The opening shot in The Player, and the closing shot in the first Men in Black movie. 
Most famously in Psycho, where Arbogast the detective falls backward down the stairs.
The Jaws shot is so famous that it’s even included in this version.
My overall favorite shot is the one from 2001 that hasn’t been mentioned yet: the opening with the sunrise as seen from space perfectly synchronized with the start of Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Good thread. Seems we’ve got some confusion between a shot and a scene, and I’ll probably make the same mistake.
Titanic - any of the shots where, in the course of a fluid and complex camera move, we meld seamlessly from the present to the past or vice-versa. A simple idea, enormously complex to do, gorgeously realised.
The Two Towers - Legolas’s gymnastic mounting of his horse in a single reverse sweeping motion.
2001 - the rotating space station set to the music of Strauss. Now that’s what I call cinematic vision.
The Panic Room - any of the two or three ‘impossible’ shots they used in which the camera seemingly goes through a set of moves that no actual camera could possibly perform.
**Citizen Kane ** - the pan down from the worm’s eye view of the Thatcher Memorial statue to the room where the librarian is explaining the rules of access to the Thatcher memoirs. The statue wasn’t there in the first version of the shot. Welles got them to make a model, and they panned down it and combined this with the rest of the shot using the optical printer. It’s a great shot, combined with the eerie nature of the librarian’s voice in the echoing room.
Onegin - hardly anyone went to see this movie which is a shame, because it’s wonderful. There are at least a dozen shots that are as beautiful as the finest oil painting landscape. You could enlarge individual frames and hang them on your wall. There’s one, for example, of the still lake on the frosty winter’s morning of the duel.
Roger Rabbit - the main shot of the opening transition scene, when someone shouts ‘Cut!’ during the opening cartoon, and the camera ‘pulls back’ as it were to show the live-action cameras and other movie gear as the ‘actors’ walk off the set and Roger apologises for having messed up the take. Just beautiful.
ROTJ - any of the wide shots from the AT-AT battle scene. Gorgeously rendered.
Blade Runner - Rutger Hauer’s death scene, his face in the rain during his soliloquy.
I could go on…
I’d like to add another scene from Strangers on a Train that I didn’t see mentioned. At the end, when the carnie is crawling under the carousel in order to shut it down.
I was just mentioning this to my husband, fruitbat, and he suggested the scene at the tennis match where the entire audience is moving their heads back and forth watching the ball. All except Robert Walker, who is focusing intently on Farley Granger.
Another great shot of that type (which stands out particularly because much of the rest of the movie was kind of disappointing), was the shot in The Phantom Menace where the door in Naboo opens and there’s Darth Maul, and two jedis and a bunch of soldiers with blasters are right there, and he’s scarier than all of them put together. Good times.
Time Of The Gypsies when the candles are floating on the river. Another great shot was of the swan flapping it’s wings in slow motion as the snow fell all around it. Actually, the entire movie is composed of achingly beautiful shots.
Underground, also directed by Kusturica, where the ghosts of Yugoslavia float away on a tiny little island. And again, this is just one of hundreds of brilliant shots in the film.
How’d Jimmy Stewart sneak into that shot?
Electra-Glide in Blue - the shot from inside the van when Robert Blake sits receding in the distance in the middle of road dying.
Stagecoach - John Wayne standing in the middle of the road with his Winchester in one hand and his saddle in the other as the stagecoach approaches him.
Dr. Strangelove - Slim Pickens heading down to the earth riding on a hydrogen bomb as if it were a bronc.
Being There - Peter Sellers walking on water.
Sound of Music - “The Hills are Alive” shot where we first meet Maria.
My Darling Clementine - The shot where the dust cloud envelops Henry Fonda as he approaches the O.K. Corral.
After typing these, I noticed that all except the final one was either an entrance or exit shot. I wonder if that says something about me or film in general.
In Gladiator, there is a scene where Commodus is looking out the window at the city of Rome at sunset, all golden, glowing marble. Then he turns toward the camera, and, because he’s backlit by the window, his face looks all the more dark and malevolent, and his eyes are hidden in shadow, and they just look like dark pits. It’s just gorgeous, and it beautifully displays Commodus as the dark heart of the Empire.
Then I watched the DVD, and the contrast was better and you can see his eyes. Pooey. It looked better in the theater.
