For me it’s the chariot race in Ben Hur. I don’t think I’ve even see the whole film but if it’s on I’ll always watch the race. It’s so freaking awesome - the constant rumble of hooves and wheels, the portrayal of the terrifying reality of Roman sport, the actual danger that the actors and horses were in when doing the filming, the decision to make a scene in a film so long, the horses, everything.
Another is when the Lancasters take off in Dambusters - not for jingoistic reasons (though they wouldn’t be totally unreasonable) but for the noise of the freaking engines, and the efforts in the face of adversity that were being made by people at that time.
A happier one is when Stewie Griffin dances with Gene Kelly.
I’m a sucker for the dramatic - it took my breath away when they lit the beacons from Gondor to Rohan, even though it’s a silly scene for a lot of reasons.
“When Somebody Loved Me” in Toy Story 2, and the montage of Carl and Ellie’s life together in Up. Genius animation, although in the case of Toy Story 2, Joan Cusac’s brilliant acting both sets up and delivers the real emotional punch of the scene, though I’m usually weeping long before the song ends and Woody says “I had no idea” and Jesse says “Just go”. One of the most beautiful songs Randy Newman has ever written - then he goes and finally wins an Oscar for one of his worst.
The last sequence in the “Sunshine Through the Rain” sequence of Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams. The imagery is just so breathtaking, it always brings tears to my eyes.
In Firefly, the episode Out of Gas. At the end, when Mal starts to fall asleep, then jerks awake and asks, voice cracking a little, “Y’all gonna be here when I wake up?” This man just about kills himself to watch after his crew, never asking anything more of them than that they do their jobs, but just for that one moment the wall cracks and the tough man’s need for reassurance comes through. It’s damn near heartbreaking.
Can it be animals? Any movie with animals, happy or (god forbid) sad, makes me tear up, i.e. Homeward Bound: the Incredible Journey, when the dogs and cat are reunited with their owners.
Can it be TV? ER episode, Love’s Labour Lost. I need say no more.
I took Latin in junior high and high school, and every year we watched Ben Hur. This was the mid-'80s, so people were still using regular movie projectors for this stuff.
All I’ve gotta say is this–If you think the scene is awesome as it is, try watching it in reverse!
And how cool was it that our teacher would run it in reverse for us? Multiple times too!
I came into this thread to say this (well, minus the silly part :D). The music and the cinematography in that scene were amazing.
From the same film, Pippin’s song for Denethor gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. The juxtaposition of Denethor’s court plus Faramir’s crew getting attacked was perfect. Also, Billy Boyd has an awesome voice.
Spock’s funeral, for the way Scotty’s playing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes merges into the orchestral version as Spock’s coffin wings over the Genesis planet.
And any scene/setup showing human stupidity, pride or stubbornness resulting in the loss of something finer…The end of ‘Immortal Beloved’, for example. I absolutely will not watch that with anyone else around, because my heart breaks every single time, and it ain’t pretty.
Oh…and hi. Fairly new lurker here, but I won’t get in the way much, I hope. I know how boards build up over time, so I’ll be over here in the corner, nose in a book, ears perking up on occasion and tossing out a few sentences when warranted. And thanks for all the entertainment so far.
They fly the missing man formation at Oshkosh and it gets me every time. I think of the 75% mortality rate of British fighter pilots and the mental toll that had to take.
What gets me every time is the seen in K-pax when the astrophysicists overlay the information he gives them (against a drawing) and then stare in amazement. That and the blue bird scene where the whole hospital erupts.
The closing scene of To Kill A Mockingbird always puts a lump in my throat. There’s something about the narrator’s voice combined with the music that gets me.
There’s a scene in Lonesome Dove that always affects me. It’s simply Gus on his horse riding from the corral or barn up to Clara’s house to say goodbye to her & Lori. I don’t know if it’s the way the scene is lit or what, but I knew the first time I saw it that he wasn’t coming back alive.
