200 Greatest Tear-jerkers, Saddest Films

200 GREATEST TEAR-JERKERS, SADDEST FILMS

(Last updated: June 24, 2013)

Here is my list of the 200 greatest tear-jerkers or saddest films. Although one of the main criteria for a tear-jerker film is that it must make you cry, I personally haven’t cry in every film on this list, most of them but not all. My list makes a distinction between depressing films and a tear-jerker/sad films; i.e. a film about war may make you depressed but it may not make you cry or emotional. A key aspect of tear-jerkers or sad films is that it must appeal directly to the audiences emotions, as a type of melodrama. Film studies usually uses the term melodrama pejoratively to connote unrealistic, pathos filled tales or domestic situations with stereotypical characters that would directly appeal to feminine audiences. I would argue that the ability of a film to make its audience cry is a sign of a powerful film regardless of plot, genre or characters.

No.	TITLE	YEAR	STARS	GRADE	Out/10
1	Grave Of The Fireflies	1988	********	A+	10/10
2	Imitation Of Life (TOP 100)	1958	********	A+	10/10
3	Prayers For Bobby	2009	***1/2	A	9/10
4	Life Is Beautiful	1998	********	A+	10/10
5	Titanic (TOP 100)	1997	********	A+	10/10
6	Bambi	1942	***1/2	A	9/10
7	Schindler’s List (TOP 100)	1993	********	A+	10/10
8	La Strada (TOP 100)	1954	********	A+	10/10
9	Lilya 4-Ever	2002	*******	B+	7/10
10	Dancer In The Dark	2000	********	A+	10/10
11	Brokeback Mountain	2005	********	A+	10/10
12	Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (TOP 100)	1927	********	A+	10/10
13	Sophie’s Choice	1982	********	A+	10/10
14	Breaking The Waves	1996	********	A+	10/10
15	Million Dollar Baby	2004	********	A+	10/10
16	Tokyo Story (TOP 100)	1953	********	A+	10/10
17	Brief Encounter (TOP 100)	1945	********	A+	10/10
18	Amour (TOP 100)	2012	********	A+	10/10
19	It’s A Wonderful Life	1946	********	A+	10/10
20	West Side Story	1961	********	A+	10/10
21	Now Voyager	1942	********	A+	10/10
22	Steel Magnolias	1989	***1/2	A-	8/10
23	An Affair To Remember	1957	********	A+	10/10
24	Ordinary People	1980	********	A+	10/10
25	The Bicycle Thieves (TOP 100)	1948	********	A+	10/10
26	Little Women	1994	*******	B+	7/10
27	The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas	2008	***1/2	A-	8/10
28	The Impossible	2012	***1/2	A-	8/10
29	To Kill A Mockingbird (TOP 100)	1962	********	A+	10/10
30	City Lights (TOP 100)	1931	********	A+	10/10
31	Rebel Without A Cause (TOP 100)	1955	********	A+	10/10
32	Penny Serenade	1941	***1/2	A-	8/10
33	East Of Eden	1955	********	A+	10/10
34	Shadowlands	1993	***1/2	A-	8/10
35	Dumbo	1941	***1/2	A	9/10
36	Up	2009	********	A+	10/10
37	Casablanca (TOP 100)	1942	********	A+	10/10
38	Breakfast At Tiffany’s	1961	***1/2	A	9/10
39	Notebook, The	2004	***1/2	A-	8/10
40	E.T. Extra Terrestrial	1982	********	A+	10/10
41	Love Story	1970	***1/2	A-	8/10
42	Dead Poet’s Society	1989	********	A+	10/10
43	Atonement	2007	***1/2	A	9/10
44	Dark Victory	1939	***1/2	A	9/10
45	Ikiru (TOP 100)	1952	********	A+	10/10
46	In The Gloaming	1997	***1/2	A-	8/10
47	Braveheart	1995	***1/2	A	9/10
48	Pan’s Labyrinth	2006	********	A+	10/10
49	Moulin Rouge!	2001	********	A+	10/10
50	Children Of Men (TOP 100)	2006	********	A+	10/10
