i think many of you are missing the OP, by mixing up interesting plot twists with great filmmaking. most of your examples were accomplished by the scriptwriters and novelists, which i don’t think KarlGauss had in mind.
i have to agree with the slow stabbing scene in Saving Private Ryan. wow.
Lawrence of Arabia - the scene at the well, where the Bedouin guide is nervously trying to get them some water. The desert is totally silent, there is no one around, yet when the bucket suddenly hits the water at the bottom of the well, Lawrence and the Bedouin jump out of their skins. Through the fierce heat shimmer appears a wavering blob – the blob gets closer – the Bedouin starts to pee in his pants – the blob is Omar Sharif on a camel! Carrying a gun! David Lean was magnificent.
Sunset Boulevard – the last scene. “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” There was never such a part written for an actress before or since, and Gloria Swanson was just spellbinding – and very unsettling.
Taxi Driver – the murders scene, or the breakfast scene with Jodi Foster. 'Nuff said.
Here’s a couple of memorable ones for me:
That scene in Titanic, where they show various people just before you know they’re going to die–the old couple in bed together, the mom tucking her kids in & telling them a story. I lost it there. Just lost it. I also liked the scene where Rose lets go of Jack, swims to the dead guy, yanks the whistle out of his lips, and starts blowing it. The look of utter determination on her face is incredible.
Another one that sticks with me is the Sean Connery death scene in The Untouchables. Man, that one hurt to watch.
The opening few shots of Painless’s ‘Last Supper’ from MASH.
The torture scene in Resevior Dogs. (Creepy as all get out…)
I’m with Al Zheimers on this one, the scene where the officer and priest arrive to deliver the bad news in Saving Private Ryan. It’s odd, but the first time I saw the film, I knew exactly what would happen when that scene begun, yet I still fell for it and got all queazy inside. I think that makes a great moment in filming… you see it coming, you know what will happen, and it still knocks you over every single time…
Cristi - that scene from Titanic was so incredible! I can’t believe I forgot it. I saw it during the Celine Dion video and I cried right then, so ya know I lost it in the theatre. I was sobbing, espcially when the mom read the story. It was just so breathtaking, but kind of heartwarming too, cause you knew they loved each other.
I don’t care what anyone says, I still think that movie rocks! 
I hate to do this, but I feel that I have to. Feel free to ignore me…
There are two references to Schindler’s List in this thread, the red-coat scene and the parade of stone-droppers at the end.
Both of those scenes contribute to my low-esteem of this very popular movie.
I theorize that the red-coat scene is inspired by Spielberg’s experiences at Majdanek while preparing for the film. If you’ve never been there (you should go) there are barracks and barracks full of shoes on display. In the final barrack, way in the back, lies a single red shoe - it sticks out like a flare.
It’s power is undeniable - it reminds you of the “single-ness” that you’ve forgotten about, buried beneath the mountain of shoes.
Many, many, many people write about it.
That said, the scene hurt the film - Spielberg broke his black-and-white convention in a clumsy, jarring way, to make a confusing point. I’ll return to this in a moment.
Think about the stone-scene at the end. Rewind a few minutes to the end of the story - The Schindler Jews have been freed, the sun rises, a Russian Soldier rides up… then? WTF? Everyone marches to Jerusalem singing Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold).
Again, Spielberg broke a number of conventions in a jarring way and turned what could have been a fantastic dramatic work into something… else.
This “else” is what offended me.
I feel the same way about this movie as I do about Titanic: well-made movies, they tell an important story well, everyone should see them, but they fail in a fundamental way.
Both films (but more so Schindler’s List) make a concious decision to stop being movies and start being political vehicles. It’s as if the directors didn’t trust the films enough to stand alone and make thier points.
There, I did it.
Sorry about both the length and the hijack.
