# Movie/books scenes that tear you up every time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618 "2016-12-25T21:55:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/1 "2016-12-25T21:55:00Z")
I just finished watching the 1959 _Ben-Hur_. The next to last scene, where Judah sees his mother and sister restored to health, always gets me teary, and I’ve seen it dozens of times. And in Robert Heinlein’s story _The Man Who Traveled in Elephants_ there’s the moment during the Big Parade when the veterans are passing in review, and some must ride, because “merciful Heaven forgive us, they could not walk” It never fails to get me choked up. That story, if I had to choose may be my favorite, I can’t count how many times I’ve read it, and I leak a tear at each reading. One more, when E.T. is being left alone on the bathroom floor. I don’t cry when he dies, but there he is, dying far from home, and thinking he’s being abandoned. _sniff_ What gets you choked up every time? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/2 "2016-12-25T21:58:01Z")
“That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/3 "2016-12-25T21:59:40Z")
I’ve posted it [before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13365494&postcount=18): > [@Best death scene in a novel](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-death-scene-in-a-novel/566879/18): > > from _The Subtle Knife_ by Phillip Pullman > > The death of Lee Scoresby and Hester is just unbelievably good writing. _Poignant_ isn’t a strong enough word to describe it. Heck, I don’t even have to read the passage, it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/4 "2016-12-25T22:22:29Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I just finished watching the 1959 _Ben-Hur_. It’s funny that this was your example film, as it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title. In my case, it’s not really an emotional scene of the type you are probably looking for; it’s the chariot race. It’s the awesome awesomeness of the scene itself, the horses, the rumbling of the hooves, the people, the awe, they make me tear up every time. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/5 "2016-12-25T22:27:23Z")
The first time I saw _Goodbye Mr. Chips_ (1969 version with Peter O’Toole and Petula Clark) I cried when she died. In subsequent viewings, I started crying earlier and earlier in the film, when I remembered that she was going to die. Now it’s just one big bawlfest all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/6 "2016-12-25T22:34:33Z")
“My friends. You bow to no man.” And lately…“Climb.” ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/7 "2016-12-26T00:01:54Z")
I haven’t seen it in ages, but the scene in Brian’s Song where Gayle Sayers gives his speech makes me cry everytime I see it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/8 "2016-12-26T00:07:29Z")
[Jurassic Bark.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XECQApj9IJs) [/end thread] ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/9 "2016-12-26T00:41:47Z")
One of the first records I ever remember listening to was the original Broadway soundtrack of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Even now, I always get weepy when Hodel goes to Siberia to join her love Perchik. (And I’m 100% Irish Catholic.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/10 "2016-12-26T00:46:55Z")
“Hey, Boo” in the movie (To Kill a Mockingbird) had no where near the heart-rending impact that it had when you hit it for the fist time in the book. It’s a shame that so many great moments of literature are completely unknown to people who only know the films. I can’t even think about Bernhard Schlenk’s “The Reader” without tearing up, remembering how I sobbed at one point. And I can’t even recall at exactly what point that was. I have not seen the movie. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/11 "2016-12-26T00:49:31Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > One of the first records I ever remember listening to was the original Broadway soundtrack of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Even now, I always get weepy when Hodel goes to Siberia to join her love Perchik. > > (And I’m 100% Irish Catholic.) “Sunrise, Sunset” struck me as kind of sappy and stupid as a kid, but the last time I watched the movie, I was almost unable to watch that scene. WAAAAH! I cry every time at Beth’s death in _Little Women._ ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/12 "2016-12-26T01:06:05Z")
“No one was with Charlotte when she died…” ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/13 "2016-12-26T01:28:01Z")
I’m literally wiping my eyes now at the end of Love Actually. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/14 "2016-12-26T01:30:58Z")
That scene in _Saving Private Ryan_ where the medic, Wade, gets shot. Maybe it’s because Giovonni Ribisi completely sold that [scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOUJPBziUQw) for me. Phenomenal acting job. That moment where it’s just all chaos as they’re trying to patch him up, and they put his hand where the entry would is. The way he says “oh my god, my liver!” And Upham says “tell us how to fix you.” And there’s no answer. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/15 "2016-12-26T03:04:01Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Jurassic Bark.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XECQApj9IJs) > > [/end thread] I think I didn’t include this on my list because I’ve only seen it all the way once, not multiple times. I couldn’t do it again. As I type this I’m looking down at the floor, at my dog Nathan, and thinking of six to eight years in the future, and, well, _sniff._ ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/16 "2016-12-26T03:10:37Z")
The ending of Raising Arizona, when H.I. envisions himself and Ed as the parents/grandparents of a large and loving family. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/17 "2016-12-26T03:14:51Z")
What about games? I cried when Floyd the robot gave his life for me in Planetfall. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/18 "2016-12-26T03:43:44Z")
Re-entry scene during _Apollo 13_ When M’Lynn is breaking down at her daughter’s funeral in _Steel Magnolias_ I have read the entire Narnia series to myself countless times and aloud to each of my children. A page before the last scene of the last book I start crying and can barely get through it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/19 "2016-12-26T03:47:29Z")
**Field of Dreams**. When Ray and his dad have a catch. I tear up just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/20 "2016-12-27T03:19:32Z")
At the age of 10, I was home for several weeks with the hard measles. My eyes were affected and I was ordered to stay in a dark room and not to use my eyes. Because I was dreadfully bored after a day or two, my mother brought home a stack of books to read to me. Among them were such cheery classics as _Old Yeller_, _Where the Red Fern Grows_, and _Black Beauty_ in which the animal heros either die or are terribly mistreated. To this day I shun animal stories and made sure not to traumatize my own boys with these stories either. Disney, I am talking to you, too. Why do all your animal mothers always die?? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618.md?page=2)