Whats your favorite movie scene?

Which scene in a movie do you think is the greatest cinematic moment ever?

Mine is Kilgores air raid on a Vietnamese village in Apocalypse now.

Welcome to HTF, Rafayel. This sort of question belongs in a scary place called "Polls," which is where I'm relocating it.

My fav scene is the Death Star Battle in ANH.

My favorite scene is also the helicopter raid on the Vietnamese village in Apocalypse Now.

This is an impossibly difficult question for me to answer as I could derive 100 great scenes that I love equally. Perhaps this one...

when the Scottish rebels dispose of the English in Braveheart, Wallace cuts the governor and the crowd shouts "Wallace, Wallace ..."

The only sequence that stunned me for 10 solid minutes after, was the Mines of Moria sequence in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. Fabulously edited, occasionally terrifying, action packed. My heart was in my skull throughout, throbbing wildly. So, that's my pick..

Either that, or the ending to Casablanca.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - the Mothership rising over Devil's Tower.

Rafayel, welcome to the forum!

Three scene's qualify for me, the first is without a doubt the last 10 minutes of the sinking scene from James Cameron's TITANIC. He showed us nothing less than the great ship herself going down, the physics that act on a sinking ship, and the terror of those trapped on board during her final death plunge as this massive machine tore itself apart right under their feet, and took 1500 souls with it. One of the true great re-creations of a real life event ever committed to film.

Second is definatly the Omaha beach landing in Saving Private Ryan. Now, we all know that that scene makes for great demo material for our HT systems, but i'm talking about the terror of it, the sick feeling of dread you feel when the doors on those Higgins boats drop open and hell on earth ensues. Spielberg showed us war, plain and simple, in all it's shocking, surreal, and gut wrenching horror. For nearly half an hour, the screen erupts in a cataclysym of violence and bloodshed unmatched by any other war film ever made.

Third is a little lighter than the first two, it's Elliot's and E.T.'s tearful goodbye at the end of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. I saw this film three times in theaters when I was little and balled my eye's out each time, and you know what, I went to see it again a couple of months ago during it's 20th anniversary re-release and it got me all over again! Pure cinema magic in that film throughout.

I'll second this one.
It's hard to imagine any other single motion picture scene emitting as much realistic and terrifying imagery as this lengthy scene in Saving Private Ryan. Leaves you thinking about the horror of it for days afterward.

The final part of the 3-panel tryptich of Abel Gance's Napoleon. Starting with Bonaparte on the tip of a hill and ending with the tri-color...

It's the best piece of filmmaking, IMO.

Some other good ones for me.........

Chariot race in Ben-Hur (1959).

Parting of Red Sea in The Ten Commandments (1956).

This one's not as "epic" as the two above.....but (for me anyway), Jurassic Park 1 has one of the best "sends-tingles-down-your-spine" scenes: When we see the dinosaurs for the very first time!

And then there's the climatic scene in The China Syndrome....another beaut.

And....Several different horrific scenes in The Exorcist.

Another one in a somewhat lesser-known film that I think is excellent is the very last shot in The Bad Seed (original 1956 version). Lightning strikes pier and no more Bad Seed! A great ending. <---(DVD needed here bad! )

Without a doubt, my favorite scene of all time has to be the rabbit sequence in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The ending to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ranks pretty high up there, too.

I'll second that!

I agree. This is one of the best "revenge" scene.

I'll third that! Very powerful scene, indeed.

The first time I saw that scene, it had quite an impact on me.

And 695 posts into his stay at HTF, Andrew finally made his first double post.:b

What he said. And the heart throbbing thing goes for all five times I've seen it.

A few more that stand out:

Saving Private Ryan -The beach landing. The part with the most impact for me is when the gates on the transport boat open and the first line of guys gets completely torn apart.

On The Waterfront -The priest's sermon in the hold, which is of course overshadowed by another favorite scene, "I coulda been a contenda."

LOTR:FOTR -The whole movie, but mostly Moria, mentioned above, the prologue, and the opening scenes in the Shire.

Fight Club -Middle children of history, Lou, Raymond K. Hessel

Heat -The bank shootout and Pacino and Deniro's sitdown in the coffee shop.

Godfather -Opening scene w/ Don Corleone and the undertaker, "We didn't have enough time."

Patton -The general's introductory speech.

Unforgiven-Everything from, "It's a hell of a thing, killin' a man" till the end.



