How about Gallipoli? WWI featured not only a lost cause, but a lost generation.

Honor, service, fraternity...always bring a tear:

Braveheart
Saving Private Ryan

Agree with Private Ryan
The end of Field of Dreams

You missed Red Dawn, it gets me every time.

Not a "movie" but I well up through the whole second half of the Band of Brothers series and I don't think I'm alone. I'd say your dead on about the honor and sacrifice grabbing guys. The one concept you danced around was brotherhood forged in great difficulty, which, when done well, will always move a guy. All of the good war movies have this quality. Tombstone had this as well with Wyatt and Doc, and, of course, Wyatt's real brothers. It represents the masculine ideal of the relationship between men. The way it is ok to feel warm and fuzzy about another guy. Variation on this theme: a boy and his dog. Not as dramatic though.

It always breaks me up when inanimate objects meet an untimely end. The USS Enterprise, Crocket's Ferrari, Ben Affleck...

The perfect example that combines both regret and vindication (and sports) -- The Natural with Robert Redford.

I have consistently observed the following to be "male tearing-up a little, but not in a gay way" movies

Rudy

And that last wedding scene in Sense and Sensibility when the older man has won his dream girl ( Kate Winslet).

Men won't admmit liking that movie, but when made to watch it, they all get choked up at that part.

I wish you guys would have owned up to this so I could write a haiku about men who cry for the flame thread.

Chris and monkeyboy
sniffling into their popcorn
ovaries enflamed

I probably could have one one of those t-shirts!

For some damn reason, the end of the movie "Frequency" makes me teary.

Also, when Sam picks up Frodo and starts carrying him up the mountain in "Return of the King?" Yeah, I cried.

Ditto Frequency.

Also: Apollo 13, three or four different scenes in The Right Stuff, Rutger Hauer's "Tears in Rain" speech in Blade Runner, and (god help me) Kirk's eulogy for Spock in Wrath of Khan.

Apparently, someone in the local theater's snack bar is spiking Junior Mints with estrogen.

Two movies a guy can cry at without being thought a wuss: Brian's Song (loss) and Field of Dreams, when Burt Lancaster has to leave the field because that moron kid falls off the bleachers and chokes on a hot dog (regret)

It has almost become a cliche, but the Saint Crispin's Day speech from Henry V hits all the buttons: sacrifice, honor, brotherhood, loss and regret.

Perhaps most importantly, throughout time the vast majority of men are the "gentlemen in England now-a-bed," accurs'd for not being there and condemned to hold their manhoods cheap in the presence of the band of brothers. Thus the sense of regret is compounded by a sort of shame or guilt, because you find yourself in the presence (at least vicariously on the movie screen) of better men than yourself.

Movies with the theme of sacrifice like Braveheart and Gladiator don't work for me because they are too focused on the individual. Even Saving Private Ryan fails on this score for me. Glory, Black Hawk Down and Band of Brothers do manage to push my buttons though (a criticism of many critics, and a prime example of missing the point, was the criticism that the characters in BHD and BoB were not sufficiently differentiated so you couldn't identify with them as individuals).

This is not to dismiss movies focused on the individual. Movies like Rudy work for the reasons Dave mentioned in his post.

"criticism that the characters in BHD and BoB were not sufficiently differentiated so you couldn't identify with them as individuals)"

That's always very hard to do in an ensemble war movie. Everybody has to dress alike, ethnic diversity wasn't a reality in WWII. I think the move "The Longest Day" was effective in getting around that problem by having all the roles played by well known (if not very accomplished) actors such as Red Buttons, Bobby Darin etc..

Two movies that come to mind right off the bat that made be tear up:

Man on Fire - The whole sacrifice thing.

Salton Sea - The very end is a great protrayal of friendship/loyalty.

War movies don't really get to me, though.

The end of "Schindler's List", with all those survivors lining up to pay their respects at Oskar's grave. I was bawling like a baby.

I teared up a little bit at the end of "Titanic", too.

