Line #25 Tearjerker/AtlantisTheLostEmpire


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7	'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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9	* The expressions on the faces of the people in the prologue as they realize they're trapped outside the protective bubble, with the tsunami seconds from breaking over them. You can see couples holding each other just before the sea consumes the city.
10	** For that matter, young Kida crying for her mother as she rises into the Crystal.
11	** Speaking of Kida, the scene where she recounts what happened in the prologue to Milo. At first, the way she explains it starts out normally, but as soon as she brings up the crystal (or "star", as she thought it was) and subsequent loss of her mother, her voice significantly ''softens'', almost as if even after all these centuries, it's ''still'' hard for her to talk about.
12	--->'''Kida:''' It is said that the gods became jealous of Atlantis. They sent a great cataclysm and banished us here. All I can remember is the sky going dark, and… people shouting and running. Then… a bright light, like a star, floating above the city. My father said it called my mother to it… ''I never saw her again''…
13	** Kida's mother stopped because Kida was trying to retrieve her dropped doll, and that's when her mother was taken away from her. It was in no way Kida's fault, but imagine how it looks and feels from her point of view.
14	* The museum directors' [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment of Milo]], [[MovingTheGoalposts from absurdly rescheduling his proposal meeting so they'll have an excuse to cancel]]. An angry Milo gives Mr. Harcourt two options: (1) either he listens to Milo's proposal or (2) accept his resignation letter. However, rather than accepting either the proposal or resignation letter, Harcourt [[TakeAThirdOption instead chews out Milo by pointing out that no one else will take his proposal seriously before soaking his resignation letter]]. FridgeHorror sets in when you realize that, had TheCall not intervened, Milo would've ended up just as broken as his grandfather.
15	--> '''Milo:''' ''(angrily jumping on the front of Harcourt's car)'' Sir, I really hope it wouldn't come to this, but this is a letter of resignation!! If you reject my proposal, I'll- ''(gets pushed off Harcourt's car by Harcourt's driver Heinz)'' WHOA!! ''(furiously)'' I'LL QUIT!!! ''(Harcourt, hearing this, signals Heinz to back up his car)'' I MEAN IT, SIR!! If you refuse to fund my proposal- \
16	'''Harcourt:''' ''(annoyed)'' You'll what? Flush your career down the toilet, just like your grandfather?! You have a lot of potential, Milo. Don't throw it all away chasing fairy tales. \
17	'''Milo:''' But I can prove Atlantis exists!! \
18	'''Harcourt:''' You want to go on an expedition? ''(gives a quarter to Milo)'' Here... take a trolley to the Potomac and jump in! Maybe the cold water will clear your head!! HEINZ!! \
19	''(Harcourt's car drives off, soaking Milo and his letter in the process)''
20	** Added to that, Milo doesn't even have an actual office. He's forced to do all his research, in the ''boiler room''. Which due to being such a small and confined room, not to mention having terrible lighting. Is a possibly the worst location for even attempting to do any kind of serious research.
21	* The moment during when Whitmore calmly mourns his friend Thaddeus, saying that he was a great man, but the mockeries of the other scientists broke him. Especially jarring since, until now, he had been portrayed as an eccentric and energetic old man.
22	--> '''Whitmore:''' If I could bring back just ''one shred'' of proof, that'd be enough for me.
23	* After the exciting battle with the Leviathan, Sweet setting a single candle in a helmet to drift on the water in the underground chamber, as a memorial to the many lives lost. Then Rourke comments they started with ''two hundred'' crewmembers, and [[RedShirt they're all gone]] by the end of the movie...
24	-->'''Rourke:''' Seven hours ago, we started this expedition with 200 of the finest men and women I ever known. We're all that's left. I won't sugarcoat it, gentlemen. We have a crisis in our hands. But we've been up in this particular creek before, and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here onward, everyone pulls double duty, everyone drives, everyone works. Looks like all of our chances of survival rest with you, Mr. Thatch. You and that little book.
25	** Notably, it's ''[[BigBad Rourke]]'' giving the above eulogy. Despite how evil he shows himself to be later, Rourke seemed to have a genuinely good relationship with his troops before he gave into greed and desperation; it has also became perfectly clear that all of the crewmembers (except Milo) were in league in his plot to nab the Heart of Atlantis from the very beginning of the expedition. When he ditches the team in Atlantis and callously betrays Helga, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope it's clear how corrupt and warped he's become by the temptation of Atlantis' greatest treasure.]]
26	** Becomes even sadder when you consider this movie came out during the same year as the 9/11 attacks.
27	* A small one during the journey to Atlantis. Even though Milo is still the ButtMonkey at this point and it's PlayedForLaughs, there's one where Sweet helps members of the crew up a small ledge, one by one. Milo, being last in line, reaches out his hand when it's his turn, but [[InnocentlyInsensitive Sweet already turns to leave]]. Milo humbly recoils his hand, recognizing that he's not "one of the gang".
28	** However, there's a possibility that off-screen, Sweet, being the NiceGuy of the gang, [[PetTheDog came back and helped Milo up]]. All the same, it's sobering how Milo had the mindset at the time to understand he didn't belong.
29	* When Milo shows Kida the Shepherd's Journal, it's revealed that the Atlanteans (including Kida herself) ''can't read their own language''. Her lost expression is what sells it, the desperate attempt to remember a part of her own culture.
