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20 TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
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Sacrificing himself to destroy the T1000, Arnie melts in a vat of molten metal and so do our hearts.
Blublines: It’s a purely visual moment
19 TORCHWOOD "Exit Wounds"
Tosh and Owen finally talk through their feelings
Yeah, we all know that Children Of Earth put us through the emotional ringer more times than is strictly healthy, but Torchwood was an old hand at gutwrenching tragedy. The second season ended with the death of not one, but two regular characters. Tosh is stabbed by Captain Jack’s insane brother and lies bleeding to death on the floor of the Hub. Owen is trapped inside a nuclear facility about to go into meltdown. As they await their fates, they talk to each other over their communicators, and it's exquisitely painful to watch.
Blublines: "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't keep screaming!"
"Because you're breaking my heart."
18 TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE
Optimus Past His Prime
We’re talking the animated movie here, not the Michael Bay version. Optimus Prime is fatally wounded by arch enemy Megatron in a battle for AutoCity. The dying Optimus reaches inside his chest, extracts the Matrix Of Leadership and passes it to Ultra Magnus. The he dies, the lights going out in his eyes. And a million teenage boys suddenly discover their feminine side and wish they hadn’t watched it with their mates.
Blublines: "Soon I will be one with the Matrix."
17 DOCTOR WHO “Journey’s End”
Donna’s fate
Donna doesn’t die, but her fate is just as tragic. Forced to wipe her memories to save her life, the Doctor robs her of everything – every experience – that turned her life around. She saved the whole of reality, but now the most important thing in her life are Hello and office gossip. Donna didn’t die, but the Donna we loved did.
Blublines: “I was going to be with you… forever. Rest of my life. Travelling in the TARDIS. The Doctor Donna. Oh! Oh, but I can’t go back. Don’t make me go back. Doctor, please, please don’t make me go back.”
16 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
“I’m back!”
Specifically, you didn’t vote for this moment from the Peter Jackson films* but from the original book. Sam’s returns home after all his adventures, and one simple bathetic phrase – so charming in its understatement – is enough to make you lot go all dewy-eyed.
* Though one voter did suggest, “The ending of Peter Jackson’s The Return Of The King – all five of them.”
Blublines: “Well, I’m back!”
Go to tearjerkers 15-11
Avoid Star Trek (2009) and Time Traveler’s Wife spoilers and go straight to tearjerkers 10-5
