spine tingling moments in films *No listing*

toodleytoo

I just finished watching The Return of The King there, I'd forgotten how good the battle scenes were. The charge of the Rohirrim gave me the shivers. The combination of the speech, the score and the cinematography, from the sound of the horns blowing onwards, caused the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

What movie scenes stand out for you in terms of spine tingling moments?

DrumSteve

Probably Capa's jump in Sunshine.

Just everything about that scene really. The score. The cinematography. Everything. Just really beautiful to watch. Followed by the end where time and space start to come together. Just amazing.

The King of Moo

A recent one for me is in the opening scene of Star Trek, as baby Kirk is being born while is father is holding off the attacking ship, and the sound fades and it's this quite gentle music playing over silent scenes of missiles exploding round the ship and Kirk being born.
For me, it strikes a perfect balance between genuine emotion and schmaltziness, and could easily have slid into the latter, but I think it's perfectly pitched.

leviathon

Dark Knight - the bit when Harvey and Rachael are tied up beside the rigged barrels of explosive. Just as oul Bats arrives in Harvey realises that Rachael is a gonner - that nearly straightened out me curlys

Johnnio13

The Shining, when the kid meets the twins in the corridor. Jebus! They didn't need music for that.
There is loads in that movie.

Frank Black

Well to stick with LOTR for a minute I love the sequence from Fellowship of the Rings which covers the ‘Shortcut to Mushrooms’ chapter until Frodo makes his leap onto the Bucklebury Ferry.
From the iconic scene of the 4 hobbits hiding in the roots of a large tree as a Black Rider crouches over them sniffing the air to Frodo running down the wooden pier and making a desperate jump onto the Ferry. When I first saw this sequence in the cinema the hairs on the back of my neck stood up not just because the sequence itself is exciting (which it is) but because it really chimed with the way I had imagined it in my head when I had read the novel many years before.
I love the sound design in the sequence as well – it covers everything from the high pitched wailings of the Nazgul to the deep bass stomping of horse hoofs – It’s really immersive and adds to the atmosphere.

LittleBook

“Your ancestors are n’ggers” scene from True Romance, the music from Lakmé was particularly emotive. If someone’s ever going to torture me to death in order to hunt down my child, I hope I have the presence of mind to insult them so perfectly that they shoot me quickly.

More recently, the zero-gravity fight scene from Inception. My daughter (who has difficulty shutting up for five minutes straight) and I were literally gob-smacked and looked at each other as if to say … “did you just see what I saw??”

Sad Professor

List threads are against charter, folks. Please explain your choices or else your post will be deleted. Thanks.

willow tree

im a bit of a daniel day lewis nut but the bit in 'in the name of the father' where they get their freedom..jeez i was in emotion overload, and where giseppie died, bits! also in 'my left foot' where brenda fricker says 'you break my heart, sometimes i think you are my heart'..im welling up just thinking about it.. i think for me i have to connect to the character- big lights and fancy effects dont seem to do it for me..

Duggy747

Aliens - When Ripley saves Newt towards the end and runs right into the hive. She turns around to the sound of nothing......no music........but heavy breathing. We see this organic thing laying an egg (rather lifelike to thanks to the great puppetry), camera then pans up to this gigantic, motionless black figure with bits of it's body protruding high into air.

It's jaw comes down from it's upper shell and we realise it's the goddamn Queen.

The climatic fight back on the ship between the powerloader and the Queen is fantastic. Really showed off what a master Stan Winston was with his skills and the I think the lack of music throughout the entire scene really grabbed your attention.

Yea, pretty much when the Queen is introduced to when she dies is fantastic in suspense.

Handsome Bob

:oI'll try and keep this specific to films I've seen as an adult.

Brokeback Mountain - "Jack, I swear...." For such a simple line, it didn't half give me goosebumps. Delivered so gently, but with such power of emotion. Plus, the scene where Ennis says he has nothing because of Jack, that really got to me too.

