# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/61 "2023-12-11T19:04:59Z")
If _Independence Day_ is on, I gotta see the scene with the doggy narrowly escaping hellfire in the tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/62 "2023-12-11T19:22:45Z")
I figured the dog would make it. Filmmakers kill off kids before they kill off dogs. But I did like the scene. My favorite from the movie is when Randy Quaid’s shoulders slump when he realizes what he has to do. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/63 "2023-12-11T19:32:48Z")
The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan definitely. IMO it qualifies for the best war movie ever purely on the back of that scene. I 100% agree with critics who say the rest of the movie is pretty generic unremarkable, but that open scene is so so good that it _still_ makes it the best war movie better ever (think of it as the best short film about war ever, that had an unremarkable full-length sequel 🙂 ) Also the shootout scene in Heat, though the rest of the movie is the perfect juxtaposition to that, but that makes the movie. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZL9fnVtz_lc/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGEsgTihlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCpDnfBHxoQ6uDOuLU8LDgVzH1Hdg "Heat Shootout Scene [High Quality]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL9fnVtz_lc) My personal “that one scene” is the final scene in Shawshank Redemption. As I first watched this during an all night movie marathon at my university halls of residence (they’d have them in the social hall above bar) suitably imbibed for the show I ended falling asleep during the scene where Andy smuggles a rope into his cell and you are left to assume he’s going to kill himself, so for the next few years until I saw it on video, I thought the movie had a dark ending 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/64 "2023-12-11T19:35:10Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > _The Matrix_ where Neo bends backwards in slo-mo to avoid bullets. Trinity: “Dodge this” ---
**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 11, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/65 "2023-12-11T19:40:49Z")
The [Quantrill family](https://youtu.be/VgKqo3TvZoI?si=sAA6zO1-3LovpmvN) in _The President’s Analyst_. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/66 "2023-12-11T19:42:31Z")
[The SICILIAN SCENE in TRUE ROMANCE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1etPoP4GDs8). At the start of the scene Christopher Walker’s character has all the power. But the power slowly changes during the scene and at the end Dennis Hopper’s character talked himself out of torture and did not give up his son. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/67 "2023-12-11T19:54:54Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > It seemed as if you could compare it to the St. Crispin’s day speech in Henry V Oh, yeah. [The Branagh version](https://youtu.be/bvFHRNGYfuo). My absolute favorite bit of Shakespeare. And I found [that scene](https://youtu.be/VkvtoXOI03k) in _Apaloosa_ I mentioned. “My mistake. Three coffins,” – The man with no name. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/68 "2023-12-11T20:03:52Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > James Stewart trying to figure out how to sit down at the Moroccan restaurant in _The Man Who Knew Too Much_. The whole scene in the restaurant is my favorite part of that movie. Always makes me hungry for roast chicken too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/69 "2023-12-11T20:14:10Z")
In _The Magnificent Seven_ when Charles Bronson (O’Reilly, one of the Seven) has words with the village boy. > _Village Boy 2_: We’re ashamed to live here. Our fathers are… cowards. > > [_O’Reilly takes the boy over his knee and spanks him_] > > [_O’Reilly_](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000314/?ref_=ttqu_qu): [_harshly_] Don’t you ever say that again about your fathers, because they are not cowards! You think I am brave because I carry a gun? Well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility, for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. And there’s nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with no guarantee anything will ever come of it. This is bravery. That’s why I never even started anything like that… that’s why I never will. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/70 "2023-12-11T21:13:49Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > In _Bringing Up Baby_ when Cary Grant is frantically running around in a women’s fancy robe, white socks and flip-flops. Mules, not flip flops, but all that maribou is impressive! ---
**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 11, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/71 "2023-12-11T21:15:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > And yes, that YouTube link is that memorable scene, which deserves its own inline link! Not gonna lie, that actually made me cry. I watched this entire film last year because I watched it a billion times in childhood and I wondered if it held up. My God, does it ever. It’s a beautiful piece of storytelling. Even with that opening scene where Grant is scaring the pants off the kid with the raptor claw, which I can now see serves the dual purpose of foreshadowing and establishing Grant’s antipathy toward children at the same time. Not a wasted moment in that film. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/72 "2023-12-11T21:42:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > In _The Magnificent Seven_ when Charles Bronson (O’Reilly, one of the Seven) has words with the village boy. That reminds me of a scene in _El Condor_, between Jaroo (Lee Van Cleef) and Dolores (Imogen Hassall). Jaroo: Aren’t you a little rough on the kid? Dolores: It’s my privilege. I’m his mother. He’s my little bastard. Jaroo: That’s no way to talk about a child! Dolores: Do you want to marry me? [Their eyes lock. They glare at each other. He flinches.] Dolores: Then shut your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/73 "2023-12-11T21:56:28Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > * * * > > The lighting of the beacons in the **Return of the King**. I think this is only in the extended cuts, but the it is an amazing scene. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyIjoXv6Y-0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyIjoXv6Y-0) > > * * * A great scene, but IMHO the arrival and subsequent charge of the Rohirrim was the quintessential scene in **ROTK**. **Fellowship of the Rings** has to be the YOU SHALL NOT PASS! scene on the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/74 "2023-12-11T22:04:19Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Also the shootout scene in Heat If we’re talking bank heists, [_The Dark Knight Rises_](https://youtu.be/cqYqHWIVCRI). ---
**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 11, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/75 "2023-12-11T22:12:56Z")
I’d marry her 🙂 ---
**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 11, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/76 "2023-12-11T22:19:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > **Fellowship of the Rings** has to be the YOU SHALL NOT PASS! scene on the bridge. It was actually _Fellowship of the **Ring** _, not rings. The Jackson movie kind of troubled me because Gandalf kept asking Frodo, “Is it safe?” and I was having flashbacks to Zell’s style of dentistry. ---
**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 12, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/77 "2023-12-12T01:08:02Z")
**The Killing** - Sterling Hayden robs the racetrack office while wearing a clown mask ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/78 "2023-12-12T01:29:53Z")
The Dark Knight is a heck of a fun movie, but if you don’t see the Joker’s pitch to the crime bosses, you have missed the movie. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/79 "2023-12-12T01:43:17Z")
Speaking of pitches in comic-book movies, there’s something to be said for the bit where the Vision has to admit that there may be no way for him to make the people in the room trust him… ---
**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 12, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344/80 "2023-12-12T02:15:11Z")
The opening scene of _Lolita_. I frequently criticize Kubrik for his weakness in getting performances out actors that have a genuine feel – too often they seem wooden and over-produced – but he knew well enough to let Sellers loose on a scene. The rest of the movie is difficult, but that first scene is awesome. And, sticking to black-and-white, the scene at the end of _The Ox-Bow Incident_, where the letter is being read to the tavern. The composition, Fonda’s mouth and Morgan’s eye, is perfect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-scene-in-a-movie/994344.md?page=5)