# Scenes in movies that 'make it' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922 "2009-04-03T23:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/81 "2009-04-07T13:55:44Z")
**Baldwin** , see post 61. I don’t know for sure that’s the one, but … > [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Sorry, that came off nastier than intended. I wasn’t snapping at you and appreciate the response. I was just hoping for something more awesome. No worries, **Larry**. We’re all in the same boat with that quote. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/82 "2009-04-07T13:58:40Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > I think the scene in which Steve Buscemi hangs out with the unknowing little girl makes **Con Air**. Oooh, yeah that’s creepy- “There is no medicine for what I have.” :eek: And then that fucking empty teacup on it’s side… ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/83 "2009-04-07T15:23:44Z")
Steve Buscemi is pretty versatile, really. His characters are almost always slightly excentric or off-beat, but still with a lot of variation. Compare Con Air to Reservoir Dogs or Ghost World, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/84 "2009-04-07T17:11:17Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Steve Buscemi is pretty versatile, really. His characters are almost always slightly excentric or off-beat, but still with a lot of variation. Compare Con Air to Reservoir Dogs or Ghost World, for example. Funny lookin’ guy. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/85 "2009-04-07T17:25:08Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > [We’re all in the same boat with that quote. 🙂 We’re gonna need a bigger boat. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/86 "2009-04-07T17:28:07Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Funny lookin’ guy. Uh-huh. In what way? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/87 "2009-04-07T17:31:51Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Uh-huh. In what way? Just generally. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/88 "2009-04-07T17:34:50Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > The perfect example of this for me is the scene near the end of Apollo 13 – the four minutes during which the capsule is out of radio contact, and the increasing tension in everyone glued to the TV or a monitor, waiting, waiting … and then the explosion of emotion that follows. > > I must have seen that scene at least 10 times, and I still find my chest clenching up with tension every single time. It’s worth noting that this scene is accurate, and not made up for dramatic purposes. Every reentering capsule is out of radio contact for a while because of the brick of superheated air its pushing; Apollo 13 had a longer blackout than any other Apollo mission, probably because it came into the atmosphere at a slightly shallower angle than they usually did. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/89 "2009-04-07T18:15:20Z")
See ya’ll bring up Glengarry Glen Ross and I don’t even think that’s the scene that saves the movie. It would be a LOT less enjoyable without Alec Baldwin’s “Coffee is for closers”. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/90 "2009-04-07T18:51:14Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > See ya’ll bring up Glengarry Glen Ross and I don’t even think that’s the scene that saves the movie. It would be a LOT less enjoyable without Alec Baldwin’s “Coffee is for closers”. That’s a good one, but that scene sets up the movie. The Lemmon/Spacey scene makes it. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/91 "2009-04-07T20:23:06Z")
knew this was one way ticket but you know i had to come love you wife ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/92 "2009-04-07T21:37:59Z")
**Gung Ho**. Throughout the film, we keep seeing American culture clashing with Japanese culture, American work ethic with Japanese work ethic, American social mores with Japanese social mores, and so forth. Finally, late in the film, Michael Keaton (foreman) fights with Gedde Watanabe (plant manager). Their guys pull them apart, and from across the room, Keaton yells, “Hey, if you guys are so great, **how come you lost the Big One?!** ” Watanabe has no answer, but the look on his face speaks volumes. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/93 "2015-03-13T15:45:14Z")
Zombieing this thread to wonder aloud… Put the phone call mini-monologue on the cutting room floor… is Taken a bomb instead of a hit? ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/94 "2015-03-13T16:37:04Z")
Well, as a man named Harry married to a woman named Sally (really), I would think there’s only one scene in the movie “…when Harry met Sally” that people remember and quote to us when they first hear our names. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/95 "2015-03-13T18:00:38Z")
What, no “Leave her alone, you bitch!”? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/96 "2015-03-13T18:11:57Z")
