Most emotionally affecting moment in a movie or show

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 6, 2022 05:32
VIEWED: 19777
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CHRISISALL

Thursday, June 2, 2005 8:54 PM

What made you feel something so strongly, so deeply that you were moved to tears, or felt so happy you could bust, or absolutly stunned you with a stark realization of the human condition?

Three that come to mind quickly for me are:

When Vader throws the Emperor down the shaft in Jedi. Moved by an old, slender thread of love for his son, a Galaxy would be forever changed.

When Batty saves Deckard from the fall in Blade Runner. This taught a young Chrisisall what Humanity was all about; seeing 'us' in 'them'.

When Zack sacrificed himself for Max in first season finale of Dark Angel. Backed into a corner with no options, he made the ultimate choice for the friend he loved so dearly, and no one saw it coming.

There are more, but I want to hear from you ladies and gentlemen. So, what moves your furniture?

Intense Chrisisall

EST120

Thursday, June 2, 2005 9:07 PM

the first thing that came to my mind is the scene in the royal tenenbaums after chaz's (played by ben stiller) dog is killed by the runaway car driven by the family friend (played by owen wilson). royal (played by gene hackman) finds another dog and purchases him and gives him to his son (stiller). ben stiller is obviously known more as a comedic actor, but this one scene he was really quite good with the drama of the moment. for those who have not seen the movie, his character lost his wife in the recent past and since her death he has been obsessed with the safety of his children manifested by the fact that he does things like practices fire drills with them in the middle of the night. anyway, his father (hackman), gives him the dog. you can just watch chaz's "i have to be strong for the kids" face crumble and he tries not to cry and says something like "thanks dad. this has been a really hard year.". i felt so moved by that one scene. it is quite touching and was really unexpected in that movie.

THESOMNAMBULIST

Thursday, June 2, 2005 9:38 PM

Ok I'll attempt this in spoiler mode, just in case people haven't seen the film The Apartment with Jack Lemon.

Select to view spoiler:

Ok it'd have to be the scene at the office party when poor old Jack Lemon who realising his crush for Shirley Maclean decides tonight is the night that he's gonna tell her how he feels. Only.... big shock! He finds out in the worst way that she is the one having an affair with the big boss!!!! Ouch!!! Bolt of lightning straight through the heart!!!!
.....He's left to walk back home destroyed while all around him celebrate Christmas.

Never was pure melancholia visualised so perfectly.

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

CHRISTHECYNIC

Thursday, June 2, 2005 9:55 PM

The first two that come to mind are from The Punisher and John Q

I guess they’re spoilers

The Punisher

Select to view spoiler:

In The Punisher a guy with a lot of facial piercings is tortured by having them ripped out one at a time, all the people want to know is where his neighbor is. He knows exactly where the guy is and he doesn’t really know the guy at all. When the torture is done the neighbor, who was hiding under the floor asked why the guy had protected him.

The response was something along the lines of, “You’re one of us.” Like, “You’re one of my crew.” He went through all of that pain for someone who was basically a stranger.

John Q

Select to view spoiler:

The basic story is that the kid needs a heart, finally the kid’s situation rapidly degrades and he needs a heart NOW. His father, John, has done all of the research and knows that his heart will work.

The scene is where the father I lying down with a gun to his head preparing to pull the trigger. The tension builds and builds, then suddenly it is all released as he pulls the trigger and the safety is on.

Then he turns off the safety and puts the gun to his head again.

THEREAVER

Thursday, June 2, 2005 10:14 PM

Mine comes from Star Wars Episode 3.

Select to view spoiler:

Anakin: I HATE YOU!
Obi-Wan: You were like my brother. I loved you.

This scene was very sad and very well acted.

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

YT

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:01 AM

There are so many movies that do it for me, and not many TV shows, but Smallville manages to have one or more emotionally affecting moments in almost every ep, so I'm gonna go with the final scene of the pilot ep

Select to view spoiler:

in which Lana, still in her prom dress, finds Clark in his loft in the Kent barn, and reminds him she said she'd save him a dance. They dance slowly, and kiss tenderly, and Lana asks him if he's OK. Clark is about to speak when he is startled by a car horn. We now see that he is alone, and Lana has just been driven home (next to the Kent farm) from the prom. As she walks to her front door, Clark says he feels wonderful. Lana couldn't have heard him from so far away, but she turns as if she heard something. She doesn't seem to see anything, but she smiles.

Out of Gas is, of course, all emotion, but in such a high level throughout the ep, it is hard to single out a moment. Firefly's most emotionally affecting moment is the funeral, perhaps because for the cast, crew, & me, it really was a funeral. Firefly is the Life. And in four months, Joss will be the Resurrection.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . . (wutzon) Lifehouse, "Everything", from "Smallville, the pilot"

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:05 AM

We come closer to being a real cult every day, don't we?

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:09 AM

Reality check; I love the show, just the show, it's a show.

Chrisisall

MANWITHPEZ

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:36 AM

There is a moment in my favorite film...Beauty and the Beast...

The Beast bellows at Belle for almost hurting the rose...after she's left, he throws his head into his hands for what he's done...It is one of the most touching things I've ever seen in movies, and a contributing factor for my claim as favorite movie...

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:39 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Reality check; I love the show, just the show, it's a show.

Chrisisall

You can't hand me something so easy to work with, I don't have that kind of restraint.

Yes, it is just a show, and the Bible is just a book, when you pull the pages out they turn to paper.

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:48 AM

More on topic:

Anyone remember Beast Wars? As a show made for children it has no parallel. I remember when Dinobot died.

The things never had to die, when they became damaged to a certain point they just shut down and were repaired later, but here was this one guy (semi-organic robot, whatever) in the middle of a battle and he hit that point. There was no backup close enough so if he shut down he’d lose.

If he lost the future would be changed.

So he died to save a species he didn’t like (humanity) and protect a future in which his people (predicons) are second class, constantly degraded every possible moment and never shown the least bit of respect. He did it because it was the right thing to do.

It was made more powerful by the fact that the whole series had these guys being blown up and such, but none of them died because none of them had to die, but he chose to die rather than compromise his morals.

When I saw it I cried, but then again I was younger than.

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:50 AM

Jeez. Cult is right. You guys take this 'show' a little too seriously, I think. Watch and enjoy, but it's just a show.
What do you have? Like a six-foot model of Serenity in your living room to worship or something?

Mine's in the bedroom, the living room's too small Chrisisall

MANWITHPEZ

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:54 AM

Chrisisall vs Christhecynic...Give them lightsabres, but onyl so they can light cigarettes to make themselves look more macho! Are you ready? Are you ready...LET's GET IT ON!!!

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 1:01 AM

I don't smoke, sorry. But I do have cool lighters. I have this one that I got in Florence, Italy -made in China- in addition to a cool little red LED that shines through the lighter fluid when it’s open its also got the fact it’s a triple lighter going for it.

