Best......Scene......Ever

[Guest Nevermortal]

Ooh ooh...I have another.

 

The "Travis Snaps and Kills" scene in Taxi Driver. The image of the bloody, mohawked Travis Bickle miming suicide is powerful....fucking powerful...

[Guest godthedog]

godthedog, I have seen plenty of movies, I have seen the puro of movies YET I still enjoy the hell out of that one scene. Does that make me less of a connaseur (sp?)? No, it means I am comfortable with the fact that I love the shit out of a dick and fart joke from a quality flick. I am not saying tis the best, but its what floats my boat.

 

In this case, I might as well slam people for loving the hell out of Scarface, a movie with no real point that practically promotes gang life. The Scarface character was decent at the beginning, but falls to shit at the end. He is an unintentional walking contradiction. If any of you think that any scene in that flick is good, then you need to check out more flicks.

 

Now tell me, how ignorant do I sound by saying that? I shouldn't dispute anyone's intelligent opinion.

 

PS. I am shocked by the lack of Apocolypse Now support. This movie is the most traumatising cinematic experience ever. But the utter beauty of it is that it is addressing a major moral issue. There are no winners in war, soldiers are blatently exploited by their countries, and for the msot part, lied to about their ultimate goal. As someone said during World War 1, Hell is in't spelt h-e-l-l it is spelt m-u-d. Aspects such as trench warfare, were people spent countless amounts of time in mud, blood, shit, piss, and rotting carcases have made war so traumatising. You'll never hear anyone say anything good about war as their are no winners. That is the ultimate message of this show. War is the most major part of our society today, and this movie adresses it better than any other in the same category. Hopefully one day people will recognize the absolute "horror" of war. This is why that scene is the best scene ever. Both Sheen and Kurtz can't go back to everyday society after living in hell. Both realized the brutal truth about this battle, and are emotionally torn in every direction. The horror, the horror.

i was arguing the technical points of movies that makes them good or bad. a movie's morality doesn't really have anything to do with how good or bad it is. 'ocean's eleven', 'bob le flambeur', 'out of sight' & all tarantino movies glamorize criminal life but it doesn't take away from the quality of the movies.

 

You want a hokey Orson Welles film, rent The Stranger.

god...i watched that movie on tcm and couldn't even finish it because it was so stupid.

[Guest The Hamburglar]

Allow me to add to the Welles love. His entrance in The Third Man is just fantastic, as is the breakfast-table scene in Citizen Kane.

The helicopter assault in Apocalypse Now - it is powerful because it makes war feel glorious. It depicts an assault against civilians and makes you want to be there shooting the shit out of anything and everything. This makes the contrast with the rest of the film so much better, and shows how war is an intoxicant to many.

 

SPOILER

 

 

 

 

The ending to Alien 3, a film I like that many don't. The image of Ripley cradling the screeching Alien as it burst from her stomach while she falls into the furnace is hauntingly, perversely beautiful.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Ooh ooh...I have another.

 

The "Travis Snaps and Kills" scene in Taxi Driver. The image of the bloody, mohawked Travis Bickle miming suicide is powerful....fucking powerful...

I do like that entire scene, but my favorite moment in Taxi Driver is that final overhead pan, after all the killing, birds-eye view through the roof. It's quiet and potent, and perhaps as a moment of detached calm after the slaughter, makes it all work even better.

 

On the lingering Kevin Smith argument: I cite his best scenes as, like godthedog said, scriptwriting. He's a very funny (if shallow) writer who creates marvelous characters and generally puts them in great situations, but I can't think of a single memorable shot or scene in terms of visual composition or action, aside from the "37 dicks" moment in Clerks, and then only for the guy walking out of the store after Dante' s girlfriend.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

I sure hope I don't need to specify this as a spoiler...

 

Empire Strikes Back

Vader: "No, *I* am you father"

 

Awesome, awesome SWERVE~!

 

I also liked the board meeting scene in Dogma.

Matt Damon to the girl (after wasting everyone else): "Gum?"

[Guest godthedog]

i think i'm destined to become the sworn enemy of banky because, not only do i not think any kevin smith scenes qualify for 'best ever', but i HATE 'apocalypse now'.

 

on a related topic (but not a topic important enough for its own folder), what's the WORST scene/shot ever?

 

i can think of a couple. first is the opening of 'vivre sa vie', which i think is the single most boring shot in movie history. the shot is of the back of anna karina's head, while she's talking in a diner. there's lots of long, painful pauses in the dialogue, what they're talking about isn't interesting at all, you can't see the expressions on anna karina's face, there's nothing interesting around her head to look at, no movement in the shot at all, and it lasts FOREVER. it's like a full minute of a camera focusing on the back of anna karina's head. i was excited about seeing this movie, and the first shot almost put me to sleep. several subsequent shots in the movie DID put me to sleep.

