What are the saddest movies you've seen?

[Domitan]

Name your top tearjerkers!

1) Charlotte's Web (really made me cry on Xmas evening back in the 70's)

2) Old Yeller (no explanations needed)

3) The Yearling (old classic that unfortunately is not shown much these days)

4) Leon {aka The Professional} (Natalie Portman's first movie)

5) All Quiet on the Western Front (the 1979 TV movie about WWI, and very gripping)

6) Dark Victory (an old Bette Davis movie about a young woman with a terminal brain disease)

7) Dead Man Walking (Sean Penn movie about death penalty...even though his character was a wicked thug, many couldn't help but be touched by what happened at the end)

[rzemanfl]

1. Fahrenheit 9/11 but I didn't know it at the time. n/t

[fishwax]

67. I still haven't been able to watch the whole thing a second time

Saw it in the theaters, then bought the DVD on the day it came out. But when I tried to watch it the second time, it made me way too sad (well, angry, perhaps, even more than sad). Couldn't get through the scene where she reads the letter from her son ...

[sspeilbergfan90]

211. The deer hunter

[rhett o rick]

223. Good choice. nt

[LiberalPartisan]

2. I have 2

• Terms of Endearment - Debra Winger
  
• My Life - Michael Keaton
  

In both the depiction of the dying individual is very true to life. We always see the anger and the fear. What we seldom see and what these 2 films show is that phase after acceptance where one puts their affairs in order; the realization that which separates us is so minor when compared to that which connects us.

[TygrBright]

3. "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"

with Alan Arkin.

Gawd, I cried BUCKETS...

dismally,
Bright

[Liberal_in_LA]

190. Oh my gosh... me too. so sad.

[Mme. Defarge]

4. Gallipoli

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0082432 /

"The last 20 or 30 minutes of the film is spent at the Gallipoli peninsula, inside the war trenches. The generals vainly send men running toward the enemy and they are swiftly slaughtered."

[CitrusLib]

6. You beat me to it.

Hands down, my all-time favorite anti-war movie. It also began my love affair with Peter Weir movies.

[Mme. Defarge]

13. It was the Albinoni Adagio that made an indelible impression.

Watching them knowingly run into machine gun fire to this music was almost more than I could take.

[CitrusLib]

14. Ditto. Everything about that scene is burned into my brain.

[fudge stripe cookays]

188. That music still gives me chills....from that scene n/t

[Up2Late]

125. That reminds me of the saddest Song ever, which is about a Gallipoli "surviver"

"And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda"
By Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle, vocals & guitar
ERIC BOGLE - SCRAPS OF PAPER
- Flying Fish 70311

If you want to hear it, it was played as part of the show called "To End All War" on the Public Radio show "Sound & Spirit."

Here's the link:<http://www.wgbh.org/pages/pri/spirit/alphabetical.html >

I like Eric Bogle's version best, but other's have recorded it too, like The Pogues on "Rum Sodomy & The Lash"

<http://ericbogle.net />

<http://ericbogle.net/lyrics/lyricspdf/andbandplayedwalt... >

[CitrusLib]

5. Hallmark commercials make me cry. Where to begin!

Gallipoli. I was only 10 or 11 years old when I first saw it but even at that age, I had a very sharp and emotional reaction to the whole waste and futility of war. Toss Breaker Morant on top of it and you've got some damn fine heart-wrenching film-making there.

My Life. Not the best movie ever made, but the concept ripped me open.

Brian's Song. If that doesn't make you cry, you have no soul.

Tons more, but I'm welling up just thinking about them.

[RiDuvessa]

98. Dead on with Brian's song.

My family went through an entire box of Kleenex the first time we saw that.

[stillcool]

7. Two that rocked my world....

"My name is Stephen"....and "Monster".

[MISSDem]

35. Oh Yes. Monster

was very sad and another true one.

[lips]

168. A third vote.

Its not so much the saddness, but the destitution.

[smtpgirl]

8. requiem for a dream

[MemphisTiger]

37. I don't know if that one is sad, but it messed my head up for

a week. You take a glimpse into a world that you shouldn't be looking into.

[seemunkee]

9. Grave of the Fireflies

anime movie about two kids who try to survive on their own during WWII.

[tridim]

19. Yep.. 'Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind' got me too n/t

[frankly_fedup2]

44. That is being shown this week on HBO or Cinamax or Showtime.

I think they are free this weekend for people on Direct TV. If you don't have HBO, Bill Mahr and REAL TIME comes on at 11 p.m. on channel 501. Tonight Lou Dobbs is going to be on it.

I know that Lou contributed to the right; however, I think the man bashes this administration more than he did Clinton.

[hsher]

103. You saw it too!

I mentioned it below, then I saw you did up here. The scene with the little boy running and playing with the blanket on his head...

[sakabatou]

104. Same

[uppityperson]

158. They tried so hard. Saddest movie I know also.

[Dogmudgeon]

10. Deep Impact

Under-rated for its deep sentimental impact.

The original "All Quiet on the Western Front" was even better than the TV movie.

A remake of Charlotte's Web will also be in the theaters this summer. I read the book several years before the movie was made, and it had much the same effect on me -- a state of stunned desolation that stayed with me for weeks.

--p!

[peacebird]

11. Brokeback Mountain

Life is Beautiful
Shadowlands
Last of the Mohicans

[Mad_Dem_X]

152. BBM killed me

It's my favorite film, but I'm a wreck by the end of it.

[Maureen54]

12. two

Nell
and recently
Crash

[Jade Fox]

95. I loved Nell.....

I think it is a very under-rated film.

Haven't seen Crash.

[MnFats]

15. Noboy's mentioned 'Ordinary People?"

terrific performances, including Mary Tyler Moore's. She was robbed of an Oscar nomination when Redford and Timothy Hutton each got one.
a truly heart-rending film.

[tridim]

22. MTM's nervous breakdown in the film was amazing

Off to IMDB to see who she lost to.. Sissy Spacek in "Coal Miner's Daughter".. A worthy win IMO, but MTM was certainly worthy too.

[MISSDem]

151. Redford? Are you saying he was in that?

Wasn't her co star Donald Sutherland. Or are you referring to another movie?

