EntertainmentMoviesAction MoviesThe MummyThe 10 best adventure couples in movies, rankedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentMoviesAction MoviesThe MummyThe 10 best adventure couples in movies, rankedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Lucasfilm/Universal)
High stakes breed high emotions, right? Well, that’s certainly the case for the best adventure couples in movies. Whether they’re battling an undead, immortal mummy or trying to survive a dinosaur theme park, they always find time for romance. It might just be a declaration of love after one of them saves the other or a stolen kiss after surviving certain death, but they all have one thing in common: they’re achingly romantic.
Total Film
So what better way to mark Valentine’s Day than sitting down with your loved one to escape into a world of peril? To help you on your way, we’ve broken down the best adventure couples in film history below to mark this romantic holiday. And our list spans the genres and periods so you’ll be able to find a story whatever you’re after.
Once you’ve read this list too, check out our guides to thebest action movies of all timeand thebest anti-Valentine’s Day moviesto stream now.
10. Elizabeth Swann & Will Turner, Pirates of the Caribbean
(Image credit: Disney)
Director:Gore VerbinskiReleased:2003
Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is a blacksmith’s apprentice with a gift for making swords – and fighting with them too. Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) is a governor’s daughter. Together they become embroiled in a hearty adventure involving Aztec gold, a curse, and drunken pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)… and become star-crossed lovers along the way. While Bloom here added to the success of his Legolas in the Lord of The Rings trilogy, Knightley made a huge leap after turning heads inBend It Like Beckham. Her Elizabeth is spirited and intelligent and proves herself a natural at sea(wo)manship, leadership, and battle strategy as the franchise progresses. Will and Elizabeth marry and have a son in At World’s End.
Read ourPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl review.
9. Alan Grant & Ellie Sattler, Jurassic Park
(Image credit: Universal)
Director:Steven SpielbergReleased:1993
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Read ourJurassic Park review.
8. Charlie Allnut & Rose Sayer, The African Queen
(Image credit: Horizon Pictures)
Director:John HustonReleased:1951
You could hardly find a more mismatched couple, a hard-drinking steamboat captain and a prim spinster missionary. Over the course of John Huston’s exhilarating World War 1 adventure though these polar opposites learn to see past their differences and find a common cause – the sinking of a German gunboat. Humphrey Bogart’s Charlie and Katharine Hepburn’s Rose find something else, too: hidden reserves of courage, surprising strength of character, and of course a love Kate was certain would endure. “Did they stay in Africa? I always thought they must have,” she writes in her 1987 book about the film.
7. Robin Hood & Maid Marian, The Adventures of Robin Hood
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Director:Michael Curtiz, William KeighleyReleased:1938
Lady Marian (Olivia de Havilland) is less than impressed with Sir Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn), rebuffing his genial pleasantries during their first chilly encounter. “I hope my lady had a pleasant journey from London?” “What you hope can hardly be important!” It is only a matter of time though before she warms to his charms and soon she is joining forces with his Merrie Men to free him from prison. In reality, de Havilland was just as enamoured of her leading man, although both insisted their romance was never consummated. “We did fall in love, and I believe this was evident in the screen chemistry between us,” the legendary leading lady would later reveal. “But his circumstances at the time prevented the relationship from going further. Cantankerous fate kept us together in films and apart in real life.”
6. Diana Prince & Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman
(Image credit: DC)
Director:Patty JenkinsReleased:2017
Gal Gadot and Chris Pine’s sparky chemistry elevated Wonder Woman above its comic-book stablemates. Natural, funny, sparkling – their pairing brought life to Patty Jenkins’ blending of superhero WW2 and fantasy tropes into a refreshing yet old-school confection. It helps that both get the chance to be fish out of water in each other’s stomping grounds, but there’s no formula for great, simpatico casting. Eschewing pre-casting screen testing, Jenkins knew Pine was right for Steve. “I knew that Chris has exactly the energy,” Jenkins told TF at the time. “He’s plenty confident. He’s plenty handsome. He’s plenty ‘leading man’ on his own, but he’s got a great sense of humor and he loves women and he respects women. So I knew he had exactly the right kind of vibe from the moment that I met him.”
Read ourWonder Woman review.
5. Alejandro ‘Zorro’ Murrieta & Elena Montero, The Mask of Zorro
(Image credit: Sony)
Director:Martin CampbellReleased:1998
Read ourThe Mask of Zorro review.
4. Jack T. Colton & Joan Wilder, Romancing The Stone
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)
Director:Robert ZemeckisReleased:1984
3. Buttercup & Westley, The Princess Bride
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)
Director:Rob ReinerReleased:1987
2. Rick O’Connell & Evelyn Carnahan, The Mummy
(Image credit: Universal)
Director:Stephen SommersReleased:1999
There are several reasons why Stephen Sommers’ Mummy reinvention worked, a big one being that it was so unexpected – to take a slow, insidiously creepy horror-melodrama starring a bandaged Boris Karloff and fashion it into a rollicking romp swathed in CGI. But perhaps the main reason was Brendan Fraser’s and Rachel Weisz’s chemistry. “I don’t really think about chemistry,” says Sommers. “The audience has to tell you that. But what I could tell was that they got along great. When people genuinely like each other, and enjoy working with each other… I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun.'”
1. Indiana Jones & Marion Ravenwood, Raiders of the Lost Ark
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)
Director:Steven SpielbergReleased:1981
Well, it would, were not Indy so exhausted that he promptly falls asleep. “We never seem to get a break, do we?” sighs Marion, unaware that more adventures await them before they can finally have a breather back in Washington DC. “The first time we were together, we didn’t know each other,” said Karen Allen of Harrison Ford in 2017. “It took time to find our rhythm, but I had an awfully good time working with him.”
Read ourIndiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark review.
For more, here’s our guide to thebest Netflix action moviesavailable right now.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”