Directors Whats your favorite movie scene? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Gross]

The scene in Memento where Natalie tells Leonard she's going to use him and he's desparately trying to find a pen.

Lobby shootout in The Matrix.

Normandy beach invasion in Saving Private Ryan.

Goodbye scene in Casablanca.

Final home run in The Natural.

Big shootout in L.A. Confidential.

When the doctor lets Vincent go through to the space shuttle in Gattaca.

"Up yours nigger!" from Blazing Saddles.

 

[MichaelAW]

Yoda lifting Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp in The Empire Strikes Back. Simply awesome.

 

[JoshB]

Some scenes that nobody has mentioned:

Bullitt(Greatest car chase ever)

The French Connnection(car chase)

Hard Boiled(hospital shootout, greatest action scene and gunnfight)

The Killer (church shootout)

Face/Off (FBI raid on penthouse, speedboat chase)


And:

Alien (alien ripping out of chest)

The Usual Suspects (the last 5 minutes)

Se7en (the last 5 minutes)

Platoon (village scene)

Black Hawk Down (first helicopter crash)

 

[Jack Briggs]

2001 A Space Odyssey - Ape amashing bones...

JonZ gets the "Moonwatcher Prize." My fave scene too!

 

[JonZ]

I forgot about Dirty Harry

The Harry/Scorpio scene in the stadium has always been a favorite as well.

 

[Lafe F]

I've got two:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - Near the end, when the Grinch sees the beauty of the sunrise for the very first time - followed shortly by the sweeping wide shot of the Grinch holding the sleigh of toys above his head on top of Mount Crumpet. The music and clouds are truly beautiful. It's a very touching cinematic scene. It powerfully shows the Grinch's transformation to a new creature of goodness. All those who hate this movie, probably left the theatre or turned off the TV before it got to this scene, so bah!

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Near the end, when Luke is hanging from the pole under cloud city, calling out for help. The Force Theme begins playing. Ben does not answer his cries, so he calls for Leia. We then cut to Leia in the Falcon, who has a tranced look on her face. The Force Theme swells as she senses Luke calling for her. The connection between brother and sister has been made. It confirms the "other hope" that Yoda spoke of earlier. It's probably my favorite scene of all the Star Wars films.

 

[Andy Olivera]

Consider this a very incomplete list...
Apollo 13 - The CO2 scene, as mentioned above. Also, solving the power-up problem. This is the film that should've won Ron Howard his Best Director Oscar...
Poltergeist - "One 1000, two 1000..."; Diane and Robbie first hear Carol Anne; Robbie devises Carol Anne's rescue; "To her, it simply is another child..."; "Cross over children..."; "What's happening!!!".
Run, Lola, Run - The opening("The ball is round..."). The end of the first cycle("Stop.") The casino, the ambulance. Forget it, the whole film!
The Thing - The kennel, the blood test, the revival(give the doctor a hand).

 

[Dave Gorman]

The long slow pan after

The Final Bloodbath in Taxi Driver

The Shining -- the scene with Jack and Danny sitting on the bed talking about the hotel etc. I'm fascinated how the music (which wasn't even written for the movie) and the conversation flow perfectly with each other.
Jacob's Ladder -- the final scene with Gabe leading Jake up the stairway with Maurice Jarre's incredible music swelling up. Something about that scene makes me sob like a baby every time I see it.
North by Northwest -- the scene at the auction. The interplay between the characters is tremendous.
Dancer in the Dark -- final scene.
Twin Peaks FWWM -- perhaps not a crowd favorite, but the final scene in the train car blows me away every time.
The Wicker Man -- final scene.

 

[Stephen L]

Welcome aboard Rafayel ,nice thought prevoking topic . Well so many great scenes have been mentioned as I'm late to the party. One that hasn't been is from Notorious , the closing scene where Devlin(Grant) returns to Sebastian's(Rains) mansion to rescue Alicia(Bergman) .

 

[Lou Sytsma]

The ending to the original Planet of the Apes.

STII - TWOK - in Engineering as Kirk rushes in and calls out Spock's name, Spock struggles to his feet and then gives his jacket a quick little tug to straighten it out. Don't know why but that little move is perfect, so right, so Spock and gets me every time!

LOTR - when Frodo announces at the council at Rivendell that he will take the ring to Mordor - the look of pain that passes over Gandalf's face.

Field of Dreams - the catch scene at the end.

TESB - Luke's entrance into the chamber room at Bespin. A exquisite marriage of the audio and visual. You don't see Vader but you hear his breathing and then the utterance of the line, 'The force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet!' Beautifully done.

