80s Movies That Made Us Cry

Get out your handkerchiefs because this one’s a doozie!

80s movies are best loved for their uncanny tributes to 80s fashion, 80s slang, and teen appeal. But like all decades, the 80s gave us a handful of films that had us weeping into our popcorn.

Heartache, tragedy, and the loss of loved ones provided plenty of fodder for sad nights at the movie theater. Filmmakers gave us stories that tore open our emotions and had our hearts bleeding for the characters we’d grown to adore. When they lost what mattered most to them, we did too. And so we cried. Sometimes, we bawled.

80s Movies: 5 Tearjerkers

Grab the Kleenex because the mere memory of these heart-wrenching films might make your eyes water. Sure, you can blame it on your allergies, but let’s give credence where it’s due. When a movie makes you laugh, cry, or feel emotions so strongly that you have a physical reaction, then the movie is doing its job. 80s movies did the job well.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Don’t even try to tell me that when E.T. died, you weren’t sobbing like a little baby with separation anxiety. And when his heartlight glowed and he came back to life, you kept right on sobbing gleeful tears of joy. Stephen Spielberg’s 1982 science-fiction blockbuster has audiences laughing, crying, and falling in love with a little boy named Elliott and his Reese’s Pieces-eating, alien, best friend. And who wasn’t crazy about little Gertie, played by a very wee Drew Barrymore? Turn on your heartlights, 80s people!

Terms of Endearment (1983)

One sure way to give moviegoers a solid tearjerker is to have one of your main characters die. And when a mother loses a daughter, the tears are sure to flow. Terms of Endearment is the mother of all 80s movies tearjerkers. Even the men were sniffling when Aurora (Shirley MacLaine) was desperately begging the nurses to do something for her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger), who was suffering from cancer. With Jack Nicholson playing a crockety old flirt trying to get into Aurora’s granny panties, this film also gave us a few good laughs.

Top Gun (1986)

This one had the men crying like chicks. The biggest bromance film of the 80s was Top Gun, and the dudes were dabbing their eyes when Goose died unexpectedly during a mock combat mission thanks to another one of Maverick’s foolish, show-off antics. Brotherly love between Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards), a hot blonde on a power trip (Kelly McGillis), and an adoring wife turned widow (Meg Ryan) made this movie a hit for the men and the ladies. Remember when Maverick sang “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling?” Somebody serenade me!

The Color Purple (1985)

Based on the 1982 novel by literary genius Alice Walker, The Color Purple brought audiences into the tragic life of Celie Johnson (Whoopie Goldberg), who suffered through sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her father, and later her husband. Celie’s life is a string of unfair and unfortunate traumas that had audiences rooting for her, even as she found solace in the relationships she forged with the women in her life: her sister Nettie, her husband’s mistress Shug, and her stepdaughter-in-law Sofia. These bonds keep her going even though our hearts just kept breaking for her.

Always (1989)

The death of a loved one is heartbreaking, but letting go is a close second. When Pete (Richard Dreyfuss) dies while on a dangerous aerial firefighting mission, his sweetheart, Dorinda (Holly Hunter) is devastated and left feeling broken and confused, and not sure how to move on. Pete doesn’t get into heaven right away, but is instructed by his guardian angel (Audrey Hepburn) to return and look after those he left behind. He must guide Dorinda toward a new path, one without him by her side. Ultimately, Always shows us that sometimes life is about moving on and loving again.

Honorable Mentions: Sad 80s Movies

Plenty of other 80s movies gave us the blues. Beaches (1988) was a huge hit, labeled chick flick, and had all the big girls crying. Another chick flick, Steel Magnolias (1989) almost made this list but the plot was too similar to the more gripping Terms of Endearment. Finally, Mask (1985) tells a sad but inspiring story of a motorcycle-riding, leather-clad, drug-taking mother and her deformed son.

There’s nothing wrong with shedding a few tears over these tearjerker 80s movies. Get them on DVD and watch them again and again. Just make sure you have a shoulder to cry on.

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