Turn up the flame all the way and it’s a trident of fire, the middle flame at about a foot long.

GUNRUNNER

Friday, June 3, 2005 1:02 AM

In Ariel when Jayne is in the Airlock. Every time I see that scene I mutter, “Don’t do it Mal your not a murderer” under my breath.

In ‘A Bridge Too Far’ there is a part where a group of British Paratroopers is cut off from their landing zone by the Germans, they are running low on ammo and all their supplies are being dropped on the Germans then one crate lands just barely out of reach. They are about to give up one solder steps forward and runs out to retrieve the crate. He lifts the crate on his back and starts to run back and everyone is cheering him on when the Germans shoot him dead, the crate brakes open showing its filled with nothing but hats. I was teary eyed the rest of the night.

In ‘Apocalypse Now’ Charlie Sheen and this other guy are walking in this trench looking for the commander of this isolated base. He asks two guys who’s the CO. They respond, “Aren’t you?” We then hear this enemy solider trapped on the barbed wire yelling curses at them, the one guy with grenade launcher and a blank look on his face steps forward, listens for a moment and pops off a grenade there is an explosion and the yelling stops. Sheen asks the guy with the grenade launcher if he knows who the CO is, he responds “yea…” and walks away. When Sheen gets back to the gunboat the Chief asks him if he found the CO, Sheen says there’s no one in charge here. It just shows how people can just become nothing when cut off from the world, reminds anyone of something from Firefly?

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CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 1:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:
In Ariel when Jayne is in the Airlock. Every time I see that scene I mutter, “Don’t do it Mal your not a murderer” under my breath.

The part of that scene that seems to best represent the human condition to me is when Jayne asks Mal to make something up.

SWITCHY

Friday, June 3, 2005 3:24 AM

forgive me for jumping the track in a non-scifi direction but I recently saw the movie Crash (2005) and there is a scene that had me ramping up to weep like a baby and then suddenly everything was ok. It was the strangest sensation I've had in a cinema in quite a long time. I won't bother spoiling the scene for anyone but I tell you there is some heavy shit going on in that movie.

ROCKETJOCK

Friday, June 3, 2005 4:11 AM

Casablanca, the Marseillaise scene, for so damn many reasons it's hard to list them all:
-The matching scowls on the faces of Victor Lazlo and Rick Blaine as they watch the Nazis singing Die Wacht am Rhein;
-Lazlo's near-holy determination as he orders the band to play his lost homeland's anthem;
-Rick's curt nod to the band okaying the song --
-More on that: Bogart's expression is indescribable; Rick doesn't understand why he's doing this -- it's crazy to bait the Nazis, he knows that -- yet somehow he can't go against Lazlo.

And that's why this scene is the film's centerpiece; for the first time in the movie, the viewer understands what Ilsa see in Lazlo, why she had to leave Rick behind. Because at that moment Victor Lazlo shines as a force of nature.

While Rick Blaine may be the movie's protagonist, at that moment Victor Lazlo is its hero -- and it isn't until the story's end that Rick manages to reclaim the title.

If you've never seen Casablanca, for Ghod's sake, rent it, buy it, borrow it. And Ghod, I envy you -- seeing it for the first time.

"Do you know what the definition of a hero is? It's somebody who gets somebody else killed." -- Zoë Warren

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 4:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by switchy:
forgive me for jumping the track in a non-scifi direction

Since the second post this has been open to sci fi and non-sci fi alike. You've nothing to apologize for.

PURPLEBELLY

Friday, June 3, 2005 5:26 AM

That's my good girl Kaylee Fry: Serenity - the episode.
The first Firefly I saw was the second half of the pilot, so I had no real idea what was going on - this moment just reached me beyond the narrative; it may be that machines mean more to me than people.
Mind you, Jewel did have those extra pounds

THESOMNAMBULIST

Friday, June 3, 2005 11:12 AM

RocketJock

I agree with everything you said about Casablanca

It is faultless.

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

MRGOSH

Friday, June 3, 2005 12:49 PM

Yo!
Here are two that are emotionally effecting, though in more upsetting ways. The first is from Babylon 5 when Londo is watching the shadows destroy the Narn homeworld. You can tell be the look on his face that he is realized that maybe he is a total rat-bastard.
The second is from Cabaret when the boy dressed in a Nazi uniform starts singing some nationalistic song outside and everyone around starts to sing along. (this takes place before the Nazis came into power). It's one of the most chilling scenes I've ever seen.
Oh yeah, and the last episode of season 5 of Buffy, when Spike collapses after seeing Buffy dead. That's almost too much for me!
Sigh, I guess it's time to go to school now. That may be the most tragic thing of all...

I'm Dancin' like a Monkey!
-Gir, Invader Zim

CALHOUN

Friday, June 3, 2005 1:43 PM

I remember being emotionally affected by the episode of Buffy where her Mum dies. Also the episode where Tara dies. Joss definitely has a penchant for being able to push or pull my emotions wherever he wants.

CYBERSNARK

Friday, June 3, 2005 1:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by christhecynic:
Anyone remember Beast Wars? As a show made for children it has no parallel. I remember when Dinobot died.

Seconded. The episode was "Code of Hero."

Some others:

Beast Machines (the sequel to BW), second last episode (just before the episode-long final battle). Cheetor has just taken on an entire army of Vehicon drone soldiers. By this point, he's technorganic, not cybernetic, which means he can get wounded. He's hurt, exhausted, out of breath, and standing in a way that looks like he has a broken leg. He's crouched in front of the opening into the spark chamber (where Optimus is), panting and on the verge of collapse. The shadows of the three Vehicon generals approach, and Cheetor looks up from his panting, and growls: "Three, or three hundred. You're not getting in."

Just gives me chills at his badassitude, and the memory of the eager, immature kid he used to be.

Princess Mononoke, when San was injured in the Iron Village, and Ashitaka picks her up and carries her out. He's wounded, bleeding, and an arrow passes clear through him as he walks away. He stumbles, but won't stop. He deliberately carries her through the soldiers' ranks to the door, puts a hand out, and starts pushing. The door must weigh half a tonne, but he doesn't stop, and nobody moves to help him, they're all just staring. Slowly, the door starts to rise open. . .

Again, it's the chivalric self-sacrifice that defines the word "hero" in my head.

Jeremiah, last episode, when Smith returns to the school. He's bloody, bruised, falling apart, and planning to go to war, not expecting to survive. He's heard a Voice (God) in his head, it's been silent a while now, but it led him to this point, and he's prepared to die to help create something worthwhile. The Headmistress brings in his daughter, to say goodbye. He tells her he loves her, then lies to her, saying that he'll be home soon. She looks at him and says it's okay. . . The Voice says everything will turn out.

There's this look of mingled shock/awe/pride/sadness on his face, as he realizes that the hell he's been through will revisit itself on his daughter, but that God is looking out for her, even when Smith likely won't be able to.