American History X -

When Derek breaks down upon finding Danny's lifeless body. That's the pain of a man broken by guilt.

Batman Begins - I actually have 3 scenes. The first being the scene between young Bruce and Alfred in the aftermath of his parent's funeral. It just summed up perfectly what put Bruce on the road to what he's eventually become. The 2nd scene where Ducard goads Bruce over how his father was weak, I always get really worked up when I see that scene. :pac: The final scene being the last one between Gordon and Batman. "I have never said thank you." "And you'll never have to." Again, sums up perfectly the relationship between Gordon and Bats.

And to stick with the theme of LOTR (:pac:), when Sam says that he doesn't think there's gonna be a trip home in RotK, that gave me goosebumps too. Also, when Frodo tells Sam to go home in RotK. Astin made both these scenes really memorable for me, the guy really was one of the best actors over the 3 films.

That's enough for now. :pac:

Moneyforbees

Hey, first time user long time lurker here- Still got shivers even the second or third time I watched the scene in "No Country for Old Men" where Toomy Lee Jones goes back to the motel near the end of the film and sits on the bed with Chigurh hiding in the room. Its all done in silence and the tension is incredible.

mikhail

Moneyforbees wrote: »

Hey, first time user long time lurker here-

Welcome to the forum.

You might edit your post with spoiler tags (you write {spoiler}example{/spoiler}, only with [] instead of {}, and you get

example

). All you need to cover is

Chigurh hiding in the room

. Thanks.

Moneyforbees

Dually noted, apologies...

mathie

The Sixth Sense did it for me. On the reveal that Bruce is dead I was first incredibly confused 'What's going on?!' 'What do the flashbacks mean?!' then the realisation started to kick in I got waves and waves of shivers like I've never experienced in my life. An absolutely incredible moment.

Marty McFly

LZ5by5 wrote: »

American History X -

When Derek breaks down upon finding Danny's lifeless body. That's the pain of a man broken by guilt.

+! on American History X such a powerful ending to an amazing film it get me everytime.

Reign Over Me: such an underated film for me Adam Sandler is amazing in it( yes I did just say that:D) The bit were

he in the pyschiatirists offices and finally breaks down and reveals the true extent what hes been going through and what happend the day his family died

for me its the best 9/11 related film out there that so many people overlooked because it was Adam Sandler in a serious role.

Scent of a Woman: When

When Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade gives his final speech at the end of it defending Charlie Simms actions he almsot has you standing up and shouting GO ON

mikhail

mathie wrote: »

The Sixth Sense did it for me. On the reveal that Bruce is dead I was first incredibly confused 'What's going on?!' 'What do the flashbacks mean?!' then the realisation started to kick in I got waves and waves of shivers like I've never experienced in my life. An absolutely incredible moment.

Too far the other way! You need to leave the name of the film in the clear at least, so people can tell whether or not they've seen it and can uncover the rest without fear!

JohnMarston

My last post got deleted (before the thread title said 'No listing') so i'll repeat:

The ending of Se7en where

You realise John Does reason for bringing them out to the middle of nowhere, the box arrives and sh*t hits the fan

LittleBook

Duggy747 wrote: »

Aliens - When Ripley saves Newt towards the end and runs right into the hive. She turns around to the sound of nothing......no music........but heavy breathing. We see this organic thing laying an egg (rather lifelike to thanks to the great puppetry), camera then pans up to this gigantic, motionless black figure with bits of it's body protruding high into air.

It's jaw comes down from it's upper shell and we realise it's the goddamn Queen.

The climatic fight back on the ship between the powerloader and the Queen is fantastic. Really showed off what a master Stan Winston was with his skills and the I think the lack of music throughout the entire scene really grabbed your attention.

Yea, pretty much when the Queen is introduced to when she dies is fantastic in suspense.

