What's your favourite film scene?

MagicIRL · 20-06-2015 5:03pm #1

As the title says, do you have a favourite film scene and if so, what is it and why?

I tend to sway on my opinion but I'm really fond of the final scene in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The way the suspense and tension builds, with the music creeping up behind as the camera pans around the stand-off. Magic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuUWq7qGSro

My other, which I could only get a part-video of, is the entire restaurant/dance scene from Pulp Fiction. I just love the whole set up of the diner, following the characters around to the booth and then the eventual dance of. The colour, music and just general feel of the whole thing is wonderful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSLMN6g_Od4

shazzerman · 20-06-2015 5:28pm

The ball sequence from The Magnificent Ambersons is my favourite scene in cinema.
Some runners up would be:
The montage that ends Three Colours Blue
The first chase sequence in Terminator 2
The pickpockets teaching Michel their trade in Pickpocket
The arrival of Kong, King Kong (1933)
Rupert Pupkin holding up the cards while Jerry Langford tries to read them...The King of Comedy
"This is this. This isn't something else, Stanley. This is this." The Deer Hunter
"I just want to enter my house justified." The last scene of Ride the High Country
The "family dinner" in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The "A Shine on Your Shoes" sequence in The Band Wagon
Redmond Barry and Lady Lyndon at the card table, Barry Lyndon
The ball scene in The Leopard

check_six · 22-06-2015 11:11am

MagicIRL wrote: »

I tend to sway on my opinion but I'm really fond of the final scene in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The way the suspense and tension builds, with the music creeping up behind as the camera pans around the stand-off. Magic.

This thread could be a whole heap of opening and closing sequences. Once Upon a Time in the West has another great Sergio Leone long build up shoot out right at the beginning. There are three gunmen hanging about waiting for a train to arrive and the tension just builds and builds with some great atmospheric sound effects.

I love the opening of Werner Herzog's Aguirre: Wrath of God with the Conquistadors winding their way down the side of a huge mountain in the Andes trying to drag all their horses and cannons with them.

The scene with Blake (Alec Baldwin) from Head Office in Glengarry Glen Ross is great. "ABC! A Always, B Be, C Closing. Always Be Closing!"

The scene at the end of The Godfather Part I where Kay is ushered out of the room and the door is closed as she realises that Michael, despite his assurances, is definitely running the family business with an iron fist.

Harry Palmr · 22-06-2015 11:31am

The opening of Blade Runner is just magnificent - sound and vision from post industrial Hades.

The car chase in The Seven Ups is the best of its kind so have to throw that in.

Chimes at Mightnight - the battle scene (Bosworth in all but name). 10 minutes that perfectly catches the horror of mediaeval conflict with a tiny budget no obstacle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etNNWp0aW-Y

Its a brilliant film and the other stand-out scene is as Prince Hal betrays Falstaff. Proper old school "actorly" acting of a type that you just don't see/hear any more.

Into The Blue · 22-06-2015 11:39am

The ending of gangs of New York showing the rise of the city, closely followed by Mark Whalberg asking Leonardo DiCaprio if he had a different accent for the weekend in The Departed.

Tilikum · 22-06-2015 11:42am

Good will hunting.

Where Damon & Williams are sitting in a park on a bench.

Chris_Bradley · 22-06-2015 11:46am

Love the scene in where Christopher Walken turns up at Dennis Hopper's place looking for information on the whereabouts of Hopper's son is (Christian Slater).

Hopper gives Walken the monologue about the origin of Sicilians - Hilarious but very very dark.

Amazing scene from one of the greatest movies I've ever seen.

sheesh · 22-06-2015 11:51am

the diner scene in pulp fiction

where julee and vincent are talking about Jules' Future of walking the earth.

Chip Whitley · 22-06-2015 12:10pm

This technically is only part of the scene(s) I love, as it's missing the part beforehand where Hackman and Travoltas characters get ready for the arrival of the two gangsters but I love this:

and also the build-up in this:

5rtytry56 · 22-06-2015 12:13pm

where the complete scummer / psycho Eric Deed is shot by the barman in "The Drop".

Tomagotchye · 22-06-2015 9:35pm

First thing that popped into my head was the shootout in the rain scene from Road to Perdition. Quality film - great use of sound and score. I don't know if it's my favourite but it just jumped in there which is a decent sign.

Faith+1 · 22-06-2015 9:54pm

Has to be the opening scene to T2. What an epic opening to a movie that you knew was going to kick ass!

