The entire opening scene with Peter Sellers and James Mason in Lolita; the rest of the movie was meh-to-unpleasant, but that opening scene was classic.
Oh, and the entire beauty pageant sequence in Little Miss Sunshine is a slam to the chest when you first see it.
I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be “Sir”. Do you maggots understand that?
The gas station scene from No Country for Old Men.
There are more violent scenes in the film, but this one is by far the scariest, in my opinion. We know what Chigurh is capable of by this point, but the poor sap behind the counter doesn’t, which, to me, makes this exchange all the more frightening.
Blade Runner scene is the best! All those… moments… will be lost in time, like [coughs] tears… in… rain. Time… to die…
Also, everytime I walk down to the beach carrying an umbrella and towels I remember the scene from MadMax…breathe deep, it’s just a movie…
“Heeere’s Johnny!”
The Shining.
The climax of *The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! * (I couldn’t find a clip of this, but it’s what happens when World War III is just about to be triggered.)
The little girl walking silently down the road at the beginning of Them!
The ballroom scene in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
The chase scene (with a million different vehicles) in Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen. (Yes, not a good movie, but a terrific chase scene.)
And 1776 is full of them: “Mama, Look Sharp”, “Molasses to Rum”, the barrels tied up with ribbon in the empty hallway, and John Adams’ speech at the beginning, starting with the words, “I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two useless men are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!” (The great part about the speech is that Adams actually said it–although after the events of 1776.)
I saw Superman with Christopher Reeves with a college audience when it first opened. The film had the perfect proportion of camp and seriousness. The first part of the movie was a gradual build up to Superman before he *was *“Superman,” and the scene where he finally grabs his shirt to take it off, revealing the big S, was the big pay off. There was a standing ovation in the theater, me included.
You had to be there, I guess.
Mozart’s body rolling down into a mass paupers’ grave at the end of Amadeus.
The commander of the Ironman capsule drifting away after his suit is ripped in Marooned.
Gandhi: the Mahatma’s advice to the anguished Hindu man who has killed a child in religious rioting and can’t live with the memory: “I know a way out of hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father were killed, and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you raise him as one.”
Cabaret: The main characters drive out to the countryside and witness a musical performance in a beer garden. The camera begins on the face of the blond young man with the voice of an angel; just as he reaches the line “tomorrow belongs to me” the camera pans down to his Nazi insignia.
Soylent Green: The ‘assisted death’ scene of the old man played by Edward G. Robinson.
Bridge on the River Kwai: Alec Guinness’ Colonel Nicholson, seeing what his laser-like focus on ‘correct conduct as a prisoner of war’ has resulted in–his face stricken, saying “What have I done???”
"Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”
Although even more “sticks in my head” is the final scene when Taylor is pounding the beach and cursing. As the camera pans, the screen is filled with the image of the remains of the Statue of Liberty. I was about 13 years old and a great fan of science fiction, but for some reason thru-out the whole movie it had just never occurred to me that they were back on earth. I was awestruck. Too bad about those sequel things though.
What, not the hallway scene? Which was the main reason why I had this as my desktop background at work for a while. This scene kicks so much ass that the production crew actually ran out of ass, and had to send out for more.
This bit from Manhattan has stuck with me for some reason.
Others that come to mind:
The weightlessness scene from Solaris.
Herzog’s deranged penguin from Encounters at the End of the World.
I still find it annoying that she didn’t use that grenade.
Heh. Come to think of it, I do have one nit to pick with that scene, but it’s not the grenade…
You don’t notice it at first for all the awesome, but she runs out of bullets again awfully quickly after she reloads. From what I’ve read, the scene was originally cut to run quite a bit longer, until some bright spark noticed: “hang on… how long is this hallway?”
Probably only smoke or or a flash-bang.
Guns and knives are fine, but what sort of maniac give a grenade to an 11 year old?
I came in to post this one.
They are riffing around, all half-drunk, and trying to top each other. And then Quint comes in with the story that cannot be topped.
"So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 come out. The sharks took the rest. June the 29th, 1945.
Anyway - we delivered the Bomb."
Regards,
Shodan
The cinema scene in Donnie Darko.
The opening scene of Pitch Black with the spaceship falling.
Stansfield’s “Bring me everyone” bit in the Professional.
Captain Kaneda’s death in Sunshine.
Dr Manhattan’s thermodynamic miracle speech in Watchmen.
When T-bird finally recognizes Eric in the Crow.
2:20 of perfection (Copa entrance.
And The Player opening sequence.