Jeremiah, same episode, after Erin finds Marcus stretched out on the couch, and pours out her feelings for him; how much she loves him. Then, much later, she and Marcus are dancing, and she tries to find words, and Marcus just says "I wasn't sleeping."

You can just feel Erin's stomach clench.

And a whole bunch from InuYasha. After he went full-demon and slaughtered a village, and runs off to have a mental breakdown at the guilt (which only Kagome witnesses). When InuYasha turns human and refuses to hide from Koga --he's not going to be ashamed of his human side anymore (that's what Kagome has taught him). When Kagome runs away, realizes that she loves InuYasha, then returns, only to find him with Kikyo --then they see each other and neither of them can move until something breaks the spell. When Kagome gets sick, and InuYasha tends to her, making a remedy that he learned from his human mother (that he never talks about, being his most precious and private memory).

Yeah, I'm a hopeless romantic. ^_^

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

DIETCOKE

Friday, June 3, 2005 2:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Calhoun:
I remember being emotionally affected by the episode of Buffy where her Mum dies. Also the episode where Tara dies. Joss definitely has a penchant for being able to push or pull my emotions wherever he wants.

Yep, The Body got me too. Not when her mom died but the speech that Anya gives when she talks about not understanding why people...that got me.

WEICHI

Friday, June 3, 2005 2:11 PM

Kudos to Gunrunner and Rocketjock for "Bridge To Far" and "Casablanca"- which WOULD be faultless if Ilsa did not call a grown black man boy twice in the film.

My choices - get ready for some corny stuff ...

Harry Bailey toasting his brother as the "richest man in town" - "Its a Wonderful Life"

The black preacher telling Scout to stand up "Your father's passing" - "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Stanley Baker's last words to Michael Caine - "Zulu"

James Earl Jones standing up to the white coal miners in John Sayles brilliant "Matewan"

Ben Affleck's (yes Ben Affleck) raining in the car speech in "Chasing Amy"

The front pews being cleared for the prisoners in "Sullivan's Travels"

So many moments in John Wayne's performance in "The Searchers"

Some of these might be obsure to folks, glad to expound on them if you like but don't want to spoil and working on brevity

See how I'm not hitting him, I think I've grown!

COSMICFUGITIVE

Friday, June 3, 2005 2:16 PM

The most emotionally affecting moment in a tv show that gets me every time comes from season four of Xena:

Select to view spoiler:

In the episode "Between the Lines", the evil Shamaness Alti and Xena are caught up in an intense fight.

Xena is lying injured on the ground. Gabrielle stupidly decides to take on Alti. Instead, Alti grabs her by the hair and lifts the bard off her feet.

Alti shows the young bard the future that Xena had already foreseen, (Crucifixion at the hand of the Romans),and tried to protect her from throughout the season. Xena screams "You bitch!", and throws her chakram, cutting off Gabrielle's hair. (Gabrielle has short hair in the visions of the future.)

It's one of the most visually and emotionally powerful scenes from the series that sill sticks in my mind today. The look in Lucy Lawless's eyes when she delivers those lines is amazing.

- Cos.

BIKISDAD

Friday, June 3, 2005 2:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Calhoun:
I remember being emotionally affected by the episode of Buffy where her Mum dies. Also the episode where Tara dies. Joss definitely has a penchant for being able to push or pull my emotions wherever he wants.

The one that got me the most on Buffy was from "Passion", after Angelus had killed Jenny Calendar and Giles found her body in his bed. When Giles calls Buffy and Willow to tell them (with Angelus standing outside the window, watching them get the news), Willow takes the phone from Buffy, listens for a few seconds, then bursts into tears. That gets me every time.

Apathy on the Rise. No One Cares.

FILMWRITERKARYN

Friday, June 3, 2005 2:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by weichi:

The black preacher telling Scout to stand up "Your father's passing" - "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Oh yeah...that's a great one! Also, the already mentioned Anya speech from "The Body" ALWAYS hits me like a Mack truck.

Also, I know it's supper cheesy, but the ending sequence of West Side Story and/or Romeo & Juliet. It's like, I know it's coming, but it's always so tragic...

STARPILOTGRAINGER

Friday, June 3, 2005 3:21 PM

Some other ones..

Nowhere Man - There was one episode where They tried to convince him his whole erasure was just a coma dream.. After he figures it out and confronts his wife (Allison) with the truth, then walks out knowing the game continues. As he's walking away, his wife pulls out a gun, demands to know where the negatives are. He refuses, and she says,
"I will kill you, Tom"
And without looking back, Tom says, "No, you won't. You never do." and continues walking away. Just the look on his face when he delivers that line, an ever-so-slight tremble to his voice and features, and then he walks away, really got me.

Farscape: I'm a big sucker for the last conversation John had with his dad, when he was on the moon, and running out of time.

My So-Called Life: There are a number of them, but one that comes to mind most is when Jordan takes Angela's hand in the hallway, publicly, after he'd previously wanted to keep their whole relationship a secret, and she gives this brilliant smile.

Buffy: After Jenny is killed and Giles goes to the factory for vengeance, and more particularly the moment he and Buffy have.

It's a book rather than a movie or TV show, but 1984, "Do it to Julia!" gave me chills and broke my heart at the same time.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
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LUCCIOLA

Friday, June 3, 2005 3:37 PM

...when Tim Robbins stands up after having escaped through the prison sewer in Shawshank Redemption...I stood up, too, when I saw it the first time.

STEVETHEPIRATE

Friday, June 3, 2005 3:51 PM

Any time I see Alyson Hannigan cry makes me crumble. That girl ... geez. Hard to watch any of the "Willow crying" scenes without getting your heart ripped out.

I'm gonna get a bit corny for a minute and mention the end of "Field of Dreams" - I'll never list Kevin Costner as one of the best actors of our time, but that scene was extremely well done, I think.

As for scenes of this nature that were surprising but felt a bit out of place,

Select to view spoiler:

when Ned (Owen Wilson) dies in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." A relatively well-done scene, as was his memorial scene, but it all seemed ... odd.

----------------------------------------------
"MY APOCALYPTIC TENOR HAS NOT BEEN DISPELLED!" - T-Rex ( www.qwantz.com)

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 7:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Lucciola:
...when Tim Robbins stands up after having escaped through the prison sewer in Shawshank Redemption...I stood up, too, when I saw it the first time.

I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright.

YT

Friday, June 3, 2005 7:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by weichi:
Ben Affleck's (yes Ben Affleck) raining in the car speech in "Chasing Amy"

I certainly understand your "(yes Ben Affleck)". Chasing Amy was the first movie I saw him in, and he was good. It took many later examples of his work for me to realize the guy is a stiff. His performance in Shakespeare In Love is interesting in that I can't tell whether Ben is acting badly, or if he's doing a good job portraying a ham who acts badly even when not on stage.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . . (wutzon) Jerry Garcia Band, "Think", "How Sweet It Is"

PERIDIDDLE

Friday, June 3, 2005 7:22 PM

Hrm...there is that one moment in Romeo + Juliet (the modernized version with Leonardo Dicaprio) at the end. Romeo sees Juliet and assumes she's dead, and he drinks the poison JUST as Juliet awakes. The look of complete destruction on both of their faces is enough to break hearts, and then she takes her own life. YES, I knew it was going to happen, but I don't think I'd ever seen a rendition of Romeo and Juliet in which she's awake while he dies. Gah.