Shawshank Redemption - the overhead panning shot of Shawshank as Andy arrives to begin his sentence. Andy and Red embracing at the end.

Superman - the helicopter sequence from when Clark runs to the open phone booth.

Alien - the meal sequence.

Iron Giant - the Superman sequence in the barn and near the end. The ending scene.

 

[Mike boettner]

OK, here go's!
The Big Blue: last scene,where Jacques finally lets go, gives everything up for the big blue.

The Abyss: the scene where Bud is in the alien ship and they are playing all the different scenes of how shitty we are to each other.

Mad Max: where Max's family get ran over by the bikers( something nobody ever wants to go through)

Phenomenon: when George passes away and Lace is saying don't go, not yet.

Titanic: When rose is trying to get jack to "wake" up, when their in the water, toward the end.

As I think about it, everyone of these scenes makes me cry, every time I watch them. I guess that's what makes them great.
Mike(the big crying baby)Boettner

 

[Rob Tomlin]

The Big Blue: last scene,where Jacques finally lets go, gives everything up for the big blue

Oh, I like that one!
Good pick!

 

[Matt Stone]

The Empire Strikes Back: Han being frozen, kissing Leia, etc...
The Godfather: The restaurant scene
The Godfather Part II: "It was an abortion"
The Shawshank Redemption: Andy in the rain
Goodfellas: When the Layla coda is being played
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Billy stops studdering, but Nurse Ratchett breaks him down
JFK: When Garrison looks at the camera and says, "It's up to you..."
That's all I can think of now...but I'm sure there are hundreds more

 

[Rob P S]

The "shirt scene" in Rudy
"I love you guys" - Hoosiers
Norton looks behind the poster in The Shawshank Redemption
The pool-emptying candy bar - Caddyshack
John Belushi smashes the guitar - Animal House
"Put the bunny back in the box" - Con Air
The tongue on the flagpole - A Christmas Story
The final chess match - Searching for Bobby Fischer
Harvey Keitel's closing monologue - Smoke
Mark Wahlberg's torture scene - Three Kings
Mel Gibson goes to the Vietnam wall - We Were Soldiers
Robert DeNiro looks out the window at the bus driving away - Awakenings
Cicely Tyson runs down the hill - Sounder
Pacino in the hot tub - Scarface
Billy Bob Thornton's final scene - A Simple Plan
The last ball game - Bang the Drum Slowly
The omelet scene - Big Night
George's chewing out the teacher - It's a Wonderful Life

 

[susanna]

Hey, Rafael, I'm new too!
1. The slo mo scene in Platoon with the Barber Adagio playing. I couldn't get up when the movie ended. That's never happened before. I don't know if I think it's the greatest, but it was the most powerful.
2. The little boy running terrified from the train in Stand By Me. I howl everytime.
3. Love scene with Brad and Julia in Legends of the Fall. (well, you asked)
4. Young Ludwig running from deranged father and floating in the pond during Ode to Joy. Wow.

 

[JohnRice]

A lot of old threads seem to be getting revived lately. I see a lot of grand scenes are being picked, so I'll go the other way.
Lately my favorite is:
The "confession" scene about 2/3 of the way through the 2002 film Heaven. One of the most purely cinematic moments I think I have ever seen. I also like the final sequence starting when they arrive at the house in Tuscany, about the last 6 minutes or so. Just pure film making, bordering on fantasy.
Also like:
The final sequence in Monster's Ball. One of the most quiet, emotionally charged and beautifully done scenes of all time, in my book.
My classic answer, the final scene in Wild Strawberries.
The first appearance of Frank in Once Upon a Time in the West. Just a great film moment.
The final showdown in Once Upon a Time in the West. Goes on for what, about 13 minutes? Builds to an incredible climax and ends with those great words, "who are you?". Ennio Morricone is a God in that movie.
Robert DiNero looking up through the mesh above the bed at the end of Once Upon a Time in America.
That should do for now......

 

[JohnRice]

4. Young Ludwig running from deranged father and floating in the pond during Ode to Joy. Wow.

Oh yeah, I love that one. You forgot to mention it is from Immortal Beloved.

 

[susanna]

I stand corrected. Immortal Beloved it twas.:b

 

[Jan H]

Great call, Susannah (and John). Every time I hear 'Ode to Joy' I think of that sequence.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Which reminds me, I still need to pick up Immortal Beloved on DVD. I knew there was something else I could have added to my DDD order! :frowning:

Robert DiNero looking up through the mesh above the bed at the end of Once Upon a Time in America.

Good call....other than your reference to "DiNero"!
:wink: