Men: Movie scenes that seriously choke you up.

Cafe Society
21

Age: 29
GER: 4

I’m not sure how to rate myself. I’ve only cried once in the last decade from irl events. I’d rate my empathy for fictional characters very high, but I’m not overly expressive about it. Sometimes people get sad when someone is being beaten, abused, or the world is shitting on them in some unfair way, but I tend to get angry instead.

Six Feet Under is the most depressing TV series I’ve ever watched. I see a lot of my mother in Ruth. So many characters need a hug. You could make an entire thread about sad scenes just from this one.

Paths of Glory, in the end Dax is losing faith in humanity and sees the soldiers hooting and jeering at the captured German girl as if to confirm that mankind is complete shit, but then they all get weepy and sing along with her folk song.

Land Before Time, as far as animated animal parental death scenes go this makes *Bambi *and Lion King look like a tea party. I think they were purposefully trying to scar children psychologically. If We Hold On Together is a heart string puller too.

Short Circuit 2 starts out as family friendly fun, and then it takes a 180 when the naive Johnny 5 is brutally beaten with crowbars and an axe. If he were a human being this would be more suitable for a grindhouse flick. That is more horrifying than sad. Then he pathetically, shakily pulls himself up off the ground while maudlin music plays and he wanders the streets looking for help. But the worst part is when he picks up a piece of chalk with his good arm and writes “DYING” on the brick wall.

Iron Giant, besides the Superman part everyone likes to gush over there’s the scene where the Giant thinks Hogarth is dead and pokes his body with his shaky hand before he recoils in fear/sadness and remembers it’s taboo to mess with dead things, recalling the dead deer scene from earlier.

Corpse Bride, when Emily realizes how selfish she’s been, finds inner peace, gives the ring back, and turns into a swarm of butterflies. Cheesy, but it worked for me.

I’d second a couple other standard ones: *Schindler’s List, Up, Toy Story 3.
*

22

Oh. I forgot a big one for me.

The end of Planes, Trains and Automobiles when Steve Martin flashes back over their trip and pieces together than John Candy’s wife was dead and he was homeless. When he goes back to the train station and John confesses the truth it choked me up.

23

Age: 44
GER: ?
The first thing that came to mind for me was Wades death in Saving Private Ryan.

24

That really didn’t have an effect on me. It wasn’t exactly a surprise. The part that chokes me up is a little earlier when Marilyn is trying to tell Jim’s senile mother the bad news.

25

This is pretty much me as well, including the age. I’m not sure I particularly like that about myself, but so it is. Maybe I feel like I need to be strong and stoic for those around me, especially my wife and kids, so I don’t react much. But I guess I feel more able to show emotions when the stakes are lower. Hmm.

Anyway, I always start to lose it in It’s a Wonderful Life, when George is in the bar before his trip to the bridge, and he’s breaking down, “God, I’m not a praying man…” I’m kind of getting teary now just typing about it. All the responsibilities he’s been carrying the whole movie are crashing, and he’s at the end of his rope. Kills me.

I thought Million Dollar Baby was just OK in general, but I choked up in the last scene between Eastwood and the priest. When the priest says, “Leave her to God,” and Eastwood replies through tears, “She ain’t askin’ for God’s help. She’s askin’ for mine.”

There are a bunch of others.

26

Age: 65
GER: 3-4

I’ve gotten a little weepy at a few movies, but the one that caught me by surprise was Gattaca.

The scene where Ethan Hawke’s character (Vincent) is taking off into space, while at the same time Jude Law’s character (Jerome) is climbing into an incinerator to commit suicide.

This was just an astonishingly emotional scene to me. Not the fact that he committed suicide, but the reason: He’d watched Vincent overcome his imperfect genetics through sheer force of will to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut. While he, with his perfect genetics, had done nothing but feel sorry for himself because of his accident. In the end, he decided that Vincent deserved his life more than he himself did.

I didn’t see it coming. Tears just flowed.

