Top 10 Movies that Make Men Cry [Warning: Reviews include some Spoilers]

The Spotless Minds ^ | 12-4-09 | Greg

[smokingfrog]

The era of the ‘Man’s Man’ is coming ever closer to ending. Soon it will be acceptable for all men to see a film and let it truly effect them emotionally. But that time isn’t upon us just yet. These are the top ten movies that not only make men cry, but it is deemed acceptable for them to do so.

10. The Wrestler
9. Saving Private Ryan
8. Braveheart
7. Field of Dreams
6. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
5. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Friday Night Lights
3. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
2. Good Will Hunting
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn

[Future Snake Eater]

And an odd one, that moment towards the end of Band of Brothers, when David Schwimmer’s Captain Sobel must salute Major Dick Winters (whose career he tried to ruin) always gets me emotionally. “We salute the rank, not the man.”

IIRC, from the book, MAJ Winters was on R&R in Paris when he got to call out CPT Sobel right there. He apparently did it with no small amount of satisfaction (I don't blame him one bit--I can think of a few officers I'd like to do that to as well).

Still, Sobel's post-war life was quite tragic. He was very bitter for pretty much the rest of his life over being relieved of his company. I believe he ended up killing himself. Not even his own son went to the funeral.

[Clemenza]

OK, I’ll admit to it: The end of “The Bicycle Thief”, along with the scene in “Umberto D.” where Umberto almost kills himself and his dog by going in front of a locomotive, ALMOST made me tear up.

[LanaTurnerOverdrive]

I sneaked a 1/4 pint of scotch into the theater to drink with the diet cola from the concession.

Scotch and diet? You should lose your drinker's license. Also, how do you decide on 4 oz. of booze to sneak in? Very strange.

[Finny]

Cool! I know people who have seen the original bike ... it's surprisingly small, they say. Burt Munro was such a nonconformist, an original thinker, a loving spirit (so astute of you to point that out), independent and self-reliant, very smart in a mechanical kind of way, and good with his hands. I loved that he engineered and made so many of the parts himself.

I can understand now why the movie makes you get choked up. You sound like a pretty special guy yourself!

[ReaganCaesar]

OMg Funny!! haha LOL

[ReaganCaesar]

Terminator 2!! haha lol.

[BluesDuke]

Only #7 made me tear up.

Same with me. The final sequence. The Ray Kinsella character got what for many years I wished I could have had, and still do wish now and then---one more chance to play catch with a father who died too young.

Though James Earl Jones's breathtaking reading of the solioquy that precedes it can get me right there, too. (But that's probably the baseball fan in me as much as anything else.)

[Othniel]

I cried when I saw "In the Shadow of the Moon" because on seeing all the wonderful interviews of the men who went there, hearing their experiences through their own eyes, and knowing what they went through, I wept for my country, because we don't have the balls to do it again. These guys were the heroes of my youth, and there are no replacements for the young today. We won't go to the moon again. Mars is a pipe dream. We don't have the drive anymore because it's all been PC'd and dumbed down out of us.

I also cried during UP, TITANIC, BRAVEHEART, and the PASSION. Oh yeah, and years ago when I saw all those ba$tard Democrats stand up and leave Congress, instead of voting for impeachment for the Bent One, even though the evidence was as plain as a scotch in Ted Kennedy's hand.

[BluesDuke]

One movie that teared me up was “The Elephant Man”.

Welcome to the club. Though I admit that the theater scene nailed me by using "Adagio for Strings," a piece I can never hear without tears over its beauty.

[BluesDuke]

A few other films that will put the tears in my eyes---no shame, no apologies, and in no particular order:

Schindler's List
Life is Beautiful
The Notebook
The Kid
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Enchanted Cottage

[Mr. Blond]

I had to swallow hard in that Cinderella Man scene where he tells his son that he’ll never be sent away. Not sure why.

No movie I can recall actually made me cry except for Marley & Me.

[WhirlwindAttack]

Mine too.

[phil1750]

I can only remember tearing up twice:
Song of Bernadette and Ryan’s Song.

[phil1750]

Brian’s Song......sorry

[Electric Graffiti]

Braveheart after the battle of Falkirk:

Campbell: I'm dying. Let me be.

Hamish: No. You're going to live.

Campbell: I've lived long enough to live free. Proud to see you become the man you are. I'm a happy man.

That scene got me a little verklempt. Along with young Wallace shedding a tear for his father and brother in the beginning of the movie.

[jimfree]

Also, how do you decide on 4 oz. of booze to sneak in?

About 3 oz actually and it was pocket size without creating a bulge.

[jimfree]

Aye, painful it must have been, if it was even half decent scotch. Diet Cola?

If I remember correctly it was Johnnie Black. The diet cola was just to chase after savoring the scotch.

[smokingfrog]

Not “Cinderella Man?”

I admit getting a little bleary-eyed watching that one.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I shed a tear at Saving Private Ryan.

I couldn't get past the self congratulatory tone of the producers, actors and director or the phoniness of the premise.

[jetson]

Gladiator always brings a tear. I felt a touch of tear watching Rails and Ties with Kevin Bacon.