# Let's talk about beautiful cinematic moments (spoilers likely) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 29, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537 "2006-07-29T14:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/1 "2006-07-29T14:25:06Z")
But FIRST let’s define our terms. By “beautiful” I mean wonderfully artistic in visual and aural composition. Merely have a mega-babe on screen doesn’t count, and every person on screen can be hideously ugly, but the moment can still be beautiful. I’m stretching the definition of “cinematic” to include things only ever shown on television. Likewise, it need not be a live-action production you refer to; animation and anime are fine. “Moment” includes both brief instants that could be captured in a screen shot, and scenes up to – oh, let’s say three minutes long. Lastly, let’s talk about the moments themselves irrespective of the virtue of the whole film. If you hate the movie as a whole but are struck by the artistry of a particular scene or shot, said moment is eligible. Kay? My nominations: 1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Pippin singing the “Road” song to Denethor, interspersed with shots of Faramir leading his doomed charge on the Pelennor Fields. The grieving music, Billy Boyd’s wonderful voice, the silence of Faramir’s troops as they head to their doom, even Denethor’s piggish eating all combine to make a scene of sublime loveliness. 2. Superman Returns: An interior shot of the 777 as it begins to plummet to earth. For an instant everything is in free fall, and we see Lois floating in the cabin. With a look of wonderment on her face she reaches for a floating pen, for a moment having forgotten the enormous peril they are all in. 3. Signs: When the Hess family is in the basement waiting out the alien siege, and Morgan (the son) has an asthmatic attack with no medicine at hand, forcing Graham (the father) to help him by pure force of will, cursing God in an unconscious echo of his son’s cursing him earlier in the movie. Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/2 "2006-07-29T14:39:27Z")
**Empire of the Sun**. When the American planes are bombing the airstrip next to the camp, people are running and ducking everywhere, it’s utter chaos - and Jamie, oblivious to the danger he’s in, climbs to the roof of a building to get closer to these planes and their pilots he holds such awe for. There’s a moment, the sound is cut out, Jamie and the pilot of a passing plane make eye contact, and something still refuses to _click_ in Jamie’s mind. (It’s the scene with “P-51 MUSTANGS! CADILLAC OF THE SKY!”) Then the camp doctor gets to the roof and carries Jamie down, like a little child, and it seems that the enormity of the war, the camp, the lost parents … everything just tumbles onto him at that moment and he becomes a terrified little kid. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/3 "2006-07-29T14:51:32Z")
And I forgot the most beautiful moment of all: Snow & Moon’s first (and imaginary0 duel in Hero, when they are fighting in the forest amid the falling leaves, both dressed in gold. At first the leaves match the women’s clothing, but as the combatants are wounded they become red, and the leaves whirl in an increasingly violent wind as the battle escalates. Actually that entire movie is a visual feast. Every duel has a color scheme; any of them would be a good candidate. I’ll shut up for now. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/4 "2006-07-29T15:02:37Z")
The final fight scene from **Last of the Mohicans**. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/5 "2006-07-29T15:04:18Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > The final fight scene from **Last of the Mohicans**. And also the waterfall scene from the same movie. Beautifully filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/6 "2006-07-29T15:11:09Z")
Pretty much anything from LOTR:FOTR. It blew all other movies out of the sky cinematically: by far the most beautiful movie ever made. If I had to single out one part it would specifically be all the parts in Rivendell, but then again, I have a thing for waterfalls. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/7 "2006-07-29T15:18:01Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Pretty much anything from LOTR:FOTR. It blew all other movies out of the sky cinematically: by far the most beautiful movie ever made. If I had to single out one part it would specifically be all the parts in Rivendell, but then again, I have a thing for waterfalls. I’m not the Jackson fanboy I once was, but I’ll agree that Fellowship is ineffably lovely. But I think the most beautiful shot is a different, much less calming one: the end of Frodo’s monologue (in voice-over by this point), giving Sam courage to continue their journey by quoting Bilbo’s advice on the wonders of travel–just as the Nazgul appears on the border of the mist-shrouded Shire. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/8 "2006-07-29T15:34:00Z")
All of Ran, most notably the time when the red and yellow armies siege and set fire to the third castle. Kurosawa also has some other eye watering insane shots, like the moving forest in, I believe, Throne of Blood and the invasion in the rain during the Seventh Samuari. There is also a scene that nearly chilled me when I first saw it, because it was so damn beautiful. In Boys Don’t Cry, at some point Chloe and Hillary are standing outside of a car, talking. Slowly, everything goes completely dark, except for the car which has this brilliant white light flowing out. It’s just beautiful, I don’t know how to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/9 "2006-07-29T15:53:50Z")
