100 Greatest Tearjerkers

[¡Cereal Killer!]

I think Kev trying to put a stop to his bullying should be in there, certainly bringing a tear to my eye (of laughter mind you)


I cry everytime when Jenny dies in Forest Gump and Forest is talking to her while standing at her grave, very sad indeed *get me a tissue*

 

[Brixtaan]

Annoyed i missed it due to Oceans 11 but caught the last 15.Thanks for posting the list scarface.

I'm obviously manly enough to cope with these scenes:

1) Shawshank: when the old man hangs himself.
2)Last of the Mohicans: the girl jumps off the cliff
3)Armageddon: when the first shuttle goes down

 

[cdavis]

Lush; Absolutely spot on......must be about the same age...lol..!

 

[Biscuit]

We had to study 'Secrets and Lies' for my film course.

My teacher started crying halfway through and we got the lesson off.

 

[The Large One]

100 - Midnight Cowboy


The first X-rated (18) film to win an Oscar, John Schlesinger's bleak street-life drama features top-notch performances from Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. Voight is Joe Buck, the Texan dreamer who travels to New York intending to make his fortune as a gigolo; Hoffman is the ailing Rizzo who becomes friends with Joe after attempting to scam him. The lump in the throat moment has got to be when Rizzo is dying on the bus to Miami, and Joe holds him in his arms with tender friendship.

Read our review Buy the DVD
99 - The Kid


Written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin, The Kid stands as one of the comedian's most successful films, a satirical - and partly biographical - look at life in the slums of London. Chaplin's Tramp takes care of an abandoned child in a 'picture with a smile, and perhaps a tear', as the opening title card hints. The scene in which Chaplin and the child are fighting off the social workers intent on separating them certainly evokes the latter.

Read our review Buy the DVD
98 - Gladiator


Ridley Scott revived the Roman epic with computer-generated imagery and a mighty performance from Russell Crowe. When Roman general Maximus (Crowe) is double-crossed by the dangerous, nay deranged, new emperor Joaquin Phoenix, all he wants is to avenge his family. The experienced soldier fights his way up the gladiatorial league charts until he's the darling of the Colosseum and gets his chance for revenge over the emperor. Those watching Gladiator will be moved by Crowe's visions of his family in the afterlife, as he lies dying. Even more poignant is the sight of the late Oliver Reed, giving it all, in his final ever film.

Read our review Buy the DVD
97 - Blue Peter


And here's one we made earlier. Blue Peter is the stuff of children's TV legend and began being broadcast in 1958. Presenters have come and gone, but it's the animals that cause the most grief to the show's producers in terms of upsetting the kids. Most famous, is the story of the first Blue Peter pet Petra, a mongrel puppy introduced on the show wrapped in Christmas paper in 1962. Unfortunately, the dog died two days later, leaving the producers scrambling around trying to find an identical dog, so as not to upset viewers. Petra II fooled the kids and stayed on the show until 1977. On Petra's death, the grief among the nation's school children was so overwhelming that a bronze statue of the dog was put up at the front of the BBC.

96 - Death In Venice


Dirk Bogarde plays an ageing composer who reassesses his life when his eyes alight on a beautiful teenage boy in Luchino Visconti's majestic film. His character, Von Aschenbach, has lived by a restrictive moral code, but he finds salvation in the angelic-looking boy. Unfortunately, Aschenbach is dying, leading to a heartbreaking scene where he lies on the beach watching the boy, knowing that his time is over.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
95 - Popstars The Rivals


The TV phenomenon that has transformed ordinary people into popstars (as well as the size of Simon Fuller's wallet) really knows how to stir up emotion in the audience. Not only must they sit through the excruciating open castings, where some of the world's worst singers try to sing like Robbie Williams, but also then watch in horror as one of the tearful hopefuls gets voted out each week. The show's most moving moment came in Popstars The Rivals, when a weeping Pete was forced to admit he was too old to be in One True Voice.

94 - The Passion Of The Christ


Mel Gibson charts the agony of Christ's final hours in this controversial and bloody telling of the Gospels. On course to being the biggest grossing film of all time, The Passion Of The Christ didn't give Mel Gibson's bank manager anything to cry about, but for Christians around the world watching the fate of Christ touched a nerve. Unbearably violent, this blockbuster retelling of the crucifixion has left many weeping in their cinema seats.

Read our review
93 - Now, Voyager


Bette Davis steals the show in this atmospheric glum to glamour chick flick. Charlotte Vale (Davis) is dominated by her bossy mother, but is transformed by a sympathetic doctor. She embarks upon an ill-fated love affair with a married man, which leads not to a successful union with him, but a close friendship with his daughter. The stirring final scene sees Davis declare 'Why ask for the moon when we can have the stars?'

Read our review
92 - Etre Et Avoir


It's a tough job making a film about children without being sentimental, but director Nicolas Philibert achieves it effortlessly with this documentary charting the final term of French schoolteacher Georges Lopez. Monsieur Lopez is a wise, heroic figure, only letting his composure slip at the very end of term when he's wishing the children good luck for the future. The audience however, will be shedding tears long before that at the touching moment when he talks philosophically with a boy whose father is ill.

Read our review Buy the DVD
91 - Live And Kicking


An early nineties cornerstone of Saturday morning kids telly, Live And Kicking was the first time a BBC children's show became a brand to outlive the departure of presenters. Having been promoted out of Going Live's broom cupboard, Andi Peters was the original Live And Kicking co-host (alongside Emma Forbes). After a glorious three years, Peters announced his departure from the Beeb in March 1996. His last show was a hubbub of bawling, as Peters sobbed uncontrollably and Forbes struggled to control herself. Between the pair of them, the show was a snivelling mess.

