Movies that made you cry - Page 2

BIG FISH tears me up every time. As does THE IRON GIANT.

I'm surprised that we've come so far in this thread without the obligatory man-tear factories of Shane and Brian's Song. You know, the two movies where it's supposedly ok to cry during them?

Anyway, I had forgotten about the fact that Pixar never fails to get my heartstrings. Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; and both Toy Story films (when Buzz can't fly, and the afformentioned "When Somebody Loved Me") all get me emotionally.

And G-Dude, great call with The Shootist. Not only does John Wayne put in a top-notch performance, I think it's the last documented proof of Ron Howard not looking completely terrifying.

Some of mine have already been mentioned, but I'd like to add that Brian Cox's monologue at the end of 25th Hour killed me. I was sobbing when he was telling Ed Norton what his life would be like if he ran away instead of going to prison.


Also, this past weekend I made a triple feature out of Hoop Dreams, March Of The Penguins, and Murderball and I was an absolute wreck. Just crying all afternoon...

IN AMERICA. The look of absolute shock and naked grief on Paddy Considine's face when his young daughter tells him its time to let go of his pain over his son's death.....wow, that got me. Big time.

I realise i'm not the first person to mention a TV show, but i'm apologising all the same...

Anyone seen the very last episode of The Office (christmas special, part two)?

When Dawn reads Tim's message and then turns up the party, I really blub and smile heartily simulaneously. Wow - that's a kiss. A beautiful, honest (yet fairytale) moment in an absolutely perfect show.

The point at the end of the second series when Brent starts to cry and begs to not be made redundant gets me too - Gervais is an incredibly gifted performer in all ways, and his eyes convey so many emotions. I like Steve Carell a lot, but the American remake, no matter how entertaining, is a largely missed opportunity from what i've seen of it.

Forgot some..

Unbreakable - "I know who I am!"
Tae Gu Ki: Brotherhood of War - You can barely hold it in at the beginning but when you get to the end speech you just can't.

Old Yeller. I'm still araid to watch it again.
ROTJ. When I saw that as a kid, and Vader dies (sorry, spoilers)that hurt me.
Crouchig Tiger, Hidden Dagon. Not when Chow dies (sorry again) but the last shot in the movie when she jumps off the mountain gets me.
Royal Tennenbaums. Eliott Smith making a scene that much more painful
Spirited Away. Just beautiful.
Audition. Just painful (tears of pain count, right?)

Grave of the Fireflies: I dare you to not cry at the end of this. I've cryed during other movies, but nothing like when I saw this. I was embarrassed about how much I was crying.

I forgot to mention that movie too. But for me, it's the scene at the breakfast table, when he slides his son the newspaper.

The ending of BIG as Tom Hanks' character is walking toward his home.

CLOSER, thanks to the effective Kleenex-inducer that is Damien Rice's 'The Blower's Daughter'.

Excellent choice and well worth breaking the TV show rule for. Both of those moments are effective long after you watched them over and over again. Great writing, direction, and acting.

I'll be damned, but this one gets me:

"I love you, Alex Rogan!"

Creasy: "I have to go home now".


Fuck you Man On Fire for making me cry so damn loud.

Hero-The final moments between Maggie and Tony are just so emotional to me, only Mags and Tony could sell that scene so well.

Props to Nighttrap for mentioning Tae-Guk-Gi, if you don't end up in tears by the end of that movie you're not human.

Saving Private Ryan-Giovanni Ribisi calling out for his mother while dying, jesus, that got to me.

Bullet in the head- Tony's final goodbye to Jackie.

Signs-Mel Gibson cradling his son while yelling 'I hate you' in the basement.

Crying Fist-The final scene. Everything's been building to that moment and that father/son bonding just breaks down all the barriers.

Once upon a time in America-The death of that little kid just changes everything.

Once upon a time in the west-Claudia Cardinale's arrival at the train station, I'm not sure if it's the score or the lonely look she gives while waiting but it still does something to me.

Friend-The final scene.

