Young Lovers on the Run
by manoloblahnik | created - 15 Feb 2017 | updated - 15 Jan 2019 | PublicRoad movies with star crossed lovers on the run from the law, as well as crazy ex boyfriends/girlfriends?, criminals, thugs, psychopaths, killers, dirty cops, and all around dirtbags. One of my favorite genres. Although I know most people don't see this as a particular genre, but who cares what other people think?
I included some other choices from my youth because they inspired me to move out of my parents house and never go back. I have many fond memories of staying up late, watching some of these forbidden movies on VHS.
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1. True Romance (1993)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In Detroit, a pop-culture nerd steals cocaine from his new wife's pimp and tries to sell it in Hollywood, prompting the mobsters who own the drugs to pursue the couple.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer
Votes: 242,401 | Gross: $12.28M
The best. Clarence and Alabama.
2. Heaven's Burning (1997)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After a botched bank job, a gang takes hostage a Japanese girl on the run from an arranged marriage, and escapes. Their wheel man saves the girl from them and the two go on the run with cops, the gang and her psycho husband on their tail.
Director: Craig Lahiff | Stars: Russell Crowe, Yûki Kudô, Kenji Isomura, Ray Barrett
Votes: 2,222
This movie although only rated a 5.7, is so much better than that. Petty thug, Russell Crowe gets mixed up with some hardcore criminals, and when a heist goes wrong he makes a choice which makes him a target of some very bad people.
3. Wild at Heart (1990)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, J.E. Freeman
Votes: 100,917 | Gross: $14.56M
I saw this at the theater, I was expecting something typical. I was very confused, and didn't know what the hell I was watching. I compared it to some sort of adult fairy tale with Nic Cage as the wacked out brave knight with anger issues. I remember the scene with Diane Ladd suddenly turning to the camera with her face all covered in red lipstick and it scaring me. Willem Dafoe as the bank robber with very bad teeth meeting his gruesome end was the highlight of the movie. This movie made me love Nic Cage to be the best actor of his generation.
4. Kalifornia (1993)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
Director: Dominic Sena | Stars: Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, Kathy Larson, David Milford
Votes: 58,176 | Gross: $2.40M
Nobody plays white trash like Juliette Lewis, and this movie made me aware of Brad Pitt. Michelle Forbes is excellent as the brains of the other couple, and seems completely believable as the stuck up snobby bitch with an attitude.
5. Badlands (1973)
PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
Votes: 78,352
6. Love and a .45 (1994)
R | 101 min | Crime, Romance, Thriller
A small time crook flees to Mexico to evade the authorities, loan sharks, and his murderous ex-partner with only his fiancé and a trusted Colt .45.
Director: C.M. Talkington | Stars: Gil Bellows, Renée Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, Jeffrey Combs
Votes: 4,855
Gil Bellows is great, and Jeffrey Combs as Dinosaur Bob is excellent. "Creepy Cody" and "Billy Mack Black", two more weird murderous losers.
7. Breathless (1983)
R | 100 min | Action, Drama, Romance
When Jesse Lujack steals a car in Las Vegas and drives down to LA, his criminal ways only escalate - but when will it end?
Director: Jim McBride | Stars: Richard Gere, Valérie Kaprisky, Art Metrano, John P. Ryan
Votes: 10,427 | Gross: $19.91M
8. Something Wild (1986)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, George 'Red' Schwartz, Leib Lensky
Votes: 21,073 | Gross: $8.36M
9. Breathless (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama
A small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Van Doude, Jean-Luc Godard
Votes: 87,892 | Gross: $0.34M
10. The Sugarland Express (1974)
PG | 110 min | Crime, Drama
A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton
Votes: 19,081 | Gross: $7.50M
11. The Getaway (1994)
R | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
An ex-con and his devoted wife must flee from danger when a heist doesn't go as planned.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Michael Madsen, James Woods
Votes: 19,644 | Gross: $16.10M
12. The Getaway (1972)
PG | 123 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A recently-released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers
Votes: 35,679 | Gross: $36.73M
13. Natural Born Killers (1994)
R | 119 min | Action, Crime, Romance
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield
Votes: 251,693 | Gross: $50.28M
14. Highway (I) (2002)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama
After Jack gets caught with a Vegas mobster's wife in bed, he's gotta hit the road. Jack's best friend Pilot accompanies him, and the pair sets out on an adventure akin to Kerouac's "On the Road".