In Unbreakable: Samuel L. Jackson at the top of the stairs. I was clinging to my husband’s arm in the theater, whispering, “Oh, god, no!” And the thing is, they didn’t do anything to make it scary! There was no crazy “Ooooh, nooo, the stairway is long!” perspective-stretching shot, no “Ooooo, noooooo, look out, I’m dizzy!” camera work. The look on Jackson’s face isn’t particularly emotive. Yet it’s one of the tensest moments I’ve ever seen on the screen. This shot, in and of itself, convinces me that, whatever his faults, Shyamalan knows a thing or two about making a movie, and is one of the reasons I’ve embarassed myself to lisseneresque extremes while defending his work.
Anime probably shouldn’t count, but because I thought this was unexpected and hilarious -
Opening scene of Excel Saga. Excel has, in her first few minutes of screen time, been tragically hit by a car. As she experiences a near death experience, the “camera” pulls back to reveal that she’s actually looking at the Great Will of the Macrocosm (a rotating field of stars with arms, more or less) floating over her stretcher as the emergency crew fight to save her life.
That, and Excel’s first drop down the Pit of Doom. Be prepared to hit the “slow” and “pause” buttons often.
Specifically, Pink firing the gun over the hood of the car as the camera dollys in on him. That is the shot that made Buscemi a star.
Trainspotting: Renton detoxing at his parents’ house. Pulls covers over his head, turns to his left, and there’s Begbie. No special effects, either.
X-Men: Camera pans across the fight cage. Logan/Wolverine has his back to the camera, and is not even centered in the shot, but you just know this is the guy.
Blue Velvet: Sandy walking out of the darkness saying, “You the guy who found the ear?”
Easy Rider: The two leads are on a highway in New Mexico, and a hitchhiker at the side of the road lazily swings his arm, thumb extended, in a perfect arc. Bikes slow, turn, stop, he gets on and they turn again and roll on.
Excalibur: Guinevere riding at full gallop to meet Launcelot.
I was going for visuals, but I’ll take Baldwin’s cue and add one that’s about the acting. A.I: the imprinting scene. Monica recites the code words, after which David’s face shifts almost imperceptibly from robotic to human.
Ludovic, I submit the lighting of the beacons, and Shelob dropping down from the roof of the tunnel, from ROTK.
And I second Gadfly on The Man Who Wasn’t There.
Romancing the Sone , Micheal Douglas lifts his face out of Kathleen Turner’s lap and proclaims< “It’s gonna be a great day!”
Two others from North by Northwest: Cary Grant being “chased” by a plane and at the end, Cary Grant pulling Eva Marie Saint into the train bunk followed by a cut to the train entering a tunnel.
In Notting Hill, the scene with Hugh Grant walking down (I believe) Portobello Road with the changing of the seasons as he walks down the street. The seasons change seamlessly. It was quite cool. And as evidence why widescreen is better than full screen, a few years after it came out I was talking to a friend who had rented it and watched it for the full time. When I asked didn’t she think this particular scene was great, she looked blank, and said she didn’t remember it. I later saw a few minutes of it of the movie in full screen when it was shown on t.v. Turns out in a full screen presentation they completely lose the effect.
[minor hijack]
Go ahead and defend his directing and cinematography. He is very talented in those regards… it’s his writing that I think needs a heckuva lot of work.
[/minor hijack]
How about the lighting of the signal fires from Gondor to Rohan?
So much was good in that movie!
The charge of Rohan
The Fall of Barradur
Gandalf Facing Down the Witch King (though I don’t like the whole staff breaking bit)
Gandalf riding through Minas Tirith
The first sight of the White Tree
Grond!
That’s Steadicam. Capitol S. We Operators are picky about that. 
The Steadicam Operator, Larry McConkey, was awarded a prize by the S.O.C. ( Society of Operating Cameramen ) for that specific shot. I was hired a few years ago on a low-budget feature to basically replicate it. The Directorr had dreams of grandeur, and…no extras. The shot was boring as hell, but I executed it as well as I could anyway, and it began my reel for the next year or two.
I’ve been a working Steadicam Operator for 18 years and IMHO Larry is the finest Operator in the world. He’s also a kind guy and a friend.