(Some acquaintances of mine somwhat approved of the first, but considered the second "gay". One of a long list of reasons I don't consider those people to be friends.)

Watching courage up on the screen inspires men, gets them all choked up, because it reminds them of what they *should* be doing in life.

Exactly! What chokes me? The stand of the small British contingent to hold off the Nazis long enough for the evacuation at Dunkirk when they knew they were all going to die doing it, and they did. It is said that their collective courage and defiance in the face of fearsome odds inspired each man to their utmost; and their morale was tremendous, they were almost joyful for each man knew that though they were going to die, this was to be "their finest hour."

And that scene where Andy fights off the "Sisters," instead of submitting to their sweet prison-man-love...

What chokes me? Winston Churchill's:

"we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender ..."

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent of Eurpoe."

Ronald Reagan to surgical team as he's being put under after being shot: "I hope you're all good Republicans."

Sorry, my previous post didn't make it, so read this one first:

"BHD and BoB were not sufficiently differentiated so you couldn't identify with them as individuals). "

I couldn't DISagree more. The great thing about BoB was that it was so long, you could differentiate and get to know the different characters. Whereas in a normal 2 1/2 hour long war movie (SPR) they have to rely on cliched characters, then kill them off to make the audience feel bad about war. Man, when Toye and Guarniere got hit by that arty... :,(

One area you left out, Dave, was the bonds of brotherhood. Like in Shawshank Redemption. The end, where Morgan Freeman is walking down the beach and you hear his voiceover: "I hope the Pacific is as clear and blue as it is in my dreams. I hope to see my friend again, to shake his hand. I hope..." Gets me every time.

Most of "The Seven Samurai", but particularly when Heihachi gets shot, and Toshiro Mifune climbs up on top of a house to wave their flag.

There is an associated factor at work here, the "tears of pride."

For instance, Apollo 13 was mentioned above. It's a great movie, but only one moment of the movie "gets" me, and that's the launch of the Saturn V. Why? Because I can watch that and think, "Hey, America built that. We can do great things, can't we?"

Since I'm such a space junkie, pretty much every similar example makes me giddy. From The Earth To The Moon was basically non-stop emotion for me. . . "we actually did this" kept coming to mind.

Too bad so much of that is gone today. . .

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Movies? The original 1930 version of All quiet on the Westrn Front.

Gee, I can't believe I missed that angle-- perhaps it's just regret that America can no longer put a man on the moon that makes me sad when I see movies about it.

Damn Nixon.

only one moment of the movie "gets" me, and that's the launch of the Saturn V. Why? Because I can watch that and think, "Hey, America built that. We can do great things, can't we?"

Sadly, he didn't live to see the movie. I think he'd have loved that part.

Blade Runner, Band of Brothers (the series) got me choked up, but only one movie ever made me cry. David Lynch's "Elephant Man". Made me cry like a newborn baby.

I Agree with Dave, especially about the monologue from Henry V - simply magnificent. Glory, Black Hawk Down, Band of Brothers, and I would even include Saving Private Ryan (for the first 20 minutes, if nothing else) as pretty strong "lump in the throat" movies. A couple others I haven't seen mentioned yet... Old Yeller (from my youth) - I mean, is there anything worse that having to shoot your own dog? - and We Were Soldiers. There are parts in the middle of We Were Soldiers that get to me, but the real clincher is the hymn, The Mansions of the Lord, sung at the end of the movie while the names of the men who died in the battle are listed. BTW... that's the West Point Glee Club doing the singing, and just the thought of young future officers singing those words for their fallen comrades is enough to push me over the edge. Then again, I was an Army officer, so that song may have more significance to me than to some others. And having Scottish/Irish/English ancestry lets me enjoy the "Sgt. MacKenzie" at the end as well!

The Champ. How can anyone not tear up to "wake up Champ, wake up!"

I do not know about crying but animal movies like the original Incredible Journey , Where the Red Fern Grows and Ol Yellar tug at the heart.

