The best scenes in film... according to you all

My opinion of "the best scene in a movie" has varied from time to time of course, and probably none of them are truly "the best" it's one of those things that varies from person to person according to taste. And of course for any given person is limited only to those films they've seen.

But for what it's worth, the best little piece of film-making to my mind that I can think of right now is this one:

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Nominate yours!

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..."

"I'm a lawyer, and an officer in the United States Navy. And you're under arrest, you son of a bitch!"

"For he is the Kwizatz Haderach!" (With accompanying crash of thunder and musical score...)

"Get away from her, you bitch!"

Actually, the whole movie 'Aliens' from start to finish

The Montage in Shawshank when Andy is visiting banks and withdrawing money while the warden goes apeshit.

The scene in Excalibur when the sword is hurled back to the sea, and the arm of the Lady of the Lake emerges from the water and catches it, holding it straight up.

When the Vikings and the Arab recite the Viking Prayer in the moments before battle is joined, and then after the battle when they find Buliwyf sitting with his sword thrust in the ground like he's on a throne, his dead eyes wide open.

The endmove of the duel between Rob Roy and Archibald Cunningham at the end of that movie.

The scenes between the Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo, the Giant, the Sicilian, and between Inigo and the Six Fingered Man.

Gawd, there are so many I could go on and on...

Some Like It Hot:
'Nobody's perfect!'

The Godfather, Michael's first murder.

Special credit for the 2001 A Space Odyssey title sequence, which doesn't really count as a scene but is an utterly iconic movie moment.

or, as Samuel L. Jackson would have put it,

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This past summer's Incredible Hulk. Total fanboi geek-out moment during the fight with the Abomination: "Hulk . . . SMAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!"

I nearly wet myself.

Superman, the Movie: First, the opening sequence with the kid reading and the Daily Planet building. Then, when Superman catches Lois falling from the building and says "Don't worry, Miss. I've got you." Lois then says "You've got me? Who's got you?!?"

Independence Day: Bill Pullman's Presidential speech before the climactic battle. And then the moment when that first missile hits when the alien forcefield goes down. Payback's a bitch!

Not being funny, or remotely anti-American, but I wouldn't mind betting that 90% of Americans love that scene, and 90% of non-Americans cringe and turn bright red... I love the film, but I always have to fast-forward through that bit.

Really? I love that scene. It's not only among the best movie speeches, it's also the embodiment of patriotism as I see it.
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Uh yes, and while we're at speeches. This one is the single best one of them. Brings a tear to my eye every single time, even after seeing it for hundreds of times (no exaggeration).

Sorry, embedding not allowed.

Penis envy?

this always gets me

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYSzx_zy-98

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I used to love that scene, but once I found out about a MAJOR BLOOPER it was never the same. I won't spoil it though....but if you really want to know, PM me.

My very favorite scene out of all movies:
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The May 11 sequence in GoodFellas.

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Yeah, I'm biased...
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A must have for this list...

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You don't have to be a chick to like this...

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And maybe one of the funniest scenes of all time...

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Maybe not among the best ever but some of my favorites from an underappreciated actor...

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Put me down as one of the 10% of Americans who hate that speech. First, Pullman has all the charisma of an eggplant and were I among the people listening to this speech, his complete inability to generate inspiration would've left me feeling utterly, utterly doomed. Beyond that, two things in particular annoy me: the awkward (and akwardly delivered) line "Today we celebrate our Independence Day"; and the really-into-it plane mechanic who gives the con-mucho-gusto salute. There's over-acting and then there's waaaaaaaaay over-acting.

Vincent & Jules VS. Brett and Co. at the beginning of Pulp Fiction

We've done this thread before, but it's always good to re-visit and come up with some old favorites and maybe some new ones, too...

I'll simply list a bunch of mine:

1. Dirty Harry's "do I feel lucky?" speech and the resolution of the bank robbery at the beginning of Dirty Harry.

2. Harry Lime's appearance in The Third Man. That little grin on his face is perfect and seems to declare: "I've been a naughty, naughty boy."

3. Superman, Lois, and the helicopter from Superman. Duh!

4. Agent Kujan's epiphany about Verbal's testimony at the end of The Usual Suspects...and the revelation about Kayser Soze.

5. Lazlo demands the band play Le Marsaillaise to drown out the singing Nazis...and Rick allows it, hinting at his sensibilities. From Casablanca.

6. Lieberman's realization of the truth behind the murdered men and their identical children in The Boys from Brazil.

7. Two hitmen debate the significance of foot massages in Pulp Fiction.

8. Hannibal Lector's deconstruction of Agent Starling in Silence of the Lambs; the look on her face tells you he's read her like a book.

9. Betty's arrival on the scene in San Francisco allows the Hulk to calm down and revert to Bruce Banner in Hulk.

10. The climax of the lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back...and the revelation that comes from it.

11. James Bond, strapped to a table and on the verge of being sliced by a laser, in Goldfinger.

12. The escape and aftermath from The Shawshank Redemption.

13. Colonel Jessup's "you can't handle the truth" speech from A Few Good Men. A bad guy should always truly believe that he's the good guy.

14. The staircase shootout in The Untouchables.

15. Ethan and his nephew make a shocking discovery inside Scar's wigwam in The Searchers.

16. The bank robbery in Heat.

The Green Room > Media Central

That Platoon scene is a classic. Too bad the "Blooper Fairy" struck hard and fast. Didn't spot it? Neither did I until the interwebz pointed it out.

http://www.moviemistakes.com/film985

The funny thing is the mistake I know about isn't on this website - but it is on others I have read.

17. A Stasi agent, watched by his superiors, interrogates a woman he has been secretly protecting and convinces her to trust him by using his eyes in The Lives of Others.

18. Buford T. Justice's introduction--"Hold up on that carwash, gentlemen"--in Smokey and the Bandit. "Oh, you can think about it...but doooooon't do it."

19. A wife suspects her husband of having an affair and confronts him, only for him to reassure her by revealing that he is a professional killer, news which she is thankful for in The Survivors.

20. "What have the Romans ever done for us?" in The Life of Brian.

21. The American boxer drags, pushes, and kicks his Irish wife back home from the train station in The Quiet Man, a humiliation that, paradoxically, proves that he respects her.

22. Indiana Jones hijacks the truck carrying the Ark of the Covenant from the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

23. Quint's soliloquy about the Indianapolis in Jaws.

24. The Charger vs. Mustang car chase in Bullitt.

25. The battle of wits from The Princess Bride (thanks to Shep for the reminder).

26. The Terminator pays a visit to the police station in The Terminator.

27. Mr. X tells Garrison the real reasons behind the Kennedy Assassination in JFK.

28. His sons having waged war against him, King Hidetora is driven insane and amidst the combat staggers out of his burning castle and walks off into the wilderness in Ran.

29. Blake's "always be closing" speech to the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross.

30. The production of Romeo and Juliet at the end of Shakespeare in Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGR4SFOimlk

Al Pacino.......Devil's Advocate rant!

Nixon's tearful breakdown in front of the fireplace in 95's "Nixon". It builds slowly with Hopkins and Sorvino, and then there's that first sob:

"Dear God! Dear God, how can a country
come apart like this! What have I
done wrong ... ?... I opened China. I made peace with
Russia. I ended the war. I tried to
do what's right! Why ... why do they
hate me so! It's unbelievable, it's insane!"

I don't care what's your political stripe that's a powerful scene and Anthony Hopkins sold it beautifully--doing the impossible, making Nixon sympathetic to this 'ol lefty.

Three guys standing around a small rock with nothing on it, spread out at a distance in a small outdoor arena, just looking at eachother's eyes while a trumpet plays a theme for several minutes. The camera pans from each's eyes to the next, then to their shooting hands, back to the eyes, and finally to the shots and target.

I mean, I like Josey Wales better as a movie, but I can watch that scene from Good.. Bad.. Ugly over and over and over. Probably the song has something to do with it. But it's a great scene even though very little happens for such a time. A movie that long almost demands a long climax, don't you think?


I'm also partial to Han Solo being lowered into the carbon freezer near the end of Star Wars, ESB, I still remember the first time I saw that one.


For the Godfather, the scene that stands out most for me is with the 'hits' near the end, during the Christening, when Michael solidifies his power.


And I have to echo Roy Batty's soliloquy at the end of Blade Runner, among my top 5.

I'm also partial to the scene in Brazil, when my namesake disappears in a pile of papers, but it's during a dream sequence, so it doesn't really carry any heft, more of a novelty than anything. However, the arrest scene in the same movie, when they snatch Buttle while he's having a christmas night with his family, is still among my nightmares of when the police finally come to get me.

James Cagney's little song and dance in Yankee Doodly Dandy, but that has more to do with my dad than anything.

And any number of scenes from the Kill Bills, which are chock full.

Oh man. So many to choose from....

Pup Fiction

-Jules and Vincent pulling back and talking about foot massages before they off some guys
-"Oh you're about to blow? Well I'm a mushroom cloud laying motherfucker motherfucker."
-Boom! "Oh I'm sorry did I break your concentration?"

The Godfather

"Leave the gun.Take the Canoles."

Unforgiven

-Gene Hackman"You just shot an unarmed man" to which Clint Eastwood replies "Well he should have armed himself."

Psycho

-The whole shower sequence

Tombstone

-Pretty much every scene with Doc Holliday

Goodfellas

-The shot of Robert Deniro as he's contemplating what to do with Moree while "Sunshine of your Love" plays in the background.