I was hanging out with my family over the holidays, explaining that I wasn't sad or sick, but had been rubbing my eye because there was some dust or a hair or something stuck behind the eyeball. It was quite uncomfortable.
As I remembered how tears can flush out the eyes, I broke into a retelling of the end of the movie Homeward Bound, just kind of listing off the climactic scene of that movie.
As I told the story, my eyes started watering like crazy, and I managed to cry out whatever was stuck in there.
I can access my emotions fairly easily, but I think there are only a handful of scenes I can name that will reliably bring the tears whether I want them or not.
In fact, I think there are just enough to create a little Top Five list…
Banes' Top Five Tear Jerkers
5 - Field of Dreams
Yes, it's a cliche, but few endings top this one for the creation of the waterworks! In case people haven't seen it,
I'll avoid spoilers. But it's a fantastic film, a fine story whether you're a baseball fan or not, and has an ending moving enough to make this list!
4 - Future Imperfect
This is a comic book, a standalone adventure featuring the Incredible Hulk who travels to the future to battle an older version of himself, who's become a tyrannical warlord called the Maestro. One of my favorite comics ever, by Peter David and George Perez, and the last page reduces me to at least light blubbering every damn time. No spoilers!
3 - Y: The Last Man
Another comic book, a Semi-Post-Apocalyptic adventure featuring two of my favorite characters ever, Yorick (the last man) and his protector, only identified as Agent 355. That's her up top in the picture, and it's that cover that gets to me, every time I see it or think about it. I don't want to spoil this one either, but this cover reflects a change that 355 tries to make after living her entire life in a certain way.
Hoo-boy. I'm getting feelings now, just writing this. Gonna have to read that series again; it's so darn good.
2 - Deep Space Nine: The Visitor
I guess the Father/Son stuff really gets to me. This is an episode of Deep Space Nine that tops a lot of Star Trek “best of” lists. One of those pesky temporal anomalies vanishes Sisko into subspace, leaving his son Jake to grow up and eventually grow old without him. When Jake realizes his father is not truly dead, but just lost, he is unable to get over it and struggles with this deep wound for his entire life. A must-see in my opinion, even for a non-Star Trek or non-sci fi fan.
1 - Homeward Bound
I revealed it in the beginning of this post, but Homeward Bound (the ending) is the most reliable emotion-creator for me. I've seen it multiple times over the years, and when I'm with a group of people, I have to leave the room for that final scene unless I want to reveal the emotional wreck I become at the end of that film. Ah, dogs! A boy and his dog! So many tears!
What are your favorite tear-jerking moments?
-weepin' Banes
Top Five Tear Jerkers
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 12, 2017
4 likes!
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thunderdavid at 7:25AM, Jan. 14, 2017
Right on Kim! That Bladerunner moment of Roy Batty's 'Tears in the Rain'. I was just boy watching the VHS version and hit hit with emotional fat stick. It had more of impact than E.T.'s farewell. For me, the fact the character accepted all HIS moments will be lost forever , was sad truth. And weird thing is, when I do rewatch the movie (DVD version). I look forward to that scene.
moizmad at 4:57PM, Jan. 13, 2017
All seriousness aside, the end of Sleepless In Seattle at the top of the Empire State Bldg when Tom realizes who Meg Ryan is and Jimmy Durante's recording of Make Someone Happy starts playing.... I lose it. That song is so good that even a hog-caller like Durante can't hurt it.
moizmad at 4:50PM, Jan. 13, 2017
The end of The Bride Of Frankenstein when Boris says "we belong dead" and throws the switch! I went thru a whole box of Kleenex when I see that scene, sob, sob.
KimLuster at 1:31PM, Jan. 12, 2017
I started to mention Schindler's List... I did cry some (esp. when I saw the red-coat girl in the cart) but by movie's end I was too numb to cry (heart warmed a little though...)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:19PM, Jan. 12, 2017
Schindler's List, the last scene when Schindler's regretting not selling his lapel pin. There's a lot more but that is my number 1.
usedbooks at 8:40AM, Jan. 12, 2017
Animation brings my feels -- way more than live action. Not Disney so much as indie stuff or anime. Most recent emotional roller coaster was "Erased" on Hulu. Apparently as a kid, I started bawling in Goonies (no one remembers why). I was so inconsolable, my parents forbid the movie ever be viewed in our home again. I didn't watch it again until I was 30. (No, I didn't cry that time. I don't see why I did.) I cry openly in any movie that is well-done but only if I'm by myself.
EssayBee at 8:34AM, Jan. 12, 2017
As a kid, E.T. would get me, both when he "dies" and the whole "I'll be right here" bit. (I bet they'd still get me if I watched it again.) The funny thing is, now that I'm older, a father, and my dad passed away suddenly a few years ago, a lot of parent stuff and father/son stuff hits me hard. In Stranger Things, Hopper's flashback to his daughter dying was a gut punch. Heck. I was the only person bordering on blubbering in Batman v. Superman when Clark comes across the vision of his dad and ends with Clark saying that he misses his dad. In my teens and 20s, most things wouldn't make me cry (or at least not to the extent that I couldn't blink back the tears), with the exception of the one-more-life speech at the end of Schindler's List--that one always got the waterworks going.
Call Me Tom at 8:25AM, Jan. 12, 2017
I see your DS9: The Visitor and rase you TNG: The Offspring.
Banes at 6:58AM, Jan. 12, 2017
Thanks, KL! That Bladerunner monologue is truly one of the great all-time moments, no doubt about that!
KimLuster at 6:40AM, Jan. 12, 2017
Oh Gawd - tear jerkers!! I've got four that killed me... 1) The Thorn Birds (novel and 80s mini-series) - love vs duty was never better written. 2) The Prince of Tides (novel and movie) - the tugging of emotions pulled and tortured me like being on a Spanish Inquisition Rack! 3) Ol' Yeller - I still have a hard time watching it!!, and have a soft spot for strays because of it... and 4) Bladerunner: specifically the replicant Roy Batty's 'Tears in the Rain' monologue (which I think is the best monologue in the history of cinema). Every once in a while I'll look it up just to give myself a wonderful bittersweet suckerpunch (which I'm about to do now - thanks Banes!) :D Another great article!