Schindler's List, when he was given the ring and lamented that his Nazi pin could have saved one, maybe two extra lives.

It's a Wonderful Life, when he realizes what good his own sacrifices had done for others.

Probably outing myself here, but Babe the kids movie about a talking pig, puts a lump in the throat at the end.

I should add that the Army recognizes some of this power of film. When I was in Infantry Officer Basic Course, during our instruction on motivation in combat, we watched scenes from Glory and Henry V (the Branagh version), among others. The battle scene from Aliens, where the platoon leader is inside his vehicle essentially watching his team get snuffed, was shown as an example of leading from the rear and what not to do. Platoon was also shown for examples of failures of leadership and discipline.

I imagine more recent classes watch SPR, BHD and BOB.

John, regarding Band of Brothers, while certain people - Winters, Compton and Guarnere, especially, and Toye, Malarkey, Lipton and a few others - were, either because of screen time or the actor's portrayals, memorable, far too many other people simply faded into the background unless you were diligent enough to pay attention.

But the larger point for me isn't that you couldn't recognize the individual soldiers, but that they weren't characters. The typical war movie is stocked with the classic stereotypes - the Stone-Cold Killer, the Malingerer, the Wise Guy, the Coward (who usually finds his courage), the Philosopher, etc. While some BOB portrayals come close to these, if only because the actual soldier was kind of like that, most of them fit one stereotype - the Soldier.

For these reasons, "Carentan" is one of the episodes I didn't like as much as others. The narrative arc was too tied to Albert Blithe, and he was essentially portrayed as the Malingerer/Coward, albeit sympathetically. But Blithe not only survived his wound (which was to the shoulder, not the neck), he won a Silver Star in Normandy, returned to the 101st for the Market Garden jump, and stayed in the Army after the war, reaching Master Sergeant and dying on active duty in 1967 of complications of a perforated ulcer.

I'm not trying to create a false dichotomy between war movies focusing on individuals=bad and those focusing on the team=good. I think a movie that works creates a sense of brotherhood, and makes you feel what it is like to lose a brother - Guarnere's and Toye's wounds, or Jamie Smith's death in Black Hawk Down. But Glory worked even though it was heavily focused on individuals and those individuals were somewhat stereotypical - the Old Man (Freeman), the Rebel (Washington), the Intellectual (Braugher), the Farm Boy (?), the Idealist (Broderick). I also liked the TV show, Tour of Duty, at least the first season when they filmed in Hawai'i and had US Army technical assistance.

"I cried at the end of 'the Dirty Dozen.' Jim Brown was throwing these hand grenades down these airshafts. And Richard Jaeckel and Lee Marvin were sitting on top of this armored personnel carrier, dressed up like Nazis... And Trini Lopez... He busted his neck while they were parachuting down behind the Nazi lines... And Richard Jaeckel - at the beginning he had on this shiny helmet... because he was the MP. Oh God! I loved that movie."

Thank you, Nora Ephron. :)

Let's not forget the "father-son relationship" theme; see Field of Dreams, Big Fish.

Forrest Gump and Lord of the Rings both make me cry, for the same reason: they're about the innocent abroad in a dangerous world--though in the latter case the Hobbits are at least aware of the risk and fighting to save their land. Poor Forrest doesn't even know what's happening to the world around him.

The destruction of innocence makes me cry, in film and especially in real life.

No one's mentioned "To Kill a Mockingbird". The end, when Robert Duvall's character saves those kids after having led a life of utter loneliness gets to me every time. Also when the black folk stand up in respect of Mr. Finch and tell the girl to do so too, " Your father's passin'". That 's strong stuff.

I'm saving this thread for the next flame war :)

Fuck, I tear up at just about everything. I think there's something psychologically wrong with me. I eat a lot of Junior Mints too.

Hell, I get choked up every time I see Heather dying in Connor's arms in Highlander. And that's some bad acting. Of course, Freddy Mercury is singing "Who Wants to Live Forever" and I think about him being dead and that doesn't fucking help.

