# Saddest Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787 "2003-06-23T15:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![\_ceQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b9bd4f/32.png) [@\_ceQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_ceQueen)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/41 "2003-06-24T01:55:05Z")
“The Green Mile,” without a doubt. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/42 "2003-06-24T02:02:49Z")
_Testament_ ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/43 "2003-06-24T02:13:38Z")
**Terms of Endearment** gets me every time. That little boy crying over his Mom is too real. **Titantic** broke me up too. The scene where the Father tells his young family that “there will be another boat for the Daddies” just broke my heart. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/44 "2003-06-24T02:21:38Z")
I’ll second _The Green Mile_. Very few movies get me teary, but this is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![ASD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@ASD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASD)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/45 "2003-06-24T02:21:44Z")
_Shadowlands_ ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/46 "2003-06-24T03:49:31Z")
_Jack the Bear_ Though some (like me) might find it melodramatic. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/47 "2003-06-24T03:57:15Z")
Beaches. ---
**Author:** ![MrSarcasticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@MrSarcasticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSarcasticus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/48 "2003-06-24T05:38:00Z")
JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN has my vote for the most depressing movie. But there’s just something about the end of FLESH AND BONE, where Dennis Quaid is trying not to cry. It’s tragic, and I loved it. [http://us.imdb.com/Details?0106926](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0106926) ---
**Author:** ![rumraisin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@rumraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rumraisin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/49 "2003-06-24T08:02:40Z")
_Stand by Me_ ---
**Author:** ![Trafalgar\_Laura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trafalgar_laura/32/2907_2.png) [@Trafalgar\_Laura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trafalgar_Laura)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/50 "2003-06-24T08:09:34Z")
I’m with cmkeller. I always cry at the end of Beaches. Casablanca. ---
**Author:** ![And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/51 "2003-06-24T08:27:40Z")
One of the saddest movies I ever saw was **Gorillas in the Mist**. I was quite young when I saw it but I still have pretty strong memories of it. ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/52 "2003-06-24T12:23:56Z")
For me, the saddest movie is definitely _The Mission_ with Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro. I bawled like a baby the first time I saw it, and every time I watch it since I start crying earlier and earlier in anticipation of the ending. Sad, sad, depressingly sad movie. But incredibly well-acted, and the cinematography is amazing. Plus, the musical score by Enio Morricone is simply haunting (it’s the only movie sountrack I’ve ever purchased). I wish it would be released on DVD… Barry ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/53 "2003-06-24T12:45:40Z")
I’d like to point out that “sad” and “depressing” are two different things. I found _American Psycho_ to be depressing (partly because I wasted a bit of my life watching it). _Grave of the Fireflies_ was incredibly sad. Didn’t make me cry, though; sadness doesn’t do that, only scenes of self-sacrifice, conceptual breakthroughs and people being better than they have to be. > [@](#): > > “Artificial Intelligence” - for two reasons. Neither is enough to nominate it by itself, but both together is depressing: > > David spends all of eternity praying to the blue fairy in vain. That is the end of the movie. Ignore the spielburg-esque alien scene. That’s just a mass hallucination. Forgive the geekiness, but: Those weren’t aliens; they were advanced AI’s in a future when humans are exstinct. The AI’s have inherited the world, and study humans the way we study Australopithecus, which is kind of sad. Still, an unnecessary “extra” ending. ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/54 "2003-06-24T15:13:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by godzillatemple \* > **wish it would be released on DVD…** Well, waddayaknow? I just checked [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and discovered that _The Mission_ has, in fact, been released on DVD. Oh, happy day! Or should that be sad day? 😉 Barry ---
**Author:** ![AmericanMaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@AmericanMaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmericanMaid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/55 "2003-06-24T17:11:21Z")
_Jude_ - not having read the book, I thought the movie was a period piece with a somewhat twisted love affair. By the end, I realized I was oh so wrong. When Chris Eccleston cries, I cry. _Requiem for a Dream_ - sad because it’s too accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/56 "2003-06-24T17:27:52Z")
My all-time winner has to be **Magnolia** , but I think it just hit me at the right time. Anyway, I saw it alone (I don’t mean just that nobody went with me, I mean I was the only one in the theater) in a little movie theater in Quebec, and afterwards, I was destroyed. I found an out of the way spot and was just paralyzed with the sadness of it. I don’t know how long it was before I could get myself together. Next would be **Dancer In The Dark**. That movie hurt way before bad things even started happening, because you could see the way it would go, and then it was like all your worst fears slowly came true. I watched it once, and I could never watch it again. Other high scores- **The Ice Storm** **American History X** **The Talented Mr. Ripley** And in a separate category: **Life as a House** and **Titanic**. These are unique in that I think these movies suck, but they’re carefully crafted to mess with your emotions. We often think of bad movies that have some great gags in them, good for laughs, but it’s pretty rare to see a bad movie that’s good to make you weep like a baby but then not think the movie was any good the next day. In **Life as a House** , I usually make it about until they start using Radiohead’s _How to Disappear Completely_ as the background music, and then I’m done. And every time, I think the same thing: “OK! Fine! You win! I’m not made of stone… I can’t believe I’m crying at this crap…” LC ---
**Author:** ![WillSantini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@WillSantini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillSantini)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/57 "2003-06-24T17:30:21Z")
I find _ **Bridges of Madison County** _ very sad. Not being able to be with your soulmate, kinda hits home. And _ **Ole Yeller** _. ---
**Author:** ![sirtonyh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@sirtonyh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirtonyh)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/58 "2003-06-24T21:07:48Z")
I’ll nominate **The Elephant Man.** Incredibly sad what John Merrick goes through because his of his appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/59 "2003-06-24T21:33:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AlbertRose \* > More sadness: _Jean de Florette_ (part one) and _Manon des Sources_ (part two) – a two-movie sequence containing a devastating ending. Bravo, **Albert Rose**! Thank you for mentioning one of my all time favorite foreign movies. Personally, I think the ending is quite a nice touch of poetic justice. It is a bit wrenching but pretty d@mn apt. Hard to feel sorry for those stuck-up provincial @ssholes. I’m (not really) amazed that no one has mentioned “ **A Hatful of Rain**.” Considered to be _risque_ because of its dealing with narcotics addiction back in 1957, it is still a real three hanky film with a lot of fine acting. If one has read the book or seen the movie before, “ **Cyrano de Bergerac** ” can be pretty wrenching. Make sure to watch the earlier version with Jose Ferrer. “Bring me giants!” What a classic line. ---
**Author:** ![Bjork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@Bjork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bjork)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787/60 "2003-06-24T22:55:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lucki Chaarms \* > > Other high scores- > **The Ice Storm** > **American History X** > **The Talented Mr. Ripley** > LC \*\* Although American History X was a very sad movie, I didn’t end the movie thinking that it was so sad, my reaction was more along the lines of that was fucking brilliant! Everyone should see that movie. I’m going to be honest here, I clicked on this thread purely to see where Requiem for a Dream, Dancer in The Dark, and The Green Mile ranked. The saddest movie I have ever seen was definitly Dancer in the Dark, but the dummy I am thought it was so brilliant that I wanted to watch it again. I bawled the entire movie the second time I watched it. Now I can handle it with mild tears. On the depressing lines, I thought Muriels Wedding was very depressing for a “romantic comedy”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-movie/183787.md?page=4)