I had (and I imagine still have somewhere) a VCR tape that I had made which included favorite movie scenes from a variety of films.
We don’t use the VCR any more and I need to get around to making a similar copy on DVD.
The scenes I chose are what I considered fun to watch and I won’t list them in any particular order (they’re not necessarily my top five) and I’m going with five just for brevity’s sake.
The wake-up scene from Rocky and then the triumphant work-out montage a bit later. First the one where he gets up at the butt crack of dawn, chgs five raw eggs and can barely finish his run. That followed by the pumped up workout and ascent up the steps of the Philly Museum of Art with Gonna Fly Now playing in the background.
Kevin Kline from In and Out where he is listening to a cassette of how to be a manly man. He resists breaking out into dance for as long as he can but then erupts into a glorious sequence anyway.
A splice of the light saber duel between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn / Obi-Wan from The Phantom Menace. Though everything else about the film may have stunk (not my opinion though) this one still remains the best fight of the entire anthology.
The poker scene from The Sting where Newman turns the table on Robert Shaw’s character.
From An Officer and a Gentleman, the line-up scene where Foley, the D.I. lets the new recruits have it in a little get-to-know-you session. This followed immediately (I know this is more than five) with the same scene from Full Metal Jacket which provides a nice contrast with both drill instructors using identical lines in certain instances.
1.) Sir Thomas More’s Trial (especially his closing speech) in a Man for All Seasons (the 1967 Paul Scofield film, of course). Lots of great scenes in that movie, but that’s the best.
2.) The Krel Laboratory in Forbidden Planet, when we first see it. The “Sense of Wonder” scene in a science fiction movie.
3.) The flight sequences in 2001: A Space Odyssey
4.) The singing of “le Marseilles” in Casablanca
5.) When the plane lifts off at the end of the Flight of the Phoenix (the otiginal Jimmy Stewart/Richard Attenborough version, of course)
The Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper scene in True Romance
Rutger Hauer’s death scene in Blade Runner
Brando clearing the table in A Streetcar Named Desire
The shower sequence in Psycho
Although it’s an obscure movie, I’d have to include the ending scene in Wanted: Dead or Alive where Rutger Hauer (again!) pulls the pin on the grenade he had stuffed in Gene Simmons’s mouth and says “Fuck the bonus.” This is so fine on so many levels!
The mental institution escape in Terminator 2.
The Hoth battle in The Empire Strikes Back.
The killer rabbit scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
And, it has to be said, the D-Day beach invasion in Saving Private Ryan.
Agree 100%, and it should replace the Psycho scene on my list. If ever there was an anti-war statement reduced to non-verbal terms, this is about as close as it gets for me. There are uglier scenes, more brutal scenes, more senseless scenes, in other movies (such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, and even some of those movies made during WWII) but Spielberg deserves some special commendation for the genius in this sequence.
My wife and I had a “movie scene” party where everybody brought a DVD/tape of a favored movie scene (limited to 10 minutes) with a short explanation as to why they chose it.
It was a huge hit, everybody loved it.
My selection (since I had 10 minutes I squeezed several scenes in) was the sequence in Moulin Rouge! from the point where Christian becomes involved in Spectacular Spectacular, through the absinthe trip, ending with the Teen Spirit/Lady Marmalade medley.
Other inclusions would be the Belle sequence from Beauty and the Beast, the very final shot in Titanic where Rose returns to the staircase, the final scene in Chinatown… and I’ll think about my last one for a minute.
The Searchers: Martha lovingly handles Ethan’s coat as the Rev. Clayton looks on
Akira: Capsules vs. Clowns motorcycle duel
Kiki’s Delivery Service: Kiki rescures Tombo from the falling blimp
Jurassic Park: Grant sees the dinosaurs for the first time
Citizen Kane: Uh, basically any scene
ETA: If I can cheat and add another: The opening sequence in Serenity, from the initial shot of transport ships leaving Earth, to the Operative stopping the hologram playback
Good ones! The last one reminds me that not far from the top of the list should be Slim Pickens riding the bomb (what a phallic symbol!) in Dr. Strangelove.
The dinner feast from Big Night.
From A Fish Called Wanda, where Wanda chastises Otto for his stupidity (“Apes don’t read philosophy.” “Yes they do, they just don’t understand it.”)
The car chase in The Blues Brothers
“Your gonna need a bigger boat” - Jaws
Michael Corleone kills McCluskey and Sollozzo in The Godfather
[ol]
[li]The launch sequence in Apollo 13.[/li][li]The “ship destruct” sequence in Alien.[/li][li]The opening scene of Full Metal Jacket.[/li][li]Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in The Right Stuff.[/li][li]The F-14 Tomcats vs. Japanese Zeros scene in The Final Countdown.[/li][/ol]
[/film snob]