# What scenes always bring tears to your eyes, for non plot / acting reasons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896 "2009-11-01T00:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/21 "2009-11-02T15:58:32Z")
Starman. At the end, when Starman is going up to the ship and they are shooting down at Karen Allen…the look of love and sadness on her face just tugs at my heartstrings. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/22 "2009-11-02T17:19:18Z")
The scene in “Gone With the Wind” where Scarlett goes looking for Dr. Meade at the Atlanta railroad depot, which has been turned into an open-air hospital. There are thousands of wounded and dead Confederate soldiers laid out on the ground. The camera pulls back to show more and more wounded, and finally stops on a tattered Confederate flag waving over the thousands of bodies. An unbelievably powerful scene. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/23 "2009-11-02T20:56:29Z")
I’m not sure I am getting the question right for non-plot, non-acting reasons? So, for the beauty of the scene regardless of what its place is in the film? I’m not sure how to separate that. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/24 "2009-11-03T01:41:40Z")
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (we can do books right? and it will be a movie and this scene had better be in it!), the battle at the end when Molly Weasley [spoiler] kills Bellatrix “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!”[/spoiler] partly because of my feelings about my own mother, my feelings as a mother, and what I’ve read about J.K. Rowlings and her mother. If I ever need to conjure crocodile tears, this is how I’ll do it. I can’t even think of this scene without tearing up, I’m tearing up now \ ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/25 "2009-11-03T01:50:21Z")
> [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > For me it’s the chariot race in _Ben Hur_. Easily the greatest action scene ever filmed. Despite several viewings it never loses any of its tension or drama. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/26 "2009-11-03T02:02:40Z")
I’m kind of partial to courageous last stands, even if they don’t turn out to be that way. [ul] [li]The whole Helm’s Deep battle, especially when the Elves show.[/li][li]The final attack on the Alamo[/li][li]The part in Zulu when the seriously outnumbered Brits start singing “Men of Harlech” to reply to the Zulu war chants.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/27 "2009-11-03T03:38:47Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > The last sequence in the “Sunshine Through the Rain” sequence of Akira Kurosawa’s _Dreams_. The imagery is just so breathtaking, it always brings tears to my eyes. I used to think about that scene when going to sleep. It made me so happy ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/28 "2009-11-03T04:14:42Z")
> [@Lethal\_Babydoll](#): > > I used to think about that scene when going to sleep. It made me so happy /tagging for later; haven’t seen Kurosawa since college, and I think I have much to catch up on! ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/29 "2009-11-03T05:49:35Z")
> [@bump](#): > > [li]The part in Zulu when the seriously outnumbered Brits start singing “Men of Harlech” to reply to the Zulu war chants.[/li][/LIST] Oh god yes, that was great. And then, after the battle…when you’re thinking they’ve fended them off, they’ve won…and they do the roll call. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/30 "2009-11-03T05:54:12Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Starman. > > At the end, when Starman is going up to the ship and they are shooting down at Karen Allen…the look of love and sadness on her face just tugs at my heartstrings. Same movie, different scene: Jenny’s reaction when Notscott resurrects the deer. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/31 "2009-11-03T06:00:02Z")
Another fave: Fisher King- when Parry/Henry comes out of his catatonia – “Can I miss her now?” . ---
**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:** [November 3, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/32 "2009-11-03T12:10:20Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’m not sure I am getting the question right > > for non-plot, non-acting reasons? So, for the beauty of the scene regardless of what its place is in the film? I’m not sure how to separate that. Pretty much so. I realised after I wrote my OP that it’s not that easy. What I wasn’t looking for was moments like “You had me at hello” or “Don’t make me choose!”, perhaps because they could be just as dramatically re-created on stage with no props. The examples people have given have been pretty good though I haven’t seen most of the films. My favourite is La Marseillaise in Casablanca, though like you say it’s not completely separate from the plot or the acting. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/33 "2009-11-03T15:27:06Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > The end of Back To The Future Part III, with Doc’s locomotive. I am curious about your selection, why did this scene affect you so much? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/34 "2009-11-03T23:03:44Z")
The end of **Little Miss Sunshine** , when the family is driving back home at the end of the day. Don’t ask me why. I cannot explain it. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/35 "2009-11-04T21:42:37Z")
I’ll second (or third) some of the moments already mentioned. - I agree that the chariot race in _Ben-Hur_ is the greatest action sequence ever filmed. - Both charges of the Rohirrim. The arrival of Eomer and Gandalf at Helm’s Deep, and the thunderous assault against the besieging army at the Pellenor Fields. - The battle of the anthems in _Casablanca_. And one of my own. - _Non nobis domine_ from _Henry V_. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/36 "2009-11-04T21:51:09Z")
plot-related, but the long, lonely death of Fry’s dog in _Futurama_. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/37 "2009-11-04T22:06:55Z")
The launch in _Apollo 13_ gets me - the music, the visuals, just beautiful. The congressmen stepping up to sign the Declaration of Independence at the end of _1776_. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/38 "2009-11-04T22:16:05Z")
Any scene from The Grapes of Wrath. Or another depression-era unknown gem, Wild Boys of the Road. Gut-wrenchingly sad stuff. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/39 "2009-11-13T22:08:36Z")
I’ve only seen it once, on the big screen, and would like to see it again now that I have a bigger TV: the end of **Immortal Beloved** with the sky and the water and Ode to Joy. Oh my goodness. It partly hinges on the plot in that they’re telling you Beethoven’s inspiration, but it stands on its own as a visual/auditory beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896/40 "2009-11-14T20:03:12Z")
The ski jump off the cliff at the start of _The Spy Who Loved Me_. The moment when he _finally_ unfurls his parachute after that heartstoppingly long fall always brings a lump to my throat for reasons I can never quite explain. Possibly just for the sheer joy in imagining the triumph of the whole stunt working so perfectly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scenes-always-bring-tears-to-your-eyes-for-non-plot-acting-reasons/515896.md?page=3)