[MountainLaurel]

153. Redford directed it n/t

[Mend]

16. "How Green Was My Valley"

same stuff today in West Virginia....poor miners, rich owner, no worker protection.

[Burried News]

18. Yes. As I age I relate to it more and more.

As a child The Lou Gherig Story, Bambi and the Little Red Pony were very sad.

[CBHagman]

159. Oh, geez, then you've got to see "Matewan."

One of John Sayles's best movies. Chris Cooper, in his first American film role, plays a union organizer sent to a mining community with racial and ethnic tensions. A dynamite cast (Mary McDonnell, David Strathairn, Josh Mostel, Jace Alexander, Will Oldham, James Earl Jones), taut and suspenseful filmmaking, and a conclusion that will knock the wind out of you make this a must-see.

I might also mention:

Romero
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Breaking the Waves
Life Is Beautiful
A Very Long Engagement

[theshadow]

17. Virgin Suicides

There's something about the end, when the narrator talks about how he and the other boys loved the five sisters, who are now dead.

[Somawas]

20. Dances With Wolves

[BeyondThePale]

21. Truly Madly Deeply

[catchnrelease]

231. Agree

My daughter and I rate the sadness of other movies by how they compare to TMD, which is way up there for us.

[oneighty]

23. The Color Purple

Dancing With Wolves

Shogun

Full Metal Jacket and The Deer Hunter- both upset me to tears of frustration and futility as did the original All Quiet on the Western Front..gassssss gassssss

For certain WTF saddest movie ever made was 'Attack of the Giant Leeches' Now that was a sad movie. Hahahaha

180

[Klukie]

119. Agreed.. the Color Purple....

My favorite movie.

[JeanGrey]

171. Terms of Endearment, hands down. I can't believe nobody

mentioned this.

[kerstin]

178. I'm with you, Jean.

Does me in every time.

[JeanGrey]

183. I think I've seen it 20 times and I still sob uncontrollably - the first

time when Aurora comes from the hospital, tired and defeated and looks up and sees Jack Nicolson standing there, and of course, the death of Emma. This film is magnificent in many ways.

Then in the sequel, when the housekeeper is dying and she carries her from her house back to home.........

[Flying Dream Blues]

218. The part that gets me is when Aurora goes to the

nurses station and is demanding, almost hysterically, "Give my daughter the shot!" I can't imagine watching my child suffer like that...

[sadinred]

24. The Whale Rider

excellant movie!

http://www.whaleriderthemovie.com/

[Buzz Clik]

117. Interesting choice. Why do you consider this a sad movie?

[idrahaje]

235. 2nd that

Had me in tears beginning to end.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

25. "Who Will Love My Children?"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086581/

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

69. Scrap that. I watched "When the Wind Blows" last week and it destroyed me

http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/reviews/wtwbdvd.html

[hlthe2b]

26. Death of human characters is hard enough but I just can't take...

the death of animals. I've never seen Ole Yeller the whole way through for that reason alone!
Dances with Wolves when they kill his horse and then the wolf for no damned reason except to be cruel sent be boo-hooing. Those scenes stay with me too, so I try to make sure I don't go to movies where animal cruelty or death of a major animal "character" are depicted.

I'm a weanie when it comes to this and I admit it. The world is cruel enough in terms of humans. But, animals just hit me the hardest...

[MISSDem]

179. My Dog Skip is very sad at the end but it is not

from animal cruelty. The book is even more touching.

[collegegirl211]

27. brokeback mountain

such a touching love story i cried so hard at the end

[applegrove]

28. Where the Red Fern Grows, Platoon, Missing, Steel Magnolias,

Terms of Endearment, Brian's Song, Schindler's Choice, The Killing Fields, etc.

[grace0418]

60. I read Where the Red Fern Grows and sobbed for hours

I never saw the movie but if it is even half as moving as the book I agree with you.

[TygrBright]

29. Oh, yeah... How could I forget "The Mission!"

...with that heartbreakingly beautiful Ennio Morricone score.

damply,
Bright

[FormerDittoHead]

30. Some I didn't see here...

(pre-apologies if already mentioned, but I didn't see them):

IMITATION OF LIFE

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Joy Luck Club

Schindler’s list

E.T. (the bike chase to the ending - damn that John Williams!)

[rantormusing]

238. Imitaion of life gets me everytime

It's also one of the few times i like the movie better than the book.

[semillama]

31. Dancer in the Dark

One of the most emotionally devastating movies I've seen.

[Montauk6]

32. I don't even think The Passion was as sadistic on its protagonist

Speaking of Von Trier movies, I'd have to throw in "Breaking The Waves"

Other saddies...

The House of Sand & Fog
Ran
Hotel Rwanda (the emotional overwhelmingness actually sent my wife into labor with our youngest)
Brokeback Mountain
Backstreet
The Children's Hour
A Warm December
The Godfather, Part III (yeah, people love to rag on this one but the scene of Michael's confession to the Cardinal still gets to me)
Hilary & Jackie
Panic in Needle Park
Little Odessa
Boyz N The Hood

(Hey, do TV movies count?)
The Death of Richie (NBC movie with Ben Gazzara and Robby Benson)
Brian's Song

(Hey, do disco songs count?)
Copacabana (I get all choked up thinking about Lola on the porch with the feathers and the whisky)

[MISSDem]

36. House of Sand and Fog, definitely and

when Mary is killed in Godfather III. Very sad.

[reichstag911]

80. Ugh. It was a relief...

...not watching Sofia Coppola's "acting" anymore. Sad for Michael Corleone, but a relief for the audience. I agree about House of Sand and Fog, though. Very sad depiction of how innocently motivated people's conflicting and inexorable momentums can lead to disaster.

[Montauk6]

93. You know, everyone rags on Sofia, but I beg to differ

Come on now. What was worse: Sofia going, "Dad" or Eli Wallach's Mister Ed impression after eating the bad cannoli?

In fact, there was so non-Sofia hamming in this movie that I had to get checked for trichinosis!!!! (rim shot)

Seriously though, she wasn't Stella Adler material, to be sure, BUT I'VE SEEN WORSE. From Adler students, no less!