90 - Love Actually


Is Love Actually a kitchen-sink drama? Coming from the man behind Four Weddings And A Funeral, that seems unlikely. But Richard Curtis has, actually, thrown in everything but the kitchen sink for his directorial debut and comes up with a good, old-fashioned, bums-on-seats crowd-pleaser. Crammed with the cream of British acting talent, it deals with love in all its guises, whether it be romantic, platonic, filial or fulfilled, unrequited, unspoken or unattainable. The result is an often funny, memorable and affecting story.

Read a review
89 - Touching The Void


Touching The Void is a stunning docudrama about a 1985 mountaineering expedition that went horribly wrong, told in the words of the survivors. Joe Simpson and Simon Yates attempted to scale the Siula Grande Mountain in Peru, a feat that had never previously been achieved. Things went horribly wrong. Firstly, Joe fell and broke his leg and then Simon accidentally lowered him over an overhang. With no other way out, Simon cut the rope. The amazing story of how Joe survived the fall and made it back to base camp is incredibly moving; especially the moment when he admits the feeling of loneliness he experienced when he thought he was about to die.

Read our review Buy the DVD
88 - Changing Rooms


Re-decorating your living space can be very emotional - particularly if you hand that responsibility over to a set of people who have no idea what you do and don't dislike. As Changing Rooms proved time and time again, while some are happy to have their homes painted in all the colours of the rainbow, others are less ecstatic to find their bedroom painted pink and adorned with rose-patterned duvet covers. With a bra and pants set mounted on the wall....

87 - Shane


A gunfighter tries to start a new life only to become involved in a brutal battle with local cattle barons in this classic Western. As morally ambiguous as any film of its era, Shane questions everything from the rule of law to society's over-dependence on role models. Those who find the film cliched should realise that Shane wasn't so much homaging Western staples as setting them in stone. The film's final scene, in which our hero rides off into the sunset whilst a little boy cries out 'come back Shane', remains one of cinema's most heartbreaking.

Read our review Buy the DVD
86 - A Matter Of Life Or Death


Originally commissioned by the wartime Ministry of Information to bolster relations between Britain and the US, Powell and Pressburger's compassionate film is part romance, part surrealist courtroom drama. David Niven is the RAF pilot who cheats death, due to the clerical error of an angel. Having fallen in love with a young American woman, he must appear before a celestial court to plead for a second chance at life. The moment when his girlfriend's tear is used to defend Niven's life in the celestial court always has cinema audiences in floods.

Read our review Buy the DVD
85 - 42 Up


In 1964, 14 boys and girls from all walks of life were picked to be part of a unique series of TV documentaries that would follow their progress all the way into adulthood. The first show was called 7 Up and was based on the Jesuit maxim, "give me the child at seven and I will show you the man." Thirty-five years later, 42 Up told the story of the adults. It was made even more riveting, and sad, by story of Neil. At the age of seven, he was a charismatic seven-year-old from a wealthy family; at twenty-eight he was in the throws of a nervous breakdown and at thirty-five he was homeless.

84 - Magnificent Obsession


The plot might sound a little ludicrous, but Douglas Sirk's 1950s melodrama, with its brilliant use of colour, composition, and a strong cast, transforms something potentially glib into something great. Wealthy playboy Bob (Hudson) is involved in the death of a kindly doctor, then - in an accident - blinds his widow. To make amends, he devotes his life to studying medicine in an attempt to restore her sight. The scene in which the blinded Helen discovers there is nothing the European doctors can do to help her, only for Bob to turn up from America to tell her he will look after her, is sure to get your tear-ducts working.

Read our review
83 - Ordinary People


Robert Redford's first foray behind the camera garnered four Oscars, including Best Picture. Overcome with grief following the death of a teenage son, an affluent American family disintegrates into dysfunction. This simple tale of loss and repression becomes immensely powerful, and by the time the mother (Mary Tyler Moore) packs up and leaves the home, leaving the father (Donald Sutherland) and remaining son behind on the doorstep, you might be feeling a little emotional yourself.

Read our review Buy the DVD
82 - Faking It


Channel 4's Faking It challenges contestants to learn a new profession, which is far removed from their previous experiences. After a month of training, they then try to hoodwink an expert panel of judges into believing that they are not the "fake". One episode of the show involving an Ex-naval officer who trains to become a drag queen proved to be especially emotional. Spence Bowdler initially refused to wear a dress, but after enduring singing lessons, waxing and high heels, he broke down in tears of joy after foxing the judges.

81 - Spartacus


The essential historical epic, and a forebear of Gladiator, this tale of a slave rebellion from Kubrick and producer/star Kirk Douglas is a true classic. Douglas is the famous slave trained to be a gladiator who turned on his Roman masters and led a rebellion that shook the empire in around 73 BC. That Spartacus would get so close to victory and yet fail at the last makes the story incredibly moving. It's hard to hold back the tears when, after a bloody battle, the Romans demand that the rebel be captured, only for his men to stand up one by one and call out 'I'm Spartacus'.

80 - Face To Face Interview


In the 1950s, Gilbert Harding was Britain's biggest television star, a larger than life figure who revelled in his status as the country's 'rudest man'. He was also a practising homosexual, at a time when it was still illegal in the UK. John Freeman famously tried to 'out' Harding in his BBC Face To Face interview in 1960. An audience of 11m people watched in horror as the star was reduced to tears when Freeman insisted that he talk about the death of his mother. The event made Harding a national hero and Freeman a hate figure.

79 - Animal Hospital


Things may look grim at the beginning of Animal Hospital when a distressed pet is brought in for treatment, but normally, by the end, a full recovery is made. Unfortunately for Flossie the dog, this was not the case. When he appeared on the programme, the vet had the difficult task of telling his owner that he wouldn't recover. The tough-looking male owner then kissed his dog goodbye, hugged Rolf Harris and started to cry.

78 - Love Story


Cliched and corny, this 70s weepie was almost universally slated by the critics. The cinema-going public ignored the cynical hacks and lapped up the saga of family feuding and malingering disease which tears grief-stricken lovers Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal apart. The whole film is pretty much designed to have you sobbing into your popcorn, but we'll plump for a dying MacGraw bidding a final farewell to O'Neal from her hospital bed.