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer...oh my. The Body, The Gift, Seeing Red and Becoming Part II hurt to watch. The Gift, most of all, simply for what Buffy does and the look on the Scoobies (and Spike's) faces.

And, okay, it's not exactly out as a movie YET, but the rock opera RENT sent me into tears when I saw it performed on Broadway. The look of helplessness on Angel's face and Collins' as Angel's health declines, and the way Collins says "It's over" and moves into the song 'I'll Cover You: Reprise.' AH. I was in tears throughout the second act, to the point where I could not see the stage. When the movie comes out, I'll be bawling.

And finally...LION KING. When Simba runs around Mufasa and nudges him, pleading with him to stand up and then finally he curls up next to his father and cries...did Disney REALIZE what that would do to people? I cried. I still cry, and I've seen the movie possibly a million times. Gah.

"Bwaa...it's kind of a warrior...strikes fear into the hearts of..."

RHYMEPHILE

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:24 PM

Wow, there are so many to think about and choose from. I'll stick to my favorite TV show of all time, The X-Files. Yeah, I enjoy Firefly, but my first love will always be XF.

In the episode "Paper Hearts" David Duchovny gives one of his most emotionally affecting performances ever on that show. When he's digging at the dirt of a makeshift forest grave with his bare hands because he believes child molester John Lee Roche may have killed his sister and buried her there -- he's frantic, exhausted from not sleeping -- and when Scully protests that he's disturbing a crime scene, he simply says, "Help me, Scully." Of course she joins him. Fantastic.

Then in Season Seven's "Closure" we finally learn the truth about what happened to Mulder's sister. Overall, I wish they had stuck to a more plausible explanation that what we got, but the scene where Mulder ultimately accepts Samantha's fate and goes running to her and gives her a giant hug -- it's the music in that scene, along with the sight of all the ghostly children's spirits -- that always make me cry, no matter how many times I've seen it nor how cynical I am about the truth behind her disappearance.

As for movies, dudes, The Iron Giant! You can't not cry at that film!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've seen life on this planet, Scully, and that's precisely why I'm looking elsewhere."

-- Fox Mulder, The X-Files

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:42 PM

Hey, this turned into a 'Stuff that made you cry' thread, or what?
Okay, I'll go with it.

When Superman was holding Lois' dead body, and crying in Superman The Movie. Reeve was incredible.
The thirty seconds before Bruce Willis pushes the button in Armageddon- it kills me! He loved his little girl more than anything.
Okay, when Jayne says "Make something up", that gets me, too. Gosh Darn it! Now I feel all like a girley-man and such!

I never cry Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:

It just shows how people can just become nothing when cut off from the world, reminds anyone of something from Firefly?

Apocalypse Now is a film I've only seen once, possibly the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. And one of the most powerful.
Full Metal Jacket and Clockwork Orange are close seconds.

Shell shocked Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:51 PM

What about in an early episode of Hercules when his wife and son get killed by Hera?

That wasn't nice Chrisisall

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
I never cry Chrisisall

That’s not good. Don’t worry, we take care of our own, we’ll get you an operation to fix that.

-

I’m not sure if it’s turned into a “stuff that made you cry” thread, or if it’s just that that’s the easiest indicator of powerful emotion. Certainly the John Q thing I mentioned early on didn’t make me cry, made me not breathe is what it did, but many times crying is the result of the “emotionally effecting moments.”

Quote:
You wrote:
What made you feel something so strongly, so deeply that you were moved to tears, or felt so happy you could bust, or absolutly stunned you with a stark realization of the human condition?

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 8:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by manwithpez:
Chrisisall vs Christhecynic...

I'm gonna change my name. Vaderisall.

Hey, what about that scene in Highlander where Connor is holding Heather as she's dying of old age, and she says she didn't know why he stayed?
His reply opens the eye-fawcetts for me- big time!

There can be only one (Highlander movie) Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Friday, June 3, 2005 9:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by christhecynic:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
I never cry Chrisisall
That’s not good. Don’t worry, we take care of our own, we’ll get you an operation to fix that.

No, it's just that I have no tear ducts.

Normal for Klingons Chrisisall

SICKDUDE

Friday, June 3, 2005 10:22 PM

In the anime movie, Grave of the Fireflies, when the brother sets fire to his sister's body, because he wasn't good enough at taking care of her. I'm getting choked up just typing this....

In Platoon, when Willem Dafoe is kneeling, shot to heck, and watching the helicopters leave him behind.

Rhymephile, thanks for bringing up X-Files. In "Beyond the Sea", when the prisoner (Brad Dourif in his best-role-ever) yells "Do NOT underestimate my fear of going back to that place!"

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

GUNRUNNER

Saturday, June 4, 2005 5:18 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:

It just shows how people can just become nothing when cut off from the world, reminds anyone of something from Firefly?

Apocalypse Now is a film I've only seen once, possibly the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. And one of the most powerful.
Full Metal Jacket and Clockwork Orange are close seconds.

Shell shocked Chrisisall

I hear you. Disturbing and Powerful no two ways about it.

'Das Boot' and 'Cross of Iron' are on my most powerful list.

If 'Das Boot' isn't the most potent example of the human condition put to screen I don't know what is.

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MONTANAGIRL

Saturday, June 4, 2005 6:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by weichi:
"Your father's passing" - "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Seconded! (Or thirded, actually, I think.)

I don't know how many times I've seen that, and I get chills every time.

(Sidenote: I actually cheered when Atticus Finch was named the #1 hero on AFI's list a year or so ago.)

"One day, lad, all this will be yours ..."
"What - the curtains?"

STAGGERLY

Saturday, June 4, 2005 6:26 AM

Any of the stuff with Mary in The Passion of the Christ. Mother/son scenarios kill me, and that's probably the most potent. Particularly when she runs down the alley just as he stumbles with the cross.

A little-seen movie with Dennis Quaid, "Savior," where he plays a mercenary in Bosnia who gets stuck caring for a pregnant (raped) Serbian woman. The climax, particularly.

Saving Private Ryan, the scene with the medic remembering his relationship with, d'oh, his mother!

The Crying Game, sad in parts, but I find the ending poignant in a more positive way.

The Accidental Tourist:

Select to view spoiler:

When William Hurt begins to cry and he confides in Geena Davis that he's afraid he'll forget his son's face. That and just how he feels responsible for her and her own son.

The whole of The Elephant Man.

Lonesome Dove, lots of scenes in that.

And darn me for being so easily manipulated, but GUMP. The last scene.

