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The 25 sexiest movies ever made
Columbia Pictures

The 25 sexiest movies ever made

Ryan Gosling without a shirt on. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn on a Vespa in Rome. The mask scene in Eyes Wide Shut. These are scenes from the sexiest movies ever made, which shouldn't be a surprise given that Jeanne Moreau shows up in a bikini. In our list of movies, we focus on titles that are actually great — sorry, Flesh Gordon — and ones that use their style as a way of adding more steam to the sauna. Here are 25 very hot films.

 
1 of 25

La Piscine (1969)

La Piscine (1969)
Embassy Pictures

The sexiest movie ever made. As far as I can think of, nothing beats Alain Delon bathing by the pool with his girlfriend. Their vacation is sizzlingly cool, even when things take a turn toward suspense.

 
2 of 25

Top Gun (1986)

Top Gun (1986)
Paramount Pictures

Big muscles. Big jets. Big, um, guns. Even the manliest men have to admit Top Gun is sexy. Tom Cruise's Maverick is endlessly cool and everyone around him is pretty dang cool, too.

 
3 of 25

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Dirty Dancing (1987)
Vestron Pictures

OK, so maybe this one doesn't feel as provocative as it did on release. Nowadays, sex scenes are a lot more fleshed out than they once were. But that doesn't mean Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey's summer-camp romance doesn't still have the power to move, shake and twirl its way into our hearts.

 
4 of 25

Body Heat (1981)

Body Heat (1981)
Warner Bros.

I mean, look at the title. There's sex and sweat everywhere, especially when a woman persuades someone to kill her husband so they can be together.

 
5 of 25

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Fatal Attraction (1987)
Paramount Pictures

You will never look at a kitchen stove the same again. Kirk Douglas and Glenn Close get intimate in this erotic, slippery and psychologically nuanced portrait of doomed affairs. 

 
6 of 25

8 1/2 (1963)

8 1/2 (1963)
Columbia Pictures

There's a lot of Fellini movies with gorgeous women. The quintessential Italian filmmaker loved his women like he loved his pasta: savory, passionate and in great portions. In his meta treatise on filmmaking, life, love and Italy, he throws so many beautiful women on screen, along with handsome men and superb outfits, that you can't help but be swept away by his stylish vision.

 
7 of 25

Some Like it Hot (1959)

Some Like it Hot (1959)
United Artists

Just the sight of Marilyn Monroe is enough to earn a spot on our list. The rest of this cross-dressing farce is really fun, too, 

 
8 of 25

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
NEON

"Paint me like one of your French girls." Kate Winslet's immortal line to Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic gets a full movie in Celine Sciamma's flowery and painterly romance. Between two women on a remote island, the rocky shores of forbidden love beckon.

 
9 of 25

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)
20th Century Fox

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have real chemistry in this tale of dueling spies. No wonder they were seeing each other off-screen.

 
10 of 25

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Mulholland Drive (2001)
Universal Pictures

This one sees Naomi Watts and Laura Harring make passionate love. The rest of David Lynch's film is a Rubix cube with missing pieces — a puzzle that is impossible to fully solve — but that doesn't make their romance any less passionate.

 
11 of 25

In the Mood for Love (2001)

In the Mood for Love (2001)
Paradis Films

There are no sex scenes in Wong Kar Wai's brief encounter, in which two neighbors are drawn to each other over their spouses' affair. But there are moments of poetic and thought-provoking attraction that arouse different parts of the body, including mind and soul.

 
12 of 25

Jules and Jim (1962)

Jules and Jim (1962)
Cinedis

The original movie bromance. Jules and Jim sees two best friends vie for the same girl, and after spending a minute with the illustrious Jeanne Morreau, you can see why. She's a ray of sunshine and a shot of espresso, a ball of energy and a blanket of warmth. But she isn't enough to get between these friends, who are the energy source behind Francois Truffaut's endlessly beautiful frolic.

 
13 of 25

Titanic (1997)

Titanic (1997)
Paramount Pictures

Was there more room on that door? Probably. Does that make this movie any less sexy? Nope.

 
14 of 25

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Warner Bros.

It's the movie that introduced masked sex parties. Need I say more?

 
15 of 25

Belle de Jour (1967)

Belle de Jour (1967)
Euro International Films

A woman loves her husband so much she decides to work in a brothel to understand him, and men, better. I wouldn't be cool with this myself, but it does make for a deliciously twisted fairytale.

 
16 of 25

It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night (1934)
Columbia Pictures

A screwball comedy, yes, but one of the first movies to have sex and to show a woman's ankle. Gasp!

 
17 of 25

Notorious (1946)

Notorious (1946)
RKO

Alfred Hitchcock's drama about a spy who uses the woman he loves as a honeypot for Nazi secrets isn't exactly romantic, but the chemistry between Grant and Bergman is infectious and their kiss on a terrace at sunset is two minutes of pure and raw affection.

 
18 of 25

Breathless (1960)

Breathless (1960)
Société nouvelle de cinématographie

Strippers dancing and whips thrashing are cool and all, but there's something far more sexy about Breathless. The groundbreaking work of Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless is a breath of fresh air for those who want something more realistic with their doomed romance. It's something that mixes documentary with gangster cinema. 

 
19 of 25

Risky Business (1983)

Risky Business (1983)
Warner Bros.

Yeah, we're back on Cruise. The guy slid into stardrom in his underwear and shades. See this comedy for proof. 

 
20 of 25

The Graduate (1967)

The Graduate (1967)
United Artists

The premise is simple: a man is thrust into adulthood when he falls for a mom and daughter at the same time.

 
21 of 25

True Romance (1993)

True Romance (1993)
Morgan Creek Productions

The pit stops include drug dealers, stoners and phone booth sex. And the actual road trip is one that would make Bonnie and Clyde blush. Get ready to ride shotgun with a shotgun in your lap.

 
22 of 25

Before Sunrise (1995)

Before Sunrise (1995)
Columbia Pictures

Two strangers meet on a train and... walk around Vienna all night? No one is murdered. We don't even know if they had sex. Yet Richard Linklater's stroll is incredibly mesmerizing, moving from one location to the next as subtly as a blush flowers and dissipates on your cheek.

 
23 of 25

Barbie (2023)

Barbie (2023)
Warner Bros.

Have you seen the lead character? Or Ryan Gosling? I shouldn't even have to explain this one.

 
24 of 25

Roman Holiday (1953)

Roman Holiday (1953)
Paramount Pictures

A princess and a reporter spend the day exploring Rome. That's all there is to Roman Holiday. That, and sensual emotions.

 
25 of 25

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Princess Bride (1987)
MGM

Can a family movie be sexy? The Princess Bride seems to think so. A fairytale about true love, this is about as romantic as adventures come, with a princess and her lost love trying to make things work no matter what obstacles, giants and riddles come in their way. It's a wonderful, funny and yes, sexy romance that stands the test of time. 

Asher Luberto is a film critic for L.A. Weekly, The Playlist, The Progressive and The Village Voice.

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