But also she had the thankless task of, in essence, filling in for Wynona Ryder who apparently couldn't hang.

[MISSDem]

138. I thought Sofia was good.

There was chemistry between she and Andy Garcia.

[MISSDem]

180. When Mary is killed in Godfather III, Al Pacino's

acting is really acting!

[Frank Cannon]

155. And we have a winner, ladies and gentlemen

If there is a movie that is sadder and/or more depressing than Dancer in the Dark, I have yet to see it. Or even imagine it. And I've seen a lot of movies.

[MISSDem]

197. Wit. might be it.

I thought it was so sad.

[Make7]

193. I agree. ( n/t )

[Kire]

33. My Girl

I cried so hard when MacAuley Culkin died.

[MISSDem]

34. Shadowlands and Boys Don't Cry

Both true stories.

[MemphisTiger]

38. In the Bedroom

This is a good movie. When I saw it in the theatre, there was dead silence while the credits rolled. People were just sitting, watching, processing what they had just witnessed. Good stuff.

[annofark]

39. Beaches

1. Beaches
2. Steel Magnolias
3. Driving Miss Daisy
4. All dogs go to heaven
5. Bambi
6. Strip Tease (haha)

[ksilvas]

40. Black Rain, not the Kirk Douglas Action Pic.

It's a contemporary Black and white about the A Bombing of Nagasaki.
Heartbreaking. Yet beautiful to watch.

[Tummler]

41. My list begins with "Threads"

Threads -- British TV movie about a nuclear war and the ensuing end of humanity. A depressing, unrelenting nightmare.

Grave of the Fireflies -- Two Japanese orphans starve to death as WW2 grinds to a close. (It still blows my mind that this was shown on a double bill with another great animated picture from Studio Ghibli: My Neighbor Totoro, one of the sweetest and most innocent movies ever made.)

Shadowlands -- Pure grief.

Breaking the Waves -- A heart-wrenching performance from Emily Watson makes this movie.

Failan -- Korean drama about a doomed relationship between a washed-up hoodlum (the great Choi Min-sik of Oldboy fame) and the angelic Cecilia Cheung.

Au hasard Balthazar -- An illustration of human suffering through the life of a mistreated donkey.

Cries and Whispers -- Visually and emotionally, this Bergman film is like an open wound.

Any movie in which a companion animal dies or must be returned to the wild -- Too many to mention!

I could go on and on ...

[RiDuvessa]

99. Threads is a good choice.

I was forced to watch that movie in college during a poly-sci class. I was depressed for days. Absolutely destroys your soul.

[Flying Dream Blues]

42. Here are mine...

Terms of Endearment

Schindler's List

Finding Neverland

Million Dollar Baby (I saw this one on a plane and embarrassed myself by sobbing loudly)

An Affair to Remember (Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr)

I'm sure there are a million more, since I'm a big waterworks at the movies...

[mitchum]

43. Werner Herzog's "Woyzeck"

[AtomicKitten]

45. "The Bicycle Thief"

[laugle]

91. Haven't heard of that one--what was it about?

The title sounds interesting.....

[CBGLuthier]

236. Excellent movie, did you know

they have recently corrected the title.

The actual title should be The Bicycle Thieves which changes it a bit considering the last developments of the film.

Currently Number 108 on imdb's top movies which is incredible for a 80 year old foreign film. And not a professional actor in the entire film.


It is sad and so unfair but I think there was a glimmer of hope at the end.

[patrick t. cakes]

240. +1

[Starbucks Anarchist]

46. "The 400 Blows" is incredibly depressing.

Francois Truffaut's first (and some say best) film, particularly the very last shot.

[Forkboy]

47. Stalingrad and Grave of the Fireflies

both are heavy flicks.

[YOY]

73. Stalingrad...

The sheer hopelessness of it all. The soldiers realize who they are fighting for and at the same time have no chance for survival as last hope after last hope are dashed against the walls of reality.

[DixieBlue]

145. I own Grave of Fireflies but have yet to watch it.

I've heard so much about it. I really have to psyche myself up for it, I think.

[Forkboy]

146. Let us know what you think of it when you do watch it.

[Bushknew]

48. The last of the Mohicans, House of Sand and Fog

[darkmaestro019]

49. you get a million points for including Leon. oh how I sobbed. (NT)

[swimmernsecretsea]

50. JT

Plot Outline: J. T. Gamble, a shy, withdrawn Harlem youngster, shows compassion and responsibility when he takes on the care of an old, one-eyed, badly injured alley cat days before Christmas and secretly nurses it back to health.

Incidentally, it was written by Jane Wagner, Lily Tomlin's comedy writer and collaborator, as well as life partner.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0158681/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZ... ;fc=21;ft=169;fm=1

[shrike]

66. OMG. J.T.!

I thought I was the only one in the world who remembered J.T.
Glad to know it's available for purchase. My husband's never seen it, and I think he'd love it.

[SoonerShankle]

51. Ladder 49...

maybe Titanic...

I try not to watch sad movies...

Syriana was devastatingly sad... I literally cried when I saw it.

[Paladin]

52. "On The Beach"

The original black-and-white production from the 50's with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire. Absolutely devastating......

[AtheistCrusader]

220. Gorillas In The Mist.

Someone already mentioned Gallipoli.

[unc70]

225. My first thought was "On the Beach"

Lots of others listed above, particularly many classic "childrens" movies, are horribly depressing.

When On the Beach came out, it really hit home. We had been caught up in things like fallout patterns, prevailing winds, evacuations, shelters, and "surviving" a nuclear attack. I still get chills when I hear the music.

[lovelaureng]

53. Here's one for the list:

Simon Birch

I really liked number 4 on your list as well.

[reichstag911]

90. Simon Birch wasn't as good...

...as its source material, John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. Get it, read it. You'll thank me.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

54. Shadowlands, The Cranes are Flying, and (don't laugh) the ca. 1994

version of Black Beauty. I saw it with a group of other middle-aged people, and we were all in tears at the end.

[Ready4Change]

55. Brians Song

I and my brothers would watch it, like a dare, to see who was least able to keep from crying.