-----------------------
"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

CHRISTHECYNIC

Saturday, June 4, 2005 5:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Apocalypse Now is a film I've only seen once, possibly the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. And one of the most powerful.
Full Metal Jacket and Clockwork Orange are close seconds.

Shell shocked Chrisisall

I hear you. Disturbing and Powerful no two ways about it.

Disturbing things are always powerful, they couldn't be disturbing if they weren't.

A Rose for Emily by Faulkner is a great example, I hated the thing but if it were not so well written I wouldn’t. If it were not so powerful it could not have been disturbing, and if it were not disturbing it could not have made me hate it.

REGINAROADIE

Saturday, June 4, 2005 6:41 PM

Oh God, there've been so many for me. I could almost write a whole book on specific moments in movies and TV shows that gave me what you've described.

But just off the top of my head, one moment in movies that has always haunted me was the scene in RAGING BULL when Jake was thrown into the jail cell and he begins punching the concrete wall over and over again, screaming "WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY." And the last half hours of THE TRUMAN SHOW, GARDEN STATE, PLEASANTVILLE, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER, AMERICAN BEAUTY are all superb endings for incredible films.

As for TV moments, there were two moments that I always thought were pretty emotionally searing and am amazed at how someone could NOT be rocked to the core. The whole season finale of the first season of 24 is bar none the most exquisitly crafted hour of television I've ever seen. After 23 hours of build up and anticipation, you have one hell of a payoff. You got a daring escape, a spousal/political betrayal, the one person Jack trusted showing her true colors as a mole, two emotional breakdowns from Jack, with the first one leading to a shootout that would make John Woo look like an amateur, a husband/wife separation that would make Shakespeare proud, a second shootout in a parking garage that leads to one of the tensest standoffs ever filmed, and it all culminates in a death that shows that 24 has the balls to take the tv rulebook and rip it to shreds. I've never been affected by a character's death on a tv show before. But the final death of that day just shook me.

The other one was the pilot for SIX FEET UNDER. You really got to know and feel affection for these characters in such a short time so that when they're burying Nathaniel Sr. outdoors, you're so wrapped up that the character's emotional outbursts are yours as well.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like ... ow ... ound ... round ... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?

PATSRULE

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 2:45 PM

As far as joy, (besides Shawshank which was already said), the end of Diggstown really got me. Not only did the boxer (lou Gosset Jr.) go through hell and survive the hell of 10 boxing matches in a row, there was a great con as well. The theater audience started cheering when I saw it back in the day.

The ending to Big Fish was very melancholy. I wish the death of a persons father could be that beautiful, but it sure wasn't for me. The movie was very emotional.

THESOMNAMBULIST

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 3:22 PM

patsrule wrote:

Quote:

The ending to Big Fish was very melancholy. I wish the death of a persons father could be that beautiful, but it sure wasn't for me. The movie was very emotional.

Yes I'd agree with this. That finalé could've so easily been sugary and overly sentimental. Yet it wasn't.

It's the best interpretation of someone's passing I've ever seen on film.

BIG FISH - wonderful subtle masterpiece.

Also
I rewatched over the weekend:
Jean de Flourette and Manon De Source and several scenes in these two films have some of the most heart stirring moments, in particular:

Select to view spoiler:

In Jean De Flourette - when Gerrard Depardieu who has been praying for rain to help his crops, catches sight of rain clouds passing not more than half a mile away, and thus missing his plot of vegetables. He drops to his knees - defeated.

and

Select to view spoiler:

Yves Montands realisation, at the end of Manon de Source, that Gerard Depardieu was his son. The look on his face when he puts all the events together. Sublime acting!!!

Plus

Select to view spoiler:

The very last scene of Yves, preparing himslef to go to sleep and to never wake up again. Just the very purposefullness of it all really moves me. It's so profound.

finally

Select to view spoiler:

All the reactions of Yves Montands face whenever Flourette is mentioned, or when someone asks why he never married, or why he doesn't have any offspring. You can see the pain he is in everytime.

Ok nuff said.

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

JUXSA

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 5:40 PM

I agree 100%. That was a very moving scene. Ewen McGregor really is an amazing actor. The end of Closer is depressing. Everything in Eternal Sunshine is depressing...

Quote:
Originally posted by TheReaver:
Mine comes from Star Wars Episode 3.

Select to view spoiler:
Anakin: I HATE YOU!
Obi-Wan: You were like my brother. I loved you.

This scene was very sad and very well acted.

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

MANWITHPEZ

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 5:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by patsrule:
As far as joy, (besides Shawshank which was already said), the end of Diggstown really got me. Not only did the boxer (lou Gosset Jr.) go through hell and survive the hell of 10 boxing matches in a row, there was a great con as well. The theater audience started cheering when I saw it back in the day.

I absolutely love this movie, and the book on which its based "The Diggstown Ringers"! One of my favorite movie quotes comes from a deleted scene used for the trailer...After the scene where James Woods tells Louis Gossett Jr. "Remember one thing...you, are black."

Later on in the movie (and I'm stumped as to why they cut this line of dialogue) When Honey Roy is fighting Slim's brother, Honey Roy was supposed to say "Did you tell him he was black too?" MAN!!! I wish they'd left that in!!!

If you ever get a chance to read the book, get it...Its great. Doesn't follow the movie very closely, but its pretty freakin' sweet!

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

PATSRULE

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 6:23 PM

If I can find the book, I'll give it a try. I did a quick web search, but most places had it out of stock. Ebay had 1 first addition copy, but wanted 26 dollars.

I'll keep an eye out though.

CALLMESERENITY

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 6:56 PM

I agree with Staggerly. I bawled through most of The Passion of the Christ, but the scenes with Mary were the hardest (I missed some of the more gory scenes because I had my hands over my eyes. So they don't count.)

Also, the end of ET, when ET goes home. I've seen it a billion times, but I always cry.

And Anne of Greene Gables 1) when Matthew dies and 2)When Anne and Gilbert finally get together at the very end.

(I'm such a girl, I know.)

From LOST, when Charlie died. He was dead for so long, I thought that there was no way they could bring him back after this long. That scene seemed to go on forever. I just kept thinking "THEY CAN'T KILL CHARLIE! THEY JUST CAN'T." And after Jack brought him back, I was so angry at the writers for putting me through that.

Oh, The Body got me, too. I was so upset. What really got me was when Buffy has the little dream where she saves her mother, the EMTs come, they're in an ambulance, and then it flashes back to her mom lying on the couch, still dead. It just HURT so bad. I don't think I breathed through most of that episode.

"What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"-H.D. Thoreau

CALLMESERENITY

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 6:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by patsrule:

The ending to Big Fish was very melancholy. I wish the death of a persons father could be that beautiful, but it sure wasn't for me. The movie was very emotional.

I loved this movie. The friends I saw it with hated it. I stayed with me for days. Have you read that book? Completely different, and just as good in its own way.

"What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?"-H.D. Thoreau

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 8:56 PM

um lets' see....

