Like many of you, I bawled my eyes out during Toy Story 3. The ending, that one scene that I won't spoil...it all added up to me wiping tears from my Real 3D glasses-covered eyes.
When I talked to friends about the movie, everyone--be they jaded hipster or guy's guy-- had pretty much the exact same reaction. Pixar just straight up wrecked us with this one, tugging at the heartstrings of anyone who has ever picked up a plastic toy. So I think it's safe to say that Toy Story 3 can officially be added to the list of "movies that are safe for guys to cry during." (EW says it's okay, so I guess I'm in the clear.)
In honor of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the Toy Story gang, I present the ultimate list of movies that turn guys into big blubbering babies. (I've even broken them down into genres for handy Netflix-ing.) Just be sure to have the tissues handy. You know, for you. We won't be needing them. There's just something in our eyes that looks like tears, but is totally not tears at all. It's just allergies. Whatever. Stupid movie, causing us to have an emotional reaction. Can we watch True Blood instead?
Also, SPOILERS ahead, though most of these are popular movies that play on TV all the time so you've probably seen them like ten times already.
Sports flicks
Field of Dreams
Rudy
Brian's Song
Hoop Dreams
Rocky
Hoosiers
Miracle
Rocky II
Dog movies
Milo & Otis
Old Yeller
The Incredible Journey
Animation
Toy Story 3
Up (the first 15 minutes or so)
Dumbo
The Iron Giant
The Lion King
Watership Down
All Dogs Go to Heaven
Transformers: The Movie (1986 version based on the cartoon. When Optimus Prime died, young boys wept)
The Secret of Nimh
Bambi
Toy Story 2
Wall-E (Pixar movies should come with tissues instead of 3-D glasses)
Comedies
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (the ending kills me, plus seeing the late John Candy in his prime is bittersweet)
My Girl (little Macaulay Culkin dying from a bee sting? That's just rough.)
Jerry Maguire
Harold and Maude
Purple Rose of Cairo
War movies/period dramas
Saving Private Ryan
Platoon
Coming Home
Schindler's List
United 93
The Last of the Mohicans
Grave of Fireflies (animated movie about the bombing of Hiroshima and one of the most depressing movies of all time)
Braveheart
Flags of our Fathers
Dramas
Shawshank Redemption
Good Will Hunting
Dead Poets Society (there is not a man alive who can't quote this movie)
Dead Man Walking
Babe
The Straight Story
Forrest Gump (Forrest at Jenny's grave)
It's a Wonderful Life
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Midnight Cowboy
Brokeback Mountain
Dancer in the Dark
The Professional
Five Easy Pieces
Boys Don't Cry
Children of Men
One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest
The Ice Storm
The Elephant Man
The Big Chill
The Royal Tenenbaums (the end always gets me)
American Beauty
The Sweet Hereafter
Big Fish
Romance
Once (the end will wreck anyone with a heart)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (anyone who has been through a painful breakup can relate to this one)
Say Anything...
Princess Bride
When Harry Met Sally
Edward Scissorhands (the dancing in the snow scene gets me)
Amelie
The English Patient
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Foreign
Life is Beautiful
All About My Mother
Blue
In the Mood For Love
Wings of Desire
Cinema Paradiso
Sci-fi/fantasy/horror
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (the moment when they all bow to the Hobbits warms my nerd heart)
Blade Runner (Rutger Hauer's death scene is oddly moving)
E.T.
Superman (What? Pa Kent dying is pretty sad)
Terminator 2 (Robot Schwarzenegger sacrificing himself to save the future)
The Dark Knight (I got a little choked up at the end thinking about how there will never be another movie with Heath Ledger as The Joker)
Donnie Darko
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Spock saying to Kirk, "I have and always shall be, your friend")
The Fountain (visually stunning, romantic, and super depressing)
The Sixth Sense
Back to the Future III (the end is pretty sweet. Come on, I was in grade school.)
Movies about dads
Field of Dreams
Big Fish
Kramer Vs. Kramer
Magnolia
Five Easy Pieces (great old Jack Nicholson movie)
A Christmas Story
The Royal Tenenbaums
Frequency
What movies bring on the waterworks for your guy? Tell me your picks for movies that make guys cry in the comments.
