The 50 best movie kisses. And they say romance is dead...
Dirty Dancing (1987)
The Kissers: Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) and Frances 'Baby' Houseman (Jennifer Grey).
The Kiss: Baby proves she's learnt some dirty moves as she dances into an embrace to Mickey and Sylvia's Love Is Strange .
Passion Or Romance: One creates the other.
Cruel Intentions (1999)
The Kissers: Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair).
The Kiss: Kathryn teaches Cecile how to get to first base as part of a scheme to corrupt the innocent girl.
Passion Or Romance: “Cool!” according to Cecile.
The Shining (1980)
The Kissers: Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) and… well, just you wait and see.
The Kiss: Horny Jack is seduced into the Overlook Hotel’s spooky room 237 by a hottie, only for her to transform into a rotting harridan mid-snog.
Passion Or Romance: A typically stark, Kubrickian warning against passion.
Jerry Maguire (1996)
The Kissers: Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) and Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger).
The Kiss: Cynical sports agent Jerry interrupts ladies’ night to tell Dorothy she completes him...only to find “you had me at hello.”
Passion Or Romance: Cheesy, but romantic.
Shrek (2001)
The Kissers: Shrek (Mike Myers) and Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz).
The Kiss: Shrek interrupts Fiona’s sham wedding to Lord Farquaad by planting true love’s kiss on her physog, not realising he’s about to break a curse that will see her become all-ogre.
Passion Or Romance: With looks like his, it’s gotta be love.
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
The Kissers: Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) and Sally Albright (Meg Ryan).
The Kiss: Long-delayed by their insistence on being just friends, but what better time than New Year’s Eve to ensure old acquaintances aren’t forgot?
Passion Or Romance: A classic description of the latter – “when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
The Kissers: Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) and Paula Pokrifki (Debra Winger).
The Kiss: Did somebody call a Strippogram? Nah, it’s Paula’s on/off boyf Zack, finally committing by sweeping her off her feet and walking her out of work.
Passion Or Romance: Ultra-romantic, which is probably for the best considering she’ll probably get sacked.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Kissers: Elliott (Henry Thomas) and unnamed classmate (Erika Eleniak).
The Kiss: The telepathic link between E.T. and Elliott causes the latter to recreate the classic kissing scene from The Quiet Man (which E.T. is watching at home) in the classroom.
Passion Or Romance: Romance-by-proxy, with added sweetness because Elliott needs to stand on a classmate to reach the girl’s lips.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Kissers: Sugar Kane Kowalski (Marilyn Monroe) and Joe (Tony Curtis).
The Kiss: He fancies her rotten, but since he’s a no-good musician, he’s pretending to be a millionaire. Oh, and he’s pretending to be unmoved by her kisses so she thinks she’s seducing him. Confused, yet?
Passion Or Romance: An unusual one, this - it's passion disguised by fake frigidity.
Amelie (2001)
The Kissers: Amelie (Audrey Tautou) and Nino Quincampoix (Matthieu Kassovitz).
The Kiss: Ever-quirky Amelie drags Nino into her apartment and gives him a series of playful kisses, before instructing him to do the same.
Passion Or Romance: Kissing this whimsical can’t be anything other than romantic.