Honestly I haven't seen this since I was 7 or 8 years old, and I don't remember much of it at all, but I remember BAWLING my eyes out near the end. I was a wreck. Was it really that sad? Like I said I don't remember much.
I still cry like a baby at the end. Its a very emotional ending; happy and sad at the same time.
shareYou're not alone. Free Willy is the only movie that I saw three times in the theaters. I've never seen any other movie in the theaters more than twice. I still remember the exact days as well - Monday 6/28/93, Saturday 7/3/93, and Saturday 8/28/93. I was 13 at the time. The first time I saw it, I was in tears on the way home - and we're talking full-throttle crying. In several ways, it reminded me of the friendship in E.T. - both involved boys who were lonely, disenfranchised and disconnected forming a bond with a very special friend that understood them in ways no one else could. Both Elliott and Jesse faced hardships that affected their friends, and it fell upon them to save them. After rescuing their friends, who by the ends of their journeys had become their soulmates, they both had to say emotional farewells to them. The two stories have a lot in common. As E.T. is in my top 5 favorite movies ever, that similarity (along with my love for orcas) may explain why Free Willy resonated so strongly with me.
With Free Willy, the part that gets to me the most is twofold. After Willy jumps the wall, Jesse's happiness makes me cry with joy. Then, as he realizes that he'll probably never see his friend again, he becomes somber. When he hugs Glen and Annie while looking out to sea and saying "So long, Willy" and we hear Willy cry, that absolutely destroys me. I realized then that both were equally happy and equally sad. Even though Willy was completely free at that moment, he didn't want to leave his friend - the one who saved him and made it possible for him to return home. So he stayed, if only for a moment, to share in Jesse's grief, making sure Jesse heard it - and in the process, permanently securing their connection. I feel it just as strongly as Jesse and Willy did, and it still makes me cry today.