1. When Joseph & Shannon plant their stake - Far & Away.

2. The death scene in - E.T

3. Dawson & Joey's First Kiss (show went to crap after that) - Dawson's Creek

4.

Select to view spoiler:

When Sawyer tells Jack the truth about meeting his Father

- LOST

5. Oh Captain, My Captain - Dead Poet's Society

6. The scene in Toy Story 2 when the girl drives away leaving Jesse in the box (Sarah Maclachlan singing sure helped)

7. The final moments of Simon B Wilder - With Honors

8. The final speech from the judges desk (because I agreed with it & many would say we should not) - Boondock Saints

9. Jayne & Mal at the end of Jaynestown (the quiet guitar playing hero of Canton) - Firefly

10. "...I wanna slay the dragon" - Angel
11. Darla's sacrafice - Angel
12. The Loss of Fred - Angel
13. Doyle's Hero Moment - Angel
14. I'm Evil Angel! I'm evil. - Faith's redemptive moment - (dang I'm tearing up now thinking bout that one) - Angel

ok I could go on all day there.

15. Sam sending away Frodo - LOTR

Check out my shop! Firefly & LOST products.
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"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." --Joss

DA

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 10:33 PM

- The entire film of "Gia".

It was so well acted. I own it and look over at the dvd cover and smile because I own it, but I've watched it only once. I can't put myself through it again.

- Legends of the Fall..But only because I recognize the pain. I remember friends calling me and saying that they understood me better having watched that movie. ::puzzled look:: Okaayy. I guess they could see that pain in me as well.

I guess when I look over these two movies, I'm kind of a dark person. Oh well we all have to be some shade - just remember those hues change.

-----------------------------------------
This is another sign of your tragic space dementia - all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart.

BLACKIRIS

Thursday, June 9, 2005 6:00 AM

(Side note: Hi! I'm new here. * waves *)

Lost in Translation. The entire film has this beautiful, ephemeral feel to it, and the last scene embodies it perfectly.

Firefly, Out of Gas.

Quote:
``You don't have to die alone.''
``Everybody dies alone.''

Firefly, Objects in Space.

Quote:
``It's okay, Early. I'm going with you...''

Buffy's vision of saving her mother in The Body, her death in The Gift and Tara's in Seeing Red. ``Your... shirt.''

And this isn't a movie, but the last line in Andrea Seigel's Like the Red Panda kindof makes my heart stop.

MACBAKER

Thursday, June 9, 2005 6:47 AM

Two scenes from the Abyss. I've mentioned before how this movie has flaws (though the director's cut is far superior to the theatrical version), but it did have some powerful moments.

The first is the scene where Bud has to watch his wife drown right in front of him, dying in his arms. As a husband, I felt his pain, knowing how impossible that would be to watch the woman you love die in such a horrific manner.

The other scene is the follow-up to the last scene, where he's brought her body back to the underwater drilling platform, and the crew is desperately trying to revive her. His frustration and determination is so moving, as he screams at her "You bitch! You never gave up on anything in your whole life! Now fight, FIGHT, FIIIIIIIIIGHT!" Powerful stuff!

Though as a whole, the Abyss wasn't perfect, that film had some of Cameron's best directing, and he got some amazing performances out of his cast.

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

HEALYMONSTA

Thursday, June 9, 2005 9:46 AM

Ok, let's see now...

Gotta agree with the Lion King. I remember seeing it in the cinema and crying my eyes out.

Also, does anyone remember My Girl? My mum almost sued those guys! They killed the Home Alone kid!!!

Can't forget the best ever ep. of the Creek when Pacey smacks his dad for taking the piss out of Andy, and when his dad apologises Pacey breaks down in his arms and says "I miss her so much!"

A film I've seen recently that I thought was amazing was a film called Rumble Fish. It's about this guy who thinks he's just like his older brother but in fact is nothing like him. The end of that film left me all over the place for hours afterwards. It sounds pretty crap from that description but I'm trying my best not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Any fans of Mickey Rourke will love this film, definitely at his incredible best in it.

If I can just bend the rules a little here...

I'd also like to add The Dark Tower VII. When I read about Roland walking with Jake into the forest I had to put the book down for hours because it was too painful. I just wanted to kill King for doing that.

SICKDUDE

Thursday, June 9, 2005 5:08 PM

Welcome aboard, BlackIris!

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

CHRISISALL

Thursday, June 9, 2005 6:43 PM

MacBaker, how could I forget The Abyss?
The scenes you refer to are two of three that really get me, the last being when Bud types 'lov u wife' (he mangles it somehow...), tears, they are a' rollin' then. I love that movie.

Director's cut, I mean Chrisisall

FANTASTICLAUGHINGFAIRY

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 1:46 PM

I definitely agree with the Zack sacrificing himself one, it's so sad and so very brave.

The Body (Buffy S5 where her mum dies) is one whole episode of emotionalness, and the Buffy S5 finale (I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen it), is also great.

I also found Mal staying behind on Serenity (Out of Gas) and saying 'Everybody dies alone' very emotiona; - it just got me thinking I suppose.

The Green Mile is my major film one though, it's amazing. Great film and brilliant acting.

Books often get me emotional too - I can't stand it when people die. Anyone else get that? Hell - I'm a highly emotional kinda gal.

...and we will call it...this land...

SAZTRONIC

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:26 PM

I will sheepishly give two.

The first is Moulin Rouge... the whole "Come What May" reprise at the end, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor (either one of which I would leave my wife for), her on the verge of death, etc.

The second is a French film called "Ponette". I don't know if anyone has seen this, but it's all about a 4-year-old girl whose mother has died. I don't know where they got that little moppet, but she carries the film and was outrageously good and I was crying all the way through the gorram thing.

FRAY101

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Saztronic:
I will sheepishly give two.

The first is Moulin Rouge... the whole "Come What May" reprise at the end, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor (either one of which I would leave my wife for), her on the verge of death, etc.

I must have spent the last hour of that film in tears - bought the DVD as soon as it came out and still haven't got round to watching the film again as I know I'll be traumatised.

And, have to admit to Titanic. Saw it 4 times in the cinema - 4th time I thought, "hey I'm not crying" and then I started. For me, it's that look on their faces when Rose is on the lifeboat, being lowered down....sniffle. Don't care how much people slag that film off now, got me every time!

Have to admit I started out as a tough child - never cried at anything! Then when I was about 12 I saw this mini-series called Diana (book by R F Delderfield) and by the end of the last episode I was in floods of tears. Since then, there's barely been a movie I haven't cried, or at least sniffled at! Most recent was Batman Begins:

Select to view spoiler:

when he's telling Alfred that it's his fault his parents were killed. Not often I start tearing up so near the start of a film!