[wavesofeuphoria]

133. yes .. after all these years and having seen it many times

I still cry

[leeman67]

56. The Constant Gardner

and the new King Kong is pretty depressing too

[hopein08]

57. "Finding Neverland" & "Imitation of Life"

"Finding Neverland" is the one that came out a little while ago with Johnny Depp & Kate Winslet. Just thinking about it makes me tear up.

"Imitation of Life" is the one from 1959, I think, with Sandra Dee. When Mahalia Jackson is singing at the funeral, my waterworks are on full blast.

[Vidar]

112. "Finding Neverland" is one of my favorites, but I didn't really see

it as sad, despite the death of Winslet's character.

[Duer 157099]

58. Sophie's Choice n/t

[grace0418]

59. Rabbit-Proof Fence

I sobbed watching that film.

[MountainLaurel]

132. And dear Goddess, the ending text

Knowing what those girls went through even as adults.

[qanda]

61. "Missing"

With Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek.

"The Color Purple"

[Malikshah]

62. Longtime Companion-- 2 scenes always get me

When Bruce Davidson's character comforts his partner as he slowly and painfully dies "Let go"

The final beach scene when they imagine everyone returns...

[Greylyn58]

63. I can think of a few...

My picks are:

Gettysburg: Several scenes in that movie just tore are my heart. Especially the last hour during Pickett's Charge.

Philadelphia: Sad and uplifting

The Love Letter: A man buys an antique desk and finds a Civil War era letter inside written by a woman that had died over 100 years before.

Mister Roberts: Very funny, but gut-wrenching in the last 15 mins of the movie.

Somewhere In Time: So sad at the end. I cry tons every time.

Love Comes Softly: Makes me totally weepy all through this one. Tears of sadness and of joy.

Steele Magnolias: nothing more need be said about this one.

Bridge to the Sun: starring Carroll Baker and James Shigeta. Just before the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an American girl from the South marries to a Japanese diplomat and moves with him to Tokyo where she stays and lives during WWII. Incredible movie and so sad during parts of the movie.

And my all time favorite...Last of the Mohicans: the end of that one gets me going every time. Even now...

[Kerrytravelers]

64. Brokeback Mountain and the soundtrack.

It just destroys me everytime.

[jonolover]

65. I'll have to say BBM.

Brokeback Mountain

[MISSDem]

68. Wit and My Dog Skip

Wit is also funny and so is My Dog Skip. But they are both also sad. If fact, the ending of the book "My Dog Skip" is so sad to me that if I try to tell someone how it ends I start bawling. Always.

[MemphisTiger]

70. Rudy

I don't know why but that movie gets me every time.

[Kire]

71. The Browning Version (1951)

I was devastated.

[martymar64]

72. Ikiru - Kurosawa film from 1952

It's a story about a civil servant that finds out he's dying of cancer. I was bawling like a little girl.

I also bawled while watching the trailer for "Ponette" - couldn't bring myself to watch the movie, subject matter was way too sad for me.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

134. Ooo, you have great taste - Ikiru is one of the greatest films ever made

and Kurosawa's best, in my opinion. Ponette is just plain out-and-out sad, and hopelessly so, but it's a beautiful film as well.

[CBGLuthier]

237. Currently streaming live from Netflix too

Had a huge dump of great movies including a few Kurosawa films.

There are times I think this may be the best film ever made. Certainly among the best films on this list.

[gauguin57]

74. Sophie's Choice.

My god. I've seen it 20 times, and I still sob uncontrollably when I watch it. Streep's performance in that movie was one of the most perfect performances EVER.

Whenever I see or hear the Emily Dickinson poem used in the film, I start bawling.

Ample make this bed.
Make this bed with awe;
In it wait till judgment break
Excellent and fair.

Be its mattress straight,
Be its pillow round;
Let no sunrise' yellow noise
Interrupt this ground.

Waaaaaaaah! GOD, what a powerful film.

Oh, and "Babette's Feast" isn't exactly SAD at the end, but it makes me sob anyway.
And, of course, "Brian's Song" is one of the all-time tearjerkers for BOTH genders. It was the first time I saw my Dad cry (other than when his father died).

[rhett o rick]

221. Good choice. nt

[global1]

75. The Eddie Duchin Story (1956)......

Tyrone Power and Kim Novak. Good love story. Good music. Has one of the saddest endings.

[idlisambar]

76. Titanic, Grave of the Fireflies n/t

[MountainMama]

77. I cry at the drop of a hat, too....

A Tree Grows in Broolyn made me cry. Great movie.

E.T. made me cry, too.

And I know a lot of people hate this movie, but Forrest Gump makes me cry, too. The part at the end when he's talking to Jenny at her grave just made me sob.

[HuffleClaw]

78. the yearling has a LOT of comic relief in it

which makes the tearjerking moments that much more effective i think. never seen old yeller.

[democracyindanger]

79. 'Osama' and 'Nobody's Home'

The first is an Afghani movie about a girl that tries to pass as a boy in order to work and support her mother during the Taliban's rule.

The second is a Japanese movie based on a true story about a mother who abandons her three children in a Tokyo apartment. They try to survive on their own for months.

Both endings will leave you depressed for days.

[Ivan Sputnik]

81. I've seen many sad movies

and I can't really rank them, but Brokeback Mountain was the most recent, and very sad indeed. I usually find that sad movies are well acted and directed -- if they weren't, they wouldn't make me sad!

[arenean]

82. Silent Running

The end of the movie when the robot "Dewey" (with his watering can), is tending the last forest on Earth. Gets me every time.....

[canadianbeaver]

203. love Silent Running........eom

[Terran1212]

83. Awakenings, Malcom X, Gladiator, Born on the Fourth of July

[kiki]

84. "Bob Roberts" made my ex-girlfriend cry. n/t

[nosillies]

85. Hotel Rwanda

I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. And still do when I think about it. And Pete's Dragon. I'm sorry, but I don't think he should have left Pete. Not fair.