When I talked to friends about the movie, everyone--be they jaded hipster or guy's guy-- had pretty much the exact same reaction. Pixar just straight up wrecked us with this one, tugging at the heartstrings of anyone who has ever picked up a plastic toy. So I think it's safe to say that Toy Story 3 can officially be added to the list of "movies that are safe for guys to cry during." (EW says it's okay, so I guess I'm in the clear.)
In honor of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the Toy Story gang, I present the ultimate list of movies that turn guys into big blubbering babies. (I've even broken them down into genres for handy Netflix-ing.) Just be sure to have the tissues handy. You know, for you. We won't be needing them. There's just something in our eyes that looks like tears, but is totally not tears at all. It's just allergies. Whatever. Stupid movie, causing us to have an emotional reaction. Can we watch True Blood instead?
Also, SPOILERS ahead, though most of these are popular movies that play on TV all the time so you've probably seen them like ten times already.
Sports flicks
Field of Dreams
Rudy
Brian's Song
Hoop Dreams
Rocky
Hoosiers
Miracle
Rocky II
Dog movies
Milo & Otis
Old Yeller
The Incredible Journey
Animation
Toy Story 3
Up (the first 15 minutes or so)
Dumbo
The Iron Giant
The Lion King
Watership Down
All Dogs Go to Heaven
Transformers: The Movie (1986 version based on the cartoon. When Optimus Prime died, young boys wept)
The Secret of Nimh
Bambi
Toy Story 2
Wall-E (Pixar movies should come with tissues instead of 3-D glasses)
Comedies
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (the ending kills me, plus seeing the late John Candy in his prime is bittersweet)
My Girl (little Macaulay Culkin dying from a bee sting? That's just rough.)
Jerry Maguire
Harold and Maude
Purple Rose of Cairo
War movies/period dramas
Saving Private Ryan
Platoon
Coming Home
Schindler's List
United 93
The Last of the Mohicans
Grave of Fireflies (animated movie about the bombing of Hiroshima and one of the most depressing movies of all time)
Braveheart
Flags of our Fathers
Dramas
Shawshank Redemption
Good Will Hunting
Dead Poets Society (there is not a man alive who can't quote this movie)
Dead Man Walking
Babe
The Straight Story
Forrest Gump (Forrest at Jenny's grave)
It's a Wonderful Life
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Midnight Cowboy
Brokeback Mountain
Dancer in the Dark
The Professional
Five Easy Pieces
Boys Don't Cry
Children of Men
One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest
The Ice Storm
The Elephant Man
The Big Chill
The Royal Tenenbaums (the end always gets me)
American Beauty
The Sweet Hereafter
Big Fish
Romance
Once (the end will wreck anyone with a heart)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (anyone who has been through a painful breakup can relate to this one)
Say Anything...
Princess Bride
When Harry Met Sally
Edward Scissorhands (the dancing in the snow scene gets me)
Amelie
The English Patient
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Foreign
Life is Beautiful
All About My Mother
Blue
In the Mood For Love
Wings of Desire
Cinema Paradiso
Sci-fi/fantasy/horror
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (the moment when they all bow to the Hobbits warms my nerd heart)
Blade Runner (Rutger Hauer's death scene is oddly moving)
E.T.
Superman (What? Pa Kent dying is pretty sad)
Terminator 2 (Robot Schwarzenegger sacrificing himself to save the future)
The Dark Knight (I got a little choked up at the end thinking about how there will never be another movie with Heath Ledger as The Joker)
Donnie Darko
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Spock saying to Kirk, "I have and always shall be, your friend")
The Fountain (visually stunning, romantic, and super depressing)
The Sixth Sense
Back to the Future III (the end is pretty sweet. Come on, I was in grade school.)
Movies about dads
Field of Dreams
Big Fish
Kramer Vs. Kramer
Magnolia
Five Easy Pieces (great old Jack Nicholson movie)
A Christmas Story
The Royal Tenenbaums
Frequency
What movies bring on the waterworks for your guy? Tell me your picks for movies that make guys cry in the comments.
My ex cries over Advent Children (the Final Fantasy VII animated movie...)
8 Seconds!!!
He refused to tear up during Steel Magnolias with me, but those last few minutes of 8 Seconds got him...again!