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NETACTOR

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 4:45 PM

I enjoy tv and movies very much, but i've always found live theatre was the way to get me the most emotional. When I am watching tv or movie, I usually sit in a kind of trance. I feel it all, but dont react verbally. (I tend to get teary eyed though) One time has tv made me yell at the screen. When Tara got shot on Buffy...I yelled very nasty things at the tv and at Joss. I had so given up on trying to analyze joss and what he might do for dramatic emphasis. I had lulled myself into an almost hypnotized state, then he slapped me back into reality. I've never yelled at the screen before or since.

You can run...but you'll only die tired.

SHAMBLEAU

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 5:19 PM

The final five or ten minutes of Last of the Mohicans ALWAYS mesmerize me. From the moment Duncan is dragged off to the stake and Hawkeye realizes that Duncan mistranslated his offer to sacrifice himself through the deaths of almost every main character, I could watch that sequence practically every day. It's the damn music and the lack of dialog, so all this wild emotion and drama is just playing out on people's faces. The music is so stately and inevitable, it's like you're watching something that was always fated to be.

I wasn't a Titanic fan, but the shot of the Titanic at night, alone and insignificant in a vast inky sea, kicks like a mule. That may be why I love the cutaway shot from Simon and River clinging to Serenity's hull. It moves from Serenity to the huge Alliance cruiser, but doesn't stop; it keeps going, so even the cruiser is just a tiny piece of life in a sea of nothing.

Buffy especially, but Angel too, are filled with moments that ripped my heart out. Too many of those to count, really.

There's a moment I love in Kubrick's Paths of Glory, even though it's close to cheesy sentimentality, maybe because it's an emotioanl place Kubrick almost never goes to. The bitter, shattered hero is sitting in a vast beerhall filled with drunken, rowdy French troops. A captured young German farm girl is pushed onto a little stage and told to sing. All the soldiers are yelling, and spouting lewd obscenities as this scared girl starts to sing some kind of German lullaby. Gradually, her innocence and sweetness starts to get to them. The crowd begins to quiet down and one by one, these hardbitten veterans who've just been through hell in a major offensive, start to lose it. They've got tears streaming down their eyes and, by then, so do I.

BLACKOUTNIGHTS

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 5:30 PM

Two from me:

• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly when Tuco is about to kill "Blondie" in the desert and just before he pulls the trigger, this trimphant theme on trumpets is played and we see horses running a driverless stagecoach through the deset. It causes Tuco to forget all about killing our hero for the moment. Of course, then he gets the name of the cemetery, but the man dies before he gets the name on the grave...though he did give it to Eastwood. The look on Eastwood's face is priceless. It's like, "My God, I'm going to live through this." Then he becomes Tuco's "best friend" for a little while. "Blondie!? Blondie, don't die!" Great stuff.

• Joe vs. the Volcano when Tom Hanks is on a raft in the middle of the ocean and a huge moon rises and he thanks God for his life.

Interestingly enough, in each of my choices, the sun has beaten down and burned our protagonists.

"God, whose name I do not know. Thank you for my life. I forgot...how big. Thank you. Thank you for my life."

FREMDFIRMA

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 8:32 PM

Imma have to go with The Shadow - badly done movie with an excellent story.
The scene in which the Tulka confronts him and explains that his path to redemption lies in turning his very wickedness into a weapon against evil.
Being a fairly nasty person in many ways, that scene gave me a whole new outlook on how to find some peace with who I was.

And this - not just any one scene of it, but the entire movie is very powerful, and very moving.
Savior, starring Dennis Quaid.
(edit: I see Staggerly mentioned this one already - seconded, then!)
If you ain't seen it, you ought to.

And (surprised no one's mentioned this) Boromir's final moments in LoTR - old school heroism at it's finest.

-F

LUCIDDREAMS

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 10:19 PM

Hm, lot of good ones mentioned. I loved Ewan Mcgregor in the last confrontation in Episode III. But that movie didn't really hit me emotionally. For me, the best dramatic moments are in the Whedonverse:
1. Forever - the ending, when Buffy finally accepts her mother's death
2. The Body - Anya's scene (do I really need to describe it?)
3. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been - Angel's last encounter with Judy. He just totally forgives her and she's happy.
4. Faith begging Angel to kill her (I also loved when he later visited her at the jail)
5. OoG - everything

I think LoTR, Moulin Rouge and Finding Neverland had great dramatic moments but I can't pinpoint any favorites. The endings for Truman Show and Lost in Translation always give me this wistful, uplifting feeling. If anyone's ever read or seen Fruits Basket, Hatori's and Momiji's sad pasts always get to me. The aforementioned scene between Jack and Sawyer was great.

MUTT999

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 11:02 PM

How "The Body" didn't win an Emmy is beyond me. Many scenes were mentioned, but to me the most powerful scene was in Dawn's art class. The conversation between Dawn and her friend, the look on the teacher's face when Buffy arrives, and finally the hallway scene between Buffy and Dawn. Strong stuff.

"That's the buffet table....."

BLUEHANDTWOBYTWO

Thursday, June 23, 2005 1:02 AM

Here's some of my weep-fests:
TITANIC -when she lets Jack slide into the water and at the end when she 'reunites' with him in death.
THE ABYSS -when Ed Harris is trying to bring his wife back to life after she drowned
BIG FISH -when the estranged son tells his dying father a 'tall tale' as the old man lays in his death bed.
A.I. -when the mother abandons the android in the forest and also when he is finally able to 'bring her back for a day' in the far future.
E.T. -when Elliot says goodbye to the 'dead' ET and then again when he finally leaves.
THE IRON GIANT -animated, when the Giant realizes what he must do to save the city and says goodbye to the little boy.
SIXTH SENSE-Haley Joel's "grandmother" speech to his mother at the end as they sit in the car and he reveals his secret to her for the first time.

I'm sure there's LOTS more but those are the first ones that come to mind. I cry at just about every emotionally-manipulated movie moment there is. I cried during Color Purple and Mulan Rouge and Return of the King ("my friends, you bow to no one") and Mask and Edward Scissorhands and The Sound of Music and What's Eating Gilbert Grape and on and on. Hell, I even remember crying once at the end of King Kong when Jessica Lange reached out to touch him as he lay dying on the sidewalk and you hear his heartbeat drop slower and slower. (my father asked me what the hell was I crying for? It's only a movie! "because all he did was love her and now he's dead" I wept. I think I was still in high school!) lol
Sigh.
Think I'll go watch something cheery like "American Beauty" now that I'm in the right mood. lol
~LarryL

WORKEROFEVIL

Thursday, June 23, 2005 2:22 AM

Hotel Rwanda. Pretty much every scene. Some that stand out are when Don Cheadle's character (whose name I can't remember because I'm bad with names) is driving back to the hotel along a foggy river road and the van hits some bumps. When he and the driver get out the fog clears and they see the WHOLE road as far as they can see is covered in slaughtered bodies. Also when the French nuns and priests from the orphanage come to the hotel to be evacuated and find out none of the Rwandans are allowed to leave with them and they have to get on the bus and drive away pretty much knowing they're leaving all these people to be slaughtered. That is such a hard movie to watch. Just remembering it is affecting me. Those scenes and many, many more throughout the movie are extremely powerful.

