# That one scene in a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 10, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344 "2023-12-10T01:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/1 "2023-12-10T01:36:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/2 "2023-12-10T01:38:38Z")
_The Matrix_ where Neo bends backwards in slo-mo to avoid bullets. Also, the office lobby scene in the same movie. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/3 "2023-12-10T01:38:55Z")
The helicopter scene in Goodfellas. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7SvJ--JVU9w/maxresdefault.jpg "Goodfellas (1990) - Helicopter scene part 1 | Movie Moments") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SvJ--JVU9w) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/4 "2023-12-10T01:42:25Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/5 "2023-12-10T01:42:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/6 "2023-12-10T02:22:53Z")
The opening scene in _Harold & Maude_. It sets the tone for everything that comes after it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/7 "2023-12-10T02:35:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/8 "2023-12-10T02:40:15Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Then there’s a scene in a sentimental movie from the fifties _“Good Morning, Miss Dove”_ I didn’t even know this was a movie! I read the book a hundred times. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/9 "2023-12-10T02:44:03Z")
The first ones that come to mind: 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) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/10 "2023-12-10T03:03:24Z")
I sent you a message twice. It’s the same thing in both. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/11 "2023-12-10T03:19:31Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/12 "2023-12-10T03:32:46Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/13 "2023-12-10T03:44:31Z")
_The Unknown_ (1927) – The look on Lon Chaney’s face when he realizes his sacrifice for chirophobic Joan Crawford has been all-for-naught. _Pinocchio_ (1940) – Monstro the whale _Dumbo_ (1941) – Pink elephants on parade _Spellbound_ (1945) – Salvador Dali designed dream sequence _The Lady from Shanghai_ (1947) – Hall o’ mirrors climax _The Third Man_ (1949) – Orson Welles meets Joseph Cotton on the Ferris wheel and gives his “cuckoo clock” speech. _Night of the Hunter_ (1955) – Having murdered wife Shelley Winters, Robert Mitchum leans against a tree and calls out to her children. _Forbidden Planet_ (1958) – Id monster _Riot on Sunset Strip_ (1967) – Mimsy Farmer’s choreographed freak-out _The Fury_ (1978) – John Cassavetes explodes _Dead or Alive_ (1999) - The most incredible, mind-blowing, unfuckingbelievable ending ever. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/14 "2023-12-10T05:37:12Z")
Tuco running through the cemetery in _The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly_. The music, the camera, and the actor moving in perfect harmony. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/15 "2023-12-10T14:15:57Z")
Thanks! I watched some of it, I’ll have to wait for an opportunity to finish. It’s amazing how closely the dialogue mirrors the wording of the novel. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/16 "2023-12-10T15:35:21Z")
_Fantasia_ – “Dance of the Hours” – Ostriches, Elephants, Hippos, and Crocodiles dancing ballet. _The Life of Brian_ — “Romans Go Home” > **[Monty Python's Life Of Brian - \[April Fools'\] 'Romans go home' Latin Lesson...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lczHvB3Y9s%2F)** > > One of the most thrilling grammar lessons of all time, tied in with an incredible chase scene, remarkably improved by a special set of presets of 60fps conve... _Ninotchka_ — Leon and his butler discuss politics. > **[Ninotchka (1939) -- Leon and his butler have a political discussion.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boZFiTkCGf0%2F)** > > Melvyn Douglas and Richard Carle in Ernst Lubitsch's comic masterpiece, Ninotchka.Check out my Comic Spirit blog for thoughts about classic Hollywood comedi... ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/17 "2023-12-10T16:06:34Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/18 "2023-12-10T16:20:46Z")
Duck Soup - mirror scene ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/19 "2023-12-10T16:41:41Z")
_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. I really like what Kubrick did here. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LtI0uG6tjew/maxresdefault.jpg "The Shining - Bat Scene (1080 HD)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtI0uG6tjew) ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/20 "2023-12-10T17:08:45Z")
Another **Jaws** reference: 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_”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344.md?page=2)