FortySeven · 22-06-2015 9:55pm

Ronin car chase. Best ever!

sydthebeat · 22-06-2015 9:57pm

The final scene in the bowling alley in there will be blood. A half hour of one continuous shot with two actors going hammer and thongs. Unforgettable.

ziedth · 22-06-2015 10:02pm

Tomagotchye wrote: »

First thing that popped into my head was the shootout in the rain scene from Road to Perdition. Quality film - great use of sound and score. I don't know if it's my favourite but it just jumped in there which is a decent sign.

Thats actually the first thing that came into my head too. Love that scene.

Hard to pick just one for me, I have to say the Kitchen fight in The Raid 2 is prob the most entertaining 7/10 minutes of footage i've seen in recent years. Even if the rest the rest of the film was shocking that would make it worth the price of admission.

Borat deserves a mention too, i had an actual pain from laughing at the "running of the jew". I think i actually missed the next 10 minutes of the film because i would burst out laughing just thinking about it.

For me though its Any given sunday. There are a handful of scenes in the film that are brilliant in that OTT oliver Stone kind of a way. James Woods and Al Pacinos argument being one but its definitely the speech towards the end for me. I challenge anyone not to watch that scene and get pumped up.

Yellowblackbird · 22-06-2015 10:03pm

johnny b goode scene in 'back to the future'. or the final saloon bit 'unforgiven'.

monkeysnapper · 22-06-2015 10:26pm

Faith+1 wrote: »

Has to be the opening scene to T2. What an epic opening to a movie that you knew was going to kick ass!

Why didnt somebody just make a whole film of just this sequence of fighting . robots vrs humans . instead of making it so complicated .

great scene

FAILSAFE 00 · 22-06-2015 11:06pm

Andy's escape from Shawshank prison

Heat, 2 enemies having coffee where they find a middle ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rIYXfztyxA

and lastly I think most people will know this one and if you don't shame on you

FunLover18 · 22-06-2015 11:17pm

John McClane jumps off a skyscraper tied to a fire hose

Thornton vs Danaher

Helm's Deep

The lost boys feast in Hook (best movie meal ever!!)

I Am The Law · 22-06-2015 11:27pm

https://youtu.be/D2_AiQLCb3U

the_syco · 23-06-2015 12:10am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0Lxk8p43sA

johnny_ultimate · 23-06-2015 5:12am

The restaurant scene in Playtime.

Now, it's obvious that the sequence works as well as it does because of its context in the entire film, following the expertly realised, unrushed opening half and the relatively brief closing act with its giddy explosion of joy, energy and colour.

But the restaurant scene is a virtuosic feat of filmmaking and, maybe most importantly, comedy. It maintains its frantic pacing over the guts of forty five minutes straight, with the running gags evolving and mutating in delightful ways right through to the very end. Tati establishes and successfully follows dozens of characters and happenings, often within a single frame. It's this glorious mix of chaos and anarchy - the scene grows increasingly frantic as everything falls apart (literally), but at the same time it represents some of the most controlled reels of (70mm) film in history. Tati clearly considered deeply every single thing about it, from the props to the spatial relationships and right down to its deliriously unhinged soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyLa5zxiRu4

That this insanity is maintained over more than a third of the film is nothing short of miraculous. I've watched through it only twice, but both times I was absolutely mesmerised and sat there with a huge grin on my face from beginning to end (and given what follows, said grin stayed there). Playtime is one of the great 'complete' artistic statements of cinema, its creator's definitive masterpiece. And nowhere is that more evident than in that hilarious, crazy, brilliant restaurant scene.

frostyjacks · 23-06-2015 5:41am

Off the top of my head:

The A-B-C speech in Glengarry Glen Ross

The bit in Commando where Arnie straps about a hundred guns, knives, grenades and ammo clips to himself.

And most recently, the scene in SpongeBob Squarepants 2 where he decides to sacrifice his life, with Morricone's Ecstasy of Gold playing in the background.

Brief_Lives · 23-06-2015 7:18am

Great thread...

Immediately I thought of The Crow - the Death of Tin-Tin "victims, aren´t we all"

Die Hard "No **** lady, do I sound llike I´m ordering a pizza"..

The Dark Knight - The Joker meets the mob , 2I´m gonna make this pencil disappear"..

Fight Club - Let me tell you a bit about Tyler Durden.

I was a big fan of John Wick, the kill scene inside his house..

Predator... the hiding in mud scene... Just blew me away as a kid...

MfMan · 23-06-2015 9:04am

Quint's 'Indianapolis' monologue from Jaws

"When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk!"