27

nothing comes close to Old Yeller.

28

I’m a big, strong, hairy 54 year old man, and I have no problem getting emotional and downright weepy at movies.

Just wait till they have a family of their own.

The genius of the best PIXAR movies is in the voice casting. Brilliant animation, sure, but the scene from The Incredibles would be every bit as moving if you were only listening to the audio. And Joan Cusack’s performance as Jesse was so powerful. Woody says “Jesse, I didn’t know…” and her reply “…just go…” is what breaks me up every time. I’m tearing up just remembering it.

And Up is the opposite means to the same end. Silent animation with a devastating effect. I don’t know that anyone who has loved someone for a long time, and fears losing them, could be unaffected.

…and their sibling, noble acts of self-sacrifice. *Titanic *gets a lot of shit on this board, but the scene of Benjamin Guggenheim, one of the richest men in the world, refusing to get into a lifeboat, saying “We’ve dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen” gets me every time.

This one hit me particularly hard. My Dad lived a short but extraordinary life, and I don’t think he or I ever really understood each other. He died when I was 16, and I’m older now than he was when he died.

29

That’ll do, Pig - that’ll do.

30

Age 48 ans I havent seen that movie since its cinema release and that scene is still so powerfully etched in my mind, must watch it again.

One of the best but tough scenes.

this is not your fault, look at me son it’s not your fault, no no no it’s not your fault.
Don’t fuck with me, I’m so sorry etc…

31

Brilliant, love that scene. It kind of reminds of that understated way my grandpa spoke, he was never a man to waste words and he had passed the year before this movie and yep made me cry.

Coach Carter and “our deepest fear”

Rocky Balboa and his “the world aint all sunshine and rainbows” “your my son my blood”

So many to choose, Charlie Chaplin’s last speech in his first talkie. The Great Dictator.

32

62, male

situations with people? maybe a 2 at best

Animals? prolly a 7

I can’t think of any movie that choked me up at the moment so the moments certainly don’t last long.

33
  1. GER 7. My emotions bubble near the surface, as wreck it ralph would say.

The scene in “Ink” where the kidnapper realizes he has kidnapped his own daughter and starts fighting for her. That always gets to me.

The scene in ‘doubt’ when the white kids are bullying the black kid, so Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character goes over and gives him a hug.

Several scenes in ‘deliver us from evil’. That was a sad movie.

34

Mid-60s.
I’m a weeper.

Field of Dreams, when Ray and his Dad have a catch. I bawl every freakin’ time.

35

Does anyone really say, “have a catch”? I’d say, “Do you want to play catch?”

StG

36

Almost 50. I have been described as stoic.

As soon as he says ‘It’s my father’ I choke up.

When I saw Schindler’s List, and they had the actual people coming to lay something on his grave…I had to get up and walk around to keep from crying in the theater.

37

I got a little misty when they pushed an original Mini Cooper over the cliff in the original Italian Job.

Can’t stand to see good cars abused.

38

Age: 40
GER: ~4 maybe.

Off the top of my head, I can think of only a couple that tear me up.

Saving Private Ryan - for me it’s none of the combat or death scenes, it’s when Ryan as an old man asks his wife to tell him he was a good man, that lived a good life. Actually I think thoughts of the sacrifices of soldiers must do it, because I recall choking up a bit at the post credits of Flags of our Father, and at the end of the Band of Brothers series as well.

Green Mile - like everyone else has said, Coffey’s execution, brings a tear to my eye.

Braveheart - For all it’s historical inaccuracy, when Wallace ‘sees’ his wife walking through the crowd, that cokes me up a bit.

39

Age: 39
GER: 1-2

The first 15 minutes of Up did it for me.

Also got misty after the end of The Lives of Others. Damn good movie.

40

The ending of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest gets me every time when Chief finds McMurphy labotomized before they can escape together and ends up breaking free himself. Gets me every time.

And the “Papa, don’t go!” scene from The Patriot had me bawling.