And has anybody see All Summer in a Day? I remember seeing that on TV when I was young, and it absolutely wrecked me. It still haunts me decades later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Summer_in_a_Day

(edited to add link)

[laugle]

86. Oliver Stone's "CASUALTIES OF WAR"

Shocking......it speaks for itself....no comment.....

[Touchdown]

108. That was Brian DePalma.

Easily confusing since it was released in the middle of Stone's Viet Nam Trilogy, aabout 1991-92. Just watched it last night. Heavy, and sad film. I thought Michael J. Fox was mis-cast at first, but Yesterday, I could see that he was perfectly cast in it. Soldiers come in all shapes, sizes and moralities.

Stone's Trilogy was...
Platoon
Born of the 4th of July
Heaven and Earth

[One Sweet World]

87. Life is a House

I well up every time, no matter how many times I see that flick.

[krispos42]

88. "Life is Beautiful"

Saw it subtitled shortly after it won an Oscar. Sat in the theatre with the lights on sobbing afterwards. Damn, I was a mess. Only movie to to that to me! "Schindler's List" made me grim, but didn't shed a tear.

[La Coliniere]

89. The saddest film I've ever seen was

"Tokyo Story" (1953) by Japanese master Jasujiro Ozu. A film full of wisdom and truth. But oh so sad.

[Sonora Nora]

92. ToE & RotD

Terms of Endearment & Remains of the Day. Really pulled my heartstrings.Wahhhhh!

[pepperbear]

94. Schindler's List....

the scene with the present-day survivors just breaks my heart every time I see it.

[Broken_Hero]

96. Quite a few

1. Gladiator

2. BB MT.

3. Beaches

4. Terms of Enderment

5. Schindlers List

6. F/911

7. Matrix Revolutions(I know I know)...


quite a few, but these ones pop out at me.

[RiDuvessa]

97. Believe it or not,

Brian's Song. About the relationship between Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo. They both played for the Chicago Bears back in the day. That even made my Dad cry, and he doesn't cry about anything.

[Jamastiene]

100. They play Old Yeller and the Yearling to death where I live.

I agree. Those are two sad sad movies. I run from the room rather than watch one iota of them. They left too many bad memories of crying for me.

Also, a rarely talked about movie called Suburbia, the punk rock movie not the major release in the late 90s. That movie was sad to me. The end of Sid & Nancy was sad but I still watch it for the romance before the end. Another sad movie was called Bent. It's a WWII movie about gay people who were rounded up by the Nazis and forced to move rocks back and forth day after day. The two guys fell in love and that is all I will reveal for those who haven't seen the movie. It's a good movie, but sad.

[judaspriestess]

101. Moll Flanders

what that woman went through, unbelievable. Robin Wright Penn is such a wonderful actor

[hsher]

102. Grave of The Fireflies (Japanese anime feature)

The scene with the little boy playing with the blanket on his head... coupled with what happened to him, how, and why...

[keroro gunsou]

172. yer right...

man i so wanted to kill myself after watching that...

thankfully i had some keroro gunsou and one piece handy, so disaster was averted.

[cmkramer]

105. Penny Serenade

The 1941 movie with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne about the trials and tribulatons of a young married couple who adopt a baby.

I'm sure everyone knows this, but "All Quiet On The Western Front" was originally made in 1930 and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It starred Lew Ayres who became a conscientous objector.

[jriles]

106. Saddest

Come and See. A hungarian movie and the nazis invasion of that country.

[munkie]

107. Some Of The Saddest

Glad someone mentioned The Color Purple. That was the first vcr movie I ever brought. Steven Spielberg got robbed at the Oscars that year.The scene where Shug is running around the lake trying to stop a homocide was worth an Oscar alone. Another sad movie thats not been mentioned is "Rain Man".

[Nucular Terrorist]

148. Requiem for a dream and A Simple Plan

I’m not one to get very emotional about movies, but I sat there with a blank face for a while.

[MISSDem]

181. A Simple Plan certainly shows how

things can go awry, doesn't it.

[cynatnite]

109. Imitation of Life...hands down...

The Lana Turner one.

I bawl like a baby every single time I watch it. Towards the end when the devoted housekeeper dies, I start crying and keep on all the way until the end. It keeps me going for quite some time. The last twenty minutes or so is nothing but soaking kleenexes.

[JeanGrey]

184. What gets me is the girl throwing herself on her mother's

coffin and sobbing "I'm sorry Mama!" I am usually hysterical with tears at this point..............

[fudge stripe cookays]

189. It's when her daughter...

starts sobbing and saying how sorry she is that kills me. Every time.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

110. I mentioned this up thread, but I'd like to plug it:

The Cranes Are Flying is a Soviet film made during the post-Stalinist thaw in official censorship.

It tells the story of an engaged couple who are separated when the young man is drafted during World War II. The ending is both heartbreaking and inspiring, about making something good come out of dashed hopes.

Three remarkable things about this film:

1) It's a World War II movie that doesn't mention Stalin, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier
2) In fact, it's remarkably unpolitical and focuses on the experiences of one family as they deal with grief, hunger, dislocation, and poor living conditions, They happen to be in the Soviet Union, but they could be any family in any modern war.
3) The black and white photography is extremely well-done and innovative, reinforcing the emotional tone of the film.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

111. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Randal Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) leaves the asylum, the only way he can. With Big Indian's help. The question of the movie is:Who is normal?

Little Big Man. First Hollywood movie sympathetic to the indians, showed Custer as a total twit, and showed his men on horseback shooting any native that ran away and setting tents on fire, burning women and children alive. Very controversial. Showed what horrible bastards the white men were. At all times.

[JackBeck]

113. "What's Easting Gilbert Grape" makes me cry every time I see it.

"Requiem for a Dream" is disturbing and tragic, but doesn't make me sad.

[Mad_Dem_X]

114. Philadelphia.

The Color Purple.

I have yet to see Schindler's List, but I'm sure when I do, I will bawl like a baby.

[radiclib]

115. The Snow Goose

TV movie from 1971 with Richard Harris and Jenny Agutter. Ten hankies.

[Buzz Clik]

116. "Testament", "Leaving Las Vegas". Real gut wrenchers.

[cordelia]

174. Agreed, especially with

Testament. Jane Alexander was incredible.

