subtext.
The author himself said of it: “I was frankly surprised that something so tepid and conventional could have been fashioned from my slightly unhinged novel about the glorious destructive violence of erotic obsession”.
Given this, is there anything worthwhile after all? What makes this film “underrated?”
Brooke Shields, for one. Her performance is credible and powerful, and she feels fully realized in her role. There are other moments, too, that capture the eye and deserve praise, even if the whole film doesn’t really come through.
Go in prepared to analyze as you watch, and with the full realization that you’ll need to read the book afterward, and this can be a worthwhile experience.
A Room with a View (1985)
Director: James Ivory
Actors: Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliot, Julian Sands
Edwardian England’s culture is on the cusp of change, and a young woman finds herself in love with a man who bounds far beyond the old model of propriety. It is loosely based on E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel of the same name.
Below the surface
A Room with a View (1985) handles its adaptation of the original source material perfectly, taking pains to adhere to what worked best in the novel while at the same time flourishing those areas that can really come to life upon the screen.
A joy to see all these actors together, with a witty script, and some truly earnest moments that put this film above and beyond most romances of this, or any other, decade.
Earth Girls Are Easy (1989)
Director: Julien Temple
Actors: Geena Davis, Julie Brown, Charles Rocket, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, and Jim Carrey
Three aliens on the look for love encounter broadcasts from Earth that make them think Southern California is the place to be.
Below the surface
Earth Girls Are Easy (1989) is purely silly, funny, and ridiculous. For that, it often gets dismissed and ignored, but the reality of this little film’s existence is that it is utterly earnest about how silly it is, and that makes it truly delightful.
The Big Blue (1988)
Director: Luc Besson
Actors: Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno
Very loosely based on the lives of two of the greatest historical free-divers, this romantic exploration is a field of vast oceanic landscapes as deep as matters of the heart.
Below the surface
The Big Blue (1988) was described by French Cinema historian Rémi Lanzoni as “one of the most significant cult movies of the 1980s”, an exercise in brilliant and emotional cinematography as well as a non-traditional plot. This is a film woven through sight and emotion, not an A-Z romance narrative.
Starman (1984)
Director: John Carpenter
Actors: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen
When an alien encounters the Voyager 2 probe, it assumes the body of a recently deceased man to better understand humanity.
Below the surface
Starman (1984) takes viewers on the sort of journey they probably don’t except from science fiction, let alone from a piece directed by cult legend of cheese, action, and horror John Carpenter.
But this is so much more than a simple sci-fi story; it weaves the science fiction tropes effortlessly into a heartfelt romantic drama that’s become one of the great cult films of the generation.
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Actors: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner
When a middle-aged travel writer’s son dies suddenly, his mind and marriage are turned upside down. But as he carries on with his life, the shattered pieces of his psyche find solace in new relationships, and new ways of seeing the world.
Below the surface
The Accidental Tourist (1988) is a pure emotional journey that begins with a poignant pain too many, these days, can relate to, but shifts the perspective of death and loss toward a kinder vision. There’s so much in here that I love, from the witty romance arc, to the superb acting, to the great sense of recapturing the purpose of life through an experience of deep grief. This is one of the 1980s gems that too many people have yet to discover.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Director: Rob Reiner
Actors: Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, and Chris Sarandon
A mysterious man in black chases the kidnappers of a disheartened princess across oceans and up cliffs, in what is one of the most earnest romantic comedies of all time.
Below the surface
The Princess Bride (1987) is easily one of my favorite all-time films. There’s a magic to it, a sense of both a theatrical production and an artistic masterpiece of a film; there’s humor and horror, sadness and joy, and throughout it all lives one of the best classic romances of the age.
My Beautiful Launderette (1985)
Director: Stephen Frears
Actors: Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Derrick Branche
With Thatchers horrible austerity measures destroying Britian, two young gay men encounter conservative hatred as they struggle to live their lives, renovating a dilapidated laundrette.
