# What movies make men cry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026 "2003-02-19T01:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/121 "2003-02-21T08:04:38Z")
Many of the movies mentioned so far are indeed tear-jerkers of the most manly variety, particularly the awesome **The Iron Giant** But **Armageddon**? Frickin’ **Armageddon**? From, as _The Onion_ terms him, “Producer and Antichrist” Jerry Bruckheimer? I was laughing out loud at how stupid and preposterous that movie was, and almost got physically attacked by other, more sensitive, moviegoers. On the other hand, I loved **Independence Day** , although it certainly didn’t make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![gorillaboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dc4da7/32.png) [@gorillaboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gorillaboy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/122 "2003-02-21T08:25:11Z")
Any movie where, as the ship is about to (perhaps) blow up, one of the crewmembers turns to the captain and says, “Sir, it has been an honor to serve with you” (or words to that effect). Works on me every time. Apollo 13 and Deep Impact come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/123 "2003-02-21T08:48:41Z")
If you could see me you’d probably be surprised that I cry at _anything_. In fact I’m weird - I don’t cry at traditionally ‘sad’ movies, but I tend to be affected by “happy endings”, where a character succeeds against all odds and ends up doing OK or even great. e.g. (I suggest revealing the spoiler a little bit at a time so you can see which movie is being spoiled!) Erin Brokovitch - where she gets the bonus check at the end for a few _million_ dollars also Billy Elliot - where the kid is shown as a grown man at the end, playing the lead role in a ballet at a prestigious theater in London, while his dad and brother look on from the audience \ ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/124 "2003-02-21T11:02:37Z")
_Shadowlands_. “Me too”. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/125 "2003-02-21T12:07:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gaijin \* > \*\*I’ve yet to cry during a film, probably because I’m an inhuman, stone-hearted monster. But if I could have, I would have at the end of **The Deer Hunter**. > > Walken: (smiling) “One shot.” > > BAM! > > Al Pacino’s face, man. I can’t believe I didn’t break down. \*\* De Niro, not Pacino. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/126 "2003-02-21T12:33:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bomzaway \* > \*\*_Independence Day_ when Randy Quaid’s hard luck character asks his CO to tell his kids that he loves him, then plows his jet into the alien ship. I think the _Armageddon_ scene is a bit derivative of this one. > \*\* I love Independence Day, but I must confess that I find the Randy Qaid character so irritating I watch his scenes with the sound turned down, and first time I saw the scene where he flies his plane into the mothership, I cheered with relief! Maybe it’s because I’m English but I just find that whole “Yessir, Mr President Sir” stuff so embarrassingly mawkish. Can’t imagine any British pilots saying that kind of thing to our wonderful Tony Blair. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/127 "2003-02-21T17:10:22Z")
I am a total weepie at the movies. Disney, kids dying, unrequited love, etc. Some that do me in have already been mentioned. (Interesting note: I received **Grave of the Fireflies** from Netflix yesterday; my wife and I are going to watch it tonight. I expect I’ll be a basket case.) Here are a couple I didn’t see mentioned: **Comrades, Almost a Love Story** **Failan** **The Bride with White Hair** **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon** , but not necessarily at the ending. During the fight scenes, especially the first one. I think my reaction is a visceral emotional response at the sheer artistic beauty I was experiencing. This was the first “Asian/fantasy/wuxia” film I ever saw and I suppose it was like someone viewing the _Mona Lisa_ for the first time, and _really getting it_. There is no logical explanation, it just _is_. I do remember when I saw **Forrest Gump** for the first time. I was in grad school and had gone to the theater by myself. When Forrest was talking to Jennie’s grave and had the letter from Forrest, Jr., I totally lost it. Tears streaming down my face. At the time I was too self-conscious to wipe them off, so I just sat there and let them fall into my lap. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/128 "2003-02-21T17:31:06Z")
There was a scene in Armageddon that got me misty eyed…it’s where they show a montage of scenes from around the world of people holding death vigils. There was one shot of some MIddle Eastern people sitting together at a sunset, marking time with a hollow stamper. _thoom thoom thoom_ Also, first time I saw FotR was with a bunch of friends and we were all really psyched to see it. The intro, which showed the battle of Elves & Men vs Sauron, had a big wide shot of the all the armies clashing, and got me teary-eyed. Then at the end, when Aragorn puts his hands on the shoulders of Legolas and Gimli and tells them, “We will not abandon Pippin and Merry to butchery and torment. _Let’s go hunt some Orc!_” Aw damn, got more tears flowing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/129 "2003-02-21T19:28:03Z")
OK, here’s my embarrassing confession: **Remains of the Day** sorta gets me. The last twenty minutes or so. (Damn, I’m a big softie…) **Boyo Jim** wrote: > [@](#): > > Nevertheless, apparently I am a rather strange guy, as nobody else seems to cry to Rocky. The ending of Rocky doesn’t do it for me. The scene that gets me is when Burgess Meredith comes to Rocky’s apartment and begs to be Rocky’s manager. Rocky turns him away, and he departs a broken old man…but then you cut to the scene outside Rocky’s apartment, Burgess Meredith walks down the street alone, dejected, and soft-hearted Rocky comes running up behind him and puts an arm around him… [lump-in-throat] Sylvester Stallone rightfully catches a lot of grief, but bless him for writing that movie, and that scene in particular. Also, count me among those who don’t understand all the bawling over **Armageddon**. From where I sit, **Deep Impact** did a better job of pushing emotional buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/130 "2003-02-21T21:29:41Z")