Geesh. My nephew climbed up onto my lap and wanted to watch PJ Hogan's Peter Pan this past weekend. It was the first time he'd seen anything within the whole Peter Pan universe, and boy did that get to me. I have to say that it is a bit embarassing to have a child look up at you and ask "Why are you crying, Uncle Brian?"

Also, The Rookie can get me going. That movie tugs all of the right heartstrings with me.

The first time I saw La Dolce Vita, when Anita Ekberg starts walking into Trevi Fountain, I lost it. The sheer beauty of it all just made me break down.

On a lighter note, when I saw The Producers this weekend, I was crying during "Springtime for Hitler." Mel Brooks is a comedic genius of epic proportions. The people in my screening who walked out during this part are just plain idiots.

Midnight Cowboy.
Almost cried at the.Poor Rizzo.

I love the ending of The Last Starfighter because it's the anti-Wizard of Oz. There's no place like home my ass. If I have a choice between Kansas/the trailer park or Oz/outer space, I'm packing my bags.

Regarding Henry w/ Harrison Ford gets me every time. I cried three times during the last time I watched it last year.

Just watching the Pixar guys talk about "When She Loved Me" on the Toy Story 2 DVD gets me wobbly. Just typing the title of the song right now gives me a chill.

Joe versus the Volcano and Captain Ron: the two forgotten eighties classics. The "a long time on a crooked road" line is fantastic.

This list begins and ends with "Old Yeller", the movie that everybody saw with their dad when they were six or seven. I bawled so hard it was unbelievable.

I can't remember actual bawling for any other movies, but I teared up for the original King Kong, A.I., the end of ROTK, the death of Randy Quaid in Independence Day (stop judging me!), Big Fish, and of course....

...."Hey Dad, do you wanna have a catch?"
"I'd like that".

At the end of Field of Dreams.


**the iron giant made me want to cry, but not because of the giant. It made me want to cry due to the unfair portrayal of the governments agents who were just trying to do their job and protect us from the destructo-robot sent to kill all of humanity. Yeah, by a fluke chance it chose to be superman instead, but did we really want to leave that to up in the air?

Orphans didn't.

THE LIFE AQUATIC.

"I wonder if it remembers me."

Yeah, I'm weird.

What I love even more is the final shot--with his kid brother going to the arcade game, and seeing the same ship on the screen take off into the sky in front of him. There's something really great about that shot (especially with the terrific score) that seals my love for the movie even more.

On topic:

I was pretty teary at the end of Munich, mainly because of that final pan.

The most unexpected tearing-up-about-to-cry moment came when I watched My Life with Michael Keaton in my philosiphy class (subject: Death and Dying). Towards the end, when he's really weak and his father (whom he had had a distant and strained relationship with for most of his life) is shaving his chin for him, Keaton stops him and says:

"I love you, Dad."

Every single guy in that classroom had tears in their eyes.

g-dude's avatar reminds me: When Kira gets stabbed in The Dark Crystal. I still don't know if it was the moment itself or the shock of seeing puppets killing each other.

American Beauty- Yeah, it may seem cliche', but ata the time of release my parents were going through their divorce, My (then future) wife had just moved to Columbus to attend OSU and the movie struck a chord with me. I went twice and had to wait until everyone left the theater before I could leave myself.

25th Hour- Again, due mainly to Brian Cox final monologue. And for some reason the line "I haven't had a drink in three years, but I'd have a drink with you" kinda twists the knife.

The Shawshank Redemption- Another ending monologue that gets to you. If only they didn't have to spoon feed the Andy & Red meeting at the end......

Fight Club- "You met me at a very strange time in my life", the buildings go and then the Pixies "where is my mind " starts. I don't know why but it gets to me.

Also: The end of "Big", Rocky whatever when Carl Weathers died (I was like, 7), E.T. (I was like 5), The end of Big FIsh.

some odd TV mentions:

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Prom episode. After three years of Buffy giving up her childhood to protect the, supposedly, unaware and clueless students of Sunnydale High they give her a special award as "Class Protector". That got me.