Read our review Buy the DVD
77 - Derek Redmond at The Olympics


The Olympic Games have produced so many emotional moments, but Derek Redmond's 400m semi-final run in Barcelona in 1992 produced drama to live long in the memory. 175m into the race, Redmond pulled his right hamstring. Rather than giving up, he rose to his feet and decided to finish the race. Unable to bear his son's agony, Jim Redmond ran onto the track to help. Millions around the world choked back the tears as the father-son team made it over the finish-line.

76 - Cathy Come Home


Ken Loach's important TV drama tells the story of a young woman who marries, has children and who then, when her husband suffers a terrible accident, is plunged into poverty to such an extent that she loses her home and finally, her children. Applauded for its realistic depiction of poverty and homelessness, Cathy Come Home has become a British TV classic. The whole tale is harrowing in its nature, but the final scene in which Cathy's children are taken away is especially devastating.

75 - Inspector Morse


One of the most beloved institutions of British television, Inspector Morse finally hung up his hat in 2000, with the 33rd and final instalment, 'The Remorseful Day'. Essentially a detective drama set in and around Oxford, it was the character of Morse himself, a mildly cantankerous figure so ably embodied by John Thaw, which helped maintain the show's popularity. The Inspector's death in the final episode is made all the more poignant by Thaw's subsequent death as a result of cancer.

74 - Monsoon Wedding


A vivacious, sensual and ultimately moving ensemble piece about an Indian family's wedding preparations. As relatives and friends converge, a host of issues emerge. Amongst the excitement and anticipation of the union, various secrets are uncovered. Emotions run high during the scene where the bride's cousin reveals she was abused by her uncle - prompting her father to stand up to the perpetrator.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
73 - The Remains Of The Day


Anthony Hopkins stars in this definitive Merchant-Ivory film, adapted from the novel about class, love and repression by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in an English country house just before the Second World War, Hopkins is a repressed butler, kept from revealing his love for Emma Thompson by a chronic case of British reserve. Such are the performances of the two leads that you can almost feel the aching in their hearts. When Hopkins fails to express his love for Thompson and can only hold his hand up to his face in pain, you'll be weeping along with him.

Read our review Buy the DVD
72 - The Royle Family


The original and successful sitcom about a Northern family who spend their time watching the television was one of the hottest comedies of the 1990s. The Royle Family are just like many other families and that's what makes them so loveable! The real point of the programme is that there isn't one. There is no plot, there is no farce or slapstick, and there is no comedy star! There are no jokes. The nation took Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston's family to their hearts. The ordinariness of the whole thing gave scenes like Tomlinson's heart-to-heart with Caroline Aherne in a bathroom just before she gave birth even more emotional punch.

71 - Mr Holland's Opus


Richard Dreyfuss is the titular Mr Holland, a musician and composer who reluctantly takes a teaching job to pay the rent while working on his masterpiece. Stuck in the job, he comes to realise that imparting his passion for music to his students is his life's real major opus. Hankies at the ready when Holland mimes/ sings Lennon's 'Beautiful Boy' to his deaf son as an act of regret.

70 - Rocky


The ultimate American dream movie. Rocky comes from nothing, bashes the hell out of everybody, makes a fortune and finds love - and all to the accompaniment of a pounding soundtrack. The film also launched writer-star Sylvester Stallone's career into the stardom stratosphere. You won't want to cry, but you won't be able to help yourself when they triumphant champ cries out for his fiance at the end of the world title fight - ADRIAN!

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
69 - Cold Feet


The ever popular Cold Feet culminated with the tragic death of Rachel in a car accident, and the final episode of Cold Feet centres on Adam's struggle to come to terms with her death. At the funeral, he makes an emotionally-charged speech, saying that he can still see her, and those who can't only need to look at their young son, Matthew, to remember her.

68 - Whale Rider


Set on the east coast of New Zealand, this picturesque fable concerns itself with the ageing chief of a Maori tribe and his granddaughter Pai - named after the tribe's mythic founder Paikea, 'the Whale Rider'. Pai believes herself to be the next tribe leader, but her grandfather rejects the notion of a female chief, because centuries of patriarchal tradition dictate a male heir. Newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes gives an astonishing performance as the young girl desperate for her grandfather's love and acceptance Her failure to hold back the tears when he fails to turn up for her school performance is particularly poignant.

Read our review Buy the DVD
67 - Coronation Street


The famous soap based around the imaginary town of Weatherfield, Manchester, is the longest running TV show in the UK, having first been screened in 1960. As a result, it has delivered over 40 years of trauma, but standout moments of sadness include the death of Stan Ogden after being in the show for 30 years and Alma losing her battle with cancer.

66 - The Bicycle Thieves


When Antonio, an impoverished young father desperate to earn a crust, lands a job in Rome as a bill-poster, he is distraught when the bicycle he needs in order to do his work is stolen. The film follows the father and son's increasingly hopeless quest to get the bicycle back.

Read our review
65 - Boys From The Blackstuff


Alan Bleasedale's gritty black comedy, set against the bleak backdrop of unemployment in Liverpool during Thatcher's Britain, followed the lives of a group of tarmac layers living on life's scrapheap. Screened in the early 1980s, actor Bernard Hill won a BAFTA for his heartbreaking portrayal of Yosser Hughes, a once proud man, stripped of his job, family and dignity. Another story involved actor Michael Angelis, as a man reduced to searching for money down the back of his sofa, who kills his geese after cracking up at the desperation of his situation.

64 - The Way We Were


A textbook example of an opposites-attract love story, this film stars Barbra Streisand as a feisty radical Communist, and Robert Redford as a politically uninvolved naval officer. They have nothing at all in common, but are nonetheless attracted to one another time and time again, and their story progresses through World War II and the McCarthy era. Key moments include Streisand's desperate phone message after being jilted by the 'love of her life', and the last time the couple see each outside the New York Plaza hotel.