In addition to **Braveheart** and a few others mentioned already, movies that got to me are: **Contact** - So many scenes… I’m surprised I’m the first to mention it. Am I the only one affected by this movie? **Life as a House** - I never would have seen it on my own, but I had an oppurtunity for a free screening. I’m glad I went. Darn. I know there are more, I just can’t think of them. That one where Robin Williams played a robot; I think that was one, but I don’t remember it well. Outside of movies: the final episode of **Cowboy Bebop** had me really worked up… _“Bang.”_ ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/131 "2003-02-21T22:13:29Z")
I don’t exactly cry, but I always get choked up at the part in _Field of Dreams_ where the young Archie Graham steps over the field boundary and becomes Old Doc Graham to save the little girl. He can’t go back again, and yet he chooses the high road, saving just one life. It’s terrible and wonderful all at the same time. I first saw that movie with my father; took him to see it for his birthday, in fact. And he mentioned later that he was touched by the catch Ray has with his father at the end of the film. It reminded him of his own father playing catch with him when he was a kid, and how he taught his own four sons to play ball, too. Powerful movie, that. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/132 "2003-02-21T22:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*But I think I may have to turn in my guy card, because **Field of Dreams** doesn’t do it for me. I think maybe it only works on guys whose fathers are dead, or guys who have unresolved conflict with their fathers, based on a sampling of guys I know who _are_ deeply affected by FOD. \*\* Sorry, can’t agree with you there. My father, bless him, is very much alive, and I have no unresolved conflicts with him. Still, it’s not the catch at the end that does it for me. (See my previous post) ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/133 "2003-02-21T23:31:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly \* > \*\*_Shadowlands_. > > “Me too”. \*\* You nailed it Doghouse. What an amazing actor Anthony Hopkins is. After already seeing Debra Winger going off to “the big sleep” in the sappy _Terms of Endearment_, I wasn’t about to tear up for an encore. After that scene though, I completely lost it. ---
**Author:** ![lukaspriest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5a626/32.png) [@lukaspriest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lukaspriest)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/134 "2003-02-22T00:14:51Z")
I just watched Grave of the Fireflies for the first time last night. I cried uncontrollably for about half an hour toward the end of it. The trip to the doctor was what really started it. What an amazing film. I’m still in a daze over it. ---
**Author:** ![DarRRva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@DarRRva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarRRva)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/135 "2003-02-22T00:27:45Z")
Dancer In The Dark… everytime. Anyone who’s seen it knows what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michele_in_SoCal)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/136 "2003-02-22T01:58:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moonchild \* > \*\*One I forgot: a small French movie called “Ponette.” It’s about a little girl whose Mom has died. The girl is like, six years old, and is more natural on camera that anyone I’ve ever seen. Positively hearbreaking. \*\* Just FYI, The actress who played Ponette also played the daughter in the movie _Chocolat_. She was very good, very natural in that movie too. Mr. Michele, like me, is a soft-hearted sort who frequently cries at movies. That said, his most recent sob fest was _My Dog Skip_ when it was on HBO. ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/137 "2003-02-22T02:23:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stolichnaya \* > \*\*I’m always a sucker for _Glory_. \*\* Oh yes. The scene at the very end of the movie when they go marching through the lines of Union troops on the way to a suicidal charge of Fort Wagner. “Give 'em hell 54 !” Pass the kleenex. There are several scenes in Ken Burns _Civil War_ (its a personal subject for me) that choke me up. The worst (best?) one is the letter from the Union soldier to his wife before the First Battle of Bull Run . . . [paraphrase] “but if the dead can come back and flit among the living, you will never be alone”[/paraphrase] Then you find out he did indeed die. Water works. Gets me everytime. ---
**Author:** ![Jberto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jberto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jberto)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/138 "2003-02-22T03:28:15Z")
_The Iron Giant_ got to me, as did _Fearless_. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/139 "2003-02-25T03:20:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*And this doesn’t qualify as a movie, I suppose, but the farewell letter from the soldier to his wife in Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary kinda gets me right here. \*\* Sure it counts as a movie! The very first words to appear on screen are “A **film** by Ken Burns”, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026/140 "2003-03-01T02:47:40Z")
ok, just added _The Iron Giant_ to my list… to the very top of it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-make-men-cry/156026.md?page=8)