Spaced- at the end of series 2. Tim goes to the station to get daisy, Brian is shown at his art exhibition, Twist is shown at a pub lauging it up but then gets this sad, morose look on her face, Marsha and Mike are putting a rifle together blindfolded and then there is the final shot:

Tim and Daisy sitting at home in front of the TV and daisy puts her head on Tim's shoulder. Tim pauses a moment, pondering the meaning behind his next action, then rests his cheek on Daisy's head. The camera pulls back into the hallway and the door to the flat closes. All while Lemon Jelly's "The Staunton Lick" plays.

gets me every time I see it, an it was a perfect ending to the series. I do not ever want there to be a series 3.

Braveheart - I cried as the music swells as William Wallace is being drawn, quartered and hanged and the head of the Spanish Inquisition says, "The prisoner wishes to say a word" and then Wallace screams "FREEEE-DOMMMMMMM!"

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - I cried when the scorpion killed the ant that the kids has bonded with as they tried to survive in the backyard.

More when I think of them...

Bingo. On both. Bing-GO.

For some reason when "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" starts in Lion King, I cry like a maniac.

MY LEFT FOOT- I was too young when I saw that movie, and it had me sniveling in my PJs.

THE LIFE AQUATIC- Watching Bill Murray break down always cuts me.

THE IRON GIANT- Never fails.

UNFORGIVEN- When you see Morgan Freeman's body outside the pub. Painful stuff.

I'm generally somewhat wusstastic so there are several movies over the years that have made me cry, but Grave of the Fireflies can almost make me cry right now just thinking of little Setsuko's laugh and her terrible fate.

I know his reviews are highly suspect (if not considered worthless) by many, but this excerpt from Roger Ebert's review mirrors my own feelings:

"'Grave of the Fireflies' is an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation. Since the earliest days, most animated films have been "cartoons" for children and families. Recent animated features such as "The Lion King," "Princess Mononoke" and "The Iron Giant" have touched on more serious themes, and the "Toy Story" movies and classics like "Bambi" have had moments that moved some audience members to tears. But these films exist within safe confines; they inspire tears, but not grief. "Grave of the Fireflies" is a powerful dramatic film that happens to be animated, and I know what the critic Ernest Rister means when he compares it to "Schindler's List" and says, 'It is the most profoundly human animated film I've ever seen.'"

I'm going to third Grave of Fireflies.

Shit, I just saw 25th Hour for the first time and cried like a baby. A great movie.

I cry at the strangest movies:

Dead Poet's Society- Not when the guy kills himself, when all the student's stand on their desks (even the guy who hated the class) and shout "O Captain my Captain" to Robin Williams and get expelled. Everytime.

A League of their Own- When all the girls get old. They were young and full of life, now they're all dead and dying and ugly. Sad and it happens to everyone.

Empire of the Sun- When Christan Bale breaks down when the Americans bomb the camp "We built that runway it's ours!"

Withnail and I- "Man delights me not, nor women neither...nor women neither"

Fearless The moment where he says 'save me' is just tremendously emotional.

Terminator 2 Sarah's breakdown in front of Miles Dyson, I don't know, it's either her performance or something else but it just get's to me.

Grave of the Fireflies should be used for psychological tests - if someone watches that movie and doesn't cry, there is something seriously wrong with them. the kind of person who shouldn't be left alone with children or small animals.

I now add to the list House of Sand and Fog. Ben Kingsley blows my freaking mind. "I want only for my son, I want only for my son, i want only for my son." And then when he drops to his knees praying . . . That tore me apart. The score didn't help, either. It's totally melodramatic music that is WAAAAY too over-the-top, but when paired with taht moment, it worked magic.

E.T. - the very end when Elliot and E.T. are saying goodbye - Elliot's the lonley kid aqnd he's saying goodbye to his friend - that and John Williams score is superb.