Read our review Buy the DVD
63 - Shadowlands


The film version of the play that dramatised the relationship between British author CS Lewis and American poet Joy Gresham, directed by Richard Attenborough. Anthony Hopkins gives another fine portrayal of British reserve as the author whose stuffy life is changed forever when he falls in love with Debra Winger. The wonderful performances of the two leads generate genuine emotion and you'll be choking back the tears when Winger dies and Hopkins tries to comfort her young son.

Read our review Buy the video Read our feature
62 - Lassie Come Home


Heart-warming caper or sentimental slush, whichever way you look at it, the real star of this movie is the titular canine, despite appearances by a young Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall. After being sold to a rich Duke, Lassie (actually a male dog called Pal) embarks upon a journey across the country to re-join her family. The ahhh/ argh factor comes at the end of the mutt's journey, when the family's small son is reunited with 'man's best friend'.

Read our review
61 - An Affair To Remember


Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are both engaged to someone else when they fall in love on board a cruise ship bound for New York. When they meet it's love at first sight but, in order to make sure of their feelings for each other, they agree to both be at the top of the Empire State building in six months' time if they still feel the same. The tears flow when Cary Grant discovers the real reason that Kerr failed to show up in this classic weepy.

60 - Gazza's World Cup Tears


Having struggled early on in the Italia 90 World Cup, England had changed formation, found form and made it all the way to a semi-final match with Germany. Paul Gascoigne set the tournament alight with a series of dazzling performances but, as we all know, it would all end in tears. Late in a challenge, Gazza received a yellow card, which meant he would miss the final if England made it. The whole of England watched as Gazza burst into tears, and then wept itself as England went out on penalties.

59 - The Pianist


Roman Polanski returns to form with this true story-based account of Wladyslaw Szpilman, "the greatest pianist in Poland - maybe even the whole world", as he aims to evade capture by the Nazis in war-torn Warsaw. Adrien Brody bagged an Oscar for his performance as the musician, forced to hide out for the duration of the Second World War in a crumbling city. Polanski's film rivals Schindler's List in terms of emotional power and the scene in which Brody is forced to play the piano for a Nazi, literally for his life, is nearly unbearable.

Read our review Buy the DVD
58 - Cinema Paradiso


Richly sentimental, and brimming with a contagious love of movies, this Academy Award winner is heart-warming, escapist and inspiring to armchair filmmakers everywhere. A famous director returns to the village where he grew up and relives the moments in his life that made him the man he is. Most of these centre on the local fleapit, the Cinema Paradiso, and projectionist Philippe Noiret, who became a surrogate father offering advice on how to live a life well. The film's most touching moment comes when the director watches a montage of screen kisses left behind by his childhood friend in the cinema.

Read our review Buy the DVD
57 - The Pride Of Britain Awards


The Pride of Britain Awards, which began in 1999, were created to pay tribute to the outstanding men, women and children who make Britain great. The stars turn out in force to present awards to ordinary member of the public who have done extraordinary things. The very nature of some of their stories makes The Pride Of Britain Awards awe inspiring. Some of the most moving winners include a little girl saving her father when he fell into a diabetic coma, a teenager who risked all to rescue his friend from power lines and young Kirsty Howard, who captured the hearts of the nation (including the Beckhams) in her battle against terminal illness.

56 - Jerry Maguire


An unashamedly old-fashioned crowd pleaser, featuring Tom Cruise as a sports agent whose crisis of conscience forces him out of a job and onto the scrapheap. Cuba Gooding Jr is the loyal football pro who sticks by him (and coined the infamous "Show me the money!" catchphrase) and Renee Zellweger plays the single mum love interest. The slushy speech when Maguire (Cruise) pleads for a second chance, culminating with Zellweger's "You had me at hello" reply, is sure to raise a lump of some description in your throat.

Read our review
55 - Steve Redgrave's 5th Gold Medal


Redgrave created one of those 'where were you?' moments when he won a historic fifth gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Having won his first in LA in 1984, then in Seoul and Barcelona, Redgrave famously remarked that anyone who saw him near a boat could shoot him after winning a fourth in Atlanta, in 1996. However, he was back rowing again come Sydney. What makes Redgrave's achievement even more remarkable were the odds against him. Rowing received minimal financial sponsorship for most of his career and the relentless training had taken its toll. A diabetic Redgrave wept for joy after crossing the line first and the whole nation cried too.

54 - Born Free


Based on the true story of Joy and George Adamson, who raised a lion cub on their game reserve until she was ready to set off into the big wide world. The popular drama spawned a sequel and a TV series, but the real tears flowed at the end of the first film when a devastated Adamson couple finally released their pride and joy back into the wild.

Read our review Buy the DVD
53 - The Railway Children


Jenny Agutter and Bernard Cribbins star in this enduring adaptation of E Nesbit's classic children's story. After their father disappears, three Edwardian children move to the country where the local railway becomes a source of hope and adventure. Sensitive without being sentimental, moving but never quite mawkish, Lionel Jeffries' adaptation of E Nesbit's book succeeds on the back of its quiet wit, great performances, and its refusal to patronise. You'll be holding back the tears when the children's father returns in the final scene.

Read our review Buy the DVD
52 - Eastenders


The residents of Albert Square have had their fair share of tearjerker moments - especially around Christmas. From Albert's death in prison, Den's disappearance and astonishing return, Little Mo's abuse at the hands of Trevor and Kat and Alfie's wedding, Walford has seen many good and bad times. Saddest of all was the funeral of long-time favourite Mark Fowler, after he died of AIDS.

51 - Big Brother


It's hard to feel pity for any celebrity that has a hard time after desperately going on Big Brother to try to resurrect what's left of their career, but Vanessa Feltz really suffered. 11m people tuned in to watch Vanessa press the self-destruct button on the Comic Relief Celebrity Big Brother. Voted out and unable to deal with her unpopularity, she wailed like a spoilt child and scribbled words like "frustrated" on a table, before telling Big Brother to "f*** off". Mark Owen would later cry tears of joy upon winning.