I could go on like this all night, but I'll limit myself to these for now.

When Judah Ben-Hur finds his mother and sister in the leper colony.

Higgins' reaction to Eliza Dolittle's return at the end of My Fair Lady.

Han Solo plunging out of the sky in the Millenium Falcon right before Luke destroys the Death Star.

Oskar Schindler's "I could have done more" scene near the end of "Schindler's List".

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
... when Dr. Frankenfurter first reveals his err... "undergarments" while singing 'Sweet Transvestite'

Fight Club
"Let me tell you a little bit about Tyler Durden"
the "Mid-Air Collision" scene
the "Chemical Burn" scene

Star Wars Luke standing in front of the dual sunset... looking over the sand dunes.
Han Solo meets up with Greedo.
Darth Vader and Obi Wan's fight.

The Empire Strikes Back
The Hoth Battle
Luke and Darth Vader's Battle on Bespin

Return of the Jedi
The Final Battle

Brazil
The "Buttle/Tuttle" arrest mixup
The Restaurant Scene
The Ending

Clerks
Death Star Contractors

Mallrats
There is no Easter Bunny!
Operation "Fly Fat-ass Fly!"

Chasing Amy
What is a Nubian?
Holden confesses his love (awww )

This is Spinal Tap
"If I told them once, I told them 100 times... to put Spinal Tap first and Puppet Show last"
18" Stonehenge
This one goes to 11!

Silence of the Lambs
Clarice meets Hannibal Lecter for the first time.

Saving Private Ryan
Normandy beach assault

Army of Darkness
The "Pit Witch" scene
"This is my BOOMSTICK!"
"Clatoo... verata... n...nn...."


And that is just a PARTIAL LIST

Most moving: Glory (the whipping scene)

Scariest: Jacob's Ladder (the "hospital" scene)

Disturbing: Requiem for a Dream (the last 20 min.)

Romantic: A Beautiful Mind (the "stars/umbrella" scene)--or--the end of Rocky

Funniest: Clerks ("37")

Sexiest: From Dusk till Dawn (Salma)

...just to name a few

"You Think I'm funny?" - scene in Goodfellas

My favorite scene is also from GoodFellas, but it's a smaller, subtler part: The part where the guys are cooking the food in prison. I especially love seeing the razor blade cutting the garlic so thin that it would "liquify in the pan." That is my favorite movie moment.

I have to also add the scrolling logo from 1977's Star Wars as one of my best moments in film.

Some of the usual choices, from some of my favorite films, whenever this question arises...

Chariots of Fire - Eric Liddell's sermon to the crowd during the rain, concluding with the sun coming from behind the clouds.

2001: A Space Odyssey - jump cut from Moonwatcher tossing the bone into the air to the orbiting satellite.

Harvey - Dowd relating to Dr. Sanderson and Nurse Kelly how he came to meet Harvey, in the alley outside the bar. The warmth of that particular scene is almost palpable.

A Clockwork Orange - The walk along the flatblock marina, when Alex deals with his droogs. "So now it was to be Georgy the General, with Dim as his mindless grinning bulldog." Love the voiceover narration by McDowell in that sequence.

Once Upon A Time In The West - title sequence & first gunfight - "You brought two too many".

The English Patient - Almasy relating the events in the desert to Caravaggio - "Maybe, maybe I did kill them"

Some Like It Hot - "Nobody's perfect"

Say Anything - Lloyd on the pay phone, in the rain.

Gilda - Rita Hayworth flipping her hair back. ( I agree with Red in The Shawshank Redemption. ) & her performance of Put The Blame On Mame in the nightclub.

- Walter.

In Lawrence of Arabia when Omar Sharif's character (Sherif Ali) first appears as a tiny dot far off in the vast shimmering desert horizon...slowly getting larger and larger, until finally, he becomes a recognizable, but somewhat intimidating, black figure on a Camel. He then gets off the perfect shot from an incredible distance and kills Lawrence's guide just as he went for his gun.

Damn, I almost brought tears to my own eyes!

Hey, welcome to the HTF, Rafayel.

Here are the few I could come up with after spending nearly the entire day at this goddam website. (Hey, it was over 100 degrees outside! I wasn't goin' out there!)

Se7en - The 'in-the-car' scene between Spacey, Pitt, and Freeman. It's just awesome. Also, the library sequence. Gorgeous.

