History TearJerker / DeepImpact

** Just the sheer scale of the tragedy we're witnessing; Entire cities, and likely entire ''nations'' have been wiped out and civilization has we know it has been irreversibly altered. Even with the demise of the second and larger comet (which would have ended the Human Race had it struck Western Canada), the world may rebuild, but it can never get back what was lost. Though as it's revealed by President Beck, the damage was mostly limited to the eastern US (by far the hardest hit as Boston, Philadelphia New York City, Atlanta and Washington DC and anything alongside the Eastern Seaboard were near ground zero of the impact), parts of Eastern Canada (especially Montreal and Quebec City). The wave was also strong enough to hit Europe, meaning countries such as the UK (alongside Scotland, Wales and Ireland), Iceland, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands, and Africa (though it's implied Africa wasn't nearly hit as hard compared to the US) were the ones that were hit by the resulting megatsunami, with millions of people confirmed dead from the overall disaster.

** Just the sheer scale of the tragedy we're witnessing; Entire cities, and likely entire ''nations'' have been wiped out and civilization has we know it has been irreversibly altered. Even with the demise of the second and larger comet (which would have ended the Human Race had it struck Western Canada), the world may rebuild, but it can never get back what was lost. Though as it's revealed by President Beck, the damage was mostly limited to the US (by far the hardest hit as Boston, New York City, and Washington DC and anything alongside the Eastern Seaboard were near ground zero of the impact), parts of Eastern Canada (especially Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City), UK (alongside Scotland, Wales and Ireland), France and most of Europe, and Africa (though it's implied Africa wasn't nearly hit as hard compared to the US) were the ones that were hit by the resulting megatsunami, with millions of people confirmed dead.

** Just the sheer scale of the tragedy we're witnessing; Entire cities, and likely entire ''nations'' have been wiped out and civilization has we know it has been irreversibly altered. Even with the demise of the second and larger comet, the world may rebuild, but it can never get back what was lost. Though as it's revealed by President Beck, the damage was mostly limited to the US (by far the hardest hit as Boston, New York City and Washington DC were near ground zero of the impact), parts of Eastern Canada, UK (alongside Scotland, Wales and Ireland), France and most of Europe, and Africa were the ones that were hit by the resulting megatsunami, with millions confirmed dead.

* Just the deaths of untold hundreds of millions of people across the globe after the first comet hits. The scenes of mass panic as everyone tries in vain to outrun the wave becomes more gutwrenching the more you think about it. Especially upsetting are the scenes of children among the panicked crowds trying to flee the incoming destruction; DeathOfAChild is brutally implied here.
** Just the sheer scale of the tragedy we're witnessing; Entire cities, and likely entire ''nations'' have been wiped out and civilization has we know it has been irreversibly altered. Even with the demise of the second and larger comet, the world may rebuild, but it can never get back what was lost.

* The crew of the Messiah saying their goodbyes to their families. Hell, the entirety of the BittersweetEnding.

* The HeroicSacrifice of [[BigDamnHeroes the crew of the ''Messiah'']].

* The fact this was the only film made with Creator/StevenSpielberg and acting legend Robert Duvall collaborating together followed by their fallout over the strongly conservative Duvall being outraged at Spielberg's visit with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and his praising of the Cuban communist leader, prompting the veteran actor to vow to never work on Spielberg's projects ever again. What makes the fallout more heart wrenching is that Duvall was responsible for encouraging Spielberg to make his first hit ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' that brought him on the map and Duvall was considered for the roles of either Brody or Quint, only for mere political differences to separate them both just years later.

* The death of Gus Partenza. Tulchinsky, who prior to this had been TheStoic, pleads with Sturgeon to go after Gus (even dropping an f-bomb in the process) but Sturgeon refuses to risk the mission or crew. As a devastated Tulchinsky takes his seat we see Jenny reading out a brief memorial for Gus on the news.

* And they come fast and loose once [[spoiler:the protagonist's mother commits suicide]], especially as certain main characters come to terms with (or merely accept) [[DeathIsDramatic their own impending deaths]].

* The HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes the crew of the ''Messiah'']]]].

* Just the deaths of untold hundreds of millions of people across the globe after the first comet hits. The scenes of mass panic as everyone tries in vain to outrun the wave becomes more gutwrenching the more you think about it. Especially upsetting are the scenes of children among the panicked crowds trying to flee the incoming destruction; InfantImmortality is brutally subverted here.

* The fact this was the only film made with Creator/StevenSpielberg and acting legend Robert Duvall collaborating together followed by their fallout over Duvall being outraged at Spielberg's visit with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and his praising of the infamous Cuban leader, prompting the veteran actor to vow to never work on Spielberg's projects ever again. What makes the fallout more heart wrenching is that Duvall was responsible for encouraging Spielberg to make his first hit ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' that brought him on the map and Duvall was considered for the roles of either Brody or Quint.

* The fact this was the only film made with Creator/StevenSpielberg and acting legend Robert Duvall collaborating together followed by their fallout over Duvall being outraged at Spielberg's visit with UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and his praising of the Cuban dictator, prompting the veteran actor to vow to never work on Spielberg's projects ever again. What makes the fallout more heart wrenching is that Duvall was responsible for encouraging Spielberg to make his first hit ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' that brought him on the map and Duvall was considered for the roles of either Brody or Quint.

* The death of Gus Partenza.

* When Jenny gives up her seat on the helicopter so that Beth and her daughter can survive.

* President Beck remains ever the statesman during the movie, but as things continue to grow more and more dire, he visibly grows more and more distraught. When he's forced to report that the missiles have failed to deter the comets, he doesn't even realize he's on camera and has to be told so. Some scenes feature him silently brooding in the Oval Office - after all, he might go down in history as the ''last'' president.

* Sarah's family insisting that she go on ahead with Leo so she has a chance of surviving, and her parents hugging one another before they die.

* The HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes the crew of the ''Messiah'']]]].

* The HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes the crew of the ''Messiah'']]]]

* The crew of the Messiah saying their goodbyes to their families.
** Fish not being able to see his two sons, but instead tells his deceased wife that he'll be coming home to her soon.
** Special note goes out to Oren, the blinded crew member not being able to see his newborn son. The rest of the crew then promptly whisper to him what the baby is doing on screen, just so his wife doesn't know that he's been blinded.

* The entirety of the BittersweetEnding.
** Particularly the scene where Oren gets the chance to talk to his wife (and infant son Oren Jr.) for the last time, especially considering that Oren was blinded earlier in the film and it's a son he'll never see. "Be good, Oren... be good..."
*** That scene was brutal. "Look at it this way: we'll all get high schools named after us."

* Sarah's family insisting that she go on ahead with Leo so she has a chance of surviving, and her parents hugging one another before they die.

* The crew of the Mesiah saying their goodbyes to their families.

* The HeroicSacrifice of [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes the crew of the ''Messiah'']]]]

* And they come fast and loose once [[spoiler:the protagonist's mother commits suicide]], especially as certain main characters come to terms with (or merely accept) [[DeathIsDramatic their own impending deaths]].