Quick, what do you think of when you hear the word “war?” Roses, candlelight, a picnic in a meadow? Maybe not, but there is romance in war time. Baby boom, anyone? That’s right, when the world is in turmoil, we look for comfort in each other. And many war movies have shown that.
For Day 1 of our 14 Days of Romance leading up to Valentine’s Day, our Disc Dish staff have chosen our Best Romantic War Movies below.
3. Atonement
In Joe Wright’s beautiful 2007 Academy Award-winning film, writer Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan of The Lovely Bones at age 13, Romola Garai of Glorious 39 at age 18 and Vanessa Redgrave of Letters to Juliet older) tells the story of her sister’s (Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go) love affair with their estate’s gardener (James McAvoy, The Last Station). When he’s convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, he’s given the choice of jail or serving in the Army during World War II, ripping apart the lovers. We won’t reveal the ending here for those of you who haven’t seen this movie — we highly recommend it — but the scenes when Knightley and McAvoy are together tug heavily on the heartstrings. This war film has romance aplenty, but bring tissues.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Universal Studios Home Entertainment
The one and only. When we say Clark Gable (The Misfits) and Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire), that’s about all the romance you need. But, in this classic 1939 film directed by Victor Fleming, the legendary, incendiary spark between Rhett (Gable) and Scarlett (Leigh) fires up as the Civil War rages across America, then loses its glow as the country rebuilds itself during the Reconstruction. Not the most spectacular love story to ever come out of Hollywood? Oh, fiddle dee dee!
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Home Video
1. Casablanca
Another war movie set during World War II, this 1942 film, directed by Michael Curtiz (White Christmas), is the undisputed classic of love and war. Don’t believe us? Harry and Sally thought so, too. “The Germans wore gray, you wore blue,” cracks Humphrey Bogart’s (The African Queen) Rick to Ingrid Bergman’s (Spellbound) Ilsa of the day the Nazis marched into Paris, trying to conceal his own shattered heart. Don’t worry, Rick; you’ll always have Paris.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Home Video
What are your favorites?
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