50 - Jean De Florette


A modern tale of avarice and peasant unpleasantry, adapted from Marcel Pagnol's novel, Jean De Florette depicts a naﶥ city dweller (Gerard Depardieu), who inherits a farm in turn of the century Provence. However, his dreams of building a rabbit farm are ruined by his greedy neighbour (Yves Montand). As the tragedy unfolds, the realisation that he was responsible for killing his own illegitimate son hits Montand - and us - especially hard.

Read our review Buy the DVD
49 - The Incredible Journey


Endearing family film from Disney, about three pets - Bodger, a bull terrier, Tao, a Siamese cat, and Luath, a Labrador retriever - who are thrown into the (beautifully photographed) Canadian wilderness and must survive the hazards of a 250-mile journey to reunite with their owners. The film's furry heroes all have wonderfully human qualities, and the 'ahhh' factor really takes hold when they finally make it home at the end of their adventures.

Read our review
48 - The Color Purple


Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey turn in wonderful performances in Steven Spielberg's takes on Alice Walker's controversial novel of African-American womanhood. The film follows the story of Celie (Goldberg) - raped and abused by her stepfather, then by her husband, denied a voice because she's female, black, poor and ugly ? isn't supposed to be the stuff of blockbusters, but Spielberg's skill and sentimentality and the quality of the acting make it a heartbreaking watch.

Read our review Buy the DVD
47 - Breakfast At Tiffany's


Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard sparkle to the memorable refrain of 'Moon River' in this charming fairy tale about a lost girl looking for love in the big city. Romantic comedy is a difficult genre to perfect, and it has rarely been done as well as it is here. Hepburn and Peppard create the kind of screen chemistry that comes along all too rarely and there isn't a dry eye left in the house when the two of them finally get it together in the New York rain.

Read our review Buy the DVD
46 - Goodbye Mr Chips


The cream of British acting talent appears in this deeply nostalgic take on the passing of old England. Robert Donat's Mr Chips recalls his life as a schoolteacher, from his first arriving at the school to becoming one of its elder statesmen and the impact he has had on the lives of many generations of children. Thanks to Donat's performance, it is impossible not to be moved by moments like the passing of his wife, Greer Garson, in childbirth and his close relationship with his students.

Read our review Buy the DVD
45 - Gallipoli


Peter Weir's highly effective retelling of the Anzac's attempt to take control of Gallipoli in Turkey during the First World War. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee are two Australian lads, who join the army, become sprint rivals and finally, friends. They are sent to the Dardanelles to take part in Australia's disastrous campaign to free the region. As Gibson races to deliver a message that would save the life of his friend, the soldiers are ordered over the top to their deaths. The shot of Mark Lee sprinting towards the guns to his death, is one of cinema's most moving scenes.

Read our review Buy the DVD
44 - Kes


One of his earliest films, Ken Loach's raw, truthful re-telling of Barry Hines' gritty story is a moving account of a boy's alienation and isolation in a Yorkshire mining town of the 1960s. Awkward teenager Billy Caspar (David Bradley) has a miserable home life and a lousy existence at school. A chance discovery of a baby kestrel gives Billy a opportunity to nurture and develop, and the cruel murder of the bird by Billy's brother pains us for Billy, as much as for the baby Kes.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
43 - Doctor Zhivago


Beautifully crafted 193-minute opus from the master of epic cinema, David Lean. A turbulent love story set against the fiery backdrop of the Bolshevik revolution. Omar Sharif charms both Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin, and the rest of the female world, as the handsome and poetic Yuri. Doctor Zhivago was savaged by the critics on its release, but audiences flocked to it and the film has become a famous weepy. The tears flow Zhivago chases Christie, through the city streets, only to die before he can reach her.

Read our review Buy the DVD
42 - Breaking The Waves


Lars Von Trier won a sackful of plaudits and awards for this disquieting and confrontational film - a howling commentary on love, religion and death. Emily Watson is the newly wed Bess, whose husband insists that she sleep with other men after he is crippled in an accident. Although reluctant at first, Bess becomes convinced that her sacrifice will make God cure him and events spiral downwards towards a truly heartbreaking conclusion.

Read our review Buy the DVD
41 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service


George Lazenby briefly stepped into 007's shoes for one of the best films in the series (the only one in which Bond gets married). Gambling all in a grudge match against Telly Savalas' Blofeld, who is threatening to unleash biological warfare, Bond's loyalties are torn between his country and the woman he loves (Diana Rigg). The scene in which 007 loses his wife, and the credits roll to the sound of 'All The Time In The World', is all the more moving for being one of the few times Bond seems truly vulnerable.

40 - Coronation Street


The famous soap based around the imaginary town of Weatherfield, Manchester, is the longest running TV show in the UK, having first been screened in 1960. As a result, it has delivered over 40 years of trauma, but standout moments of sadness include the death of Stan Ogden after being in the show for 30 years and Alma losing her battle with cancer.

39 - Gareth Southgate penalty kick


After 30 years of hurt, England got the chance to play in another major tournament on home soil at Euro 96. Have beaten Scotland, demolished Holland 4-1 and with Gazza playing like he was back in Italy, they were through to another semi-final match with Germany. The game ended 1-1 after extra time - with Anderton and Gazza both inches away from scoring winning goals. A nerve shredding penalty shoot-out was level at 5-5, when a plucky young Gareth Southgate stepped up. The nation screamed "hit-it", but the German keeper easily saved his tame effort and the tears followed.

38 - Who Will Love My Children?


Poor, minimally educated Iowa mother, Lucile Fray, learns on the birth of her tenth child that she is dying of cancer and sets out to find foster homes for them all. This devastatingly sad, American made for TV movie starring Anne-Margret manages to avoid being as depressing as it might have been. Still, it's hard not to sob whilst Lucile first tells her children that she is going to die and then begins to hand them over to their new parents.