51	The Truman Show (TOP 100)	1998	********	A+	10/10
52	Romeo And Juliet	1968	********	A+	10/10
53	Anna Karennina	1997	***1/2	A-	8/10
54	The Shawshank Redemption	1994	********	A+	10/10
55	La Vie En Rose	2007	********	A+	10/10
56	Finding Neverland	2004	***1/2	A	9/10
57	The Deer Hunter	1978	********	A+	10/10
58	The Elephant Man	1980	***1/2	A	9/10
59	Driving Miss Daisy	1989	***1/2	A	9/10
60	Bridge To Terabithia, The	2007	*******	B+	7/10
61	Into The Wild	2007	********	A+	10/10
62	Gosford Park	2001	********	A+	10/10
63	The Lion King	1994	********	A+	10/10
64	Cat On A Hot Tin Roof	1958	********	A+	10/10
65	The 400 Blows (TOP 100)	1959	********	A+	10/10
66	Empire Of The Sun	1987	***1/2	A	9/10
67	Good Bye Mr. Chips	1939	***1/2	A	9/10
68	The Passion Of The Christ	2004	*******	B+	7/10
69	The Song Of Bernadette	1943	***1/2	A	9/10
70	The Pianist	2002	********	A+	10/10
71	The Diving Bell And The Butterfly	2007	********	A+	10/10
72	Requiem For A Dream	2000	********	A+	10/10
73	The Lives Of Others	2006	********	A+	10/10
74	Crash	2005	********	A+	10/10
75	Philadelphia	1993	***1/2	A	9/10
76	The English Patient	1996	***1/2	A	9/10
77	Milk	2008	********	A	10/10
78	Captains Courageous	1937	***1/2	A	9/10
79	The Piano	1993	********	A+	10/10
80	Saving Private Ryan	1998	********	A+	10/10
81	Umberto D.	1952	********	A+	10/10
82	Gladiator	2000	********	A+	10/10
83	Leaving Las Vegas	1995	***1/2	A	9/10
84	Kramer Vs. Kramer	1979	***1/2	A	9/10
85	Gone With The Wind (TOP 100)	1939	********	A+	10/10
86	The Red Shoes (TOP 100)	1948	********	A+	10/10
87	The Road	2009	***1/2	A-	8/10
88	The Cure	1995	***1/2	A-	8/10
89	Gallipoli	1981	***1/2	A-	8/10
90	Roman Holiday	1953	********	A+	10/10
91	Les Miserables	2012	***1/2	A-	8/10
92	The Miracle Worker	1962	***1/2	A	9/10
93	Cinderella Man	2005	***1/2	A-	8/10
94	The Reader	2008	***1/2	A-	9/10
95	A Single Man	2009	***1/2	A	9/10
96	On The Waterfront (TOP 100)	1954	********	A+	10/10
97	Sense And Sensibility	1995	***1/2	A-	8/10
98	Anna And The King	1999	*******	B+	7/10
99	The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (TOP 100)	2003	********	A+	10/10
100	Paths Of Glory	1957	********	A+	10/10
101	What Dreams May Come	1998	***1/2	A-	8/10
102	My Own Private Idaho	1991	********	A+	10/10
103	A Night To Remember	1958	***1/2	A	9/10
104	The Grapes Of Wrath	1940	********	A+	10/10
105	Latter Days	2003	***1/2	A-	8/10
106	The Descendants	2011	********	A+	10/10
107	Far From Heaven	2002	********	A+	10/10
108	The Hours	2002	********	A+	10/10
109	Hamlet	1996	***1/2	A	9/10
110	The Remains Of The Day	1993	***1/2	A	9/10
111	In A Better World	2010	***1/2	A	9/10
112	The Sixth Sense	1999	********	A+	10/10
113	Toy Story 3	2010	********	A+	10/10
114	A Home Of Our Own	1993	*******	B+	7/10
115	What’s Eating Gilbert Grape	1993	***1/2	A	9/10
116	Precious	2009	***1/2	A	9/10
117	I Killed My Mother	2009	***1/2	A	9/10
118	Sophie Scholl: The Final Days	2005	***1/2	A-	8/10
119	Five Easy Pieces	1970	********	A+	10/10
120	Mr. Smith Goes To Washington	1939	********	A+	10/10
121	Toy Story 2	1999	********	A+	10/10
122	Letters From Iwo Jima	2006	********	A+	10/10
123	Three Colours: Blue	1993	********	A+	10/10
124	Hotel Rwanda	2004	***1/2	A	9/10