The desert heat haze becomes Omar Sharif ( **Lawrence of Arabia** ). Gene Hackman seaches his flat for bugs ( **The Conversation** ). De Niro is consumed by paperwork ( **Brazil** ). ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/10 "2006-07-29T15:56:39Z")
I’ve always been partial to the scene in the Adventures Of Robin Hood (the '38 version)where they ride through a stream at night, throwing out cascades of moonlit water. It’s just beautiful. There was a very early cartoon that I saw just once. It must have been made in about '33. The cartoon follows a leaf as it falls from the tree into a stream and is carried over waterfalls etc. Amazing work, especially the water. Speaking of animation, Mowgli’s walk through the jungle alone, the bit where he’s just kicking at rocks and generally being a sad little boy, is perfect. Heck, most of The Jungle Book is perfect. Back to Robin Hood again for my favorite speech, this one in Robin and Marian (1976) It’s at the end, when they’re both dying and Marian is telling him how she loves him more than food to eat, air to breathe - more than one more day, more than God. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and dammit, it gets me evey time! ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/11 "2006-07-29T16:00:53Z")
In **Stand By Me** , when the kids are walking back home, through a field when the sun is on its way down. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/12 "2006-07-29T16:21:58Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > The desert heat haze becomes Omar Sharif ( **Lawrence of Arabia** ). The freezing cold becomes Omar Sherif **Dr. Zhivago** ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/13 "2006-07-29T16:37:30Z")
And let’s not forget one of the most famous ones “As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again.” ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/14 "2006-07-29T16:49:03Z")
Two movies have seemed so beautiful to me that I can’t pick out single sequences. They are “Days of Heaven” [Terrence Mallick’s masterpiece]and “Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors” [obscure Eastern European film; beautifully filmed]. And even if I weren’t a fanboy I’d say LOTR:FOTR had many many gorgeous cinematic moments. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/15 "2006-07-29T17:50:38Z")
Lots of my favorites have already been mentioned. Here’s a few more: 1. In **Gangs of New York** , the whole opening sequence. The “arming for battle” is great, the fight itself is great, but the best part is between them, when Brendan Gleeson kicks open that door into winter. Possibly my favorite shot, ever. 2. John Boorman’s **Excalibur** has many beautiful moments, but the best is towards the end; most people probably would call it a cliche, but AFAIK, _this_ was the first film to ever show people riding through cherry blossoms while "O Fortuna\* plays in the background. Here, it works. 3. Kink Henry walking through the field of the dead with Christian Bale’s corpse over his shoulder. _‘Non nobis’_, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/16 "2006-07-29T18:13:46Z")
> [@teemingONE](#): > > In **Stand By Me** , when the kids are walking back home, through a field when the sun is on its way down. Prepare to hate me; in recent reiner interviews he admits that the kids used in that shot are stand-ins… some of them are even girls! ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/17 "2006-07-29T18:16:14Z")
Just about anything in HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/18 "2006-07-29T18:21:10Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > Prepare to hate me; in recent reiner interviews he admits that the kids used in that shot are stand-ins… some of them are even girls! I’m not sure why tht matters, if it’s true; the point is the beauty and emotional impact of the scene. Almost everything we see on screen is an illusion of one sort or another, anywhistle. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/19 "2006-07-29T18:22:35Z")
If we adhere by the equation (A + B + C + D) \* E = Beautiful scene, with A= Beautiful girl, B= Beautiful Music, C= Slow Motion D= Waterfall and E= selfless sacrifice, then the most beautiful scene can be equated as being The End of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537/20 "2006-07-29T18:34:07Z")
**The Color Purple** : At the end, when Celie sees her sister and children in the distance, in flowing purple robes flapping in the wind. It’s the completely unexpected flash of colour against the dusky landscape that’s the stunner. **The Return of the King** : For me, it’s the scene of the beacons being lit, each one signalling the next, over a majestic mountain range. **Star Trek: Deep Space Nine** : The episode _Chimera_, where Kira asks Odo to show her what it truly means for him to be a shapeshifter, and as they embrace, he transforms into a glowing cloud of light and energy that envelops her, caresses her and lifts her into the air, as an ecstatic smile spreads across her face. Magic! **Babylon 5** : In the TV movie _In the Beginning_, there is a beautiful sequence towards the end which shows the humans being defeated over and over by the Minbari. Really gorgous shots which make the tragedy of it all hit so much harder. There’s a similar effect in the final episode, _Sleeping in Light_, as the ships pull away from the exploding station, with really heartbreaking music. **Titanic** : Shaddup! The shots of Jack and Rose perched on the end of the ship, as the camera pulls up and we see the ship sticking up vertically out of the sea and about to plunge down, are stunning. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-beautiful-cinematic-moments-spoilers-likely/366537.md?page=2)