As you can see from my blog I am a HUGE movie fan. I love all genres of movies. Action, adventure, horror, drama, comedy, romance; you name it. If it’s good I will watch it. And while there are plenty of astounding films that have rocked my world over the years there are always those few standout movies that have taken my emotions to other places. And those, usually, are the best films. If you watch a movie and at the end find yourself in a river of tears that movie has effected you in ways you won’t soon forget. So, here are the sixteen movies that have made for me the definition “waterworks” an understatement.

Spoiler Alert! I will speak of some of these films’ most heartbreaking or heartwarming scenes that made me cry entire oceans into existence in detail so…if you haven’t seen some of these films…beware!

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I’ve seen a lot of children’s movies in my time and there are quite a few that I have grown to love but I have never seen a children’s film as perfectly constructed as this one in my life.

I watched this movie a long time ago in 2010 but I had completely forgotten nearly everything about the film. One day I was watching Freeform and when it came on I decided to watch it for only the second time in my life. Oh my goodness, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

This movie had me crying so many times I couldn’t believe it. I was crying at the beginning, I was weeping in the middle, and I was utterly balling at the end. This is easily the best children’s movie I have ever watched by a landslide.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is easily one of the most epic movie trilogies in cinema history and its final installment; the Oscar-winning Return of the King, is a great film. While it has a happy ending that sees the defeat of Sauron, the return of the King, and the Hobbits returning to the Shire, it’s a very bittersweet conclusion because Frodo is still not the same person. So he decides to leave Middle-Earth and go on his next journey with the Elves and it’s legitimately heartbreaking.

The last time I watched this movie I cried so hard I couldn’t believe my own self. I have seen this movie over two dozen times and I thought I had finally cried my eyes out enough where the end wouldn’t get to me anymore. Wrong! There’s still something so sad about Frodo’s conclusion that I can’t help but weep until I have a pounding headache. Woo, this movie makes me very emotional.

Interstellar

When I went to watch Interstellar roughly six years ago I didn’t realize how incredible the experience was going to be. For nearly a year I had seen the teasers and trailers for this movie but I almost didn’t go see it. I’m SO glad I did.

Interstellar is one of my favorite movies of all time because it’s so ridiculously good and let me tell you, it produces quite the waterworks too. I have watched this movie at least a dozen times and I have cried with every single viewing. It’s a great movie.

Imitation of Life

This movie isn’t one of the most widely known films of all time but let me tell you, it is easily one of the best movies I have ever watched. It follows the stories of multiple characters. The main character, played by Lana Turner, is a mother/aspiring actress who has to face the hardships of Hollywood. Her adopted daughter, an African-American girl who’s so fair she could be mistaken as white is growing up through life wishing to be a white woman like her adopted mother.

Yeah, it’s a deep movie and the end is so ridiculously emotional it’ll have you in a pool of your own tears. If you haven’t seen this movie I highly advise you to. It’s totally worth every second.

Rogue One

Rogue One is a great Star Wars movie filled to the rim with awesome moments but it’s one of the saddest installments in the Star Wars franchise as we see every major character in this film get killed off. I have definitely shed a tear or two while watching this movie.

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz has been one of my favorite movies since I was a child and its ending, which sees Dorothy saying to her family, “There’s no place like home” leaves me weeping every. Freaking. TIME! This is such a wonderful film!

The Color Purple

I’ve seen The Color Purple a couple of times and every time I watched this movie its utterly happy and emotional ending has made me cry so hard.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

When The Force Awakens came out nearly five years ago I was SO excited! The classic characters were back! Han Solo was back. Chewbacca was back. Leia was back. Luke Skywalker had returned. It was like a dream come true.

The first time I watched this movie I could’ve never imagined Han Solo getting killed off. When I watched that fateful scene when Kylo Ren kills his father I didn’t know what to do. For the rest of the movie I was an absolutely distraught sight to behold. And then to top it all off to see Luke Skywalker at the end of the movie was so incredible it made me start crying even harder.

I was crying so much, in fact, that if anyone saw me in the upcoming line of people waiting to see the movie I’m sure they were wondering what happened because I was a hot mess.

And even though I have pretty much gotten over that tragic scene I still shed a tear nearly every time I watch it and so yeah, this is definitely one of those make-me-cry-like-a-baby movies.

The Last Samurai

I watched The Last Samurai for the fourth time just the other day because I love it so much. I was determined not to cry like I always do and failed miserably. At first I was shedding a few tears, nothing major, but by the time the credits were rolling I was a weeping mess. I don’t know what it is about this movie that hits me so hard every time I watch it but it’s honestly one of the saddest and yet most incredible films I have ever seen.

Glory

I have watched Glory only twice because it has such a terribly heartbreaking ending I vowed to never watch it again. At the end of this film I cried and cried and cried until I made myself stop because I didn’t feel like crying anymore. This movie is one of my favorite war movies that I’ve seen just ahead of Forrest Gump and if you’ve never watched it I highly advise you to because it is a really, really good film. Great movie.

Braveheart

The word sadness cannot fully express to the sorrow this film brought me. My mother had been telling me about this movie for years and once I tried to watch it but could only make it halfway. One day I decided to sit down and watch it from beginning to end and when I reached its horrifying conclusion featuring William Wallace’s gruesome execution I couldn’t stop crying. I was weeping profusely, the tears rolling down my face uncontrollably.

This movie affected me deeply and even the next day I couldn’t think about the film’s final scenes without turning into a teary mess.

The Lion King

The Lion King has two really emotional scenes that have brought me to the nth degree of tear-zone. Those two scenes being Mufasa’s tragic death and the final scene with Simba and the rebirth of Pride Rock. Nowadays, I cry after the opening number, “Circle of Life.” This movie is magical, pure and simple.

Forrest Gump

This is of course one of the best films of all time as Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump takes on an emotional rollercoaster of a film that only gets better and better as the story continues. But, being the great movie that it is, it’s quite the tear-jerker as well. I’ve only seen this movie all the way through once and yeah, I wasn’t ready for a lot of the film’s emotional scenes.

Gladiator

Gladiator is another one of those films that my mother recommended to me and I was so impressed. Russel Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou, they brought so much feeling to this movie in their respective roles and the film’s conclusion is heartbreaking but kind of happy in a way. It gets me every time.

Driving Miss Daisy

I was not expecting to like this movie but I did and yeah, its conclusion brought me to tears that I weren’t expecting. I’m a softie okay!

Million Dollar Baby

Just looking at the poster is making me emotional. Million Dollar Baby could’ve easily been the female version of Rocky. The film quickly takes a turn in the opposite direction when something tragic happens but unlike most movies, the story never lets up on the sorrow. No, things only get worse and worse until you’re in a weeping fit and totally depressed.

I didn’t tell my sister how depressing this movie was, I only told her that it was really good and that she should watch it, and when she did she was quite furious with me. She was not ready for that level of sadness. 😬

Coco

Coco is one of those dang Disney movies that caught me by surprise big time. I wasn’t expecting to cry while watching this film. I was just hoping it would live up to the hype. Not only did it live up to the hype but I’ve watched it five times and each time I can’t help my tears. There are some really sweet moments that’ll leave your emotions just absolutely wrecked.

So, these are the seventeen movies that have brought many tears to my eyes, whether it was in happiness or utter sorrow or simply because the movie was that good. This list has expanded since last I wrote it and I’m sure it will expand even more.

What about you? Which film have you watched that has unleashed the waterworks? I’d love to know in the comments below.

I thank you for reading and I hope you have a magnificent day.