Along the same lines as this are, One the Beach, The Day After, and Threads.

[MISSDem]

182. How could I have forgotten Leaving Las Vegas?

I still hope it has a different ending every time I watch it. Love the movie though and Elizabeth Shue (did I spell it right?) should have had the Oscar that year over Susan Sarandon.

[Fire Walk With Me]

118. Recently? Capote, Pan's Labyrinth...

And Happily N'ever After, which although not intetionally saddening, made me SAD. I should have gotten my money back.

[emmadoggy]

120. I have a long list (I'm a big cryer!)...

Most of these have already been mentioned...

The Color Purple
Dances with Wolves
Legends of the Fall
The Killing Fields
Titanic
Tears of the Sun
Crash (oh God, I was practically beside myself during the scene with the little girl - if you've seen it, you know what I mean!)
Schindler's List
Rabbit Proof Fence
Hotel Rwanda
Steel Magnolias
Last of the Mohicans
Gladiator
The Green Mile
Dead Man Walking
A Perfect World
Saving Private Ryan
City of Angels
Message in a Bottle
Meet Joe Black ( I know what most people say about this one, but I still love it, lol)

And this one isn't sad, but makes me cry every time...Field of Dreams

I'm sure there are lots more, but those are the biggest that come to mind.

[Stardust]

121. The Pawnbroker devastated me.

[Zookeeper]

140. That's a great movie I haven't seen for years, but....

have wanted to watch again.

[donheld]

122. Brokeback Mountain

Hands down saddest EVER.

[Crocodile Hunter]

123. Some of mine...

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Forrest Gump

E.T.

Running On Empty (the River Phoenix one.)

[lovelaureng]

124. Simon Birch, definitely for me.

[libbygurl]

126. Grave of the Fireflies - Heartbreaking Japanese anime about children in WWII. n/t

[Forkboy]

128. I included that one as well.

Anyone who thinks animation is just cuteness and bunnies might be in for a hell of a shock at how heavy that movie is.You know when a "cartoon" makes you cry that the filmmakers have done something very special.I literally just sat there for about 20 minutes afterwards trying to wrap my head around the sadness of it all.

Like Roger Ebert said,it's one of the most powerful war movies of all time.

The last scene on the bench is ingrained in my head,and will be until I die.

[Enoch1981]

127. My tearjerkers

I have some odd ones (apologies for some of them, lol):

The Thin Red Line (the part with the dying Japanese soldier who talks to one of them)
Silent Hill
The Crow: City of Angels
Saw III (the flashback sequence in the park...it makes me think of the time before I got sick and actually had to consider the possibility of my own mortality, as well as his overall plight).
A Cinderella Story

[bjorkfan]

129. Carrie, Life is Beautiful, Jesus of Nazareth, Watership Down, The Magdalene Sisters

[Zensea]

130. "La Strada" by Fellini

This is early Fellini when he was still in his neo-realism phase.
Absolutely heartbreaking performances by Masina and Quinn.

If you ever wondered why Anthony Quinn is considered a great actor, this movie shows you & it was made when he was relatively young (39).

[Dervill Crow]

131. Last night I had to turn off The Old Maid with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins.

I turned it off when Delia thwarted Charlotte's wedding as I could guess the ending. It was far too sad to watch during the sleepless night before Mother's Day.

The Old Maid (1939)

Charlotte (Bette Davis) falls in love with and has a brief affair with Clem (George Brent), the man her cousin (Miriam Hopkins) dumped to marry a richer man. Bette Davis goes away for a while and comes back and opens an orphanage. When she confides to Delia that one of the children in the orphanage is really her child that resulted from the affair with Clem, Delia tells a lie to prevent the marriage between Charlotte and her fiance on their wedding day. Then Delia invites Charlotte and her daughter, Tina, to move in with her and her children. After that Delia does everything she can to win the affections of Tina resulting in Charlotte becoming a bitter Old Maid.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031750/

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

135. The film version of Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu

Depardieu's performance was so powerful, so overwhelming (the greatest performance of his career) that the film never fails to move me at the end, no matter how many times I see it. It's as though Depardieu was born to play that role.

I also found that Splendor In The Grass had a very sad ending.

[likesmountains 52]

136. Burnt by the Sun (Utomlyonnye Solntsem) Stalin's Russia...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

186. Oh yes, that one deserved its Academy Award

and it was so sad, especially when the narration at the end revealed what happened to the various members of the family.

[MISSDem]

137. Brokeback Mountain

[miyazaki]

139. "Nobody Knows'

Titled 'Dare mo Shiranai' in Japan. I still can't get through this movie more than once.
All you want to do is save those kids.

[Zookeeper]

141. "Don't Look Now"

which is categorized as a horror movie, but I found it to be incredibly sad and full of grief.

Oddly enough, it also has the most erotic lovemaking scene I've ever seen in a film.

1973. Directed by Nicolas Roeg, who also directed "The Man Who Fell to Earth" which had the second best erotic lovemaking scene.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=1...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

187. Yes, for sheer eroticism, Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie in Don't Look Now

I had read the story that it was based on, so I knew what was going to happen, which added an extra dimension to that scene.

[agtcovert]

142. "Million Dollar Baby"

[malakai2]

143. Lotta good choices in this thread

Leon
Brian's Song
The Thin Red Line
Mystic River
Million Dollar Baby
Leaving Las Vegas
And the Band Played On
A Perfect World

I can't watch those with other people in the room.

[clitzpah queen]

144. MADAME ROSA

[DixieBlue]

147. Jean de Florette and Empire of the Sun.

[Toasterlad]

149. Definitely Brian's Song.

That one's BRUTAL. Brokeback Mountain was also a killer.

[leeman67]

150. the new King Kong movie was quite the downer

Pan's Labyrinth was a good kick in the stomach as well.

[candycom]

154. Recently! The Painted Veil! OH SO GOOD!!!!!!

and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Edward NOrton!