125	Secrets And Lies	1995	********	A+	10/10
126	Spirited Away (TOP 100)	2002	********	A+	10/10
127	The Times Of Harvey Milk	1984	***1/2	A	9/10
128	Elephant	2003	********	A+	10/10
129	Charlotte’s Web	1973	*******	B	6/10
130	Midnight Cowboy	1969	********	A+	10/10
131	Rain Man	1988	***1/2	A	9/10
132	Doctor Zhivago	1965	********	A+	10/10
133	Beauty And The Beast	1991	********	A+	10/10
134	Fantasia (TOP 100)	1940	********	A+	10/10
135	Chinatown (TOP 100)	1974	********	A+	10/10
136	The Wizard Of Oz (TOP 100)	1939	********	A+	10/10
137	Tarnation	2003	***1/2	A	9/10
138	Juno	2007	********	A+	10/10
139	The Tree Of Life (TOP 100)	2011	********	A+	10/10
140	Au Revoir Les Enfants	1987	***1/2	A	9/10
141	A Separation	2011	********	A+	10/10
142	Beasts Of The Southern Wild	2012	********	A+	10/10
143	Edward Scissorhands	1992	********	A+	10/10
144	Forrest Gump	1994	********	A+	10/10
145	In America	2003	***1/2	A	9/10
146	Little Children	2006	***1/2	A	9/10
147	The Constant Gardener	2005	***1/2	A	9/10
148	Inception	2010	********	A+	10/10
149	Laramie Project	2002	***1/2	A-	8/10
150	Stand By Me	1986	***1/2	A-	8/10
151	What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?	1960	***1/2	A	9/10
152	White Christmas	1954	***1/2	A	9/10
153	Another Year	2010	********	A+	10/10
154	Titanic	1953	***1/2	A-	8/10
155	Slumdog Millionaire	2008	********	A	10/10
156	Time To Leave	2005	*******	B+	7/10
157	City Of God	2002	********	A+	10/10
158	Vera Drake	2004	***1/2	A	9/10
159	Molokai: The Story Of Father Damien	2000	***1/2	A-	8/10
160	Babe	1995	********	A+	10/10
161	Meet Me In St. Louis	1944	********	A+	10/10
162	The Cranes Are Flying	1957	***1/2	A	9/10
163	Muriel’s Wedding	1995	***1/2	A-	8/10
164	Bright Star	2009	***1/2	A	9/10
165	WALL-E	2008	********	A+	10/10
166	Monster	2003	********	A+	10/10
167	Blue Valentine	2010	***1/2	A	9/10
168	Toy Story	1995	********	A+	10/10
169	Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?	1966	********	A+	10/10
170	Life Of Pi	2012	********	A+	10/10
171	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	2001	********	A+	10/10
172	I Am Love	2010	********	A+	10/10
173	A Star Is Born	1954	********	A+	10/10
174	Of Gods And Men	2010	***1/2	A	9/10
175	Blossoms In The Dust	1941	*******	B+	7/10
176	The Straight Story	1999	***1/2	A	9/10
177	Stepmom	1998	***1/2	A-	8/10
178	Billy Elliot	2000	***1/2	A	9/10
179	American Beauty	1999	********	A+	10/10
180	Ever After	1998	***1/2	A-	8/10
181	Winter’s Bone	2010	***1/2	A	9/10
182	Revolutionary Road	2008	***1/2	A-	8/10
183	About A Boy	2002	***1/2	A-	8/10
184	P.S. I Love You	2007	*******	B	6/10
185	Romulus My Father	2007	*******	B+	7/10
186	Fly Away Home	1996	*******	B+	7/10
187	How Green Was My Valley	1941	********	A+	10/10
188	The New World	2005	********	A+	10/10
189	My Left Foot	1989	***1/2	A	9/10
190	National Velvet	1944	***1/2	A-	8/10
191	Lars And The Real Girl	2007	***1/2	A	9/10
192	The Little Princess	1995	*******	B	6/10
193	The Painted Veil	2006	***1/2	A-	8/10
194	I Am Sam	2001	***1/2	A-	8/10
195	The Hurt Locker	2009	********	A+	10/10
196	The Scent Of A Woman	1992	***1/2	A	9/10
197	The Chorus	2004	***1/2	A-	8/10
198	Miss Potter	2006	*******	B	6/10
199	Sideways	2004	********	A+	10/10
200	Pinocchio	1940	********	A+	10/10