An American Tail. That's always good for a cry
For a second, I thought you had overlooked "Grave of the Fireflies," but it was just in another category. It's pretty deadly to your tearducts.
I get choked up and deeply moved by movies, but I rarely ever actually cry at movies. One of the very few exceptions was "Edwards Scissorhands" and I'm not entirely sure why. I like the movie a lot, but I don't know why it would move me more than any other tragic lobe story I've seen. I think part of it might be Danny Elfman's score, which can almost break your heart all on its own.
I cried more times than I ever have during Toy Story 3. I grew up with Andy and all his toys, and saying goodbye to the series was heart breaking (though I'd be angry if they made a fourth; this goodbye was perfect). I also feel guilty about throwing away or getting rid of my old toys.
Also, what about the Land Before Time? Now THAT is a sad movie.
I can't believe The Notebook didn't make your list! My husband cried during The Notebook, and he's never cried at any movie before or since.
The Plague Dogs. It's from the same people who made Watership Down, and I felt completely gutted after I saw it.
Plague Dogs! I must have blocked that one from memory due to the many sleepless nights it gave me as a child. That's easily one of the most depressing movies of all time. Watership Down is sad, but at least it's colorful and has some funny characters and a song or two.
Another really depressing animated movie is When the Wind Blows, one of those "nuclear war is bad" cautionary tales that were all the rage during the '80s. It's basically 90 minutes of an adorable elderly British couple dying from radiation poisoning after World War III. Like Plague Dogs, it's beautifully animated, but horribly bleak.
We watched When the Wind Blows in school, when I was around 16. It's so sad! From what I remember, they're real optimistic and "if we just do what we're advised to do, we'll be fine" and very "chin up" about the whole thing, which is what makes it hard for the audience. But it has been a while since I've seen it...
Another dog movie: My Dog Skip
The end of Mr. Holland's Opus.
You write the best blogs!!!
I Am Sam....I was a teenager when I saw the ads playing for it and just bawled, I knew I had to see it. I started crying in the first 15mins and couldn't really stop if I wanted.
I love the scene where Michelle Pfeiffer is trying to reach Sean Penn who is distancing himself from the world and says "You think you've got the market cornered on human suffering?!" It's so grounding for me, reminds me that I'm not the most important person in the universe who feels the most pain haha.
The Fall was great, it's by the same guy who made the R.E.M video 'Losing My Religion" and The Cell. I usually shed like 1 tear with a sad movie, this had me broken down. I want to watch it again. Everyone should watch it!
Thanks! I've been wanting to see The Fall. Thanks for the reminder. To Netflix!
My man cried during The Invention of Lying when the main character's mother is dying and he is inventing Heaven. My boyfriend isn't a super macho guy but he doesn't cry easily either, so I thought it odd that of all the movies we watch (1 per night) that this is the one that got him.
Now me? I cry at almost every sad movie. I'm like that woman from cryingwife.com (Yep, I cried during Star Wars when Luke was yelling for Darth to help him calling out "Father!") or Lord of The Rings when Boromir is shot with those huge arrows and gives up his life protecting the hobbits. Or how about Sailor Moon when Neflite dies protecting Molly?! But not just nerd stuff...chick flicks too lol
I know it's a kid's movie, but Bridge to Terabithia made me cry at the end.
American Beauty also had me in tears nearly the whole time. So did Sense and Sensibility. She knows she doesn't have a chance with him, but he comes back for her anyway.
Aside from my obviously girlish choices to an otherwise great list, I think Nick has all the bases covered. Le Chic Geek rocks.
The only movie I've ever actually seen my man cry to is Marley & Me.
I know quite a few guys who admit to getting a bit choked up at Love Story, mostly because they tell you in the very first scene that the heroine isn't going to make it, which means that even the happy scenes aren't properly happy cause you know it's not going to last. Not unlike Moulin Rouge, but I don't know any boys who cried at that, or at least who have admitted it to me.
I know more than a few guys that sob at the end of Click.
Saving Private Ryan really messed me up, not the cheesy, manipulative scenes with the elderly Ryan coming back to Normandy, but the opening and closing battle scenes. I've seen plenty of war movies, but I wasn't prepared for brutality quite so real.
