Best Romance Movies of 1981

The highest-rated romance films from 1981, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Romance 1980 Romance 1982 All Time Romance

Action Comedy Drama Horror Science Fiction Thriller Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

On Golden Pond

1981

For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years.

7.2

The Woman Next Door

1981

Madame Jouve, the narrator, tells the tragedy of Bernard and Mathilde. Bernard was living happily with his wife Arlette and his son Thomas. One day, a couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard, moves into the next house. This is the accidental reunion of Bernard and Mathilde, who had a passionate love affair years ago. The relationship revives... A somber study of human feelings.

7.1

The Great Muppet Caper

1981

Kermit and Fozzie are newspaper reporters sent to London to interview Lady Holiday, a wealthy fashion designer whose priceless diamond necklace is stolen. Kermit meets and falls in love with her secretary, Miss Piggy. The jewel thieves strike again, and this time frame Miss Piggy. It's up to Kermit and Muppets to bring the real culprits to justice.

6.9

Reds

1981

An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant.

6.9

The Aviator's Wife

1981

A student is devastated when he finds that his girlfriend is cheating on him. In order to find out why she did it, he decides to spy on her and her airline pilot lover. Then he sees the pilot with a blonde woman and he begins to follow them…

7.2

Lola

1981

Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. Shot in childlike candy colors, Fassbinder’s homage to Josef von Sternberg’s classic The Blue Angel stands as a satiric tribute to capitalism.

6.9

Gregory's Girl

1981

A teenager falls hard for the female soccer player who has replaced him on the team and attempts to pursue her.

6.7

Absence of Malice

1981

Megan Carter is a reporter duped into running an untrue story on Michael Gallagher, a suspected racketeer. He has an alibi for the time his crime was allegedly committed—but it involves an innocent party. When he tells Carter the truth and the newspaper runs it, tragedy follows, forcing Carter to face up to the responsibilities of her job when she is confronted by Gallagher.

6.6

Beau Pere

1981

Rémi is a man trapped in a deteriorating marriage. When his wife is unexpectedly killed in a car accident, Rémi is left with his stepdaughter, Marion, who chooses to stay with him rather than live with her birth father. After the initial shock passes, Rémi is caught off-guard when Marion begins expressing her attraction to him. Initially repulsed, Marion's mature beauty wears him down as he finally caves to her seductions.

6.5

#10

The Postman Always Rings Twice

1981

The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.

6.5

#11

Arthur

1981

Arthur is a 30-year-old child who will inherit $750 million if he complies with his family's demands and marries the woman of their choosing.

6.5

#12

The French Lieutenant's Woman

1981

In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.

6.4

#13

Pennies from Heaven

1981

During the Great Depression, a sheet music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent school teacher.

6.0

#14

Continental Divide

1981

A hard-nosed Chicago journalist has an unlikely love affair with an eagle researcher.

6.0

#15

Private Lessons

1981

Phillip Filmore is a naive, 15-year-old, preoccupied with sex, who develops a crush on Nicole Mallow, the new 30-something, French housekeeper and sitter to look after him when Phillip's father is out of town for the summer on a "business" trip. But Mr. Filmore's unscrupulous chauffeur, Lester Lewis, takes advantage of Phillip's crush on Nicole to hire her to seduce the youth, then draws her into a plot to fake her own death in a blackmail scheme aimed to drain Phillip's trust fund.

5.7

#16

Endless Love

1981

As their romance unfolds, Jade and David's growing love for one another becomes the scorn of Jade's father. However, when Jade's grades begin to drop, her father forbids the young couple from seeing each other for 30 days. Driven insane with frustration and desire, David attempts to reverse the decision, with catastrophic results.

5.7

Best Romance Movies of 1981

This ranking features the top romance movies released in 1981, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1981 or see the best romance movies of all time.