What makes this scene great is the change of power. Sure Hopper’s character dies but he doesn’t get tortured and Walken’s character will have to live with Hopper’s speech the rest of his life. Genius!
In The Freshman, the scene with his suit falling apart and the tailor tucked away behind the curtain.
Bill and Chevy hang out for a bit, in Caddyshack.
I love the scene(s) in The Shawshank Redemption where Andy plays Mozart over the public address system.
The singing scene in Casablanca.
“Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing”
“Take those old records off that shelf” from Risky Business.
The very last scene in Brazil, somehow soul-crushingly depressing and full of hope at the same time.
[Dedicated, this week, to the people of Libya]
Thirding Lawrence riding out of the desert.
This was my “let me show you how awesome DVDs are” scene in 1997-98, before everyone had one.
The Lord of the Rings movies have some great ones, but my favorites have to be facing the Balrog in FOTR (“You SHALL NOT pass!”) and the entire Battle of Pelennor Fields from ROTK - I’ll look over the stupid ghosts in favor of the oliphants and the charge of the Rohirrim.
And I meant 1999-2000 for The Matrix. Missed the edit window by that much.
Amadeus has multiple truly fantastic scenes. Perhaps my favorite is The performance of Don Giovanni with Salieri narrating and coming up with his plot. (Side note: another scene in Amadeus has a production of a parody of Don Giovanni with lots of bawdy humor for the lower classes. One of the performers is a little person (midget). And I just recently learned that the actor playing that performer is none other than Kenny “R2-D2” Baker.)
The Iron Giant Superman
And while it’s not really one scene, the final 20 minutes of Back to the Future just lead perfectly from one climax (George punches Biff) to the next (George kisses Lorraine) to the next (Marty plays in the band) to the next (the storm almost ruins Doc’s apparatus) to the next (Doc has a bulletproof vest) to the next (Marty’s family is much improved) to the next (Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need… Roads).
I second the singing of Le Marseille in Casablanca. The most awesome scene ever.
I’ve always liked the scene in “Samson and Delilah” where Victor Mature brings the house down.
Everybody is laughing and jeering at him, then there is this low rumbling grating sound, and one of the pillars moves a millimeter, and there is suddenly DEAD SILENCE before it moves another inch, and panic ensues.
I coulda been a contenda
The Cruise-Nicholson scenery meal in A Few Good Men
I’ll third singing in Casablanca. I get more weepy every time I see it.
Boris Karloff’s “Cabman Gray” in Robert Wise’s “The Body Snatcher” especially his dialogue with McFarlane in the pub concerning the mysteries of life and death and whatnot.
The scene in “Barbarian Queen” where Tamaris, unhinged after being kidnapped and raped by King Argan’s men, and having voluntarily joined his harem, makes a play at being King Argan’s consort, offering to exchange her affections for a puppy to play with.
The scene in “The Amazons” (1973) in which the Greek king chides the Amazon queen, saying that without men the Amazons must engage in practices that others might regard as “unnatural” and the Amazon queen immediately comes back with “I have heard that the same things occur between Greek men and boys” and the Greek king is reduced to blushing and saying, “It has been known to happen.” Amazingly smart and funny scene for 1971.
The scene in “Bikini Chain Gang” where the Undead Bandit makes the bartender empty out all the cash from the till and give it to him, then returns a few bucks to him as a tip for doing so.
Rod Stieger and Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, two master actors at the absolute peak of their craft.
Another great scene, Eric Roberts and Jon Voigt in Runaway Train.