# Movie moments that caused genuine shock **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 17, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807 "2020-09-17T03:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/101 "2020-09-18T20:18:44Z")
Probably been many other shocks from the movies if I took the time to think on it, but the one I remember is from _Serenity_ (the movie follow-on from the TV series _Firefly_), where one of the main characters is killed. No foreboding, no ‘see it coming’, just…violently dead. I think many are confusing shock and surprise. A shocking moment (like way damn to many in _Schindler’s List_ to recount) isn’t smiled or laughed at, it comes like a sucker punch and blows you away. IMHO as always. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/102 "2020-09-18T20:37:21Z")
We watched _Serenity_ without knowing Firefly was a thing, so we were somewhat puzzled by that moment. Only after we later watched Firefly were we like, “omg they killed \_\_\_!” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/103 "2020-09-18T22:02:47Z")
I observed the same audience reaction in the US (see post 21). ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/104 "2020-09-18T23:16:43Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > A common conceit in SF when _Planet of the Apes_ came out was of the alien planet that is “just like Earth except for just one thing”. I probably saw it on TV before I was 10 so I don’t really remember if I was shocked by the reveal, but I can imagine the ending being a surprise to 1968 audiences. There’s also the mathematical notion that if we’re one in a million—well wait, how many stars are there that could support a solar system? Why are we so vain to think that life couldn’t exist elsewhere? Wikipedia says: > [@](#): > > Astronauts Taylor, Landon and Dodge are in deep [hibernation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended_animation) when their spaceship crashes into a lake on an unknown planet after a [light-speed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-speed) voyage. They discover their fourth crew mate, Stewart, dead due to a malfunction. The three abandon their ship when it starts sinking; Taylor remains on board long enough to see that the date is November 25, 3978, two thousand and six years after their departure in 1972. So we naturally assume if they traveled for all that time, they’re far away from where they started. English is problematic, but I think audiences of the time were willing to overlook that. If the writer had given them a magic widget that decoded any language and the apes had something similar, it would fix that. It is possible to make a movie in a language that no audience can understand. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2pcGGKtPpSE/maxresdefault.jpg "Quest for Fire (1981) - Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pcGGKtPpSE) > [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > I think many are confusing shock and surprise. A shocking moment (like way damn to many in _Schindler’s List_ to recount) isn’t smiled or laughed at, it comes like a sucker punch and blows you away. I think it was Robert Frost who said people use scare and startle interchangeably. Having a gun pointed at you should scare you because there’s real danger; having your six year old granddaughter jump out when you’re not expecting t isn’t scary, though it startles you. I was going to mention Schindler’s little girl in red…when you realize she’s among the dead bodies. No blast of dramatic music, no sudden monster’s face on screen, etc. IMO that silent, unexpected moment was just brilliant. A similar scene happened in the movie Rosewood when you realize Jewel (Akosua Busia) has been killed. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/105 "2020-09-18T23:23:31Z")
I knew about it when I saw it in the theater, and attended with a male friend who hadn’t even heard that there was a major plot twist. He was quite freaked out. (Not spoilered because chances are, people reading this have already seen them, or at least know about them): The “choking on vomit” scene from “This Is Spinal Tap”, the “That’s not what it was like, penis breath!” scene from “E.T.”, and the nude scene in “About Schmidt” featuring one Kathy Bates. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/106 "2020-09-18T23:45:38Z")
I was in college when I first saw it, and it scared the hell out of me. I watched the movie several times over the years, and was past 50 when I looked at the screen again. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/107 "2020-09-19T08:01:54Z")
A lapse of only 2006 years implies the journey was _not_ long enough for a race of intelligent apes to have evolved, since this would normally take much longer. Ergo, they were probably on a planet _like_ Earth, but not Earth itself. Of course, we know now how this evolutionary leap occurred, but the audience back in 1968 didn’t. Which is why they were so easily fooled into thinking it was another planet entirely. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/108 "2020-09-19T08:07:01Z")
I saw the movie when I was 30, and it freaked me out too. My daughter had the same reaction when I showed it to her at age 15. 😮 ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/109 "2020-09-19T09:42:15Z")
