Act of Valour (Extended Ending)

People cry at emotional scenes in movies or shows. Believe me, they do.

But there is one movie that I cried to the most, and that is “Act of Valour”.

For those who are not familiar, Act of Valour is a 2012 war movie that tells the true story about the Navy Seals’ battles.

When I was 10, I came across this movie that my mum and sister were watching, and I saw the ending where the film’s protagonist was walking to the beach to go surfing. However, the music and seagulls’ sounds hit me the most I began to cry.

Yes, that’s right. Act of Valour made me cry.

But to get that out of the way, I am going to tell you a story about how I became a lot sadder seeing this ending.

On a day where my family was away and I was home alone, I was just watching some classic shows I used to watch on ABC from my childhood on my portable DVD player such as Pingu, The Wiggles, My Goldfish is Evil, Brum, etc.

I watched each single episode on each DVD until it was over.

I walked out of my room to watch something else on Netflix or Stan. When I turned on the television, I was on one of the Foxtel Movies channels, and the funeral scene from “Act of Valour” was playing.

I decided to watch the ending to make myself cry (in a good way).

The scene showed a few of the survivors pressing their badges down on the Navy Seals’ coffin and saluting them farewell, leaving a survivor (I think the protagonist) alone.

It then showed the very scene before the beach scene. It showed what appeared to be the protagonist’s wife reading a letter by Tecumseh. The narration was normal, but the music was melancholier, more heartbreaking and slower.

I was already about to shed tears hearing the music.

Now this is the part where we get to the beach.

It showed a melancholy shot of Rorke (the name of the protagonist) looking at the beach, holding his surfboard in the sunset.

The music was slow and the seagull sounds were louder.

It then cut to a shot of Rorke hanging his head down, thinking about his past with the Navy Seals.

As he walked to the beach, it displayed some text (as seen in the international releases, because I live in Australia) saying: This film is dedicated to all of the men and women who have sacrificed for their countries as guardians of freedom against forces of terror and tyranny.

I already began to shed tears at this moment. I was already crying.

It showed a slideshow of seagulls on the beach, as they let out their usual sounds. I cried a little bit more because of the music overlapped with their sounds.

It then showed a close-up shot of Rorke’s face, and he was shedding a tear.

I thought he might have been crying over the music too, as if his actor was hearing the music in his head.

I sniffled, trying to not cry.

The music was getting slower, more melancholy and more tear-jerking then the first time I saw the ending.

My tears began streaming down my face as I sat on the couch, clutching the sheet, as my eyes watered more.

It then showed the very last shot of the movie, with a shot of Rorke walking to the ocean, as the camera zoomed up into the sky.

The seagull sounds were louder and the piano was much slower and had more keys that wrenched me in the heart. I began to sob and choke quietly seeing that scene.

Just then, a caption appeared saying, “And to all of those who will be called upon in the future...”

That screen stayed on for about twelve seconds as the piano was still playing and the seagull sounds were still heard, combining with the music and still seen flying.

I finally reached my most emotional point I began to cry at a normal rate and so many tears streamed down from my face seeing that distressing scene. I couldn’t fight back anymore.

Just then, it showed a black screen with white text saying “Happy 10th Anniversary Act of Valour”.

I just realized this year was the movie’s 10th Anniversary.

I continued crying and crying until I noticed my parents were coming home.

To stop crying, I controlled my emotions, went to grab a water bottle and drank out of it.

My parents noticed that my eyes were all bloodshot (presumably from the crying), but I told a lie saying that I accidentally got hand sanitizer in them, to which they believed.

I went back to my room to calm myself down to watch ABC shows on DVD to make myself happy.

After two hours, I felt really better.

At night, I told a few of my followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that I saw the extended ending of “Act of Valour” in my life, and they knew I cried to the ending.

Movies can make us laugh, they can amaze us, but secretly, they can make us cry, too, depending on what genre it is.

Whatever movie you watch, it will be either of those things I described earlier.