10 Films That Have Brought Me to Tears - MovieMaker Magazine

      Here are some films that have brought me to tears.

      But First

      Forrest Gump. Paramount – Credit: Paramount

      This collection is more personal than what we typically present at MovieMaker, and obviously, different individuals will be moved by different things.

      I don't usually shed tears during films. However, when a movie strikes a chord with me, it truly affects me.

      Additionally, I was born in 1975, so some of these films made me cry as a child, but they don't evoke the same emotions now that I'm an adult. There are also films on this list that would have bored me as a kid but now bring me to tears.

      So here we go.

      The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

      Lucasfilm/Disney – Credit: C/O

      This film made me tear up because I was scared and confused: Why was Han Solo being frozen in carbonite? Aren't the heroes supposed to triumph? Always?

      I saw this movie when I was four and believe it played a role in shaping Gen X’s skepticism. It was the first film for children that depicted reality: Life is filled with challenges, disappointments, and the journey will not be easy.

      Or as another classic ’80s film once articulated: “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who states otherwise is selling something.”

      Superman II (1981)

      Warner Bros.

      I had a similar experience with this as I did with The Empire Strikes Back.

      When Superman enters the chamber in the Fortress of Solitude to voluntarily relinquish his powers, I lost it. Superman is meant to be Superman; he isn’t supposed to lose his powers. This feels unfair.

      As an adult, I comprehend that he believed he needed to be regular Clark Kent to have a successful relationship with Lois. Yet even now, I feel he shouldn’t have to sacrifice his powers for it.

      I caught this one at the South Bay 6 Drive-In in Carson, California, and I distinctly remember crying in the backseat of my parents' car. Anyway, it remains one of the best superhero films ever made.

      The Fox and the Hound (1981)

      Disney

      I watched this during a trip to San Diego with my dad. It’s a cute film — until the tears start flowing.

      I don’t recall exactly what made me cry in The Fox and the Hound — was it the frightening bear attack? I don’t think so. I believe it was the profound sense of betrayal from The Fox (Tod) and the Hound (Copper) being unable to remain friends.

      It might also have been the scene where Copper is compelled to hunt Tod. I was six when this film was released and had already felt the sting of losing a best friend (due to moving), so I think this one hit me hard.

      Glory (1989)

      Credit: Tri-Star Pictures

      This was the first film I’d classify as an “adult” cry. I was fourteen when it premiered, and it affects me just as intensely now as it did back then.

      Glory narrates the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, a group of Black enlisted men who fought for the Union Army — and for the freedom of enslaved Black individuals — during the Civil War. It’s an extremely well-made film. The Black soldiers face numerous insults, including from a nameless character, a white soldier with reddish hair and a mustache who claims that Black troops are unworthy of the uniform. They brush it off, just like they endure everything else.

      Here's the part that made me, a 14-year-old boy, weep in a movie theater alongside my dad. The Union forces are launching an attack on the Confederacy’s Fort Wagner, and the only way to seize the fort is to directly run across an open beach, with no cover. It's essentially a suicide mission.

      The 54th volunteers. As all the Union soldiers watch the Black troops marching to their fate, to do what they are all too afraid to do, the red-haired soldier breaks the silence, “Give ’em hell, 54!” All the troops join in: “Give ’em hell, 54!” My eyes are welling up just writing this. Please watch Glory. It’s one of the best films I have ever seen.

      Awakenings (1990)

      Credit: Columbia Pictures

      Funny story. After crying during Glory, I wondered: Am I now someone who cries at movies? So I went to see Awakenings, which tells the story of catatonic patients momentarily brought back to life through an experimental treatment. Unfortunately, after their awakenings, they gradually lose their ability to speak and communicate.

      As this reality set in, during a very emotional scene between Robin Williams and Robert De Niro's characters, I felt tears beginning to form: Is this where I break down?

      But then another thought crossed my mind: Nooooooope.

      That thought made me laugh loudly at