We were on a looooong flight once when my daughter was younger and I told her the story of Aliens all the way through (with special emphasis on "Get away from her you BíTCH!") she was absolutely enthralled.

mike65

The opening of Cliffhanger (1993) for its sheer giddy vertiginousness (is that a word?) and the very last shot of Medium Cool (1968) ("the whole world is watching") but that only really works if you have seen the whole film.

krudler

in Jurassic Park, the first appearance of the T-Rex and the subsequent attack, the noise of the rain hitting the jeeps roof and the distance thud of the first footsteps, when it first stomps out of the paddock and lets out that fantastic, speaker shaking roar and and starts walking towards the jeep with the kids in it, an absolutely iconic cinema moment.

Aliens, where Ripley is getting all tooled up in the elevator on the way down to rescue Newt, strapping the guns together and loading herself up with flares and grenades as the floor numbers keep getting lower, the music builds up to the brilliant climax then the lift doors open and all we hear is the sounds of the reactor as its going into meltdown with the computer voice telling us how long before it blows.

Toy Story 3, two words: "thanks guys"

VenomousFish

Fight Club: The part at the end, where

Marla and The Narrator hold hands, and watch the buildings collapse around them

. It's a great scene, but the Pixies masterpiece 'Where Is My Mind' transforms it into a truly haunting and memorable moment.

Nolanger

The ending in The Miracle Worker when the mute kid speaks for the first time at the water tap and the parents in shock.

Mickeroo

Last of the Mohicans, that last sequence where they're chasing them up the pass with that awesome soundtrack slowly building. Occasionally I just throw the dvd in and watch that bit.

Nolanger

The sequence in Superfly when the screen breaks up into smaller screens showing the different actors, with Curtis Mayfield singing on the soundtrack.

toodleytoo

In Bruges when

Brendan Gleeson starts dropping the coins before he jumps off the tower.

With Raglan road playing and the beauty of Bruges all around him, it always has an effect on me!

Nolanger

When Robert Armstrong says at the end: 'Oh no it wasn't the airplanes, it was beauty killed the beast.

Optimalprimerib

The elevator scene in the matrix. It flipped the movie from being a tad confusing to be (still to this day) THE action movie all others must reach the lofty heights of. That scene was so cool it dragged me back to watch it again and again and again where I really got to understand the intracicities of the plot.

krudler

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

The elevator scene in the matrix. It flipped the movie from being a tad confusing to be (still to this day) THE action movie all others must reach the lofty heights of. That scene was so cool it dragged me back to watch it again and again and again where I really got to understand the intracicities of the plot.

Its mad to think that from when Neo says "guns....lots of guns" the climax to The Matrix is basically one extended 25 minute action scene, from the lobby shootout to the elevator, to the fight on the roof, to the scene with the chopper and minigun and subsequent rescue of Morpheus, then Trinity from the falling chopper, then the subway fight, the chase then final rebirth of Neo, its just non stop the whole way.

DazMarz

The Green Mile: The scene in which Paul Edgecombe and John Coffey are talking in Coffey's cell towards the end of the film and Edgecombe is pondering what awaits for him in the afterlife if he performs his duty...

Paul: "On the day of my judgement, when I stand before God and he asks me why, why did I kill one of his true miracles... What am I going to say? That it was my job!?

John: "You just tell God it was the kindness that you done [to me]."

That scene, is just so, so powerful and sends a shiver down my spine... has me in tears too.

The Empire Strikes Back: Han Solo is about to be

frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader

when Leia, finally embracing her feelings for the man, surges forward. "I love you!"... The ever cool Solo, instead of replying with the stock answer, simply states, "I know...". Man, that scene for me is one of the many brilliant scenes in the best Star Wars film of all time.

krudler

DazMarz wrote: »

The Green Mile: The scene in which Paul Edgecombe and John Coffey are talking in Coffey's cell towards the end of the film and Edgecombe is pondering what awaits for him in the afterlife if he performs his duty...

Paul: "On the day of my judgement, when I stand before God and he asks me why, why did I kill one of his true miracles... What am I going to say? That it was my job!?

John: "You just tell God it was the kindness that you done [to me]."