I cried when I saw The Passion as well.

Jerry McGuire, Forrest Gump.

And if I've been smokin' weed, forget about it.

I teach a in-house English class at a large Japanese firm. About every two weeks we'll put a film on Friday to lighten the mood up a bit. Over the last two years I've shown the Dennis Quaid, based-on-a-true story, baseball flick, The Rookie, three times.

If you don't know the story... Jimmy Morris, a former college baseball player who had a chance to get into the majors but never makes it because of a chronic injury. He goes on to become a high-school science teacher / baseball coach in a small Texas farming town. Now in his mid-30s, his team, which has talent but no motivation, is on the verge of being disbanded by the school because of their poor record and lack of supporters. The coach is famous among his students for pitching really well during practices so he uses this as a bet with his team: if they can win the region then he'll go to an upcoming MLB walk-on audition and try to get a slot in the majors.

You can figure out how the story goes from there. But the movie pulls on every man's heart strings in just the right way.

I'm getting choked up now just thinking about the story and typing this. If you want to see a room of 30 and 40 something-old, Japanese salarymen reduced to gushing, tear-stained children there is absolutely nothing more potent than this film.

I dare any of you guys who have ever even just gone to a baseball game to try and watch this film all the way through and not at least feel your eyes watering up once.

John, if we had a son, I would have argued with my wife to name him "Atticus" (I might even have won).

compos, I don't know about you, but having kids turned me into mush. When I was 20 I only cried if I dropped a brick on my foot.

The two scenes in Apollo 13 that get me as much as the end, when his son asks him about he door "did they fix it?", which was crafted to get to us, and the scenes in the beginning when Grissom, Chaffee and White were killed, probably cause we lived in Canaveral at the time, and dad worked for a NASA subcontractor. First time I remember seeing him cry.

Ok, the one that gets me as much as Old Yeller, From Here to Eternity, when Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) plays taps for Maggio. Not bawling blubbery. Just a tear. Tightness in the throat. Same feeling I got when I saw Bill Guarnere and Joe Toye standing in the same place where they both lost a leg 50 years ago.

"having kids turned me into mush"

Did for me. I nearly teared up at the end of The Incredibles.

Movie crying moment:

That part in Turd-Burgling Anal Nightmare when Pluck Shaftswell pulls out of the trannie shuffleboard instructor so he can jerk off, and then he motions for all his buddies to come over and start jerking off too, but then he shoots his load too early.

That was powerful.

I didn't see anyone mention Million Dollar Baby. I was in shambles.

Pickett's charge in Gettysburg gets me. Mainly because it is based on a true story and you are watching how those men simply marched to an almost certain death.

Also the opening salvo of Saving Private Ryan.

And the scene in "The Patriot" (Mel Gibson's one) where the Brits burn the people alive in the church.

he shoots his load too early.

ROFLMAO.

Talk about regret.

Glory is an obvious movie of this type. My favorite character in Glory is the Cary Elwes character - Major Forbes. He doesn't "have" to join the 54th like Shaw (Broderick's character) did. He's going along to support his buddy.

I can't cry for chick-flicks, but RoboCop always tears me apart.

I'm a little late in posting on this topic so it might not be read at all, but I thought this poem seemed appropriate to the discussion. I think I originally saw it over at NRO in one of Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus, so credit goes to him. It moved me enough to save it.

The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna

NOT a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corpse to the rampart we hurried:
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.
We bureid him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning;
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light
And the lantern dimly burning.
No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Not in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest,
With his martial cloak around him.
Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead,
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.
We thought, as we hollow'd his narrow bed
And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
And we far away on the billow!
Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,
And o'er his ashes upbraid him;
But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on
In the grave where a Briton has laid him.
But half of our heavy task was done
When the clock struck the hour for retiring,
And we heard the distant and random gun
That the foe was sullenly firing.
Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
But we left him alone with his glory.