30	** The commentary even mentions that this is comparable to forgetting ''your own child's name'', and somebody else knowing them better than you.
31	* In the Crystal Chamber scene, after Kida fuses with the Crystal, Milo softly, sadly calls out to her. It's a small moment where Milo knows that's not the real Kida before him.
32	-->'''Milo:''' Kida...
33	* After the bad guys finish boxing up the Heart of Atlantis and prepare to leave, Rourke takes a moment to punch Milo in the face and [[KickTheDog step on the picture of Milo and his grandfather]]. For a moment, Milo can only give his [[FaceHeelTurn betrayer]] a [[DeathGlare hateful glare]]. But when Milo salvages the picture from the broken frame, his expression significantly softens with despair.
34	** It's not just the picture that saddens Milo. He's looking back on how he meant for the Atlantis Expedition to make his grandfather proud. But instead, he feels as though his grandfather would be ashamed, if he only knew its crew all along planned to plunder the lost city of its riches (even if it meant taking the source of Atlantis' ''life force'').
35	* Just the sight of the Atlanteans' crystals losing their glow, as the main crystal is being taken away by Rourke.
36	* The King telling Milo his backstory: he was once an arrogant conqueror intending to use the crystal as a weapon of war, Considering the fact that the crystal grew a conscience of its own, it instead caused the tsunami that caused the destruction of the Atlantean empire that not only resulted the deaths of thousands of people (including Kida's mother), but [[BlindSeer also robbed the King of his eyesight]], all to punish him for his arrogance. With his last breath, the King implores Milo to save the city and Kida as he dies.
37	-->'''King Kashekim Nedakh''': In times of danger, the crystal would choose a host - one of royal blood - to protect itself and its people. It will accept no other. \
38	'''Milo''': W-w-wait a minute. "Choose"? So this thing is ''alive?'' \
39	'''King Kashekim Nedakh''': In a way. The crystal thrives on the collective emotions of all who came before us. In return, it provides power. Longevity. Protection. As it grew, it developed a consciousness of its own. ''[coughs]'' In my arrogance, I sought to use it as a weapon of war. But its power proved too great to control. It overwhelmed us...and led to our destruction. \
40	'''Milo''': That's why you hid it beneath the city. To keep history from repeating itself! \
41	'''King Kashekim Nedakh''': And to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate as my beloved wife. \
42	'''Milo''': What do you mean? What... what's going to happen to Kida? \
43	'''King Kashekim Nedakh''': If she remains bonded to the crystal... she could be lost to it, forever. The love of my daughter is all I have left. My burden would have become hers when the time was right... but now, it falls to you. ''[gives Milo his pendant]'' \
44	'''Milo''': Me? ''[takes the pendant]''\
45	'''King Kashekim Nedakh''': (''pleading'') Return the crystal. Save Atlantis. ''Save my daughter.'' ''[dies]''
46	** When Rourke is interrogating him for the Crystal, the King can only feebly try to dissuade him, claiming, "You will destroy yourselves!" Given the circumstances, it's obvious he ''knows'' just how much destruction the [[ArtifactOfDoom Heart of Atlantis]] can bring, and still doesn't want anyone else (even these invaders) to suffer like his people.
47	** And since Leonard Nimoy died in 2015, this has become even sadder.
48	** Perhaps even more sobering, he does not live to see his daughter returned to Atlantis, and it now falls upon her to lead what little remains of her people.
49	* Upon the King's death, Milo is asked by Sweet if there's anything he's going to do about Atlantis' situation, and that is something he needs to decide on. Given to the fact of how much time he spent on his efforts to make the successful discovery of the lost civilization, only to fall flat thanks to Rourke's true agenda, Milo sums it up with this quote:
50	-->'''Milo''': Oh, my decision?! Well, I-I think we've seen how effective my decisions have been. Let's recap: ''(pulls out the Shepherd's Journal)'' I lead a band of plundering vandals to the greatest archaeological find in recorded history, thus enabling the kidnap and/or murder of the royal family, not to mention personally delivering the most powerful force known to man ''(angrily throws the Journal into the floor)'' INTO THE HANDS OF A MERCENARY NUTCASE WHO'S PROBABLY GONNA SELL IT TO THE KAISER!!! HAVE I LEFT ANYTHING OUT?!!\
51	'''Sweet''': ''(nervously)'' Well, you did set the camp on fire, and made us drop down that big hole.\
52	'''Milo''': ''(sarcastically)'' THANK YOU!! Thank you very much!
53	* When Kida is released from the crystal, she comes out holding the bracelet her mother took off her (Kida's) wrist when the crystal took her. Given the implications, it's no surprise that Kida broke down in Milo's arms right after.
54	* The ending crosses over into BittersweetEnding when you realize that essentially, Kida and Milo are holding an Atlantean ''funeral'' for Kida's father.
55	** The commentary even describes it as just that.
56	* The way the crew treats Mole counts. Sure, he's a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who acts a lot like an animal, but it's clear he's not all right in the head despite being a genius at geology. And the fact that Audrey believes he was a feral child for some time, and that most of the crew ''know'' that doesn't help.

Context Tearjerker / AtlantisTheLostEmpire