Top Five Tear Jerkers

I was hanging out with my family over the holidays, explaining that I wasn't sad or sick, but had been rubbing my eye because there was some dust or a hair or something stuck behind the eyeball. It was quite uncomfortable.

As I remembered how tears can flush out the eyes, I broke into a retelling of the end of the movie Homeward Bound, just kind of listing off the climactic scene of that movie.

As I told the story, my eyes started watering like crazy, and I managed to cry out whatever was stuck in there.

I can access my emotions fairly easily, but I think there are only a handful of scenes I can name that will reliably bring the tears whether I want them or not.

In fact, I think there are just enough to create a little Top Five list…

Banes' Top Five Tear Jerkers

5 - Field of Dreams

Yes, it's a cliche, but few endings top this one for the creation of the waterworks! In case people haven't seen it,
I'll avoid spoilers. But it's a fantastic film, a fine story whether you're a baseball fan or not, and has an ending moving enough to make this list!

4 - Future Imperfect

This is a comic book, a standalone adventure featuring the Incredible Hulk who travels to the future to battle an older version of himself, who's become a tyrannical warlord called the Maestro. One of my favorite comics ever, by Peter David and George Perez, and the last page reduces me to at least light blubbering every damn time. No spoilers!

3 - Y: The Last Man

Another comic book, a Semi-Post-Apocalyptic adventure featuring two of my favorite characters ever, Yorick (the last man) and his protector, only identified as Agent 355. That's her up top in the picture, and it's that cover that gets to me, every time I see it or think about it. I don't want to spoil this one either, but this cover reflects a change that 355 tries to make after living her entire life in a certain way.

Hoo-boy. I'm getting feelings now, just writing this. Gonna have to read that series again; it's so darn good.

2 - Deep Space Nine: The Visitor

I guess the Father/Son stuff really gets to me. This is an episode of Deep Space Nine that tops a lot of Star Trek "best of" lists. One of those pesky temporal anomalies vanishes Sisko into subspace, leaving his son Jake to grow up and eventually grow old without him. When Jake realizes his father is not truly dead, but just lost, he is unable to get over it and struggles with this deep wound for his entire life. A must-see in my opinion, even for a non-Star Trek or non-sci fi fan.

1 - Homeward Bound

I revealed it in the beginning of this post, but Homeward Bound (the ending) is the most reliable emotion-creator for me. I've seen it multiple times over the years, and when I'm with a group of people, I have to leave the room for that final scene unless I want to reveal the emotional wreck I become at the end of that film. Ah, dogs! A boy and his dog! So many tears!


What are your favorite tear-jerking moments?

-weepin' Banes