37 - Miss World


Think beauty, think drama, think controversy, think tears, think Miss World. Founded by Eric Morley in the UK in 1951, Miss World became hugely successful after the BBC started broadcasting the event in 1959. Controversy has never been far behind the tears of the winners and losers. Marjorie Wallace was forced to resign as the 1973 winner for serial dating, and who could forget the 2002 Miss World, abandoned because of riots in Nigeria. Possibly the most tears were shed by Mary Stavin, whose moment of glory in 1977 was overshadowed by a UN boycott of the event and a protest walkout by six contestants due to the South African entry.

36 - Kramer Vs Kramer


This 70s divorce drama bagged Oscars for both Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as the titular Kramers battling it out in the custodial court. After his wife walks out on him, Kramer is left looking after their son, until Mrs Kramer returns to reclaim their boy. The leads convey real emotional conflict, and one of several effective moments occurs when Kramer reads aloud the letter from 'Mommy', as the little boy lies in bed with tears in his eyes.

Read our review Buy the DVD
35 - Casablanca


With nearly every line of its script engraved on the collective unconscious, and the central performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman defining iconic cool, Casablanca is an exultant classic. Bogart is an avowed cynic, having had his heart broken some years ago, whose wartime world is turned upside down when Bergman walks into his bar. Every scene is a classic, but save your tears for the moment the stars bid farewell to each other at the airfield and Bogart says "Here's looking at you kid".

Read our review Buy the DVD
34 - Life Is Beautiful


This Oscar-winning comedy plays the Holocaust for laughs, with Italian Jew Guido (Roberto Benigni) turning the horrific reality of a concentration camp into a vivid fantasy land in order to his shield his young son Joshua from the terrible truth. Although the film begins as slapstick, there are obvious undertones of darkness, and one particular lump in the throat moment comes when Guido play-acts at being a soldier in an attempt to escape and gets shot in front of his son.

Read our review Buy the DVD
33 - Romeo And Juliet


For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo. Zeffirelli's 1968 movie is not as gutsy or MTV as Baz Luhrmann's version, but it has greater emotional sweep and beauty. The masterful Italian director ravishingly dresses and photographs his youthful actors and it's impossible not to be swept up in Shakespeare's heartbreaking tale of doomed love. Few stories have as sad an ending as the moment Romeo takes his life next to his beloved Juliet, only for her to awaken moments later.

Read our review
32 - Secrets And Lies


Mike Leigh's superb comedy-drama of family relationships. Heart-rending, bitter and delightful by turn. The story centres on a woman, Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn), whose mid-life crisis is exacerbated by the appearance on the scene of the daughter she gave away at birth, the wonderfully named Hortense Cumberbatch (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) - a young, beautiful, professional black woman who causes a few eyebrows to be raised in the family, and forces Cynthia to come to terms with her past. The film's final family confrontation, where all the secrets are painfully dragged out, is tearjerkingly poignant.

Read our review Buy the DVD
31 - A Star Is Born


Judy Garland's attempt to revive her flagging career after the infamy of her dismissal from MGM in 1950 turned out to be a triumph. One of the saddest Hollywood heartbreakers of all time, the story of a hoofer (Garland) spotted by a fading star (James Mason) who helps her shoot to fame, is made all the more poignant by Garland's real life story. As she grows more famous, Mason descends deeper into alcoholism, leading to tears all round when Garland finally breaks down in her dressing room at the pain of it all.

30 - The Killing Fields


Perhaps the most harrowing film of the 1980s, The Killing Fields is unstinting in its visceral portrayal of the Cambodian Holocaust. American journalist Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) and local guide Dith Pran (Haing S Ngor) are documenting the civil war in Cambodia, but as the Khmer Rouge close in, Pran is taken prisoner and must try to escape from the Killing Fields as the country is turned into a horrific death camp. The entire film is gut-wrenching, particularly the scenes when Pran has to bid his friends and colleagues farewell as he is taken prisoner, and when he and Schanberg are reunited at the end, to the sounds of Lennon's 'Imagine'.

Read our review Buy the DVD
29 - On Golden Pond


A bittersweet tale of inter-generational conflict featuring real-life father and daughter Henry and Jane Fonda, On Golden Pond has added poignancy owing to its being Henry Fonda's only (and final) film with estranged daughter Jane. An elderly couple find themselves looking after their daughter's new stepson, bringing to the surface family resentments. Have a hanky ready when the pair confront their long-held angst, and when Henry becomes disorientated during a walk, and is forced to confront his own frailty in old age.

Read our review Buy the DVD
28 - The Snowman


This wordless animation about a boy whose snowman comes to life on Christmas Eve has been a staple of the festive season in Britain for years. The pair go on a magical adventure together to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus. Although it was made as a children's programme, The Snowman is tinged with a sadness that cannot fail to move the grown-ups too. It has a haunting soundtrack, including the famous Walking In The Air and a downbeat ending - when the boy races out to see his friend again the next morning only to find he has melted.

27 - Philadelphia


Jonathan Demme's movie was the first major Hollywood picture to deal with the subject of AIDS. Tom Hanks is a gay lawyer seeking justice, having been sacked from his job when his employers found out he was HIV positive. Although the film has been criticised for shying away from depicting any form of sexual relationship between Hanks and his on-screen partner Banderas, it was still a moving attempt to bring the issues to a wider audience in the early 1990s. A dying Tom Hanks' overly emotional monologue to the strains of opera is sure to tug at the heart.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
26 - Four Weddings And A Funeral


Hugh Grant is at his bumbling best in this feel-good farce about whether or not to tie the knot. British filmmakers showed Hollywood how to do romantic comedy and Oscar nominations followed. Although Four Weddings is responsible for giving the rest of the world the impression that everyone in England spends their time (and money) only going to weddings and funerals, the characters are so richly drawn that you can't help loving them. You'll be weeping, along with everyone else, when John Hannah reads WH Auden's 'Stop The Clocks' at his lover's funeral.