Class	Stars	Grade	Out/10
Great Movie	****	A+	10/10
Great Movie – Very Good	****	A+	10/10
Very Good	***1/2	A	9/10
Very Good – Recommended	***1/2	A-	8/10
Recommended	***	B+	7/10
OK – Below Average	***	B	6/10
Below Average	**1/2	B-	5/10
Below Average – Bad	**1/2	C+	4/10
Bad	**	C	3/10
Bad – Very Bad	**	C-	2/10
Very Bad	*1/2	D	1/10
Appalling	*	F	0/10

13 Comments

by mrsmith44 on March 18, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in 200 Greatest Tear-jerkers

Posted by mrsmith44 on March 18, 2012

https://jeremysmithmovieblog.com/2012/03/18/200-greatest-tear-jerkers-saddest-films/

13 Comments

Tim
/ May 29, 2012

Wow. Grave of the Fireflies topped this list. I really have to watch it.

Reply
Tim
/ May 29, 2012

I WEPT for like 15 minutes after my 3rd viewing of Monster. Never cried so much in a movie.

Reply
Joe Spassi
/ July 30, 2012

On the section of the saddest movies you haven’t consider 2 really sad movies the first one is After the promise http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092519/ and the second one is Who will love my children http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086581/ if you haven’t watch them please try do so but have ready a whole box of Cleanex because you’re going to need them…

Reply
- mrsmith44
  / July 30, 2012
  
  Hey, thanks. I’ll look them up!
  
  Reply
Gary L
/ November 9, 2012

My wife just watched a movie called Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009); (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1028532/) ; and said it made Old Yeller seem light and bouncy. I’ve never seen her in such a state after a film.

Reply
- mrsmith44
  / November 15, 2012
  
  Yikes, sounds intense 🙂 Thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out.
  
  Reply
JaRoK
/ August 15, 2013

Grave of the Fireflies is for sure one of the most heart wrenching drama’s I have ever viewed. It will shatter your emotions.

Reply
Thomas
/ February 23, 2014

No Green mile 😮

Reply
Deborah
/ February 27, 2014

I know you wrote this blog a long time ago, but I just have to say how could you leave out Terms of Endearment and The Way We Were?

Reply
tony
/ March 2, 2014

What about “the plague dogs”? That is a great book and almost one of the few where the movie is as good as or better than the book.

Reply
Sad Movie Fan
/ June 21, 2014

Same Time Next Year (Alan Alda / Ellen Burstyn) from 1978 and The Eddie Duchin Story (Tyrone Power / Kim Novak) in 1956. Both sad moves but very enjoyable and classics to boot!

Reply
Sky
/ July 31, 2014

I don’t know if you will, but will you please add the musical Hair, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Rent, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and Instructions Not Included to this list?
Some other sad ones I know that aren’t here would be: Man on Fire, The Orphanage, Sweeny Todd, The Basketball Diaries, The Great Gatsby, Lone Survivor and Noah.
If you haven’t seen any of these, I strongly recommend them.
They are all such great movies. The saddest to me is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. I cry every time I watch it.
P.S. I’m so happy What Dreams May Come and A.I. actually made it on the list.

Reply
J
/ November 15, 2015

A really sad movie that is not on the list is Mask (1985)

Reply