A couple of animated goodies:
Mulan. The Huns charging down the snowy mountainside. Yikes!
The Incredibles. The Parr family strikes a post against Syndrone’s goons on Nomanisan Island.
The Iron Giant. “…Superman.”
By far the best dislove I’ve ever seen (no not SPACE BALLS) is in
Miller’s Crossing. Just after Tom lets Bernie go he his standing in the woods with his head bowed the shot slowly disolves to the two gangsters waiting by their car for him.
They are standing side by side so it looks like one person and are in the exact position on the screen where Tom was. It matches perfectly! Considering the edges of the screen have identical trees and leaves blowing on the ground it is as if the road appeared in the middle of the road.
It is a gorgeiously shot movie but that scene always gets me.
For a movie jam-packed with great shots, I’d nominate Dr. Zhivago. Hard to pick just one. Maybe the shot where they open the rail car door to reveal a sheet of ice, and then break the ice to reveal the Russian landscape beyond. Or the shot where Zhivago deserts: we see him fall back and peel away from his unit, and head off alone, into the snow.
Among recent movies, in Kill Bill, Vol 1 there’s a really nice extended shot thru the House of Blue Leaves. It (seems) to start when The Bride walks toward the bathroom, the camera wanders all over the place following people and ends up with Sophie going into the bathroom. There may be a cut or two along the way. Esp. when the Bride turns on the light in the stall. But it generally appears seamless.
Since most everything in the movie is an homage to something, perhaps this is based on a scene in an earlier film.
Also second the canal shot in Amelie.
From Bridge on the River Kwai:
The air is filled with huge fruit bats, disturbed by gunfire. Two English soldiers are stalking a Japanese soldier in the jungle undergrowth. As they walk through, the bright sunlight that bathes them is kinetically dappled by the thousands of bats whirling in the sky above them.
These aren’t so much brilliantly composed shots as those I’ve found to show the characters and move the plot along.
Jurassic Park: Not the tyrannosaur! Right after they reach the island, as the paleontologist (who has spent his life with no more than rocks and bones) sees his very first live dinosaur and it turns to look him in the eye!
Back to the Future Part III: Marty stands in front of the gunfighter, holding his gunbelt out to one side in an attempt to stop the fight, … and takes a shot in the chest.
Tremors: As the survivors (so far) run along the boardwalk and make the turn into the store, the sidewalk ripples behind them.
Last but not least, Casablanca: In the Marseillais scene, we see the prostitute standing there, with tears running down her face, and singing her heart out.
The opening sequence in that first Star Wars movie. Right after the writing scrools off the screen, the ‘camera’ pans down to reveal a planet. Then, from overhead comes a space ship, guns blasting. Neat, huh? But you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet, becuse then comes the ISD, filling up the entire frame. Very effective.
Planet of the Apes, when they 'nauts are first coming out of what we will later call the Forbidden Zone, when they see those scarecrow type skins on sticks. As Taylor turns back towards us from looking at one, we see someone/thing moving behind it!
Phantom of the Opera, when Chistine is in her changing room before the Phantom reveals himself through the mirror. It is filled with roses. Quite stunning and very lovely.
Silverado, crazy Kevin Costner on his horse, backlit, twrling his guns while the horse rares up.
Dead Poet Society, when Ethan’s character runs out into the early morning snow after hearing ‘the news.’. He turns to his friends, smiles oddly, and say, “It’s so beautiful.” It relies on knowing what just happened, but the juxtaposition of the tragedy on top of the beauty (or vice versa) sent chills down my spine.
Predator, Billy, on the tree bridge.
Joe vs the Volcano, the Moon, while on the luggage raft.
You’re pretty much correct. In some scenes, you can actually watch things disappear before your eyes (watch the bookshelves at Barnes and Nobles near the end); these were SFX, but anything that could be done without effects was, so I’m sure the shot mentioned was a nifty set trick, as was Clementine going in and out of different rooms of their apartment after “that’s how you get them to like you.”
Russian Ark. Nice shot.