That scene, is just so, so powerful and sends a shiver down my spine... has me in tears too.

The Empire Strikes Back: Han Solo is about to be

frozen in carbonite by Darth Vader

when Leia, finally embracing her feelings for the man, surges forward. "I love you!"... The ever cool Solo, instead of replying with the stock answer, simply states, "I know...". Man, that scene for me is one of the many brilliant scenes in the best Star Wars film of all time.

Empire has some amazing moments. None more so than "No.....I am your father"

ROTJ has some great moments too,Luke going mental and attacking Vader while under the Emperors throne platform as they fight out onto the walkway with that fantastic choral music playing is one of my favourite scenes of the trilogy, and Vader's funeral pyre is one of the most poignant moments of the entire saga.

jaykhunter

A great spine-tingling moment that springs to my mind is at the end of [REC].

It's a story about people who get trapped inside an appartment building, which is quarantined off because of (something) that turns people into rabid savages. They learn bits and pieces about it and in the final stages

they visit a sealed-off apartment where a young girl was exorcised/sealed off and left for dead. As they investigate they go deeper into the narrow appartment. The camera light breaks in their already dimly-lit room. Then they hear shuffling around in the darkness. Something's in the room with them, between them and the door. Through the night-vision of the camera we see a severly emaciated, almost ghostly-looking girl clamering around at pots and pans, (initially) unaware of their presence...this will not end well.

Oh man, I haven't felt like that watching a film in so long.

Frank Black

mathie wrote: »

The Sixth Sense did it for me. On the reveal that Bruce is dead I was first incredibly confused 'What's going on?!' 'What do the flashbacks mean?!' then the realisation started to kick in I got waves and waves of shivers like I've never experienced in my life. An absolutely incredible moment.

I wish that moment in the Sixth Sense had been a spine-tingling moment for me but I was travelling when the movie first came out and I had planned to watch it on dvd. One day I was reading a newspaper article on a totally unrelated subject that opened with the line

“Remember that bit in Sixth Sense when you realised that Bruce Willis was actually dead”.

I was so angry, I wanted to track down that journalist and administer a bitch-slapping.
Still kinda angry about it to be honest.

LittleBook

black francis wrote: »

Well to stick with LOTR for a minute I love the sequence from Fellowship of the Rings which covers the ‘Shortcut to Mushrooms’ chapter until Frodo makes his leap onto the Bucklebury Ferry.
From the iconic scene of the 4 hobbits hiding in the roots of a large tree as a Black Rider crouches over them sniffing the air to Frodo running down the wooden pier and making a desperate jump onto the Ferry. When I first saw this sequence in the cinema the hairs on the back of my neck stood up not just because the sequence itself is exciting (which it is) but because it really chimed with the way I had imagined it in my head when I had read the novel many years before.
I love the sound design in the sequence as well – it covers everything from the high pitched wailings of the Nazgul to the deep bass stomping of horse hoofs – It’s really immersive and adds to the atmosphere.

More LOTR ... while I haven't completely forgiven Jackson for shoe-horning Liv Tyler into Frodo's escape to Rivendell after being stabbed with the poison blade, I completely understand that that chase scene wouldn't have worked with just Frodo and the horse ... and it was brilliant.

krudler wrote: »

Aliens, where Ripley is getting all tooled up in the elevator on the way down to rescue Newt, strapping the guns together and loading herself up with flares and grenades as the floor numbers keep getting lower, the music builds up to the brilliant climax then the lift doors open and all we hear is the sounds of the reactor as its going into meltdown with the computer voice telling us how long before it blows.

Duggy747 wrote: »

Aliens - When Ripley saves Newt towards the end and runs right into the hive. She turns around to the sound of nothing......no music........but heavy breathing. We see this organic thing laying an egg (rather lifelike to thanks to the great puppetry), camera then pans up to this gigantic, motionless black figure with bits of it's body protruding high into air.

It's jaw comes down from it's upper shell and we realise it's the goddamn Queen.

