OK, I’ll probably get torn to pieces over this one, but in Mr. Holland’s Opus, in the auditorium at the end when his former student, now the governer, is at the podium and announces the world premiere of his original work, and the curtain opens, and Dreyfus chokes back his emotion when he sees the orchestra made up of current and former students- dammit, that always gets me.
In U-571, when the kid realizes he has to swim down and shut off the valve, and knows it’s a one-way trip.
Evelyn Mulwray: She’s my daughter.
[Gittes slaps Evelyn]
Jake Gittes: I said I want the truth!
Evelyn Mulwray: She’s my sister…
[slap]
Evelyn Mulwray: She’s my daughter…
[slap]
Evelyn Mulwray: My sister, my daughter.
[More slaps]
Jake Gittes: I said I want the truth!
Evelyn Mulwray: She’s my sister AND my daughter!
Chinatown
***** Another Spoiler *****
I don’t know if this is what the OP is asking for exactly, it’s more of a OMG! moment: The first thing that came into my mind was in The Sixth Sense, when Bruce Willis realizes that he can’t open the door. If you’ve seen the movie, you know which scene I mean.
That’s a good theory – this data point fits your theory exactly.
I have to say, it was the scene that most probably won Halle Berry her Oscar: the scene in Monster’s Ball at the end when she discovers that her current boyfriend’s secret: that he executed her late husband. She totally breaks down in shock, disbelief and fear… then pulls herself together, walks out to him on the porch and pretends like she didn’t know. Completely unexpected ending. Blew me away. I didn’t know she had it in her. I haven’t seen that level of excellence in Halle before or sense.
In a movie chock full of farcical, dramatic, quotable, and otherwise utterly memorable moments, I think the two that stick out the most for me is 1) Vincent plunging the needle in Mia Wallace’s chest to resuscitate her and 2) when Jules tells Ringo, “You’re the weak… and I am the tyranny of evil men. But I’m trying, Ringo. I’m trying real hard to be the shepherd.”
Bingo. That’s the one.
That one, and the Psycho shower scene. I still don’t think that one’s ever been equalled.
The “Luke I’m your father” scene in Empire Strikes Back
The Theodin giving his Braveheart speech to his Rohan (Rohirim?) in Return of the King
The Terminator saying his goodbyes to John Conner in T-2.
also the brief conversation in the Mexican gas station at the end of Terminator
Private Pile’s major malfunction in Full Metal Jacket
The ending of Reservoir Dogs
I beamed when in ‘The Lord of the Rings (Return of the King)’:
King Aragorn said to the hobbits “My friends, you bow to no-one.”…
I jumped out of my seat when in ‘Terminator 1’:
The Terminator slowly stands up out of the flaming wreckage of the gasoline truck…
But I cried when in ‘To kill a mockingbird’:
As Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) leaves the courtroom with head bowed, all the town’s blacks in the balcony rise and Reverend Sykes says “Stand up, Missy - your father’s passing.”
There are so many.
When Karen falls off the bleachers in Field of Dreams and Moonlight Grahm has to become Doc Grahm again.
Is it safe?
The end of The Bridge on the River Kwai.
In Lawerence of Arabia when Lawerence has to execute one of the men.
and of course
The death of Spock in Star Trek II
Me, too.
Or, as much as I hate to admit it, The Perfect Storm. “This is gonna be hard on my little boy.”
And the fact that Irene shows up at the memorial, for Bugsy.
Woman here- the “Marseillaise” does it to me every time, especially the shot of Yvonne (who is on a date with a German).
There are a few scenes in The Remains of the Day. The scene that initially comes to mind is Stevens’ last moments with Mrs Kenton right near the end of the movie. Good stuff.
Millers Crossing - The final showdown between Bernie Bernbaum and Tom Reagan. The moment when Tom shoots Bernie shakes me every time
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - The last memory
I was just re-watching 2001: A Space Odyssey last night. The scene where the proto-human triumphantly flings his bone/club into the air and it changes into a spaceship made me catch my breath and tear up for the 200th time, just like it did when I saw it in the theater for the first time in 1967.
Actually she’s trying to rescue her horse, Hannah. It was the screaming of the spring lambs that awakened her.
I think…I could be wrong.
No, she was trying to save a lamb. Why would her horse be in danger if they were slaughtering the lambs?
Or am I being whooshed?
In “From Here To Eternity” how about the scene where Burt Lancaster (almost out of nowhere) steps in between Ernest Borgnine and Frank Sinatra to prevent a potential knifing? This is one of the most famous cinematic scenes of all time. I bet most of you can picture it even if you have never seen the entire movie.
Burt Lancaster smashes a beer bottle on a table, then Burt points the jagged broken bottle end in Borgnine’s direction and says “if it’s killing you want Fatso … come on”.
On a much more understated level, there’s the scene in the original “Godfather” in which the hotheaded Sonny is talking about taking all kinds of revenge after the attempt on his father’s life. Then Michael (who is still completely untarnished of any of his family dealings) states “No. We will set up a meeting in a place everyone trusts …” and so on. The camera slowly pans in during his monologue. In that one scene, you know that it’s never going to be Sonny running the family business and that it’s Michael (Al Pacino) who is destined to be the successor.
Now ya see, I got to go with the movie’s ending. It’s enough to knock the wind out of you.
And the death of Spock, totally
Would someone mind telling me what scene this is exactly?
Times I can remember being absolutely gobsmacked by a scene in a movie:
The cafe scene In Cabaret in which a young, wholesome German boy sings “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” and the camera moves to show his uniform and swastika armband. It turns very creepy when all the smiling patrons join in.
The second ending of Carrie.
The two stalking scenes and the “Moya Sestre” (???) bit in the original Cat People
Heath Ledgers last moment in Monster’s Ball as well as Halle Berry’s scenes with the son - the tirade about his eating and the scene on the road.
The scene in Barton Fink where Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) returns to find a couple of ops waiting for him.
Sure, I’ll give it a shot.
The scene takes place in Bogart’s “Cafe’ Americain”. I’m going to assume you don’t know the movie or the characters, so here’s the rundown. Rick Blain (Bogie) runs a little cafe in Casablanca which is filled with people stuck in town awaiting mostly illegal visas.
At the beginning of the movie, we go through a little scene at the bar between Rick and his former girlfriend Yvonne. He sends her home with the bartender and she is not happy. The next night, she comes back on the arm of a German soldier. There is a short altercation at the bar between Yvonne, her German and a Frenchman who takes exception to Yvonne’s choice of date.
In the meantime, Rick’s true love, the one that broke his heart, has shown up with her husband. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and Rick are plainly shocked to have ended up in the same place. Emotions and tensions are high.
Ilsa’s husband, Victor (Paul Henreid) is the leader of the Resistance. They are trying to get a visa out of Casablanca and stay out of the reach of the Gestapo, in this case personified by Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt), who is also at the cafe’.
The scene begins with several German soldiers singing something inflamatory in German. (I think it’s the Horst Wessal Song). Victor walks over to the band and tells them to play The Marsiesllais. They look at Rick, who nods.
The band and the customers drown out the Germans in a surge of freedom. Everyone sings, led by Victors strong voice. It’s thrilling, empowering. Casablanca is still Free France and everyone ther is going to make sure the Germans know it.
As the camera pans the cafe, we see that the female guitar player has joined in, the Germans have taken their seats in disgust and Yvonne is in tears, singing in a ragged, almost desperate voice.
It’s a hell of a scene. I believe it’s my choice as well.