Jill's arrival at the train station in 'Once Upon A Time In The West'

The climactic gunfight in 'Shane'

The Ferris wheel scene in 'The Third Man'

The scene where Szpilman climbs the hospital wall and walks down a bombed-out Warsaw street in 'The Pianist' and, later, the electrifying sequence where he plays the piano, maybe for his life, before the German captain.

The brief scene in 'Cinema Paradiso' where the adult Toto replays old cine footage of Elena with tears in his eyes;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBHmcEpZ3M

KrakityJones · 23-06-2015 12:19pm

Has to be the chestburster scene in Alien, the pure shock of it, even knowing what was coming before watching it. Love that the actors weren't told what was going to happen in that scene before shooting either, the look of utter horror and fear is only part-acting.

hotshots85 · 23-06-2015 12:22pm

Love the pool hall scene in Carlitos Way, you can see it coming but no way to stop it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25vsJNAwhGE

Turtyturd · 23-06-2015 1:00pm

The scene in Jurassic Park where you first get to see the TRex. Such tension and excitement.

The continuous scene in Children of Men. I think it was done better recently in True Detective but I remember being blown away by it first time I seen it.

The scene in The Dark Knight where Batman comes out of retirement. A real f*ck yeah moment with a great marriage of music and the visuals on screen.

pinkypinky · 23-06-2015 1:11pm

I unashamedly love the dinner party scene in Notting Hill from the embarrassing gaffes made by the friends to the who gets the brownie to the "they always make that noise when I leave" bit.

5rtytry56 · 23-06-2015 2:16pm

hotshots85 wrote: »

Love the pool hall scene in Carlitos Way, you can see it coming but no way to stop it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25vsJNAwhGE

The scene where his coked out lawyer played by sean Penn shoots the prison escapee they're supposed to rescue

eamonnq · 23-06-2015 2:18pm

The winter battle scene where the two guys are hopelessly outnumbered but use what they have available to them to defy the odds and defeat the bad guys and emerge victorious.

Elf

shamrock55 · 23-06-2015 2:24pm

has to be this

shamrock55 · 23-06-2015 2:27pm

shamrock55 · 23-06-2015 2:31pm

https://m.youtube.com/results?q=true%20romance%20sicilians&sm=1

i dont know whats going on with the youtube vids, anyway here is the link

NachoBusiness · 23-06-2015 3:57pm

My favouite film is Scarface and I would say that at least a half a dozen or so of my favourite movie scenes of all time are all from that one film. The scene where Tony refuses to blow up a car when he finds out that there's an innocent women and her daughters inside, the drug deal gone bad / chainsaw scene, first you get the power / manny gets slapped by the "lesbian", who do I trust bathtub scene, Boliva helicopter, confronting Manny at Coconut Grove, dancing at the Babylon Club, say goodnight to the bad guy restaurant scene.. it's really just one classic scene after another with Scarface. I simply adore it.

Sometimes I think the film's popularity and constant quoting by fans has over the years somewhat detracted from just how good a film it really was and is.

If I had to pick just one scene though from it, then it would have to be the pivotal scene where Tony goes to see Lopez not knowing for sure if he was the one that has just tried to have him killed. I wish I could watch that scene for the first time all over again, not knowing what was to happen, as can remember watching it for the first time (back in the 80s) as a teenager and being totally engrossed in it..

.ak · 24-06-2015 9:24am

Off top of my head Ronin's car chase always pops in there, or the bank heist in Heat.

Kunkka · 24-06-2015 11:18am

First thing that popped in to my head was the cage scene in Jaws as Hooper sees the shark coming towards him. Loved it as a kid and still love it now.

The end to the Usual Suspects was a great moment too & the landings in Saving Private Ryan for the shock factor along with many veterans stating how real the portrayal was.

valoren · 24-06-2015 12:23pm

The courtroom scene from JFK..."So what really happended that day" as Jim Garrison explains his conspiracy theory "Back and to the left....." to a masterclass of Film editing.

The ending of ET. John Williams and the orchestra continually missed their marks when playing to the onscreen film rough cut. Spielberg had the lack of ego and the genius to realise what great music it was. He told Williams and the Orchestra to simply play and that he would cut the ending to the music.

ArtyM · 24-06-2015 12:37pm

Some of my favourites have already been mentioned but I will add a few...

The scene with James Gandolfini and Patricia Arquette in True Romance.

The final shootout scene in State of Grace (don't watch if you haven't seen the movie).

The apartment storming scene in Leon.

and 2 scenes that just make me laugh every time - the road crossing scene with Eddie Murphy and the car park scene with the dog in stilettos - both from Bowfinger.

Dirty Dingus McGee · 24-06-2015 1:01pm

The scene towards the end of The Last of The Mohicans when the British Army are surrendering and leaving the fort get attacked by Magua and a Huron war party.