North by Northwest, when Jimmy Stewart lights Eva Marie Saint’s cigarette in the dining car of the 20th Century Limited. He strikes the match and lights the cigarette, she takes a puff and exhales - then, as he pulls the match away, she reaches out, pulls his hand back toward her and blows it out. Magic.
High Noon, when Gary Cooper has to head down to the train station on his own. As he steps out of his office and into the street, the camera starts out at his level and then pulls back and up until we’re looking down at Cooper standing by himself in the middle of the street, completely alone.
And another from the superb Paths of Glory, this time from the scene in which Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) reveals to General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), his boss’s boss, that General Mireau (George Macready), his boss, attempted to order an artillery battery to open fire on his own troops when they refused to leave the trenches for an attack. The shot comes after Broulard has taken the line that it’s sometimes necessary to shoot a man pour encourager les autres, upon which Dax asks Broulard if he really believes what he’s just said. Menjou gives Douglas a searching look and then says he must get back to his guests at the party he’s giving, and the two of them stand and walk toward the door of the room. As they do, IIRC Douglas says something like, “By the way, sir, were you aware that on the day of the assault when some of the troops wouldn’t leave trenches, General Mireau ordered his artillery to fire on his own men?” It’s beautifully timed so that Douglas finishes his lines just as Menjou has opened the door - they stand for a second in silence looking at each other, Menjou holding the door in his left hand, and then he slams it shut and they resume the conversation.
I think this shot also has the distinction of the first on-screen murder. Maybe a Hitchcock buff can come along and expound.
The scene in Glory where Denzel Washington is being whipped as punishment for desertion, and a tear runs down his cheek.
Chuck Yeager walking away from his crashed jet near the end of The Right Stuff.
E.T. getting a kiss from a young Drew Barrymore.
The young boy opening the door in Close Encounters.
In Return of the King: Gollum, before his reflection debate, sleeping and muttering. Even though it’s CGI, the head is clear but his body in back is blurry as if taken from a real camera.
The scene in Ladyhawke where Michelle Pfeiffer first appears. She is concealed by her cloak, then as she turns her face - that unearthly beautiful face - is slowly revealed.
The steadicam shot from Goodfellas that follows Henry and Karen into the back entrance of the club, through the kitchen, and out into their primo seating. It’s over four minutes long (which is almost impossible), and has an unbelievable energy to it, really getting across how swept off her feet Karen is getting. Smooth as silk too. Probably the best steadicam shot ever.
A scene in The Longest Day were the British are taking over a bridge and a casino. It starts out as a close up of one soldier- he’s going house to house. The camera pulls back and you can see a group of soldiers going house to house. The camera continues to pull back and it is revealed that this is happening on the water front. The camera continues moving back until we can see a large section of the town from the sky.
It’s done in one long take with no cuts and it looks awesome.
Crossing the border–the opening shot of Touch of Evil.
“The Sun whose Rays are all Ablaze”–the final shot of Topsy-Turvy
The winding tracking shot following a gunfight down one corridor (rounding corners), down the elevator to another floor, and then through another corridor, leaving dozens of corpses in its wake–hosptial mayhem in Hard Boiled
Behind enemy lines–Buster Keaton chopping wood on a moving train, oblivious to the vast army marching behind him in the other direction in The General
Traffic jam or Apocalypse–Godard’s Weekend
Psycho - Not the shower murder, but right after when the camera follows the blood down the drain. The picture dissolves into Janet Leigh’s eye. All in all a great scene
Star Wars: THE TEXT! Man that was some big music and big words during the title sequence.
Vertigo - The first time the main character looks down from the roof. Hitchcock patented a new camera technique where he zooms in while pulling the camera away.
As well later when he sees his lover again (i forget her name) she is shrouded in a greenish light that makes her look almost transparent. Quite significant considering what has happened earlier in the movie.
Godfather- Last scene when the door closes…chilling and cold
Indeed!, but that’s more than a “shot”.
Desperado - Bandaras’ character is shot in the arm and stumbles along a wall, man dressed in black leaving a red smear against an adobe wall.