Some other thoughts regarding some folks’ posts in here:
[The Lawrence of Arabia Lens](Before actual filming began, Lean had told Young that he wanted to show a mirage in the picture. Because mirages are usually seen only in the distance, Young decided that his best bet would be to bring one close with an extra-long telephoto lens. While he was at Panavision, he saw a huge telephoto which Robert Gottschalk described as a 430mm long-focus lens. This lens was used to make the mirage scene, which was shot in Jordan. Sharif was sent off to a distant mark where he appeared to be a mere pinpoint. Lean told him to ride straight toward the camera, and the entire journey was photographed from only one position. ).
It’s not when the character looks down from the roof. It’s when the character looks down into the “hole” made by the square staircase. The shot is a model shot, performed tilted 90 degrees. That is to say, the staircase and either roof or bottom ( depending on which shot was needed ) are a model of the actual tower. The camera is positioned normally, which is to say that it is sitting with the lens parallel to the ground. The model is affixed to a table. The camera zooms in as the model is moved outwards. ( or, vice versa, depending on what finish frame is needed). I have pulled this shot with a Steadicam a few times. It’s a bit of a cliché but sometimes has it’s place anyway.
The Steadicam work in both Kill Bill’s was also done by Larry McConkey. ( Quint, your info is accurate but ya spelled Larry’s name wrong. )
I have not seen Russian Ark as of yet, but am fairly familiar with what the poor fellow went through, having read a few articles on the production of the project. As a working Steadicam Operator ( and obviously therefore someone who adores Steadicam ), I would suggest not nominating a shot because of it’s length. Many longer shots suck eggs, to be honest with you. ( The Goodfellas shot does not ! ). Many shorter shots are deeply fine and beautifully executed.
We live at the mercy of the content of the scene. A powerful scene is taken to new levels with a well executed shot. A lousy scene drags on and on with a well executed shot. And so it goes. Almost everyone I have spoken to about this ( including some folks at Univ. of Toledo, where I taught a Steadicam Workshop for the last few days ) commented upon the boring stretches in Russian Ark. One of the finest sequences that makes good use of Steadicam, IMHO, is the scene including the elevator assasination from The Untouchables. Also Larry McConkey’s work ( no, he is not the only guy out there doing it…it just seems that way in this thread. 
).
I’ll come back to post my favorite shots. Having just driven 11 hours on snowy roads to get back from Toledo, I’m not up to that part of the post !
Cartooniverse
p.s. Quint, you’re from Philly by any chance??? 
Another one from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, although this is more memorable to me for the groan factor:
Lucy’s severed head goes flying across the screen JUMP CUT to large roast on a plate landing on a table.
And another mention of the opening dogfight in Star Wars: A New Hope. I remember first seeing it on a drive-in screen, and when the star destroyer flew over, I was completely blown away. I thought nothing could top that shot.
Years later, I was at the Museum of Science and Technology in Chicago, watching an IMAX feature on special effects. ILM redid the shot for IMAX. Oh my gawd…
There certainly does seem to be a lot of confusion here about a shot vs. a scene. I think the OP was directed more toward great shots–brilliance displayed not by what is being filmed, but by how it is being filmed.
Having made that distinction, I nominate what may be my most favorite shot. At the end of Casablanca, after Rick has given his spiel to Ilsa about why she should go with Victor, and the plane’s engines start, and Ilsa looks over toward the plane…after all that, there comes the moment when Ilsa makes her decision. The camera shows Ilsa standing next to Rick, with Victor facing them to the (viewer’s) left side. Then Ilsa steps over to stand next to Victor. As she is moving, the camera also moves, swinging over to show what amounts to a mirror image of the beginning of the shot, with Victor and Ilsa in opposition to Rick.
It’s a wonderful shot, visually reinforcing the idea that in that instant, these three lives have been totally reordered. Indeed, when you remember that the whole movie is a metaphor for the then-current geopolitical situation, it’s also a visual cue that the whole world has just changed: Ilsa will escape with Victor, he will have his source of strength with him when he becomes a leader of the post-war world, and Rick will return to the fight–alone, because his reason for fighting is gone off to safety, but back in the fight nevertheless. And it’s all conveyed by that movement of the camera, without anyone saying a word.
Now that, friends, is a great fucking shot!