Curious to hear the first time you realized a movie could invoke such a strong emotional response. What movie were you watching and what scene was it?

Could have been a sobbing full on breakdown....or the sexy cry where just a few tears roll down the cheek. But definitely more than just a "lump in the throat" that was hard to swallow.

And if possible to remember, how did you feel afterward?

For me, I can't be 100% certain but I think the first one for me was Terminator 2 (obvious ending). I was somewhere between 8-10 and got completely sucked in to the story. So when I saw Arnie step out over the ledge and get lowered down....the damn music and the classic thumbs up at the end.....ya, this little boy lost it.

I remember being shocked afterwards. I didn't realize that was possible and certainly not in a movie like I had been watching. I still remember clear as day sitting on the couch in the living room with my dad, and for that moment forgetting there was anyone else in the rooom, and the only care I had was for the characters on screen that I had grown to love over the last 2 hours.

Odly enough I had seen The Lion King before this and didn't cry at all.

How bout y'all?

Probably My Girl.

Never saw it. That's the one with Maculy Kulkin isn't it?

Ernest Goes to Camp.

Ernest accidentally sold off the camp to the evil capitalists and was shamed by everyone he cared about. He walked off in the rain and sang a sad song and i bawled while my fellow 2nd grade buddies i was having a sleepover with were already asleep.

Then 10 minutes later a cherry bomb was placed in a toilet and launched via catapult and i smiled again.

Can't remember, but it's probably one of these two very different movies: Where the Red Fern Grows or Steel Magnolias.


I had seen Ol Yeller as a kid prior to either of those two but I grew up on a farm and putting sick/hurt animals down had been a part of life so I could see what was coming in OY without much surprise thus it didn't bother me too much. WTRFG caught me totally by surprise though for some reason.

Steel Magnolias was probably the first "chick flick" type movie I ever watched. It hit me at a funny time in life when I'd lost three close family members in a matter of about 12 months, I'd seen my mother go through a lot of the same emotions that Sally Field went through and the other female characters were almost exact replicas of my mother's sisters (she was one of ten kids....7 of which were girls). I can remember tearing up and feeling REALLY weirded out by it as a 12-13 year old boy.

Brian's Song. 1971, ABC Movie of the Week.

jeffk said:

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Probably My Girl.

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Same

Rocky IV

Short Circuit

Old Yeller

E.T.

Old Yeller

Not kidding

Field of Dreams

The Champ.

Fox and the Hound

Old Yeller followed closely by Rocky and King Kong.

Turner and Hooch

Lonesome Dove the scene when Gus dies.

There are three scenes in that movie that still get to me til this day no matter how many times I watch them.

AliasMan02 said:

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Turner and Hooch

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Same.

Rudy. Every time I watch it.

Some on this list surprise me. I'll go ahead and give my man card up.

Titanic followed immediately by Braveheart (released at the same time and both were ugly cries)

First time I really remember being kicked in the feels.

"I'll never let go Jack"
-titanic

"FREEEEDOMMMMMM"
-Braveheart

Both James Horner soundtracks by the way!! RIP bud!

It was either "Shane" or a TV movie in the late 70's or very early 80's called "Bill" about a mentally challenged old man starring Mickey Rooney.

Also, gotta give props to those that listed Brian's Song and The Champ.

First movie to get me choked up? Not sure. Maybe Braveheart.

First movie to actually bring tears down my face? Not kidding... the Lego Movie. And the gf (now wife) called me out on it in front of the whole family.

No shame in crying at the Lego Movie, but it was the part where Charlie Day finally gets to build the space ship. And it wasn't the first time I'd seen the movie..

Many movies have made me choke up: Where the Red Fern Grows, Turner and Hooch, Marley and Me, and Fox and the Hound, but only one movie has ever made me release tears and that was Toy Story 3. Watching the ending with my three year old sitting next to me was just about the hardest thing I've watched in a movie. I looked over at my wife and she was flat out balling.

it's a documentary but Gleason had one particular moment that had me crying like I never had before in a movie.

highly recommended by the way.

FWAppraiser said:

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Rudy. Every time I watch it.

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Same. When he runs into the field for the first time at the end I lost it. Don't remember tearing up in a movie before that.

This is why I wanted to make this thread. Film is so incredible in what it can bring out, and the first time a movie hits you in the feels can be pretty incredible and have a huge variance in what films trigger it.

If you don't mind sharing I'm curious to hear what got you in Short Circuit.

Probably Old Yeller or Beaches; I can't exactly recall the timing of the first one. For sure My Girl.

Over the years unexpected tear jerkers included Turner and Hooch, Josh going back into his house at the end of Big (his mom screaming), the floating lantern scene at the end of Tangled, and Hope Floats when the dad drives away and Bertie runs after him. End of Toy Story 3 for sure.

ummmm...... still waiting......

I've come very very close. I would not say I've ever cried but I've been very emotional and teared up at least at

Schindler's List
Marley and Me
Dead Poet's Society
Good Will Hunting
Toy Story 3

Not a movie, but the scene where Saracen is burying his father in Friday Night Lights. Kid should have gotten an Emmy for that scene alone.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Sounds weird, but I grew up without my real dad and really took the guy filling in for him for granted for the most part until recently. When Yondu died and his funeral scene played, I lost it in the theater. I haven't cried in that scene since, but gives me a lump in my throat every time.

The end of Lone Survivor, showing the pictures of the guys that died with their families is difficult to get through.

Transformers

5 year old me couldn't handle Optimus's death