Read our review Buy the DVD
25 - The Elephant Man


Sensitive fable about Victorian England's most renowned "freak", John Merrick, from David Lynch. Black and white widescreen provides a sumptuous backdrop to excellent turns from a youthful Anthony Hopkins and an unrecognisable John Hurt. You will weep; especially when Merrick returns elated from a night at the theatre and decides it is his time to die.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
24 - Truly, Madly, Deeply


Pre-English Patient Oscar glory, Anthony Minghella charmed us with this love beyond the grave tale for his big screen debut. Juliet Stevenson is a newly bereaved widow who cannot bear to live without her beloved husband (Alan Rickman). So when he returns as a ghost, it's initially a source of comfort. The spectral weepie will have you reaching for the tissues when Rickman returns from the dead to join his wife playing Bach on the cello, and when he recites Pablo Neruda's La Muerta poem to her.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
23 - To Kill A Mockingbird


Gregory Peck delivered his greatest performance as the noble lawyer Atticus Finch in the film adaptation of Harper Lee's famous novel. Finch has to defend a black man wrongly accused of rape in America's racist deep south. Peck brings such courage and decency to the role, that it's impossible not to be moved by Atticus' heartfelt speech in court urging the jury to look past their prejudice and do the right thing. The moment the black audience stand as a mark of respect when he leaves the courtroom having lost the case also lives long in the memory.

Read our review Buy the DVD
22 - The Office Xmas Special


Described by Richard 'Four Weddings' Curtis as 'the greatest programme I have ever seen', The Office went from cult hit to comedy classic over the short course of two series and a Christmas special. The brainchild of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary observed life in the Slough branch of paper merchants Wernham Hogg. Gervais might have run the show (at least until David Brent was given the boot), but it was Tim and Dawn's will-they, won't-they flirting which provided the genuinely romantic ending we'd been hankering after since the beginning of the series.

21 - Braveheart


Freedom! Mel Gibson dons a kilt and hair extensions and proceeds to slice up some English with a huge sword in this stirring account of the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace. After the evil English murder his wife, Wallace leads a rebellion against their oppressive rule. The film won bucket-loads of Oscars for Mel and the scene in which Wallace finally gets his come-uppance, is genuine lump-in-the-throat stuff.

20 - Dead Poets Society


Robin Williams avoids his trademark tics and tremors to deliver a convincing performance as an inspirational English teacher in a conservative American boys school. Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard are the students who start to appreciate poetry as a result. Unfortunately, the parents object to Robin's liberal ways and it's left to the pupils to stage a moving protest when he gets the sack.

Read our review Buy the DVD
19 - Sophie's Choice


Based on William Styron's bestseller, this is a thoroughly successful adaptation. Meryl Streep turns in the performance of a lifetime as Sophie, the Polish survivor of a Nazi concentration camp stranded in suburban, post-war New York. Her big secret is slowly revealed over several long summer days to young aspiring writer (and the film's narrator) Peter MacNicol. When the revelation comes, it is truly heartbreaking.

Read our review Buy the DVD
18 - Brief Encounter


David Lean breaks out the stiff upper lips for his restrained, yet emotionally charged, examination of forbidden passions in 1940s England. After a chance meeting at a suburban railway station, Trevor Howard and housewife Celia Johnson embark on a remarkably chaste, yet overwhelmingly passionate, affair. After numerous meetings and much soul-searching, the tears start to flow when the couple see each other for one last time in a railway tearoom.

Read our review Buy the DVD
17 - Stand By Me


Touching, high-quality drama about a bunch of kids who discover the meaning of friendship in 1950s America - whilst on an adventure to find the body of a dead boy. Based on a Stephen King story and directed by Rob Reiner, Stand By Me is the definitive coming-of-age drama and features a wonderful performance from a very young River Phoenix. Phoenix delivers such a heartbreaking story about his abusive father in one scene that you'll find yourself crying along with him.

Read our review Buy the DVD
16 - Terms Of Endearment


Showered with praise, laden with Oscars, this hugely successful tearjerker boasts some magnificent on-screen chemistry between Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine. Although the story focuses on the fraught relationship between MacLaine and her daughter Debra Winger, it's retired-astronaut-next-door Nicholson who brought cinema audiences flocking. Terms Of Endearment also features one of the most moving ever deathbed scenes, when Winger explains to her son that she isn't going to be around forever.

Read our review Buy the DVD
15 - Watership Down


A beautifully animated version of Richard Adams' classic tale of rabbits and men, Watership Down follows the trials of a group of rabbits who must abandon their doomed warren and find a new home. Although it looks cute, the film has more than its fair share of bunny peril and violence, and is more than a little upsetting. You'll be choking back the sobs when Hazel is shot, and his little brother Fiver has a dreamlike vision of him to the sound of Garfunkel's Bright Eyes.

Read our review Buy the DVD
14 - Gone With The Wind


The definitive Technicolor romantic epic. Rhett, Scarlett, burning sets and a whole slew of nostalgic and/or reactionary values, this is creator-producer David O Selznick's finest hour and a cornerstone of the Hollywood monolith. Winner of 10 Oscars, hugely successful at the box office and containing one of the most quoted lines in the history of the movies, Gone With The Wind is the stuff of film legend. Vivien Leigh and Clarke Gable spend the whole of the American civil war falling in and out of love, before he finally leaves her in one of cinema's saddest and most famous moments. Frankly my dear, he just didn't give a damn.

Read our review Buy the DVD
13 - Blackadder


Blackadder had been one of Britain's most successful ever comedies, but its final series set during the First World War managed to elicit genuine affection from the audience. Rowan Atkinson's Captain Blackadder fails in his quest to get out of the trenches and is sent 'over the top' in the last ever episode. This grim image, the frame frozen which then dissolves into one depicting the same field now full of poppies, memorably ended the series on a note of dark satire.

