The Greatest Tear Jerker Goodbye Scene at the end of a film ever!

Little Gertie and Big Brother Mike have said their goodbyes to E.T.

Everyone else stands in the background as Elliot, almost in a daze, walks to the center of the clearing to face E.T.

(John Williams music plays)

E.T.: Come.

Elliot: Stay.

Elliot leans over and hugs E.T. one last time. He then stands up tall and proud
and tries to regain his composure.

E.T. points his finger at Elliot's forehead.

E.T.: I'll be right here.

A tear rolls down Elliot's cheek.

Elliot: Goodbye.

 

I agree, it's one of the most moving moments ever put on film. I'm puzzled as to why the movie is not doing that well in the box office right now.

 

Yes. I agree 100%.

 

I'd actually nominate the goodbye scene at the end of Casablanca, as that's a real tear-jerker, but I think E.T equals it. Going with another Steven Spielberg film of a very similar theme, what about the ending of Close Encounters of the Third Kind? That always managed to reduce me to tears.

 

Sadddest goodbye ever? Well, its not really a goodbye. End of Days, the devil is gonna pass right throught Jericho, and it succeeds, but Jericho impales himself on a pole, sacrificing himself and saving the life of the young lady.

 

I had always loved this scene, like millions of other people, but seeing the Special Edition last week rekindled my appreciation of it. It's so simple, but so powerful.

I think there's lots of reasons why the Special Edition hasn't been as successful as expected...lots of other big films at the box office, the fact that it's been on VHS for years, the fact that it's been shown quite a few times on TV, and the fact that some people may have been turned off by Spielberg's trying to make the film more "P.C." which really wasn't necessary.

Still, I recommend people go see it before it leaves the theatres, some of the effects are definitely an improvement and there are a couple of cute new scenes.

And John William's score sounds magnificent.

 

I agree with Close Encounters having a great ending. The scene where Francois Truffaut's character and the alien communicate with the hand signs brought me to tears.

 

I have yet to see the re-release of E.T.

 

Is this a discussion of tear-jerker movie endings or just of ET's in particular?

I say Braveheart. That thing moved me. FFFFFRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

And we used that cheer for my varsity soccer team in high school, even though it made no sense and half the team was mexican.

 

Agreed Close Encounters and Casablanca also have great endings. Brad, I'll have to check out End of Days, haven't see it yet.

Dacks...love the Braveheart post! lol
Braveheart's ending is VERY emotional.

I guess we can talk about both the ET ending and other endings...the ET ending is a great catalyst to talk about other goodbye scenes.
There may be others that are equal to it,
but I cannot think of one that is better.

 

I cried when Qui-Gon died... and during the funeral scene. He was my favorite Jedi. Him and Kyle Katarn. Rogues. They go against standard beliefs, but do jobs most Jedi cannot.

I still cry when Maul kills Qui Gon..

 

Can't stand the film E.T. *runs for cover* the biggest tear jerker is the end of The Perfect Storm from where he pushes that guy out and goes back into the cabin again... I cried like a baby at that... and The Green Mile is a 2 hour film (or is it 3) and I spend half of it crying my eyes out......

 

there is a lot of them, and ET is one, certainly, but two of my other favorites are Spartacus and West Side Story.

 

Well who can forget Bambi and his mother. Little Foot and his mother. And Simba and Mufasa.


Cartoons can be very emotional too.

 

I can't believe no one has yet mentioned Moulin Rouge.

 

It's sad and all, but it doesn't break any sappy movie girl dies clichés it's nothing we haven't seen before.
And speaking of things we've seen before, did anyone else expect Nicole Kidman to turn into Liam Neeson in that scene?

"Promise me you will tell our story Christian."
"I promise I will train the boy...er...I will tell our story."

 

If a filmmaker has a goodbye or death scene at the end of their story and they can't film it right and make it emotionally powerful, they prolly (oops!) probably shouldn't be making films.

CHECK OUT THE KARMA THREAD BELOW,
all moral relativists!

 

How bout Star Trek II and the death of Spock? Amazing Grace on the bagpipes? Shattner's delivery of "He was the most.......human."

(crying for the death of Khan is also acceptable)

 

I think the saddest ending ever was in the film Top Secret with Val Kilmer. They were just leaving East Germany after saving the world and saying goodbye to their friends from the underground. Hilary (She who's bosoms defy gravity) was saying a tearful farewell to Chocolate Mousse, Deja Vu and the lads when she saw Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz. "I'll miss you most of all Scarecrow"

*sob*

Makes no sense coz Scarecrow wasn't in the film at all until that point.

 

Running on Empty has the saddest ending. It kills me every time I see it. River Phoenix (who was nominated for an Academy Award for this film) was amazing in this film. If you haven't seen it go rent it. It's totally worth it.

 

Amen to HLAS' mention of the "Death of Mufasa."

But the one that personally is very moving to me is The Elephantman's good bye to the world. He looks up at the picture of the boy sleeping and you know what's going through his head. Barber's adagio swells in the backround and then it cuts to space and John's mother, "No... not die. No one will ever die." Then we are left with the sound of the wind blowing.

And people say that Lynch can't make human-emotional films.

~PAd

 

Immortal Beloved.

 

I think the saddest good bye, EVER, is when I left my house.

 

Believe it or not, Leo's death in Titanic makes my throat swell up each and every time I see it.

 

E.T. and Braveheart are the only two films in which I actually get choked up with emotion when they end.