The director does a great job conveying how absoultely terrifying it must have been for the people being attacked. The scenes following this are oustanding aswell.

walshb · 24-06-2015 1:07pm

MagicIRL wrote: »

As the title says, do you have a favourite film scene and if so, what is it and why?

I tend to sway on my opinion but I'm really fond of the final scene in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The way the suspense and tension builds, with the music creeping up behind as the camera pans around the stand-off. Magic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuUWq7qGSro

Both my favorite ever film and favorite ever scene.

I do really love the scene in the Nutty professor when Eddie Murphy lays into the dickhead comedian. It's brilliant.

Others: Sergeant Gunnery in Full Metal Jacket. His opening scene when he introduces himself to the new recruits.

Bruce Lee fighting O'Hara in Enter The Dragon is superb. Magic.

I also love the scene in The Godfather where Michael visits Moe Greene in Las Vegas; particularly the chilling bit at the end when he puts Fredo in his place about taking sides against the family. "Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever." It was that line where Michael made his real entrance.

One of the most emotional and powerful movie scenes is the final scene in Midnight Express where Billy opens the door to freedom and begins to walk. His head lowers down as a jeep approaches, the music playing slowly, the jeep passes as he walks by, he gives a nervous look back and starts walking faster before running and leaping into the air. It's absolute spellbinding!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_peznjLiTY4

Sleepy · 24-06-2015 1:29pm

The moment Michael becomes his father's heir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qvpcfYFHcw

From his earlier declaration to his fiancée that "That’s my family, Kay. It’s not me", to the final line of this scene "It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business". That's the transformation that, to me, makes Godfather the better movie than it's more lauded sequel.

the_monkey · 24-06-2015 9:41pm

Chris_Bradley wrote: »

Love the scene in where Christopher Walken turns up at Dennis Hopper's place looking for information on the whereabouts of Hopper's son is (Christian Slater).

Hopper gives Walken the monologue about the origin of Sicilians - Hilarious but very very dark.

Amazing scene from one of the greatest movies I've ever seen.

Thanks for reminding me ... awesome scene ... awesome movie..

wrmwit · 24-06-2015 10:06pm

The line up in The Usual Suspects. When I first watched it I had to pause the dvd I was laughing so hard!

http://youtu.be/tDfZ5HmA6fs

walshb · 25-06-2015 7:42am

the_monkey wrote: »

Thanks for reminding me ... awesome scene ... awesome movie..

One of the best thrill ride movies ever. It's pure perfection. Has the perfect blend of everything.

arcticmonkeys · 25-06-2015 10:05am

I always found the opening to Come and See 1985 really Eerie.

quickbeam · 25-06-2015 5:54pm

Almost Famous - Tiny Dancer
But ... not just that scene but everything that leads up to it. The arrival of the t-shirts with Russell Hammond out front and everybody else in shadow, the fight afterwards, Russell walking out, joining the local kids for a party, getting high, jumping off the roof in to the pool, the come down aftewards, and being picked up by the tour bus the next morning which leads to the famous Tiny Dancer singalong.

Okay, maybe that's cheating as it's several scenes but they're all interlinked and make the culmination of why singing together to Elton John was suddenly so important.

26-06-2015 11:47am

This

frostyjacks · 26-06-2015 11:10pm

.ak wrote: »

Off top of my head Ronin's car chase always pops in there, or the bank heist in Heat.

Bank heist o'clock coming up on RTE 2 shortly. I remember the first time I saw this, my jaw was on the floor. It was an epic shoot out. I think it was the sound that struck me the most, it was like you could hear every round fired, even the metallic action of the assault rifles, it was different to all the other shoot outs I'd seen up to then. Must have been a serious amount of work went into that scene.

04-07-2015 7:14pm

Rewatched Lilo & Stitch for the first time since it came out and found it to be one of the most touching and emotional films that I've seen in quite some time. I'm not a big Disney fan, Basil the Great Mouse Detective and The Black Cauldron would be the ones I really love and I can now add Lilo & Stitch to that list, given that it manages to be one of the most adult Disney films ever made. The relationship between Lilo & Stitch is really quite beautiful and the manner in which it explores a broken family and how it can come back together is beautifully realised. There's very few films which have genuinely touched - Grave of the Fireflies, The Iron Giant and Up reduces me to a blubbering mess every time I watch them - and as I watched Lilo & Stitch with my house mate I found myself repeatedly getting something in my eye. Re-watching a few key scenes from it over the past number of days and each time I've ended up wiping my eyes.