Scenes in movies that 'make it'

Cafe Society
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Inspired by:

[quote=Bosstone]

I’ve come to live for that bit at the beginning during their wedding, where she says something that ends with “no matter what happens.” While saying it, she scrunches up her nose in the most adorable way. I watch the movie just for that and for Bob’s “I’m not…I’m not strong enough,” at the end… Oh, oh! And Dash’s little giggle when he finds out he can run on water! Those three moments make the movie for me.

[quote]

I’d add “Superman” from the Iron Giant, and “That wasn’t flying, that was falling, WITH STYLE!” from Toy Story.

What movie moments ‘do it’ for ya?

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This is from a TV show, the recent Battlestar Galactica finale. When Bill Adama is sitting on the hillside by the grave of his loved one, he says:

**“I laid out the cabin. It’s gonna have an easternly view. You should see the light we get here. When the sun comes from behind the mountains, it’s almost heavenly. Reminds me of you.” **

Makes me weep every time and is the top moment in an amazing show.

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Do you mean great scenes that justify an entire movie, or just scenes that pack an emotional wallop? If the latter, too numerous to mention.

But if the former, I’d say the hall of mirrors climax of The Lady from Shanghai is one of the best examples. The movie as a whole is kind of a sloppy mess, but that scene is a classic. The visual aspect has been referenced, copied, and parodied many times, but you have to see it in its original context to really appreciate it.

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How about scenes with SUCH an emotional wallop you remember the movies for those scenes DESPITE all the other movies you’ve seen? (Pick a top five)

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Usually when I think about what scenes “make” a movie, I’m thinking about what scenes I watch a certain movie for. They may or may not have an emotional wallop, although since that’s what movies usually try for they overlap pretty often.

For example, Ocean’s Twelve. It’s a decent enough film, though noticeably weaker than Eleven and Thirteen. There’s one scene, however, that absolutely makes it worth watching, and that’s the laser dance at the end. I’ll sometimes track it down on Youtube just to watch that scene.

In the live-action Speed Racer, the ninja fight scene makes the whole movie worthwhile. (Not that it’s actually a bad movie, it’s tons of fun to watch. The ninja fight scene is what “makes it,” though.)

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I can watch the final showdown of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly over and over again. Not only is the soundtrack perfect for the scene, but the three-way tension building up slowly is awesome. Makes the film.

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The scenes at the end of Back to the Future I and III where the DeLorean and then Doc’s train take off for the first times bring manly tears to my eyes.

8

The saloon scene at the end of Unforgiven.

“I’ll see you in hell William Munny.”

“Yeah.”

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First good hall of mirrors scene and still the best. Damn this is a good pick. Allister Bannister with his snakelike limp and two canes is what makes it. “I’m aiming at you.”

Opening scene from Touch of Evil

Chariot race in Ben-Hur

The only good thing about Attack of the Clones was Yoda’s beatdown of Dooku

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That one scene from Downfall. Yes, that one.

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Orson Wells in the ferris wheel in the Third Man: “You know what the fellow said—in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

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Enemy Mine

“When in the fullness of time, Zamis brought its own child before the council, the name of Willis Dawitch was added to the line of Gereba.”

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I don’t think I can make a top five, but the car scene in Chasing Amy will probably stay with me forever. Yeah, I know. I don’t care ! :stuck_out_tongue:

Huh ? Interesting - I thought the scene lost much of its appeal on further viewings, once you know Tuco’s gun is empty.

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There is one incredibly horrible movie Shark Attack 3: Megalodon that is a complete mess. But it has one line that makes it all worthwhile.

It’s known as “THE LINE.” It brings an automatic WTF??? to anyone watching the movie unaware.

I can’t repeat it here, but it’s in the IMDB Quotes section for the film. You’ll know what it is.

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Barry Guiler to Roy Neary (who cannot hear him): “B’Bye!”

(Seconding) Bob Parr: “I’m not strong enough.”

“‘Don’t you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.’ And I don’t intend to.”

“You’re Dale Turner. You’re too good for this shit.”

“Ship … out of danger?”

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Roughly half of those brought a WTF? Which one?

Nevermind, saw it on youtube. That guy is smooth.

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[spoiler]Tuco and Angel Eyes are nervous and shifty, glancing back and forth because they don’t know where the danger is coming from. But watch Blondie. He keeps his eyes to his right because he knows there’s only one threat.

That’s one of the things that makes the scene brilliant. The surprise shouldn’t be a surprise; it’s all right there in Clint’s eyes. You have to watch it at least twice to appreciate it.[/spoiler]

Good call on Chasing Amy, too. The only problem with that movie is that the climax comes about halfway through.

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In The Color Purple, when the sisters reunite.

The Big Blue, when she holds up the heart monitor ticker tape.

Stranger then Fiction when he gives her “flours”. And when she watches him play guitar.

The Matrix, when he sees the world in green code.

Delicatessen, when the springs creak.

Rescuers Down Under, the waterfall flight.

Serenity, the ship repairs. Or Mal’s speech.

Love actually, the wedding “orchestra”.

Get Real, the coffee vs tea conversation, and the awards speech.

Beautiful Thing, the dance at the end.

Home at the End of the World, at the cemetery, and on the roof.

My Own Private Idaho, two funerals.

Shortbus, the marching band.

Being John Malkovitch, John enters his own brain.

Fried Green Tomatoes, the story of Ruth.

Dark Crystal…actually this one is just one amazing scene after another.

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This is surely the most quotable scene in The Third Man, but it doesn’t “make” the film, does it? Sequences like Welles’s entrance, the sewer chase or the shot of Alida Valli doing the long walk at the end are surely almost just as iconic. Never mind the zither theme. It’d still be one of the finest films ever made even if Holly never went anywhere near the damn Ferris wheel.

Similarly, not even the best extended tracking shot in the film.

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Well, when I rode that Ferris wheel in Vienna, that was the quote I was trying to remember when I got off.