Below the surface
My Beautiful Launderette (1985) is, perhaps, even more important in these charged times than it was in the 1980s. It’s an absolute masterpiece of filmmaking, and it’s inspired a number of recent adaptations, including a TV serial and a stage play. The film doesn’t show up on the greatest romance lists often enough to my mind.
The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
Director: John G. Avildsen
Actors: Pat Morita, Ralph Macchio, Tamlyn Tomita
In this sequel to the cult classic, a young Daniel follows Mr. Miyagi to Okinawa to visit Miyagi’s ailing father. There, both will discover more than they imagined, as old flames are rekindled, and new bonds are forged.
Below the surface
The Karate Kid, Part II (1986) doesn’t get the love it should. Partly, that’s because it’s absolutely cheesy, and the martial arts aspect loses focus in the film.
But there’s a remarkable dual romance plot in this one that’s subtle and sweet, and if the film as a whole is viewed as a romantic work, with all the glitz that comes with that, then I think it can be really appreciated in a different way.
Streets of Fire (1984)
Director: Walter Hill
Actors: Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane, Michael Paré
Rock and Roll never dies in these dark, rain-swept streets, where gangs vie for dominance to the hammering of drums and the thrum of the guitar.
Below the surface
Streets of Fire (1984) pops and sizzles on the screen like nothing else; it’s Romance with a capital “R” and the sort of film that gets under your skin and makes you want to dance. Seriously, one of the best rock-opera films ever.
Always (1989)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman
When an ace daredevil pilot dies while fighting a raging forest fire, he discovers a life after death, and a purpose, that he never could have imagined.
Below the surface
Always (1989) is a great unsung epic by Spielberg, showcasing all of his directorial brilliance applied to an absolutely charming and heartfelt fantasy romance.
Tempest (1982)
Director: Paul Mazursky
Actors: John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Molly Ringwald, Susan Sarandon
A middle-aged architect discovers that his life is crumbling, so he escapes his high-profile modern world and, his teenage daughter in tow, moves to Greece. But there, something awaits them beyond expectation.
Below the surface
Tempest (1982) is a very loose retelling of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and it works with the themes of the play really well. It’s got this gritty realism style that I absolutely adore, and both Sarandon and Ringwald are superb, with Cassavetes’ stylistic hands clearly evident in the background of Mazursky’s clever direction. Definitely a potent romance, and in surprising ways.
Moonstruck (1987)
Director: Norman Jewison
Actors: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Danny Aiello, John Mahoney, Louis Guss.
A widowed Italian-American woman accepts her boyfriend’s proposal, but discovers that she may just be falling for his estranged, hot-tempered younger brother instead.
Below the surface
Moonstruck (1987) is one of the best romance films of any decade, period. Cher is sublime, Cage is brilliant, the whole premise of this film is brimming with a magical realism that defies description.
The age of Netflix
Once upon a time, Netflix’s DVD library hosted well over 100,000 titles and sent out roughly 12 million DVDs per week. Now, with the advent of easy-to-use streaming services, the amount of content viewers have available has shrunk to the low thousands.
Look up any list of “films to watch” and you’ll find a tiny selection of movies, usually curated by people all reading the same lists and commenting on the exact same hot new show or film.
But, is that all there is? With over a hundred years of incredible filmmaking on the planet, isn’t there something missed when we only pay attention to the latest and greatest?
This series is dedicated to answering that question and to exploring a small handful of the unsung films from decades past. I’ll examine each decade in turn, all the way back to the earliest days of film, and I’ll be exploring every genre of film there is! From science fiction, to drama, to romance, to comedy — I’m going to cover the entirety of film history for you, bringing out the golden nuggets for you to enjoy.
As always, with these articles, I love hearing your feedback in the comments section. Let me know what your favorite films of the decade were, which ones you think I should have included, and which you hope I’ll mention in one of my next decades!
Hi there! I’m Odin Halvorson, an independent scholar, film fanatic, fiction author, and tech enthusiast. If you like my work and want to support me, please smash that “clap” button and subscribe! You can also join my newsletter and get free access to the articles I write!