For sheer kinetic fun, I love the alleyway fight in Charlie's Angels.

The dance hall mania in 1941.

The dramatic demises of Hudson and Vazquez in Aliens.

The blood-test bit in The Thing.

The not-completely-unique-yet-still-dazzling 'train station/baby carriage' sequence in The Untouchables.

"Danny Boy" - Miller's Crossing

Nest Egg - Lost in America

Tree creature - Flash Gordon

Mines of Moria - Fellowship of the Ring

The opening sequence in Cliffhanger

Rooftop Firehose - Die Hard

Any random action scene - Raiders of the Lost Ark

The final 25 minutes of The Blues Brothers

Opening credits - Panic Room

Double-Down / Voltaire - Swingers

Act I - Saving Private Ryan

Car Rental - Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Race across the desert - Used Cars

Toontown - Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Donald Sutherland's bit in JFK

Persistent Knight - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Quint's "U.S.S. Indianapolis" speech - Jaws

Underwater Chase - The Abyss

Transformation - An American Werewolf in London

New York Meteor Shower - Armageddon

Final 90 seconds of The Blair Witch Project

Jet-pack Chase - Minority Report

Parade Sabotage - Animal House

"SEDA-GIVE?!?!?" - Young Frankenstein

Legendary Alley Brawl - They Live

Baked Bean Symphony - Blazing Saddles

Brand New Key - Boogie Nights

Happy Scrappy - Clerks

Forrest and Jenny meet in D.C. - Forrest Gump :b

Lobby Insanity - The Matrix

Spectacular Spectacular - Moulin Rouge

David Warner loses his head - The Omen

ED-209's inauspicious debut - Robocop

Gingerbread Man - Shrek

Lecter's Escape - Silence of the Lambs

Logical Torturer - Three Kings

The Line-Up - The Usual Suspects

Whew! Maybe I'll come back later and do more!

You're an encyclopedia of movies, Scott! Is there a movie you know nothing about?

Steeve,

There's TONS of movies I know very little about, but I figure one should focus on what one does know well- as opposed to the alternative. You'll very rarely hear me opine on things like Anime or Ernest movies.

Also, don't pat me on the back too hard. You'll notice that VERY few of the movies I mention were released before 1971. My knowledge of Golden Age Cinema is relatively lacking.

But thanks for the compliment, pal.

(This is what comes to mind as my favorite scene at the moment... in five minutes, it could be something different.)

The ending of It's A Wonderful Life... from "Let me live again!" to the credits.

That would be one of mine too Martin ("To my big brother George, the richest man in town")

Watanabe sitting on the swing in Ikiru ("Life is short, fall in love dear maiden")

Jean Seberg's first appearance in Breathless ("New York Herald Tribune")

Jean-Pierre Leaud gracefully touching the arm of Claude Jane Stolen Kisses

Nosferatu rising from the crypt

Gene Kelly Singin' in the Rain

Judy Garland Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Buster Keaton and the house Steamboat Bill Jr.

The Starchild 2001 A Space Odyssey

Leatherface's chainsaw dance

and finally

Cybil Shepard walks out of the election office in slow motion, hair softly blowing in the wind "They.....Cannot.....Touch.....Her" Taxi Driver

Lethal Weapon-when Murtaugh gives Riggs his gun and tells him to pull the rigger and Riggs does! That scene is hardcore.

The Color Of Money-The Wherewolf in London scene.

Swingers-When Vaughn and friend are playing NHL 94.

Apocalypse Now-when Sheens character shoots the women in the boat "I told you not to stop."

The Deer Hunter-most any of the Russian Roulette scenes.

Caddyshack-Any scene.

I almost forgot perhaps the funniest scene ever.

Cheech&Chong's Next Movie-The Welfare Department scene.

Just a few off the top of my head:

The Final Bloodbath in Taxi Driver

The bathroom scene in The Conversation

Dorothy & the gangs first meeting with the wizard in The Wizard of Oz

The opening sequence of the original Night of the Living Dead

The final scene of Planet of the Apes

Alec Baldwin's speech in Glengarry Glen Ross

Jim Brown dodging the bullets in The Dirty Dozen

The car chase scene in The Seven-ups

Felix Unger's honking scene in The Odd Couple

The testing of the blood in The Thing

The death of Hal in 2001

Lulu singing "To Sir in Love" to Sidney Potier in To Sir With Love