"WOW!" Moments, 2004 edition (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Mayer]

One of my favorite threads in HTF history is this one by Jordan_E. He started it a while back, and instead of revisiting it, I figured I'd start a thread for folks to choose from the 2004 films. The WOW! can mean many things, usually an amazing spectacle or something that generates a strong emotional response. I found 2004 a pretty great year for films, and I know I said WOW more than once. Sometimes, it's a simple line. My list of WOW moments from 2004:

Hero - Visually, the fight in the seasons and trees between Flying Snow and Moon. Emotionally, the scene between the Emperor and Broken Sword.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - the exact moment (I take moment seriously) where he decides he wants to keep THIS particular memory (he and Clem playing in bed) and it's subsequent removal.

The Incredibles - While this entire film essentially defines the WOW moment, the scene of Elastigirl in the jet RIGHT when the missiles hit. Just unbelievably awesome and touching. There are many more spots in here, but I'll use that one.

The Passion - "See mother, I make all things new."

Special note for The Punisher - the moment when my parent's DVD player rather acrimoniously self-ejected the Netflix Punisher DVD, sent it flying across the room into my jugular causing a bloody mess, and ending the misery and pain that particular film was inflicting upon my psyche. Well...not really. But in it's defense, it did have an arrow through the neck, which gets a huge thumbs up.

Hope others will share. It's how my own list grows

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Jordan_E]

The Phantom of the Opera - when the chandelier was lifted and everything transformed to the opera house years before and the music swelled. Nice moment.

 

[Haggai]

Eternal Sunshine - Different wow moment for me with this one, which I've mentioned in other threads specifically about the movie. During the scene where Elijah Wood comes over to Kate Winslet's apartment, and she decides she wants to go to the frozen lake again, he gives her the necklace she wanted, and she says something like, "thanks, guys never get me jewelry I like." When she's putting it away, just as they're about to leave, she gives him a look, which lasts a second or two at most, leaving no doubt whatsoever that she knows what's going on with him knowing about her past, just for that one moment--and then it goes away. It's so brief that I'll bet a lot of (maybe most) people who've seen the movie haven't noticed it, but it blew me away in the theater.

Spiderman 2 - While I enjoyed this movie, it didn't knock me out like it did for a lot of other people. But the best part of it for me was (maybe not that necessary, but I'll spoilerize it anyway):

the look on Kirsten Dunst's face, as MJ realizes Spidey's true identity


Now THAT was a "wow" moment.

 

[Quentin]

Just want to mention that, by its very nature...this thread may be full of spoilers. Should we tag all moments? I'm not going to post until we're sure...

 

[Haggai]

I guess it'd be best to spoilerize, when in doubt. Eternal Sunshine's tough enough just to describe, much less spoil, so I don't think Chuck or I have ruined anything.

Another suggestion: if everyone follows the format that Chuck used, maybe that'll be good enough for people to skip titles without being spoiled, without making tags necessary. I.e.:

Title - Moment

 

[Jordan_E]

The crowd has spoken. My post has been adjusted accordingly!

 

[Brent Hutto]

The Bourne Supremacy: The goodbye kiss

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Pretty, pretty, pretty

 

[Quentin]

Fair enough!...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -

The looped final moment of Carrey and Winslet running on the snowy beach. As if the director were saying that they will continue this loop of erasing/breaking up and renewing their relationship. Always falling in love...never advancing.

Sideways -

When Miles' ex tells him she is pregnant. The heartbreak on his face is shattering.

Of course, the "pinot conversation" between he and Madsen. What a great close up on her.

Aviator -

The discussion, through a door, between a gone Howard Hughes and a compassionate Kate Hepburn. Two of the year's finest performances in a killer moment.

Incredibles -

The first glimpse of the evil HQ with the pseudo-Barry music blaring.

The kid running across the water...wheeeeee!

Kill Bill Vol 2 -

Elle vs. Bea. AWESOME!!!!

Man on Fire

"What're you gonna do?" "Kill 'em all" cue badass music!

The goodbye at the bridge. "You love me, don't you Creasy?"

Finding Neverland -

Opening night...the kids first reactions in the audience.

Bringing the play to the ailing Kate at home..."This is Neverland."

Million Dollar Baby -

"It means my darling. My blood." TEARS!!

"Fly there, drive back." Man, when that is paid off in heartbreaking fashion, I felt it in my gut.

The end.

"You write your daughter?" "Every week." "You just lied to a priest." And then, the moment he opens the box of letters...what great writing.

The Passion -

I'm not a fan of this film. But, Chuck nailed the moment of the film. "See mother, I make all things new." From the moment he falls, to the flashback, to her running to him, to this moment. WOW. Had half of the film come halfway close to meeting the power of this moment, I would have liked it as much as all the raves. More.

