# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**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 31, 2016, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/121 "2016-12-31T07:13:16Z")
> [@wendelenn](#): > > “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present our Governor. . .The Most Honorable Gertrude Lang.” > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng3l4vEN3Dk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng3l4vEN3Dk) Good one. That whole scene. Dreyfus really sells the hell outta that. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/122 "2017-01-05T12:27:30Z")
For me it’s the movie _Cousins_. Much of it does it to me, particularly scenes with Ted Danson and Isabella Rosellini, but the end, where they sail off together with their kids just leaves me sobbing. A big part of it is Danson’s character’s behaviour as a father. Mine was a hard-ass who treated me and my siblings as if, without discipline, we would all become bank robbers or terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/123 "2017-01-05T15:46:22Z")
The movie “Hachi”, where the dog meets Richard Gere at the train station every day. You can guess the ending and still cry when it happens. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/124 "2017-01-07T02:52:52Z")
I had a few emotional moments in the theater watching _Inside Out_ with my wife & daughter, but I very nearly lost it completely during Bing Bong’s final moments. I saw some of _Toy Story 3_ for the first time at a Christmas party several years ago; the host put it on for the kids to watch. I was sitting with my daughter, and had to fight tears back when they joined hands on the conveyor belt and resigned themselves to their coming fate. When _Saving Private Ryan_ came out, I was still on active duty in the Marines. Our squadron leadership rented a local theater for a private showing of the movie for us, so it was just a couple hundred jarheads in the theater. Between the scenes of the aftermath of the initial push up the beach, and the notification scene, I think the wet eyes outnumbered the dry eyes. _Taking Chance_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/125 "2017-01-07T05:08:10Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The Ending of **AI, Artificial Intelligence** , when Teddy is the only thing still “alive”, sitting patiently next to David for eternity. Sob. Yes! Having climbed up on the bed to be with him. Some great ones already mentioned, favorites of mine including Boromir’s last moments with Aragorn, Bingbong sacrificing himself, and the young Australian couple and their baby in _On the Beach_. I’ll add John Murdock’s emergence into the blinding sunlight at the end of _Dark City_, and this song from _Toy Story 2_: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhbTsKsros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhbTsKsros) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/126 "2017-01-07T18:01:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > \…and this song from _Toy Story 2_: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhbTsKsros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElhbTsKsros) Oh, thanks loads, **EH** , nothing like bawling into your Walmart knock-off Rice Krispies first thing in the morning. The only thing about that sequence that would have made me cry harder would have been IF RANDY NEWMAN HAD SUNG IT HIMSELF! Jessie: Just…go. How am I supposed to type when the goddam keyboard is soaked? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/127 "2017-01-07T20:44:31Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > What about games? I cried when Floyd the robot gave his life for me in Planetfall. I don’t have any good example _from_ games, off the top of my head… but [this one _about_ video games](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCtSgb-b7zg) gets me every time. Also, [this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyCk2ygkqEU) ---
**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:** [January 7, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/128 "2017-01-07T22:29:21Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > For me it’s the movie _Cousins_. Much of it does it to me, particularly scenes with Ted Danson and Isabella Rosellini, but the end, where they sail off together with their kids just leaves me sobbing. > > A big part of it is Danson’s character’s behaviour as a father. Mine was a hard-ass who treated me and my siblings as if, without discipline, we would all become bank robbers or terrorists. Fantastic choice. And Badalamenti’s score really sells it. ---
**Author:** ![wendelenn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/58f4c7/32.png) [@wendelenn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendelenn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/129 "2017-01-08T01:58:39Z")
Can we count stage musicals? I haven’t even seen the show, but It’s Quiet Uptown (Between Hamilton & his wife Eliza after their son is killed) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOAC5-Jcgyc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOAC5-Jcgyc) And not to bring too much politics into the thread, but lately this has been making me said because. . . one last time. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3fnYu5KK0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf3fnYu5KK0) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/130 "2017-01-08T03:19:39Z")
In _1776_, the song “Mama Look Sharp” is heartbreaking to me–just thinking about it starts me off. I’ve avoided reading Sharon Creech’s _Walk Two Moons_ for years because the whole situation with Sal and her mother is such a tearjerker. And ditto to _Sophie’s Choice, Dumbo, A Little Princess, Where the Red Fern Grows_. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/131 "2017-01-08T03:25:25Z")
_Les Miserables_ (play and movie - haven’t read the book) – the deaths of Eponine and Valjean. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/132 "2017-01-08T03:59:44Z")
Tevye: [singing] Little bird… Little Chaveleh. I don’t understand what’s happening today. Everything is all a blur… All I can see is a happy child, the sweet little bird you were, Chaveleh, Chaveleh… Little bird, little Chaveleh, you were always such a pretty little thing, everybody’s favorite child… Gentle and kind and affectionate, what a sweet little bird you were, Chaveleh, Chaveleh… ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/133 "2017-01-08T07:58:13Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t have any good example _from_ games, off the top of my head… but [this one _about_ video games](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCtSgb-b7zg) gets me every time. > > Also, [this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyCk2ygkqEU) Damn you, **Miller**. Great finds. As already mentioned, _Les Miz_ gets me to crank the waterworks whenever I see it or hear the soundtrack. _Old Yeller_ should really be mentioned here too. Cried my eyes out when I saw it as a kid, and I don’t have the heart to see it again. The first thing I thought of, reading the thread, not that it’s the most moving for me but whatever, was “[Gordy’s gone, man.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf0h24ii7XY#t=2m54s)” Mostly because, AFAIK and from what I’ve read from, e.g., [Durant’s autobiography](https://www.amazon.com/Company-Heroes-Personal-Story-Behind/dp/0451219937), it pretty much happened like that. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/134 "2017-01-08T08:04:20Z")
Since I think I’m past the edit, I’ll add here, the words of [Lawrence Oates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Oates), (apocryphal or not), "[I am just going outside, and may be some time."](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Oates#/media/File:DollmanAVeryGallantGentleman.png) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/135 "2017-01-08T19:59:26Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Since I think I’m past the edit, I’ll add here, the words of [Lawrence Oates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Oates), (apocryphal or not), "[I am just going outside, and may be some time."](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Oates#/media/File:DollmanAVeryGallantGentleman.png) Is that a “movie/books scene”? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/136 "2017-01-14T14:39:01Z")
To Kill a Mockingbird, when Scout is standing on Boo Radley’s porch: > [@](#): > > Daylight…in my mind, the night faded. It was daytime and the neighborhood was busy. Miss Stephanie Crawford crossed the street to tell the latest to Miss Rachel. Miss Maudie bent over her azaleas. It was summertime, and two children scampered down the sidewalk toward a man approaching in the distance. The man waved, and the children raced each other to him. > > It was still summertime, and the children came closer. A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. > > It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Duvoaw’a. The boy helped his sister to her feet, and they made their home Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive. > > Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. > > Summer, and he watched his children’s heat break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. It’s the progression from “the children” to “his children” to “Boo’s children” that gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/137 "2017-01-14T15:09:40Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > In _1776_, the song “Mama Look Sharp” is heartbreaking to me–just thinking about it starts me off. Oh damn, I’d forgotten that one, I don’t cry but I do get really glum. I had a many-greats grandfather who fought in the Revolutionary War and I think of how one little bullet could have changed things down the generations. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618/138 "2017-01-14T15:12:17Z")
_Gone With the Wind_ sums up Rhett and Scarlett’s honeymoon: > [@](#): > > He made her play and she had almost forgotten how. Life had been so hard and so bitter [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-books-scenes-that-tear-you-up-every-time/775618.md?page=6)