Ghost: revisit these 5 memorable scenes on the big screen this Valentine's Day

Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore classic Ghost returns to Cineworld this Valentine's Day in time for its 30th anniversary. The 1990 blockbuster was the highest-grossing film of its year, scoring multiple Oscar nominations and a win for Best Supporting Actress for Whoopi Goldberg. Meanwhile, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin scored the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Swayze plays investment banker Sam Wheat who is shot and killed in a mugging, to the anguish of his girlfriend Molly (Demi Moore). However, Sam's spirit remains on Earth as he helps guide Molly and charlatan psychic Oda Mae (Goldberg) to the real culprit behind his murder.

Hankies at the ready: here are the five heartwrenching scenes you need to experience again on the big screen at Cineworld.

1. The pottery scene

Ghost's most famous (and most parodied) sequence is the pottery wheel romance, set to the Righteous Brothers' cover of sentimental weepie 'Unchained Melody'. No doubt you've seen this mocked in the likes of The Naked Gun, but who can resist a return to the original? It's a moment that cements the chemistry and romance between irresistible stars Swayze and Moore, setting up the inevitable tragedy to come.

2. Sam's death

Ghost might be fondly remembered as a schmaltzy, somewhat cheesy romance, but its harder-hitting moments have stood up well over time. The scene in which Sam is shot, prompting his spirit to leave his body, is brilliantly acted by Swayze, who fully encapsulates the bewilderment and horror of the situation, watching in anguish as Moore's Molly cradles his lifeless body. Director Jerry Zucker also does an excellent job of wrongfooting us, making us think it's the flesh and blood Sam who initially pursues the mugger – only to then reveal it's his ghost.

3. "Ditto"

It's usual to follow up "I love you" with "I love you too". But there's always a more economical approach. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) replied, "I know" to Leia (Carrie Fisher). And, in Ghost, Sam confirms his spectral presence to Molly, via Oda Mae, with the simple word "ditto". This was Sam's usual response while he was still alive, informing Molly that Oda Mae isn't the fraud she's set up to be. And, of course, it's one word that helps transform the climactic sequence into a 10-hankie onslaught of weeping.

4. Molly believes

Sam's quest is to convince Molly that she's in danger from Carl (Tony Goldwyn), the man who organised his shooting. The scene in which he rolls a penny up the door in front of an astonished Molly, convincing her he exists in the spectral realm, is one of the film's most spine-tingling moments, aided by Maurice Jarre's Oscar-nominated score.

5. Sam says goodbye

Talking of Maurice Jarre, we, of course, cannot overlook his contribution to the tear-jerking finale, in which Sam finally passes into the afterlife. Jarre, perhaps best known for his Oscar-winning score to Lawrence of Arabia, adapts Unchained Melody on gorgeous, wavering, high-register strings, bringing everything full circle and confirming the everlasting union between Sam and Molly, even as they're destined to part ways. The visual effects hold up surprisingly well, Goldberg's farewell moment is beautifully nuanced, and Moore does a superb job of presenting barely repressed emotion, rather than giving in to histrionics.