Dawn of the Dead -

Opening sequence quickly descending into chaos, punctuated by Johnny Cash singin' "The Man Comes Around". I was IN.

The Woodsman -

The bench 'discussion'. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talkin' about...

 

[Scotty_McW]

Spider-man 2

I better spoilerize to be safe:
The end of the film when Spidey goes off after the bad guys and they cut back to MJ looking out the window. The look on her face combined with the quiet fade out is terrific.


Hero
I'll second the visuals in Hero. A stunning film.

I'm sure I'll think of more later.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'm with the two guys who mention the Spidey 2 scene. Absolutely beautiful - and wholly unexpected - way to end a superhero flick...

 

[Craig S]

Many of mine have already been mentioned.
That one in particular I was going to bring up. The single finest acting moment this year.

I also agree with:

• The ending shot of Spider-Man 2
• Dash running over the water in The Incredibles
• The opening to Phantom Of The Opera
• The Finding Neverland scenes mentioned
• Every Eternal Sunshine scene mentioned
• Every Hero scene mentioned - hell, the whole damn thing was a work of art

Here's some new ones:

The Aviator - the plane crash. Absolutely spectacular.

Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban - Harry's ride on the Hippogriff. Finally, under Cuaron, this series takes flight!

Finding Neverland - The final scene on the bench.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 - Bill's last walk. One... two... three... four... five.

The Polar Express - in IMAX 3D, 99 minutes of pure unadulterated WOW!!

Damn, now I want to see every one of these movies again!!

 

[Nick Sievers]

Before Sunset - The scene in the car, particulary when Julie Delpy goes to put her hand on Ethan's head but pulls away.

 

[Quentin]

Good call on the Harry Potter moment!

 

[Richard Kim]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - "Meet me in Montauk..."

Kill Bill Vol 2 - The final confrontation between the Bride and Bill was riveting, even with very little blood or action. David Carradine's performance was phenominal.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - The horrific sounds of the airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center against a black screen made for a very emotionally powerful scene.

 

[ZacharyTait]

My WOW! moments of 2004:

Spiderman 2: "Go get 'em, Tiger!"

Collateral: Just about any shot of L.A.

ESOTSM: Clem and Joel on the ice.

Before Sunset: Celine reaches to touch Jesse's head and then pulls her hand back.

Kill Bill Volume 2: Beatrix vs Ellie and Beatrix vs. Bill.

The Incredibles: Dash running over the water and Jack-Jack revealing that he is a shape shifter at the end

Sideways: Miles and Maya's conversation on the back porch and the golf scene with Miles and Jack.

Hero: Hero's visuals.

Dodgeball: The training scenes. "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!"

More later.....

 

[Fred Bang]

Here's mine

SPideman-2
Spidey catching people thrown by Octopus in the air and safely putting them in a web.

Eternal Sunshine
The whole kids scene.

Garden State
The litte funny moments including every scene where Natalie Portman is pulling her ear.


Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban
The Time travel scene


Hero
The amazing first fight

The House of the Flying Dagger
Every scene with an arrow in it!

Kill Bill Vol 2
The training sequence with Peing (whatever his name is)

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

A mixture of scenes and performances for me.

Miracle:
1. The performances in this movie especially from some of those guys that played the hockey players.
2. That scene after a loss to I think Norway where coach Brooks wears the team out by making them repeat that exercise and it goes on and on for like 8 minutes on screen.

Dodgeball: If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball...and also the part where they're running through traffic.

Spider-Man 2:

Got Get 'Em, Tiger

Friday Night Lights: Having never read the book, the ending kind of caught me by surprise, and also Tim McGraw's performance as the crazy dad.

The Incredibles: just practically the whole movie was a wow moment for me. But the Dash running across the water is probably what stands out most...aside from Jason Lee's awesomeness as syndrome.

Shrek 2: Wow, the forced trailers on this DVD are really starting to piss me off...

Great thread BTW

 

[Beau]

Saw
When the supposidly dead guy, laying on the floor the entire movie, gets up.

 

[Rob P S]

Spider-Man 2 - the subway scene

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Lila Lipscomb at the White House

Miracle - in addition to the previously mentioned scene, Herb cutting the player from the team, and driving home listening to President Carter's "malaise" speech

the final moments of Open Water

The Terminal - the set design

 

[Lynda-Marie]

Okay, self-admitted overgrown kid here...

One of my favorite moments was the scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry had his first ride on Buckbeak the Hippogriff. At first, he was scared, and holding on desperately, but then he started to relax, and REALLY enjoy the flight. Daniel Radcliffe did an excellent job as Harry in that scene, and I LOVED John Williams' flight score.