Saw Aliens at the AAFES Theater in Bamberg Germany in '86, so there was a very heavy G.I. presence. Then Hudson said, “Oh, man… and I was getting short! Four more weeks and out!” About 90% of the theater patrons groaned in sympathy; then laughed their asses off. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/110 "2020-09-19T18:00:25Z")
A scene from the _Firefly_ episode “The Train Job” when Mal deals with the penultimate bad guy. I did NOT expect that and it got quite the delighted whoop out of me. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/111 "2020-09-19T19:08:42Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I was in the back of the theater for _Carrie_ and the whole place levitated when Carrie’s hand comes out of the grave to grab Sue. I never saw Carrie in a theater, but this very scene was shocking to me when I first saw it on my 32-inch television screen at home. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/112 "2020-09-19T21:33:22Z")
It still gets me, even though I’ve seen it several times. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/113 "2020-09-19T22:27:58Z")
Might have missed this one above (my biggest complaint with Discourse is quick and easy searches of longer threads), but the end of Don’t Look Now with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. I saw it uncut on late night TV at a somewhat young age and it sincerely shocked me and freaked me out. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/114 "2020-09-19T22:59:46Z")
**Daylight** road tunnel is filling with water and Stallone is there to save the day. There’s a scene in the middle where some young person is drowning and yelling for help and the situation is desperate so Stallone lets them die. **Dante’s Peak** The entire audience has been watching lava melt nearly an entire town worth of people for half an hour and in the middle Pierce Brosnan saves a dog and the audience suddenly cheered. I thought that was bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/115 "2020-09-19T23:36:13Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Most of the posts here refer to shocking scenes of violence and blood and guts and gore. > > Here was a low-key gasp moment I recall: The scene in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall where they are beginning to get it on in bed, but she just isn’t into it because Alvy wouldn’t let her smoke pot first to get in the mood. While the first thing I thought of was a scene in **Alpha Dog** , my next thought more along the lines of your example: Keri Russell’s piano-playing scene in **Austenland**. I watched it with my mom, who was familiar enough with my brother’s taste in music to get the joke, and we both laughed our butts off. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/116 "2020-09-20T05:42:38Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Might have missed this one above (my biggest complaint with Discourse is quick and easy searches of longer threads), but the end of Don’t Look Now with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. I saw it uncut on late night TV at a somewhat young age and it sincerely shocked me and freaked me out I saw this as an adult at an art-house theater, and it had the same effect. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/117 "2020-09-20T06:42:00Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > I hated the connotations for the Star Wars universe but a certain light-speed jump in Star Wars episode 8 brought genuine shock and awe to the audience. Similarly, there was a scene in Episode IX between Rey and Kylo Ren Ben Solo. Although that wasn’t shock and awe so much as disgust and revulsion. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/118 "2020-09-20T06:44:31Z")
I saw Jaws three weeks after it came out, at a midnight showing that was still full. I knew where all the spoilers were, or so I thought. But the “bigger boat” scene triggered the whole theater to scream. As I screamed I looked around and lots of us were making “pushing away” motions with our hands. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/119 "2020-09-20T07:32:50Z")
I cried when Kirk died in Amok Time…my mom called me stupid. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2020, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807/120 "2020-09-20T07:35:13Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > The scene near the beginning of _Midsommer_ showing the aftermath of a murder-suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning from car exhaust certainly shocked the hell out of me and when I looked up reviews and Reddit threads about the movie afterwards, it was pretty consistently mentioned as the most gut-wrenching moment in a movie that’s full of fucked-up moments. I guess it’s one of those things that we frequently read about happening, but never really see depicted on the screen (at least not as explicitly as in that scene) so it really stuck with people. I like the film, but I thought that scene was really over the top. I guess they were trying to set up how traumatized and fragile the Florence Pugh character was as a result. So she would be extra clingy toward her boyfriend, and also more susceptible to the influence of the villagers. Maybe I’m talking myself into it. A horror movies is supposed to be horrifying, and that scene certainly was. Still seems excessive for an art-house film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-moments-that-caused-genuine-shock/920807.md?page=7)