[TheModernTerrorist]

156. just off the top of my head

1) City of Children
2) The Fountain
3) American History X
4) Brokeback Mountain
5) American Beauty
6) Pan's Labyrinth


that's just the tip of the iceberg for me

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

157. Pan's Labyrinth

The Champ

and

Finding Neverland

[YOY]

163. Yeah but the end was so just.

The Fascist being told that his son would never know of his existence before being irreverently shot like the dog shit he was.

Damn the theme that movie will not leave my head. That hauntingly sad Spanish lullaby.

[Forkboy]

166. I thought it was a great ending.

More poetic than sad, to me anyways.

It was a really cool movie.

[friedgreentomatoes]

160. could not believe it!

Sophie's Choice

[FreedomRain]

161. Bastard out of Carolina

nt

[a la izquierda]

212. That movie is messed up.

[Captain Hilts]

162. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. nt

[sakabatou]

164. Grave of the Fireflies

[Forkboy]

165. That was one of my picks.

Who would think a "cartoon" could make someone cry?

[sakabatou]

167. Or an anime music video

[lips]

169. MURDER IN THE FIRST

I HATE prison and I've never even been a visitor.

[Riktor]

170. No Man's Land

It's a Serbo-Croat film satirizing the 1993 Bosnian War. Most of the movie is hilarious, but it has one hell of a down ending.

[skyblue]

173. Here ya go.

The Fountain with Rachel Weisz (she's cool!!) it's artsy a little long and about cancer. May not want to watch it too much if people ya know having a health problem. But really good.
Constant Gardner
Big Fish - just a genius movie
Life is Beautiful
Fiddler

[Proud Liberal Dem]

175. Transformers The Movie (1986)

This is one of the first movies that I remember crying at (bawling might actually be a better description at the time that I first saw the movie) because of Optimus Prime's death. Best.Death.Ever. The 3rd season G1 TV episode ("Dark Awakening") where Prime is briefly resurrected by the evil Quintessons to lead the Autobots into a devastating ambush is also very sad but touching.

Other "honorable mentions" include:

1.)Charlotte's Web (BOTH versions)
2.)The Secret of NIMH
3.)All Dogs Go To Heaven
4.)Robotech:The Macross Saga -I know it's technically a TV show but the finale of "Macross Saga" (episode 36: "To The Stars") was a REAL tear-jerker for me.
5.)Star Wars Episode III:Revenge of the Sith (Order 66 montage)
6.)Star Wars Episode VI:Return of the Jedi (Anakin/Darth Vader's death and funeral pyre scene always gets to me, especially after watching what happened in "Revenge of the Sith"-there is a certain poignant symmetry to the two movies)
7.)Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring (Gandalf's sacrifice at Khazad-Dum, Boromir's sacrifice to protect the Hobbits, the "breaking" of the fellowship)
8.)Premonition-(Sandra Bullock's husband's death at the end of the movie despite of -or maybe even because of? -her attempts to prevent his death)
9.)Glory (the brave but ultimately suicidal charge on on the fort at the end of the movie)
10.)Pirates of the Caribbean:At World's End (Will's "death" just brought the movie to a screeching halt for me. I did not see that coming AT ALL!)

[kimmerspixelated]

176. The other night Bravo showed, "Blow"

I had to watch because it had Johnny Depp in it, but the character's life was such a tragedy and the end really depressed me.All he really wanted was to see his little girl! Kudos to Mr. Depp for another great performance! He is so underrated!

[kimmerspixelated]

177. I'd also have to say,

Penny Serenade, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

[lightningandsnow]

185. The Laramie Project.

I actually bawled my eyes out when I saw that movie. And belive me, that doesn't happen often.

[Scatterheart]

191. These ones get me every time...

In no particular order (although Dancer is tops!)

Dancer in the Dark
Dark Water (the original!)
Far From Heaven
(Mamoru Oshii's) Angel's Egg
Thelma & Louise
The Host
The Magdalene Sisters
Grave of the Fireflies
The Rapture
Babe: Pig in the City

An eclectic list, I know

[unsavedtrash]

192. Terms of Endearment, Love Story, Life is Beautiful, Boys Don't Cry , The Hours,

The Children's Hour, Schindler's List, The Green Mile.
Of course most coffee, Hallmark, telephone, and of late insurance commercials on television.

[ForRusty]

194. Anything having to do with Jews.

WW2 movies= depression.

[liberal1973]

195. A number of films I could think of

But recently on TCM the film Two Women with Sophia Loren.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

196. Last night I watched "Monster" for the first time

It's a sad movie because it shows how a lifetime of abuse and rejection can twist a person into becoming a cold blooded murderer. In the end, what has to happen, happens, but it's perhaps the worst betrayal of all, and the movie and Charlize Theron's amazing performance succeed in making you feel that it's another in a long series of blows.

[mattfromnossa]

198. sad movie

I thought What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams was pretty sad. It does get better towards the end though.

[Montauk6]

199. Throat Lumpers

Ran
House of Sand & Fog
Hotel Rwanda
Brokeback Mountain
The Godfather, Pt. III (don't laugh... that was a sad scene)
The Little Prince
Final Chapter: Walking Tall
The Great White Hope
Malcolm X
Breaking The Waves
4 Little Girls
Fahrenheit 911
Sicko
Brokeback Mountain

[keroro gunsou]

200. Hotaru no Haka

aka Grave of the Fireflies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotaru_no_haka

Grave of the fireflies is so depressing that i WANTED to kill myself at the end... depressing is not the word for it.

also, Scarface, not for what happens in the film, but for how so many men think they can act like/emulate tony montana in the real world...

i know far too many men like that...

[HuskerDU]

201. Brian's Song

the original

[create.peace]

202. many already named, plus Sofie's Choice...nt

[ZombieHorde]

204. The Phantom Menace.

I became sad once I realized Jar Jar was going to be a main character.

[onager]

205. No happy endings on my list

And this is only partial, off the top of my alleged head.

If there is a theme here, it's mostly - I guess - "people who know they are doomed but do not lose their humanity." Or something like that. I also tend to like historical/military stuff, so here you go...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Savior - a non-hammy/smirky Dennis Quaid is outstanding in this grim (and allegedly true) tale. American mercenary goes to Kosovo "to kill Muslims," and becomes the unwilling guardian of a young Muslim woman who was raped. And later, her baby. The mother's lullaby will haunt you for a long time.