12 - Beaches


Gary Marshall's 1980s chick flick is as shamelessly entertaining as it is mushy. Two girls, one a privileged rich kid, one from the wrong side of the tracks, forge a lifelong friendship one summer, fall out and make up endlessly until the inevitable disease-of-the-week plot happens along. The tears will be welling up when the two friends sit on the beach for the last time together to the strains of Wind Beneath My Wings.

Read our review Buy the DVD
11 - Forrest Gump


Tom Hanks is the heroic dunce living through America's recent history in Robert Zemeckis' multi-Oscar winning comedy-drama. Top-notch performances and some impressive visual trickery contribute to one of the populist triumphs of the 90s. Hanks fills the timid, innocent Gump with such sentimental energy, that you can't help but celebrate his triumphs and cry at his falls, especially when his beloved Jenny decides to leave him heartbroken

10 - My Girl


Growing up sure is hard to do, as post-Home Alone Macaulay Culkin discovers in this adolescent drama about a girl (Anna Chlumsky) who is obsessed with death, owing to her mother's death and her dad's funeral parlour business. She finds a friend in the form of allergy-riddled Culkin. Sadly, the pair don't get beyond a first kiss before Culkin is stung to death by bees. It's a tough old world out there.

Read our review Buy the DVD
9 - Field Of Dreams


If you build it, he will come. Weepy baseball fable with supernatural overtones starring Kevin Costner (who else?) as a farmer who builds a baseball pitch out in his corn fields to help the ghosts of the disgraced 1919 White Sox team find peace. Field Of Dreams is that rare thing, a poignant movie, which manages to drain the tear ducts, without ever resorting to cheap manipulation or clichéUsentiment. So genuine, you can't help but be moved when Costner's dead father emerges from the corn for an impromptu game of catch.

Read our review Buy the DVD
8 - The Champ


John Voight is an ageing boxer whose young son calls him 'The Champ' in one of the saddest of all sports movies. When his ex-wife, fashion designer Faye Dunaway, comes to claim the boy, Voight takes on a fight to justify the boy's confidence in him. The crushing dignity of the film's final scenes ensures there isn't a dry eye in the house when The Champ reaches the final round.

Read our review
7 - The Shawshank Redemption


It's hard to believe that The Shawshank Redemption was ignored by both audiences and the Oscars on its cinema release, when you consider how popular it has now become. Much like Tim Robbins' character Andy Dufresne, the inspirational movie's warmth shines out. His touching relationship with fellow inmate Morgan Freeman only increases its emotional punch. Scenes like the one in which Robbins plays classical music to the rest of the prison, and when he is reunited with Freeman outside the prison, are some of the most moving in cinema.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
6 - Bambi


Disney's iconic fable about a year in the life of a fawn may have been made for kids, but that doesn't mean it pulls any punches in telling children how life is. Birth, death and man's inhumanity to animals are all present on screen as the young deer tries to survive in the forest. The moment that has traumatised millions of children, and adults, around the world comes after a forest fire, when Bambi realises his mummy isn't coming back.

Read our review Buy the DVD
5 - Ghost


Heaven can wait for Patrick Swayze in this supernatural love story starring Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. When Swayze is murdered in a street robbery, his spirit is unable to rest and he returns to find out who was responsible for his untimely death. A perfect balance of laughter and tears, Ghost's most moving moment comes when Demi Moore finally says goodbye to her true love and he ascends to heaven. Another reason to cry about Ghost is that pants pop song 'Unchained Melody'.

Read our review Buy the DVD
4 - It's A Wonderful Life


A perennial Christmas favourite, Frank Capra's classic heart-warmer is actually much darker than many people fondly remember. James Stewart's Everyman character may eventually realise that life is wonderful, but he reaches the brink of suicide to do so. The magic of Bedford Falls, a throwback to small-town Americana that probably never existed, is revealed in all its uplifting glory in the final scene when George is reunited with his family, and showered with the much-needed money from his friends.

Read our review Buy the DVD
3 - Titanic


The ultimate blockbuster weepy, James Cameron's disaster movie focuses on the unsinkable love between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, but it's the ship that steals the show. Such is the power of Cameron's special effects-driven recreation of the fate of the Titanic and its passengers that you can't help but get swept away by it. The Academy and millions of teenage girls around the world wept as Leo finally sank beneath the waves into the freezing ocean.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
2 - The Green Mile


Following The Shawshank Redemption, director Frank Darabont hooked up with writer Stephen King for another spiritual prison drama. Michael Clarke Duncan is the prisoner convicted of child murder, yet apparently capable of performing miracles, awaiting execution on the so-called Green Mile. Tom Hanks plays the prison guard who forms a bond with the gentle giant, and amongst the many moments that tug on the heartstrings, it's the inexorable ending, as Duncan is strapped into the chair, which really opens the floodgates.

Read our review Buy the DVD Read our feature
1 - E.T. The Extra Terrestrial


Before the likes of Independence Day and Evolution, there was a time when movie aliens were cute and only wanted to be our friends. Steven Spielberg brings all of his magic to this wondrous tale of a young boy called Elliot, who befriends an alien stranded on Earth. It's up to Elliot to get E.T. home and keep him away from the government. The film's central relationship is so touching, that you won't be able to hold back the tears when the little guy finally returns to his spaceship.

Good post.

 

[The Large One]

One of those not in the top 100 (unbelievably) was another from Mike Leigh. It was actually a moment between Alison Steadman (mother) and Jane Horrocks (daughter) in 'Life is Sweet'.

This was a superb bit of dialogue when the mother was trying to get her daugher out of her shell by telling her that she nearly died as a little 'un. You have to see it to know what I am on about, but for me it was better than the (excellent) scene in 'Secrets & Lies'.

 

[geoffreyp]

there was a scene around the table in color purple that had the tear ducts open...when the character speaks for the first time...think i remember it right...but not watched it again since

 

[Lord Cornwallis]

Mrs Doubtfire.
A father missing his kids. Just hit a nerve.