The climatic fight back on the ship between the powerloader and the Queen is fantastic. Really showed off what a master Stan Winston was with his skills and the I think the lack of music throughout the entire scene really grabbed your attention.

Yea, pretty much when the Queen is introduced to when she dies is fantastic in suspense.

To score or not to score, that is the question. There are some scenes which gave me the tingles more because of the music used than what was actually happening. Such as the end of The Bourne Supremacy when Bourne says "Get some sleep Pam, you look tired", she spins around realising he's watching her and then Moby's "Extreme Ways" screeches in.

But my fave would probably be Neo walking out of the phone booth at the end of The Matrix looking cool as fúck and the opening chords of "Wake Up" blare out ... and then he flies. :pac:

nyarlothothep

The scene in Goodfellas in which Joe Pesci feigns being really p1ssed off. I remember seeing it in 2004, thinking just where exactly is this going? I always enjoy those moments in films when you have no idea whats going to happen next.

mikhail

krudler wrote: »

Its mad to think that from when Neo says "guns....lots of guns" the climax to The Matrix is basically one extended 25 minute action scene, from the lobby shootout to the elevator, to the fight on the roof, to the scene with the chopper and minigun and subsequent rescue of Morpheus, then Trinity from the falling chopper, then the subway fight, the chase then final rebirth of Neo, its just non stop the whole way.

All of that is true, but the spine-tingling moment for me is the moment when Neo realises that the helicopter is in trouble. It's a fantastic character moment: it says so much about how he feels about Trinity, but at the same time Morpheus is watching him grow into the role of the hero - for a moment, as a teenager watching him wrap the rope around his arm, I thought he might hold it up on his own (the moment I believed a man could fly) - and this is all done in the middle of an action beat. It's superb cinema.

Cianan2

One scene gets me every time, and I watch this film every couple of months.

Cool Hand Luke: When Luke (Paul Newman) sings Plastic Jesus to himself upon finding out about the death of his mother. The emotion in that 1 minute alone, and Newman's perfect acting... Brilliant.

Also, I'd also include Any Given Sunday, solely for Al Pacino's speech. Gets you pumped, and can even listen to it before playing a match myself to get me going!

JohnMarston

Cianan2 wrote: »

Also, I'd also include Any Given Sunday, solely for Al Pacino's speech. Gets you pumped, and can even listen to it before playing a match myself to get me going!

I love that speech

Frank Black

JohnMarston wrote: »

I love that speech

Meh – I always thought it was a bit hokey and over-rated but I fear I’m in a minority with that opinion.

Stevie Dakota

The scene where Ned Nederlander gets shot with a real bullet by El Guapo’s sidekick in the Three Amigo’s. Nearly spat out my Nachos, nearly.

humanji

Pretty much every seen with Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, but the one that stands out for me is the scene in the petrol station. It's just brilliantly put together and terrifying. I'd count it as would of the best scenes I've seen in a film, in a long, long time.

muletide

Oldboy - second to last scene

I love the way you realise just as Oh-dae-Su realises that Mi-do was his daughter all along. I love the pleading and begging for it to be kept a secret and I love the way you find yourself screaming at the screen every time you see it. - Absolutely unforgettable and magical screenwriting and acting.

Check it out - By the way this is a sixth sense style spoiler - if you haven't seen the film It will ruin it for you- You have been warned!!!!

TheoBoone

For me, it's got to be the ending to Smokin Aces, and it's pretty much all because of the music. Dead Reckoning by Clint Mansell is an awesome song and it served the scene really well. I don't know how to do the spoilers cover up thing so I'm not going to describe what happens or why it tingled me!

unreggd

The 'head-on-a-stick' scene from Wolf Creek

Really disturbed me for days after I saw it. Its not even overly graphic, just really sinister and the sound effects are so clear, it makes you think about going through the same thing. VERY creepy

krudler

LittleBook wrote: »

To score or not to score, that is the question. There are some scenes which gave me the tingles more because of the music used than what was actually happening. Such as the end of The Bourne Supremacy when Bourne says "Get some sleep Pam, you look tired", she spins around realising he's watching her and then Moby's "Extreme Ways" screeches in.