Breaker Morant - that ending is one of the saddest I've ever seen. "Shoot straight, you bastards!"

Before The Rain - ever seen a movie actually predict the future? This Macedonian film was made in 1994, BEFORE that part of the Balkans spiraled into the horror of "ethnic cleansing." Strange but interesting story told in 3 parts, set in an Albanian monastery, upscale London, and a Macedonian village. You have to watch the whole thing to understand the beginning.

Kanal - the second part of Andrzej Wajda's trilogy about WWII Poland. Set in the Warsaw sewers (kanals) during the last days of the doomed Polish uprising in 1944. No one here gets out alive...

Shooting Dogs (released in the USA as Beyond The Gates) - set during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in a missionary compound temporarily protected by UN troops. The words "Let the work begin!" will chill your blood. Warning: real Rwandans say the flick contains a lot of fiction. Directed by Michael Caton-Jones in 2005; his next project was Basic Instinct II. Go figure.

The 9th Company (9 Rota) - Russian movie that follows a group of draftees into Afghanistan in 1988. It has been called "the Russian 'Platoon,'" with veterans weeping in the theaters because someone finally told their story after a long silence. Americans will be seeing places familiar from the current TV news, such as Bagram Air Base. The director's father made the epic 1957 Russian version of War and Peace.

[CountAllVotes]

206. Ruffian

poor horse and the jockey that rode her too. I cried and cried after seeing that film.

[propagandagirl]

207. The Pianist

[Name removed]

208. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[samsingh]

209. f911

[Stardust]

210. The Pawnbroker. Killer-sad movie. Great performance by Rod Steiger.

[a la izquierda]

213. Men with Guns (Hombres Armados)

and Machuca. Hombres Armados is about Guatemala (although they don't discuss that specifically) and Machuca is a fictionalized account of the overthrow of Allende in Chile.

Totally messed up.

[gatorboy]

214. Fly II

Seriously. When Eric Stoltz has to put his mutant dog out of it's mercy, I...



.... Give me a minute....

[gk88850]

215. Captains courageous

[GirlAfire]

216. Off the Top of My Head...

1. Das Leben der Anderen (or The Lives of Others)

2. Der Untergang (or Downfall)

3. Casualties of War

4. The Painted Veil

5. The Pianist (this should have been the first one I thought of...)

6. Voces Inocentes (or Innocent Voices)

[Cleita]

217. Bambi. I always cry. n/t

[AmyStrange]

219. Casablanca

Hands down

[rhett o rick]

222. "The Days of Wine and Roses". nt

[mackerel]

224. Raise the Read Latern

[LearnedHand]

226. "Seven Pounds" -- saddest NEW film I've seen

[xloadiex]

227. Penny Serenade

Old Yeller, Marly and Me.

I can't take any movie that has a child or animals die.

I recently watched a special on CNN of the Jonestown Massacre.
When they showed all those people and children lying there I broke down.

[Echo In Light]

228. My list o weepers

Testament (1983) - the most emotionally brutal nuclear war movie w/o any gruesome FX needed. To this day I can recall the choking sobs this brought out of me the first time I ended up seeing it by chance back in the 80s.

What Happened Was... - we're all jammed together within mass society, yet so alone/alienated as we're somehow expected to mask our true selves. This is a 'first date' movie w/numerous bizarre twists and turns, some comical, others so stark I shed tears on behalf of the two characters bearing their souls (the entire film takes place in an apt)

The Sweet Hereafter - tragic, moody, lyrical...set in a small town in the aftermath of a deadly school bus accident that has killed most of the town's children

Donnie Darko - hey, it ain't easy bein' green. The most powerful 'Christ-like' selfless character film I've ever seen...plus it's a horror/science fiction/religious/character study...etc etc. One of a kind.

21 Grams - interweaves several plot lines around the consequences of a tragic car accident. One of the few movies I recall hearing people crying all around me as it played, and when the lights came up as the credits rolled, most had that haunted deer-in-the-headlights look about them.

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind - love is a hard, tough thing. As John Cassavetes termed it, "Love is a constant forge." Jim Carrey turns in a surprisingly stark portrayal of loss and heartbreak - something men usually aren't allowed to do in mainstream movies.

The Big Kahuna - three industrial lubricant marketing Reps at a business convention...yet the entire film deals w/the search for, and questions about life, authenticity, and god (the actual Big Kahuna of the story)

* on edit, I'd add Jacob's Ladder to this list, as it's an equally powerful tale of the Self facing the end of earthly existence as it is a disturbing horror flick.

Also, Jesus' Son, and the film, Awakenings, w/Robin Williams and Robert De Niro

[Echo In Light]

229. Forgot to include the deeply felt, comical and tragic, Big Bad Love

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Bad-Love-Rosanna-Arquette/dp/...

[and-justice-for-all]

230. Broke back Mountain and Philadelphia ...nt

[bermudat]

232. Antoine Fisher

When he reconnects with his real family I always cry. Same with the end of the Color Purple,

Trinity's passing in Matrix Revolutions, and Wit with Emma Thompson's colleague reading to her from

a children's book.

[hammer22]

233. The Nokebook

The Notebook is the movie. which i have watched recently. This is very emotional movie which I have watched.......



_____________________________________
watch Pushing Daisies || watch Curb your Enthusiasm

[Cowpunk]

234. Remains of the Day and Shakespeare in Love.

Damn, this thread is old

[rantormusing]

239. Bridges of Madison County

[shadowknows69]

241. k

[sea_dream]

242. In Theaters Now

A Single Man

[bigwillq]

243. Hello

Welcome to DU! I want to see that movie.

[weareallzombies]

244. Well

As a child, the ending of 'Homeward Bound' always made me cry, though I guess that's not really a sad movie.

I thought My sister's keeper was a sad movie and I definitely cried during it.

[Stuart G]

245. Night and Fog

If you haven't seen it. be warned.

IT is the saddest most horrific film ever made...

See...Nuit et brouillard (1955)
...at the IMBD...Internet movie data base..read the comments from the readers...thanks.