When you like a movie, no matter how good or bad it is, there is sometimes a scene that, if you miss it, you are disappointed for the rest of the film. I have quite a number of those but here are three to start, and I invite you to contribute your own.
I hate missing my favorite scene in Ghostbusters. the “Millions of registered voters” scene in the mayor’s office.
In Field of Dreams I love the very last scene, when the camera pulls back in the dark, and you see the long line of carlights.
Then there’s a scene in a sentimental movie from the fifties “Good Morning, Miss Dove” The aging teacher is facing serious back surgery and is consulting with her surgeon, a former student no less, about the procedure. She asks about waking up and the doctor starts to tell her about the recovery room. She stops him and says “No, will I wake up?” He looks at her and says “I don’t know.”
There are others and I’ll come in again when I think of them. The movies I mentioned about have a lot of great scenes, but the ones I mentioned are keys for me.
And I had to come back already to mention a scene out of Jaws. It’s the night fishing scene where the guys hook a roast and throw it out. That scene ends up being the scariest in the movie to me. Nobody is hurt, and you never even see the shark. But oh man, when that broken dock turns around and starts heading for shore I’m creeped out forty eight years later. It’s my favorite, although of course the bigger boat scene is great too
Also, the long shot at the beginning (of Goodfellas). Growing up Italian and having a dad that’s in the food industry as well as one of those people that knows everyone, when we went out for a nice dinner, we’d regularly walk in the back door, through the kitchen and to the dining room so he could say hi to everyone. That scene always reminds me of doing that.
The first time I saw Little Miss Sunshine I decided to pee during the scene that I would have found the absolute most compelling in the film, where the young man who dreams of being a pilot sees that dream come to a crushing end.
I feel like I’ve never been able to appreciate the film as much on rewatch because I missed that scene the first time I saw the film. It’s like the memory that should have been there, but isn’t.
In Absence of Malice, the Wilford Brimley scene in which the law is “laid down”. (“Now we’ll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there’s gonna be two things true that ain’t true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is goin’ to know what in the good Christ - excuse me, Angie - is goin’ on around here. And the other’s I’m gonna have somebody’s ass in my briefcase.”)
In Notorious, when Cary Grant rescues Ingrid Bergman (her whispered “They’re poisoning me.” sends chills down the spine)
In Quigley Down Under, when the villainous Alan Rickman forces the (rifleman) Tom Selleck into a fast draw duel with pistols. (The scene’s final line: “I said I didn’t have much use for one. Didn’t say I didn’t know how to use it” is gold)
There is this movie called Starter for 10 which cruises blythely along and seem kind of mundane and then not too long before the end there is one instant in which the story expodes, you say “oh, shit” and everything comes to a dead stop for a minute or two. It is breathtaking (no violence involved).
The Big Country, where Burl Ives disciplines his son, Chuck Connors after the latter assaults Jean Simmons. Actually, every scene with those two is just perfect.
Pet Sematary, where the little boy follows the kite string out into the road. The father racing to catch him, the speeding truck, juxtaposed with the boy almost ambling along, cut, cut, cut after split-second cut, until the (unseen) impact, and I find I’m still holding my breath every time I inflict a rewatching of this scene upon myself.
The Shining, “I think we should discuss Danny.” As a matter of filmmaking, it might look like a simple scene if you’re just casually watching, but every element is exquisitely realized and perfectly put together (in my opinion, of course). The writing, the camera setups and movement, the performances, the editing, the music. I’ve seen people criticize Jack Nicholson for playing the same character in every movie. I don’t think he does, but he plays the Jack character often enough that I understand where that comes from. Here, though, is exactly his opportunity to play that character and just go wild chewing scenery. I’ve also seen people criticize Shelley Duvall for being too whiney in this movie, but, I mean, her character’s trapped in this place with an unstable man who’s obviously becoming more unstable by the day.
The look of utter horror on Roy Scheider’s face upon actually seeing the shark when it surfaces behind the boat he was throwing “chum” from. Up to that point he knew he was looking for a shark, yes a big shark, but not one as big as the boat he’s on, and certainly not one to surface as if to deliberately show itself as a sign of intimidation. A great setup for the character to enter the cabin dumbstruck and utter his famous words “We’re gonna’ need a bigger boat”.
