Kissing scenes in Hollywood movies are usually of the hit or miss kind. While there are plenty of kissing scenes that can take your breath away, there are others that make you cringe and wish they didn't make past the rough cut. Here, I present, in no specific order, 10 kissing scenes from Hollywood movies that I believe you should not miss.
[SPOILER WARNING: This post contains possible spoilers for the following movies - Batman Returns; Drive; Wall-E; Cloud Atlas; Crazy, Stupid, Love; Spider-Man; Titanic; The Notebook; Terminator: Salvation; and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.]
Batman Returns (Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer)
This is possibly THE most passionate kissing scene ever featured in a superhero movie. And what a setting it has! Bruce Wayne (Keaton) has invited Selina Kyle (Pfeiffer) to Wayne Manor and together, they lounge on a massive couch in front of the living room fireplace. Their discussions veer towards Bruce's relationship with his ex-girlfriend; then move on to duality of personality, and finally to psychopaths, while they keep stealing glances at each other. Finally, she cannot wait any longer and pounces on him, their arms wrapping around each other as raw passion crackles like electricity between them. Phenomenal!
Drive (Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan)
Throughout the movie, the enigmatic Driver (Gosling) has been in control of pretty much every situation, constantly one step ahead of any adversary. Not this time! Stuck in an elevator with the woman he is in love with (Mulligan) and seconds away from a life-and-death struggle with a man who might be just as skilled as he is, the Driver realizes that success isn't guaranteed this time. Before letting his inner demon loose, he shields her with his body and leans in towards her for a final touch of humanity. She closes her eyes as she surrenders to him. Beautiful!
Wall-E (Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight - voices only)
Robots may not be able to kiss like humans do, but they do gently bump heads with one another, and make sparks fly. In my opinion, Wall-E is possibly one of the best movies Pixar has ever made. As the icing on the cake, it also happens to feature two of the cutest kissing scenes ever; the first being the prelude to a spectacular space dance, and another one at the end, with a far greater purpose!
Cloud Atlas (Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae)
For Sonmi-451 (Bae), a fabricant (clone) created as a slave to serve customers at the largest fast food restaurant in the futuristic Neo Seoul, falling in love is a forbidden act. Following her daring rescue by Hae-Joo Chang (Sturgess), a science officer in an army rebelling against the Unanimity (the all-controlling government), she often listens to his heartbeat as he sleeps and longs to experience love. He complies one night, pulling her close for a passionate kiss. She smiles, initiating a second, deeper kiss, making the choice to finally fall in love with him.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone)
At the beginning of the movie, suave womanizer Jacob (Gosling) flirts with Hannah (Stone) in a bar, and she nonchalantly brushes him off. Since then, there was little doubt that they would eventually fall for each other, given that the story of the movie has a pretty obvious flow, with only one major twist along the way. However, the way it happened, with her storming in the bar in a rain soaked, disheveled state while he's flirting with another woman, and dragging him out of there after a long passionate kiss, was part romantic, part passionate and altogether pretty hilarious. Besides, the chemistry between them is fantastic throughout!
Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst)
It's not everyday that a girl gets rescued by everyone's favorite web slinging, wall-crawling superhero. So, when Mary-Jane (Dunst) is saved by Spidey (Maguire) a second time, she is determined to thank him properly, with a rain-drenched lip-lock. He is startled at first when she starts removing his mask as he hangs upside down, but she stops as she reaches his nose, leaving his secret identity intact, and making room for probably one of the most iconic kisses in movie history.
Titanic (Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet)
Is there anyone who doesn't remember this scene? The passionate kiss between Jack (DiCaprio) and Rose (Winslet) on the deck of the Titanic is probably the second iconic kiss on this list, not to mention one of the greatest ever filmed. And the fact that Jack talked Rose out of taking a plunge into the icy ocean just a few minutes earlier makes the scene even more emotional. They have shared a few more kisses during the course of the movie, but none comes close to this one.
The Notebook (Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams)
Following a 7-year separation, Allison "Allie" Hamilton (Mcadams) runs into Noah Calhoun (Gosling) once again, and after some misunderstandings are cleared up, what follows is one of the most passionate rain-drenched kisses ever filmed in Hollywood! Gosling and McAdams have excellent chemistry between them, and the deep emotional connection between their characters has given this scene a special place in the heart of many a viewer.
Terminator: Salvation (Sam Worthington, Helena Bonham Carter)
Death row inmate Marcus Wright (Worthington) is just an hour away from execution, when cancer-ridden geneticist Dr. Serena Kogan (Carter) steps into his cell. She wants him to sign a consent form, thereby handing his body over to Cyberdyne Systems for genetics research after his execution. He is skeptical about her true intentions at first, but when she assures him that her work is for saving the future of mankind, he agrees to "sell" the future to her, for a kiss. When she nods her consent, he cups her face with his handcuffed hands and closes her lips with his. It is a short sequence, lasting barely a few seconds, but from the way she reacts once it is over, it is evident that she wanted more of it. Her reaction - indicating a lasting bond between two victims that transcends death, is what makes the scene memorable, in a movie that is otherwise pretty mediocre.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (Daniel Radcliffe, Bonnie Wright)
This is not the only kiss that on-screen lovers Harry Potter (Radcliffe) and Ginny Weasley (Wright) have shared throughout the series. However, this is probably the most emotional of them all, since it was shared prior to the Battle of Hogwarts, and neither of the characters were sure of surviving the assault that followed.
What is your most favorite kissing scene in a Hollywood movie, and why do you think it is significant? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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