But mostly Superman - Original Motion Picutre - from Johnathon Kent's death to where Clarke leaves the farm... gets me every fucking time. Where Martha is in the kitchen and she see's Clarke on the horizon, yearning to leave - the look on her face as she knows the time to say goodbye has come - and when they hug in the cornfield "always remember..." - Christ, I have to stop the DVD at that point. Every. Fucking. Time.

I'm a sucker for movies that work some kind of love/inevitability of death angle.

With that in mind I heartily second My Dog Skip. Also, the montage of kisses scene at the end of Cinema Paradiso hit me hard the first time I saw the movie.

Two moments from the already mentioned A.I. always get me weepy: When an innocent David displays his crayon drawings to his "mommy", who has acquiesced to the demands of her husband to have David dismantled; and the beautifully shot final scene of the movie, when David finally receives his "mommy's" love and she promptly fades away leaving him alone and mortal.

This got me good.

I also mist up pretty good during James Earl Jones's "People will come, Ray" speech in Field of Dreams. Just the way the music hits when he goes into "The one constant in America, Ray...has been baseball." It's also why I got all misty at the first episode of Ken Burns's documentary on baseball.

A.I. reduced me to such a mess in the theatre total strangers told me "It was just a movie."

My dad always cries at To Kill A Mockingbird, and it's hard for me not to get choked up at "Stand up, Jean Louise. Your father's passing" as a result.

And oh yeah, Titanic. As a huge Titanic buff, that end still gets to me. Also Victor Garber in that: "I'm sorry for not building you a better ship, Rose."

Snoopy Come Home: "Nooo dogs allowed" . . still makes me weep.

An American Tail: "PAPA!!" Welled me up when I was 7, still gets me to this day.

I think someone mentioned The Land Before Time as well . . .

Snoopy Come Home got me the first time I saw it, at around age seven, but it didn't hold up when I revisited it. Maybe in another 20 years...

I have to second, (or third, or fourth) "DEATH!!!" in Return of the King, but I'm amazed that no one's mentioned Boromir's death in Fellowship of the Ring "..my brother...my captain...my king" especially bad because he'd just redeemed himself protecting Merry and Pippin.


The second the Sigur Ros tune kicked in, when the Jaguar Shark appeared in The Life Aquatic got me too.

Any Uwe Boll film makes me cry....

People who can't stop talking about Uwe Boll make me cry.

Brokeback Mountain nearly got me. I was very close.

Brokeback Mountain made me cry.

The Constant Gardener almsot made me cry when they have to leave the girl and she's running next to the plane.

I was surprised the King Kong made me kinda sad towards the end.

If you count shedding one or two tears as crying then I do it all the time. The most recent was during MAGNOLIA, which I saw for the first time the other night, when Tom Cruise finally cries for his father. That was an interesting performance, and that scene was as powerful as I had read.

I must concur that during the part in Field of Dreams where he recognizes his father I get a little something in my eye.

and unexpectantly during the end of the hbo movie Goat: the Earl Manigault story starring Don Cheadle I had some trouble swallowing.

These last few weeks, I've been terrible. Rewatching Dead Man's Shoes, I cried during the scene where the last gang member (the one who moved away) recounts the past to his wife and she sits shocked and crying on the stairs. You don't even hear most of his dialogue, but the editing in that scene is astounding, the way it factors out his retelling as it factors in the visual depiction of that day for the first time in full - when it cuts to her face, it got me. A very believable and powerful scene.

Then last night watching Sideways again with my girlfriend, I shed a couple at the end as Miles talks to his ex-wife at the wedding - the look on Giamatti's face as he finds out she's pregnant was the clincher. That boy can act.

But the worst was V for Vendetta. Of all the things I expected from that film (which I adored, by the way), crying was pretty low on the list. But two bits got me. The first was when V tells the female doctor that he killed her ten minutes ago with an injection and she asks whether it is worthless to apologise. That whole, quiet scene and its pitch-perfect delivery from both Weaving and Cusack was beautiful.

But I really lost it in the flashbacks to the lesbian girl's letters as Portman reads them in her cell. Man, that was powerful and, though I may have been slightly hung over, that destroyed me for a good while.