TERRYO

Thursday, June 23, 2005 2:57 AM

Interesting thread...especially after last night's AFI Top 100 Movie Quotes (or something like that). It made me realize that while there are some great movies, I prefer tv most of the time.

The obligatory FF mention - last scenes of The Message. The snow, Kaylee listening to the tape, wow. (But you can't beat OOG for whole episode emotion.)

I am now going to prove how bad my taste in tv is.

The last scene of Blakes 7 - Star One where Blake says to Avon, "I have always trusted you." Oh my. Second favorite, Blake and the death of a crew member. Does a 25 year old show merit spoiler warnings?

Farscape - final scene of Season 4. It's a good thing I had quit watching the show half-way through the second season's first run because if I had had to wait longer than 3 months for the mini-series, I would have gone nuts. (Spent the holiday break watching a friend's dvds.)

ST:TOS - it doesn't get me quite as much anymore but once in a while I still get chills when Kirk says "Let's get the hell out of here" in COTEOF.

ST:TNG - where Picard is talking about being tortured by the Cardassians and how many lights he saw.

ST:DS9 - the one with Molly, stands out in my memory. Also Dr Bashir, I Presume.

Babylon 5 - Rewatching years after, I am struck by the whole journey of Londo Mollari. Seeing him with the children after becoming Emperor; watching Centauri Prime burn - truly riveting. Also in B5, Ivanova after Marcus died, G-Kar losing his eye, Michael York in A Late Delivery... moments that still resonate.

Kung Fu - Dark Angel, Blood of the Dragon, Battle Hymn - I need 3rd season to come out.

Lonseome Dove: The Series, The List (Mosby finds the man who killed his wife) and in The Outlaw Years, when Call returns to Curtis Wells to find his friend. Retooling didn't work, but it was dramatic.

Dr Who (2005) Parting of the Ways - Christopher Eccleston is incredible, haven't loved Who this much since Tom Baker. Very angsty and shippy.

Buffy - the end of Once More With Feeling, okay - all of season 6 had me glued to the tv. See, you can't just die and be resurrected without consequences. I loved it but I can see how viewers who were fans from the beginning might hate it.

And finally, since it's time to log off, the end of Angel with Wesley and Fred and Lorne and Lindsay. Lorne surprised me. Wesley and Fred made me cry.

As for movies, I thought I was the only one who bought movies and then didn't watch them because they are a little too much for comfortable viewing.

Terry (who didn't even get to non-SF shows like 24)

AMYGDALA

Thursday, June 23, 2005 5:47 AM

Most of the emotionally affecting moments in films or tv you can kind of reconcile in your brain - make them somehow okay, meant to be or whatever. Not this one from angel season five, which to me made it just that much more heartbreaking.

Select to view spoiler:

I made it through "A Hole in the World", didn't ever really believe Fred would die, even when she did, thought they'd somehow bring her back. It was the end of the next episode when you know it's all over (soul all gone too), and they cut back to her driving to LA, all sweet and innocent with that hopeful expression on her face.

Killed me. Just. not. okay.

I think part of the reason was that there seemed to be no good reason for it - you can try and rationalise it, but in the end it was just to give Amy Acker more range to play. And because Alexis Denisof does suffering so damn well.

TERRYO

Thursday, June 23, 2005 5:44 PM

I hadn't paid much attention to AD in Buffy but as soon as the Connor storyline started on Angel I sat up and paid *very* close attention. :-)

Angel S5 was incredible, still can't believe they cancelled it when it was that good.

Terry

Quote:
Originally posted by amygdala:
Most of the emotionally affecting moments in films or tv you can kind of reconcile in your brain - make them somehow okay, meant to be or whatever. Not this one from angel season five, which to me made it just that much more heartbreaking.
[snip]
give Amy Acker more range to play. And because Alexis Denisof does suffering so damn well.

WHITEFALL

Monday, June 27, 2005 8:33 PM

There have been times when things hit me, I thought about them for weeks, but now none come to mind.

But still, every time I watch Firefly, Objects in Space specifically, I see River in the spacesuit on early's ship, and that whole monologue is so beautiful, the way Summer gives it so soulfully, and you know River the character, in her strange mind, knows at once that this is true, but that it is a scam, and so she can be completely serious.

The line "I'll be your bounty, Jubal Early" "and i'll just fade away"... everything leading up to that and after it, as River is in tears... every time I watch it I get sorta choked up, at what is essentially the prospect of losing River to this fate that she chose, it's so selfless and so sad, and also makes me scared of what the movie will do, since apparently people die a lot in joss shows.

"Some people juggle geese!" -Ancient Chinese proverb.

CALLYGAL

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 3:34 AM

Okay, not sure if this makes sense to anyone but me, but in LOTR, the lighting of the torches from Gondor to Rohan always makes me catch my breath. Think its the understanding that we are so tiny, there's just this thread of fire, then "Gondor calls for aid" "Rohan will answer". *looks around* no-one?

More conventionally - the shot of Angel, Xander and Buffy in Prophect Girl when Buffy's in her white dress like a sacrifice, soaked, just back from the 'dead' but you know she's on her way to kick butt. Also Intervention, the last scene with Buffy and Spike. The end of The Gift. Chosen "no you don't, but thanks for saying it" and not letting go til he made her, even though her hands were burning. Sorry, am a B/S shipper...

Angel: Hole in the World made my cry like nothing had in ages. "why can't I stay?". And the last ep, the last scene. Totally undone.

Star Wars: ESB - Han going into the carbon freeze. I was little, Han was a very early crush, and his "I know" which shouldn't be romantic, always gets me.

Firefly: OOG - "you all gonna be here when I wake up?" I read the transcripts before I could buy the DVDs, then found the audioclip of just that bit, and listened to it a million times before I bought the DVDs. Now that I can see it with Wash's (Wash of all people!) giving Mal such a sympathetic look, and Mal's relief at being able to sleep when Book says yes, its so much better! Really gets across that Mal loves them all, even though he doesn't always show it.

Fight Club and The Matrix in a less crying place. And The Amber Spyglass as a book. "we have to build the kingdom of heaven where we are, because for us there is no elsewhere". Understanding that we can't live our lives saying that it'll be better after this one, we have to live well now. (not unlike Angel - "if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do")

I'm not nice. I'm just highly susceptible to guilt

JAYNEZTOWN

Sunday, December 4, 2022 9:37 PM

I thought these shows were kinda stupid

https://www.cbr.com/television-most-emotional-series-of-the-last-decad
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JEWELSTAITEFAN

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 5:32 AM

Also not sci-fi:
Rudy. When the Team Captain sets his jersey on the Coaches desk, says he does not need to play the next game, and the Coach can lend his jersey to Rudy for the final game. Followed by every starting player on the team, doing the same. Until the coach has a stack of star player's jerseys overflowing his desk.