# Best all-time movie moments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783 "2009-03-25T20:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/1 "2009-03-25T20:16:23Z")
I know that we’ve done this thread a million and two times already, but it never seems to get old. Big – The piano scene in FAO Schwartz Young Frankenstein – Puttin’ on the Ritz Rounders – The Oreo Cookie scene Start Trek II – “Buried alive, buried alive.” “Khaaaaaaaaaan!” ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/2 "2009-03-25T20:23:09Z")
I like [this scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLDw5Vf9GMI) from Cinema Paradiso ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/3 "2009-03-25T20:27:07Z")
**The Sting** – “Four jacks.” **Life is Beautiful** – Guido “translating” for the German guard **The Matrix** – “You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland… and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” **Spinal Tap** – “These go to eleven.” **The Seven Samurai** – The invading horde, for the first of many times in movie history, comes streaming over the hill. **Pulp Fiction** – The Twist contest. Very risky scene that paid off handsomely. Having John Travolta dance, at that stage of his career, could have seriously backfired. But instead, it worked beautifully. **Annie Hall** – “I happen to have Mr. McCluhan right here…” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/4 "2009-03-25T20:44:53Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > **Life is Beautiful** – Guido “translating” for the German guard Excellent scene. Joshua’s facial expressions are priceless. My Cousin Vinny – so many to choose from, but Lisa’s testimony is probably the best part. There’s Something About Mary – Hair gel. (Or franks and beans.) Austin Powers – One warranty card for Swedish-made penis enlarger pump, filled out by Austin Powers ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/5 "2009-03-25T20:45:52Z")
A scene from _Shane_ I’ve watched over and over again, amazed at the variety of emotions that are compacted into one brief scene. In the beginning of the movie, Shane, an obvious gunfighter, has ridden up to a farmer and his wife on their small ranch and is talking to them. Their 10-year old boy, coming around the corner of the house behind Shane playing with an old, broken rifle, makes that racheting sound you make with rifle when you get it ready to fire. Shane hears the noise and whirls around drawing his sixshooter as he does so. The scene then shows Shane pointing his gun at the little boy and flashes to the differing looks on the faces of the four people in the scene. Shane looks sheepish as he realizes that he has drawn his gun on a kid. The kid looks ecstatic because now he can go to school in the morning and tell his friends that a gunfighter drew his gun on him. The mother looks like she is going to crap in her panties because she almost saw her little boy get shot by a gunfigher. The father realized what has happened and knows he should do something, but he sure doesn’t want to rile the gunfighter, so he yells at his kid. All this is conveyed a few seconds. Brilliant.! ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/6 "2009-03-25T20:49:53Z")
**Braveheart** - William Wallace refusing to bow to the will of the king - even at the cost of his life. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/7 "2009-03-25T20:55:07Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > **Braveheart** - William Wallace refusing to bow to the will of the king - even at the cost of his life. Good one, but I think that movie’s defining moment is his inspirational speech to the troops. (Cliched though it is now.) ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/8 "2009-03-25T21:17:16Z")
So many … so many … **The Return of the King** … “You bow to no one.” **Jaws** … “Smile, you son of a b…” Ka-blooey! **The Usual Suspects** … “And like that, he’s gone.” **2001 : A Space Oddysey** … The bone changing into the sattelite. **Brazil** … “He’s got away from us, Jack.” ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/9 "2009-03-25T21:34:36Z")
**American Psycho** - the Huey Lewis and the News scene ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/10 "2009-03-25T21:37:22Z")
Caddyshack— So many to choose from, but Carl (Bill Murray) talking about being a caddy for the Dali Lama while holding a pitchfork to a kids throat was a favorite “So I got that going for me, which is nice” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/11 "2009-03-25T21:42:58Z")
**Raiders of the Lost Ark** – Indiana Jones vs. the guy with a scimitar. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/12 "2009-03-25T21:47:46Z")
_Unforgiven_. The bar massacre scene, especially, the brilliant way of framing that shot where the lynch mob is drinking and celebrating, not knowing that William Munny is watching them coldly. Then he raises his gleaming shotgun slowly into the frame, and the mob finally notices him and starts to react. “You just shot an unarmed man!” “Well, he shoulda armed himself, then, if he’s gonna decorate his saloon with my dead friend.” ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/13 "2009-03-25T21:47:53Z")
and in **The Temple of Doom** – the bridge scene. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/14 "2009-03-25T21:55:45Z")
**LA Confidential** : Rollo Tomassi. **Star Wars** : “Yaah Hoo! You’re all clear kid, now let’s blow this thing and go home!” **Absence Of Malice** : The scene where Wilford Brimley comes in and cleans house **The Third Man** : The ending, where Alida Valli in the distance walks right past Joseph Cotten in the foreground, without even looking at him, and keeps on walking past the camera ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/15 "2009-03-25T22:21:57Z")
_48 Hours_ when Eddie Murphy’s all suited-up but unarmed Reggie Hammond character singlehandedly takes command of the bar full of red-necks. “I’m your worst f\*\*\*\*\*g nightmare! A n\*\*\*\*g with a badge!” ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/16 "2009-03-25T22:30:17Z")
The final showdown in The Good,The Bad and The Ugly. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/17 "2009-03-25T22:41:28Z")
The “For Youuuuuuuuuuuuu, Lydia!” scene in the _Fisher King_. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/18 "2009-03-25T23:19:10Z")
The first one that came to mind was in Miracle on 34th Street, when the defense attorney proves Kris is Santa by dumping all the mail. I love that scene. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/19 "2009-03-25T23:32:57Z")
Film version of “Henry V”, Laurence Olivier, St. Crispin’s Day speech. Just awesome; brings a tear to my eye every. single. time. ---
**Author:** ![IdahoMauleMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71c47a/32.png) [@IdahoMauleMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IdahoMauleMan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783/20 "2009-03-25T23:40:06Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I know that we’ve done this thread a million and two times already, but it never seems to get old. Bridge Over the River Kwai Saito finally caves to Nicolson’s obstinance that the officers don’t work, Nicolson realizes halfway through Saito’s B.S. speech in his office what is happening, he stands up as straight as possible given his malnutrition and general decay, tucks in his shirt, makes sure it’s buttoned, then walks out onto the porch, holds his chin up, and one of the troops exclaims ‘He Did it!’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-movie-moments/490783.md?page=2)