Director: James Cox | Stars: Kimberley Kates, Jared Leto, Jake Gyllenhaal, Selma Blair
Votes: 6,814
15. Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met.
Director: David Lowery | Stars: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker
Votes: 22,774 | Gross: $0.39M
16. The Doom Generation (1995)
R | 83 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Jordan White and Amy Blue, two troubled teens, pick up an adolescent drifter, Xavier Red. Together, the threesome embark on a sex-and-violence-filled journey through an America of psychos and quickie marts.
Director: Gregg Araki | Stars: James Duval, Rose McGowan, Johnathon Schaech, Cress Williams
Votes: 17,870 | Gross: $0.26M
17. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
R | 111 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman
Votes: 120,576
18. Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Down-on-their-luck racers Larry and Deke steal from a supermarket manager to buy a car that will help them advance their racing chances. Their escape does not go as planned when Larry's one-night stand, Mary, tags along for the ride.
Director: John Hough | Stars: Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, Kenneth Tobey
Votes: 7,829 | Gross: $0.62M
19. Macon County Line (1974)
R | 89 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A vengeful Southern sheriff is out for blood after his wife is brutally killed by a pair of drifters.
Director: Richard Compton | Stars: Alan Vint, Cheryl Waters, Max Baer Jr., Geoffrey Lewis
Votes: 1,661 | Gross: $18.77M
20. Hit & Run (1997)
R | 95 min | Thriller
College boy Trent is returning home for the holidays when he crosses the path of bad-girl Miya at a truck stop. When he agrees to give her a ride, he becomes part and parcel to all her twisted desires.
Director: David Blyth | Stars: David Keith, Art MacDonald, Elaine Martyn, Nicholas Pasco
Votes: 688
21. Gun Crazy (1950)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis | Stars: John Dall, Peggy Cummins, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky
Votes: 14,827
22. Sweet Hostage (1975 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 93 min | Drama, Romance
An escaped mental patient kidnaps an illiterate teenage farm girl and takes her to his mountain hideaway, where they become friends--and, eventually, lovers.
Director: Lee Philips | Stars: Linda Blair, Martin Sheen, Jeanne Cooper, Lee de Broux
Votes: 826
23. Sun Don't Shine (2012)
Not Rated | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A couple takes a tense and mysterious road trip through the desolate yet hauntingly beautiful landscape of central Florida.
Director: Amy Seimetz | Stars: Kate Lyn Sheil, Kentucker Audley, AJ Bowen, Kit Gwin
Votes: 1,227
24. The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Drama
A Texas teenager cuts her hair short and becomes an outlaw martyr with her brother and friends.
Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Helen Slater, Christian Slater, Keith Gordon, Richard Bradford
Votes: 11,657 | Gross: $3.10M
Not really young lovers on the run, but young people on the run. More of a sentimental pick because I saw this as a kid, and thought it was great.
25. Run (1991)
R | 91 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Director: Geoff Burrowes | Stars: Patrick Dempsey, Kelly Preston, Ken Pogue, A.C. Peterson
Votes: 3,139 | Gross: $4.41M
26. Reckless (1984)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A motorbike riding loner rebel on the high school football team wins a date with a cute, rich cheerleader. At the high school dance, her boyfriend's behavior leads to a breakup - opening doors.
Director: James Foley | Stars: Aidan Quinn, Daryl Hannah, Kenneth McMillan, Cliff De Young
Votes: 2,362 | Gross: $8.29M
27. Thieves Like Us (1974)
R | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
When two men break out of prison, they join up with another and restart their criminal ways, robbing banks across the South.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Bert Remsen
Votes: 5,143
28. Motorama (1991)
R | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A ten year-old boy runs away from his abusive parents, steals a Mustang, and a pursues a promotional card game sold at gas stations.
Director: Barry Shils | Stars: Jordan Christopher Michael, Martha Quinn, Michael Naegel, Susan Tyrrell
Votes: 2,197
A very strange movie, but totally enjoyable. Starts out like an innocent, fun kids movie, but gets weird very quickly, and has a pretty graphic sex scene that come from out of nowhere. It's as if John Hughes and David Lynch decided to make a movie together.
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