Eight Below made my daughter cry, which always chokes me up. Cuz I'm a tender soul, ya know.
oh my god Eight Below killed me. I always get more upset when animals die in movies than people..I don't know what that says about my psyche.
I cannot believe you missed Marley and Me! Anyone who has ever had a pet... or a heart, has cried at Marley and Me. It should be right there with "Dog Movies".
And Toy Story 3 for me was a huge emotional thing. I'm also leaving for college and the connection just made it all the more heart-breaking. When mom walks into Andy's empty room... I was bawling.
I can't believe you missed "Marley and Me"! That should be right up there with "Dog Movies" as anyone with a pet, or a heart... has cried at that movie.
Also, Toy Story 3 really hit home as I'm moving to college at the end of this summer for my first year. It was sad, but the connection just made it all the more heart-wrenching.
I can't believe you missed Marley and Me! That should be right up there with "Dog Movies" as anyone with a pet, or a heart... has cried at that movie.
Also, Toy Story 3 really hit home as I'm moving to college at the end of this summer for my first year. It was sad, but the connection just made it all the more heart-wrenching.
Good grief, I feel like an emotionless sociopath, but Toy Story 3 didn't really make me cry at all. However, I adored Buzz in his "Spanish Mode."
I don't know why the movie failed to move me much. It was a little dark for a kid's movie, I thought. Wonderfully animated, however.
Saw Toy Story 3 tonight and I was a wreck. Tears streaming down my face. And my throat was painfully sore, like I needed to sob, instead of movie-crying! I was fifth wheel, to two couples and the ONLY one who cried. At all. Weirdos!
The Notebook didn't get me at all, but Message in a Bottle (another Nicholas Sparks book) had me and my best friend sobbing in each-other's arms for about five minutes after it was over.
Disney are great at getting me to cry. Lion King gets me every time, when he tries to wake his Dad and I've probably seen it about 12 times.
I haven't seen Marley and Me, because the book made me cry (we had two dogs at my house growing up) and I just know that film is gonna kill me when I do see it.
LOVE Big Fish, always gets me too. Eternal Sunshine is one of my top 5 of all time, but it doesn't make me cry.....
It's a Wonderful Life is the only film I ever remember my Dad crying over! Bless!
Please include
DAD (Ted Danson & Jack Lemmon)
Color Purple
La vita è bella
My dog skip
You missed Documentaries. I dare anyone not to cry during March of the Penguins.
Oh, and an off-beat choice, but I'd put 28 Days Later on- hey, let me finish!- on this list for one reason (spoiler alert): the scene is the middle of the film where the father looks up and gets a drop of blood in his eye. Such a small thing. He knows he is infected, and has only seconds to tell his daughter he loves her, and to get away from him before he becomes a bloodthirsty monster. That is possibly the most traumatizing thing I've ever seen.
Also, agreed on Land Before Time (the Last Unicorn also still gets me). The NeverEnding Story, with the horse in the swamp... you know the scene. And anyone, nerd or not, who doesn't cry at the end of Wrath of Khan is a robot.
ive watched HACHIKO and it got me bawling.. :P
really really good dog movie. :) havent met anyone who told me they watched it and didnt shed a tear. ^_^
Idk about anyone else, but a couple more movies that really got me choked up were Green Mile and Seven Pounds.
Dear John. The scene where he is reading the letter to his dad got me all choked up.
Bridge to Terebithia
Blackhawk Down
We Were Soldiers
The Man Who Would Be King
True Grit
Apollo 13
Repo Man
Lilo and Stitch. Gah, when the "monster" alien understands 'ohana at the end, I burst into tears. Every. Time.
Harry Potter VII part 2 (how could you not cry during the Snape-Lily flashback scenes?)
Star Wars Episode III (Padme's line "Anakin, you're breaking my heart!" and also when Anakin kills all the baby padawans)
PS I Love You (I cried the entire movie. Nonstop. I'm not even exaggerating)
The Time Traveler's Wife!
That movie reduces me to a sobbing wreck every time I see it, without fail! I'm not usually one for romance / chick flicks but this one. Ugh so good and so sad!
My fiance teared up a little too, which is big for him. He doesn't cry much.
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I have to say that for the last couple of hours i have been hooked by the amazing posts on this website. Keep up the great work.
hahha I agree