I’ll help this zombie along with a pair of mid-movie scenes. Both of the films are awesome all around but these scenes really make the film. the first because is says so much about the characters in the scene and the second because it’s such an unexpected revelation. -Little Bill telling W.W. Beauchamp the truth about English Bob and that night at the Blue Bottle Saloon in _Unforgiven_. -The Father watching the videotape from his late daughter in _The Sixth Sense_. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/97 "2015-03-13T18:43:21Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Here’s a very strange example in _Michael Clayton_: > > Tilda Swinton is dressing for work and practicing a speech, IIRC, in front of a large mirror. At one point she puts her hands above her hips, and there’s this role of fat that shows appear below where her hands are resting. I saw it and thought it was truly extrordinary that she was allowing herself to be filmed so unattractvely. And I remember thinking she was going to get some kind of award for it – and she won an Oscar. I actually believe she won for that camera shot, because she had the courage to let herself be shown in as unattractive a light as possible. She acted well, too, but I really believe it was about that particular visual. How funny, I was thinking of this very movie as I read down the thread, but actually for a completely different scene: the one at the end. Sometimes my wife and I borrow an exact quote from George Clooney in that scene… ---
**Author:** ![RainGrowsBrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RainGrowsBrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainGrowsBrite)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/98 "2015-03-13T18:53:26Z")
**Tombstone** was the first movie that came to mind. (Copying and pasting the quote for accuracy and effect) The crescendo on this scene is enormous. Always gives me chills. Wyatt Earp: All right, Clanton… you called down the thunder, well now you’ve got it! You see that? [pulls open his coat, revealing a badge] Wyatt Earp: It says United States Marshal! Ike Clanton: [terrified, pleading] Wyatt, please, I… Wyatt Earp: [referring to Stilwell, laying dead] Take a good look at him, Ike… 'cause that’s how you’re gonna end up! [shoves Ike down roughly with his boot] Wyatt Earp: The Cowboys are finished, you understand? I see a red sash, I kill the man wearin’ it! [lets Ike up to run for his life] Wyatt Earp: So run, you cur… RUN! Tell all the other curs the law’s comin’! [shouts] Wyatt Earp: You tell 'em I’M coming… and hell’s coming with me, you hear?.. [louder] Wyatt Earp: Hell’s coming with me! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/99 "2015-03-13T19:09:22Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Jaws - Quint’s story of the USS Indianapolis and the sharks eating the sailors I think the best part of that scene gets underappreciated. Robert Shaw gets to tell the story and he makes the most of it. But it was Richard Dreyfuss who set it up. Remember that the three of them had been drinking and telling jokes. Then Quint mentions his Indianapolis tattoo. Hooper suddenly drops all his laughing and asks “You were on the Indianapolis?” Quint hasn’t told his story yet. But from Hooper’s reaction to the mere mention of the name, we know it’s going to be bad. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jMl1NbR0h_A/hqdefault.jpg "QUINT'S USS INDIANAPOLIS SPEECH") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMl1NbR0h_A) ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922/100 "2015-03-13T19:36:02Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > Herzog’s 1979 remake of **Nosferatu** was an excellent film, but what really made it for me was the surreal scene with Lucy running through the town infected by plague. Just the sight of her friends having their last supper among the rats and the dead has stayed with me since I saw it months ago. A great but sorely underappreciated movie. Easily one of my favourites. The scene you describe is very impressive indeed but the one that haunts me is Harker’s arrival at the Castle. Whole rooms engulfed in ominous darkness. A couple of awkward sentences. Silence. Wolves howling in the distance. Silence. Creepy clock striking midnight. Silence. Then, Harker accidentally cuts himself with a knife. _The look_ on Nosferatu’s face… you can see the struggle between his immense hunger and the desperate necessity of trying to keep himself together. He looks the other way but is overcome by his lust for blood. It’s at 6:40 in this excerpt but the whole scene is worth watching even if it’s in German without subtitles: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVTNFUfogTY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVTNFUfogTY) **Klaus Kinski** was an amazing actor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-in-movies-that-make-it/491922.md?page=6)