25 of the most swoon-worthy romance movies of all time
By Amy Kaplan
Romeo + Juliet
It seems as if every movie takes something from the Romeo and Juliet storyline, and while there have been remakes upon remakes of this William Shakespeare classic romance, it was the 1996 version of the flick that really captured the attention like so many others had not.
This version was edgy and modern and made the sometimes incredibly old-timey language easy for the younger generation to understand. It was set to epic gunfights and pristine homes, classic cars and some of Hollywood’s biggest names (at least at the time).
It made kids fall in love with the classics all over again and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The film kept the original Shakespearean dialogue but modernized the famous feuding families (Montagues and the Capulets) as warring mafia empires. Swords are replaced with guns (with brand names such as “Dagger” and “Sword”) and some minor characters are given a slight revival but what really matters — the love story — is the same. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, who instantly fall in love when Romeo crashes a party and meets her, despite their being members of the opposing families. They marry in secret just hours before Romeo kills Juliet’s cousin (in self-defense). They believe the only way to survive together is to pretend that Juliet is dead and get her to the now-banished Romeo. Unfortunately, Romeo doesn’t get the message and believes that Juliet has really died so he takes his own life. (Juliet does the same when she realizes what happens.) They are destined to not be together in life, so they find another way.
Fun Fact: The movie was adapted by Baz Luhrmann which explains its style.
Release date: October 27, 1996