I watched the Bourne movies over the past few days, I love the bit in Ultimatum when

Bourne is leading Paddy Considine's character through Waterloo station and the other agents are scrambling to keep up with them and have no idea Bourne is guiding him, then theres that ubercool moment when they see Bourne on the cctv camera after he manhandles three guys and Davd Strathairns characters just goes "Jesus christ....thats Jason Bourne.." oh and how the end of Supremacy with "get some rest Pam" is actually in the middle of Ultimatum in the timeline, was a brilliant way of tying the movies tgoether

Sad Professor

muletide wrote: »

Oldboy - second to last scene

I love the way you realise just as Oh-dae-Su realises that Mi-do was his daughter all along. I love the pleading and begging for it to be kept a secret and I love the way you find yourself screaming at the screen every time you see it. - Absolutely unforgettable and magical screenwriting and acting.

Check it out - By the way this is a sixth sense style spoiler - if you haven't seen the film It will ruin it for you- You have been warned!!!!

I love how it's revealed as well. It's a great example of visual storytelling.

Sasquatch76

Mine is based more on childhood sentimentality than anything else, but the main transformation scene in An American Werewolf in London still captivates me.

I first saw it when I was about 9 or 10, with a couple of friends who also loved their monster movies. And it blew us away. Obviously the effects by Rick Baker were the best in the business at that time, but apart from being very realistic (to our eyes), it was an incredibly original transformation scene; none before had changed man into wolf (or wolf-like quadruped) but rather man into hairy man with sharp teeth :pac:

AAWIL however saw David Kessler change his entire form, in an excrutiating manner, including hands and feet into paws, muzzle protruding from a man's face, human torso mutate to that of beast.... all to Sam Cooke's Blue Moon playing in the background.

Although the movie has other weaknesses that I see now after literally dozens of viewings over the past 25 years or so, the film still ranks as my favourite (because of the effect it made on an impressionable kid with a big imagination). The transformation scene itself still stands up as some of the best special effects ever commited to celluloid imo, and is one of the very few movie moments from my childhood that can still give me the occasional shiver to this day.


Right, waffle over :pac:

Outkast_IRE

Once upon a time in the west , opening scene has to be mentioned , the 3 bad guys waiting at the train station , not a word uttered between them dam near silence for the first 8 mins of the movie or more , then after the train pulls off the harmonica starts going!!!! class scene ,

Also in the same movie when its revealed how he got the harmonica, very sad scene.

TommyTippee

Most spine-tingling moment for me was the reveal at the end of Vertigo.

Watched it at the old IFC before it became the IFI and my head was spinning for hours afterwards. Became an instant fan of Hitchcock and began watching all his films.

It such an incredible film. Twists a dozen times, but you always understand what's going on.

My favourite film to this day.

More recently, the end of Another Year has stuck with me. As with Vertigo, I was never a Mike Leigh fan, but this film has seemed to haunt me since I saw it. I find myself wondering how the characters are doing now, if that doesn't sound too ridiculous!

PhiloCypher

DON'T WATCH THE LINKS UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN THE FILMS .

Bladerunner - that final scene where Batty shows more vitality and wiill to live then Dekkard does in the entire film .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOphFl88U-g

Gattaca - Combination of the final scene where Ethan Hawkes takes flight and that swimming scene with his bro where he proves the human spirit > genetics .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWw9tboDtrg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1oU3mM-49c

G-Money

The first one that jumps to mind for me is from LOTR as well, but the Two Towers this time. It's the battle at Helm's Deep when Gandalf leads the guys charging down the side of the mountain. My jaw literally hit the floor when I seen that, plus the combination of the music and sound and the sunlight glistening through just gives me goosebumps when I think about it.

Can't think of any other film scene that jumps out at me before or since.