Carry on…
You have pointed out many, many remarkable scenes. I agree with essentially all of your choices. But I have to agree, as well, with Kilgore Trout. Kilgore knew what I was getting at. I was most interested in learning what you felt the best sequence was, the best “10 minutes” so to speak. I was looking for something more extended than a scene, no matter how great the scene was. So, for example, the scene in Saving Private Ryan where the Nazi soldier soothes his victim is just that - a scene. Astonishing and remarkable, but just a scene nonetheless. Contrast that to the sequence depicting the Omaha Beach landing. Now that’s a sequence.
You didn’t expect the movie geek to let this thread go by, did you?
There are lots of amazing sequences in modern films (i.e. last thirty years); quite a few have been pointed out above. I’d also mention the climax of Do the Right Thing, between Radio Raheem being tossed into the police car up to where Spike throws the garbage can. And comedy-wise, it’s hard to beat the “getting the Huggies” sequence from Raising Arizona, or any given ten minutes of A Fish Called Wanda. Oh, and don’t forget the ending of Das Boot, with the triumphant return followed by the airplane’s strafing run…
But if we’re talking about “The Best 10 Minutes of Movie-Making,” then I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go pretentious, a little bit.
1925: The “Odessa Steps” sequence from Potemkin. Eisenstein virtually single-handedly invented modern editing in this scene. Much of the film is awfully dated, but the massacre still works like gangbusters today. Probably the single-most influential sequence in all of cinema. (By the way, the Untouchables scene previously mentioned is a direct ripoff of this.)
1924: The central fantasy in Sherlock Jr., by Buster Keaton. By this I mean after he falls asleep in the projection booth, climbs up into the screen, gets flashed into various environments, and then ends up the in-movie detective. The pool game with the explosive ball is an all-time classic, and the comic timing in the whole sequence is exquisite. In 75 years, I don’t know if there’s been a funnier, more inventive scene… and the knowledge of the technical limitations the filmmakers had to work with just makes it that much more amazing.
1955: The silent heist in Rififi. This scene was so striking when Jules Dassin first did it, it was ripped off by many other movies, including by Dassin himself. It showed up most recently in Mission: Impossible, with Tom Cruise hanging from the ceiling. (De Palma, director of M:I, was also responsible for the similar Untouchables reference noted above.)
1940: The whale scene in Pinocchio. Without computers, without armies of low-paid inbetweeners in the Far East, Walt Disney managed to produce one of the most thrilling scenes in animation history.
1942: The prisoners-in-church and cartoon sequence in Sullivan’s Travels. Forgotten genius Preston Sturges, in this film, takes us from a raucous screwball comedy to a gentle romance to a heartbreaking tragedy, and in this climactic scene, right before wrapping everything up happily, he ties all of his threads together, and manages to say something deeply profound about the human experience.
1948: The ending to The Bicycle Thief. Fifty years later, still one of the great heartbreakers. Also one of the most influential sequences in world cinema. It’s one of those legendary movies, though, so it’s difficult to watch with a clear eye. (Compare to reading Moby Dick.) But if you can manage to let the film just work on you, this is simply one of the most devastating endings ever put on film.
1964: The ending scene, in the gas station, to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Jacques Demy’s lost masterpiece has recently been undergoing a small renaissance and rediscovery, but still not enough people, in my opinion, have seen it. This sequence, in which the separated lovers are finally reunited, says as much about real romantic love, and how it differs from what’s usually portrayed in movies, as any film I’ve ever seen.
1943: The Nicholas Brothers’ closing dance number in Stormy Weather. The movie has dated rather badly, and is considered something of a museum piece these days, but the Nicholas Brothers make a strong case for being perhaps the best dance duo ever put on film. And yes, I’m counting Fred and Ginger.
Oh, and one bonus mention: The credits for Clan of the Cave Bear. Why? Because they meant the movie was finally, mercifully, over.
Thanks for coming. Please, tip your waitress…
The basement sequence at the end of Silence of the Lambs. The tension in the audience, when I saw it, was such that, if someone had broken a glass, two hundred people would have screamed as one.
The final 10 minutes of ‘Fight Club’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’.