Great scenes make for great storytelling.
If you're feeling inclined to relive the sadness of losing all those beloved superheroes, four-legged
companions, and sports equipment, well, get a tissue box ready, because the waterworks
are coming.
Here are some of the saddest scenes in film.
One of the most memorable scenes of 1994's The Lion King is also the most heartbreaking
- the traumatic loss of Mufasa.
After saving his son from a stampede, the doomed king desperately claws his way to safety
only to get thrown back into the stampede's path by his own brother, Scar.
“Nooooooooo!”
Afterward the orphaned Simba tries and tries to wake up his father, until he finally accepts
there will be no waking up.
He spends a long moment nuzzled against his father's body.
The iconic scene has a Shakespearean brutality and it sets the stage for everything that
comes after.
Simba's legacy is ripped to pieces by his own uncle.
It's grim and brutal, and not what you normally expect from a Disney cartoon.
If you're a part of the generation who grew up on The NeverEnding Story, the playful grin
of Falkor the Luck Dragon probably still comes back to you from time to time.
What you might forget is that, like so many of your favorite movies from childhood, the
underlying themes tend to be dark.
Sure, there's giant turtles and friendly giants, but in a sense they're just decoration for
a story that's all about keeping hope alive in the face of utter despair.
Perhaps the saddest moment in the entire film is the loss of Artax, the noble horse.
The beautiful animal meets his painful end while accompanying his young owner, Atreyu,
through the Swamp of Sadness.
True to its name, the swamp's oppressive magic threatens to smother any who travel through
it with their own anguish; and that's exactly what happens to poor Artax.
No matter how much Atreyu begs and pleads for his friend to save himself, the horse
is too consumed in his own hopelessness and allows himself to drown in the muck.
It's been nearly a decade and a half since Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain first hit theaters,
and it's easy to forget what a cultural event it was.
A love story between cowboys played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger; Brokeback Mountain
won awards, accolades, and a domestic gross of over $80 million against a $14 million
budget.
The story revolves around the decades-long relationship between Jack Twist and Ennis
Del Mar, which tragically ends when Ennis discovers through a postcard that his friend
and lover is gone.
When Ennis calls for more information, he is told that a tire he was changing exploded.
But Ennis can't help but consider that this might not be the truth.
He imagines a more horrific story, with his mind flashing to the idea of Jack being brutally
beaten with a tire iron.
Jack's loss is a total heartbreaker, but the uncertainty just makes it worse.
In the real world, the chances that you've cried over a lost volleyball are quite slim.
However, you probably also never found yourself stranded on an island with nothing but a random
piece of sports equipment to keep you company, which is the situation in which Tom Hanks'
character finds himself in 2000's Cast Away.
Though few people have struggled with what Hanks' character endured, it's easy to imagine
how years of extreme isolation could force an inanimate object to become a friend.
That's why when Chuck finally escapes the island, it's so heartbreaking when he accidentally
loses Wilson.
He dives into the water, risking his life and his chance to get home; all to save a
volleyball.
He eventually gives up, but his cries to his friend are so full of anguish, it feels like
he's leaving a real person to drown.
“I’m sorry!
I’m sorry, Wilson!
Wilson I’m sorry!”
The scene also marks the key moment where Chuck begins a traumatic transition back to
the civilized world, a place where volleyballs aren't allowed to be your friends, even if
you draw lovable faces on them.
For 16 years, Hugh Jackman brought Marvel's adamantium-clawed mutant renegade to life,
earning fan adoration and a Guinness World Record for longest career as a live-action
Marvel superhero in the process.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
While everyone hoped 2017's Logan would be a dark, brilliant conclusion to the most popular
X-Man's story, few could have predicted just how painful it would be to see Marvel's toughest,
grittiest superhero reduced to a bitter, aching old man; poisoned by his own adamantium, with
claws that didn't quite pop right anymore.
While Wolverine never finds true happiness or peace, Logan does find something of a family.
In a battle against his clone, Wolverine gives his life to save a group of innocent mutant
children, including his daughter, Laura.
As Logan goes, impaled and covered in blood, he clutches Laura's hand, smiles, and says,
“So… is what it feels like.”
Most superhero movies leave the audience walking out with smiles and laughter, but Logan was
definitely the one where everyone left in tears.
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