 

second, there's a shot from 'the phantom menace' (i can't remember exactly where) when anakin lifts his head up and smiles, and his facial expression was obviously computer-altered; lucas lifted a facial expression from another take, & put it on this one. not only was this hokey, but it was totally artificial and just looked stupid.

 

third, butch's first scene from 'pulp fiction'. a lot like the 'vivre sa vie' shot: he just sits there, doesn't say anything, literally nothing moving in the shot, no reaction on his face to anything marsellus is saying, and it goes on for like a minute. but by default it's better than 'vivre sa vie' cause the monologue was kinda cool & you could see butch's face.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Worst shots and scenes, eh?

 

I'm of the firm belief that Tarkovsky could have used one hell of an editor. Nice art film stuff, but hoo boy. Talk about dead air.

 

I actually really like the Pulp Fiction scene you bring up. Not sure what it is about it, but the inaction, the largely blank stare, and the weird mixture of adherence/disrespect on Butch's face gave me an immediate in to his character. I also like the parallelism between that scene and the scene where Captain Koons gives young Butch the infamous watch-in-the-ass monolgue, but that's really more of a screenplay issue than a shooting issue.

 

second, there's a shot from 'the phantom menace' (i can't remember exactly where) when anakin lifts his head up and smiles, and his facial expression was obviously computer-altered; lucas lifted a facial expression from another take, & put it on this one. not only was this hokey, but it was totally artificial and just looked stupid.

 

Part of the reason that the new films really, really don't hold up to the original trilogy. Lucas got lazy. Why build a cool-ass model or (gasp) do a re-shoot, when you can fix it with computers for half the quality and ten times the cost? Wheee!

[Guest godthedog]

confirming my theory: lucas is a hack.

[Guest cabbageboy]

I'll mention another scene from the Green Mile. I dunno if it's the best scene ever but certainly what I think of whenever I think of that movie.

 

Ok, the sicko guard has just swallowed the cancer that Michael Clark Duncan gave to him. He walks around stunned and goes by Billy the Kid's cell. Billy then says:

 

"What the hell are you looking at? You wanna kiss my ass? You wanna suck my dick??"

 

The sicko guard pulls out his gun and shoots Billy about 5 times!

 

Seriously, that movie was depressing but man that scene made me laugh my ass off.

[Guest El Satanico]

This is a short list and are mainly based on me looking at my DVD list and listing any scene i remember liking from them.

 

I liked the ending of Phantasm with the Tall Man at the head of the bed.

 

The fairly shocking ending of Sleepaway Camp. There's really no way to describe it to people who haven't seen it without ruining it.

 

The headless zombie fucking the warehouse up in Return of The Living Dead. It was just some plain funny shit.

 

The zombie from the barrel walking up the basement stairs in Return of The Living Dead. The scene always freaked me out eventhough the movie is more comedy then it is horror.

 

The entire ending sequence of Requiem for a Dream. It was a truly disturbing and depressing ending and everyone who has seen it know exactly what i mean.

 

Final battle in the rain from The Seven Samurai.

 

The daughter "turning" on her mother in the basement from Night of The Living Dead.

 

The shopping spree from Dawn of The Dead. I liked how it was so upbeat and happy and then suddenly all the characters remember the zombies and their hopeless feelings.

 

Freddy walking down the alley with his arms stretching out in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

 

Any scene from any Halloween where Micheal's white face suddenly appears in the shadows or darkness.

 

The entire Bar scene from After Dark

 

Splinter in the eye scene from Zombie. It's very hard to watch it, because it's done so well.

 

Any artistic scene from a Dario Argento movie.

 

When the end credits for Godzilla 98 start rolling. Ok sorry for that lame attempt at comedy

 

Edward Norton kicking his own ass in the office of his boss in Fight Club. There's alot of good scenes in Fight Club, but that one always sticks out for me.

[Guest fairtoflair7]

Good Topic, i'll name a few good ones

 

In Snake Eyes, even though the movie blows, the opening scene is amazing w/ Cage walking throughou the place with no cuts

 

Same goes for Goodfellas when Liotta and his girlfriend go to the club.

 

The secene in Goodfellas w/ Pesci "Do I make you laugh, Am I here to fucking amuse you"

 

The Untouchables w/ Costner and Garcia= The train station scene w/ the baby rolling down the stairs

 

Heat- The amazing bank robbery scene

 

Seven- the opening credits are great, the ending scene is great

 

I like The Game's last scene just b/c its so shocking

 

The scene in Face Off from the airplane storage area as well as the final boat scene.

 

Thats it for now, I'll proably think of more later

[Guest goodhelmet]

oh, this is easy...

 

"Violet! You're turning violet, Violet!" from Willy Wonka.

[Guest Banky]

Hates Apocolypse Now? *jaw drops*

 

Here's two more fine cinematic experiences for me (spoilers included):

 

John Cusack holding up a boombox to Ione Skye's window after they broke up in Say Anything. He jams the song they made "love" to for the first time.

 

At the end of Fight Club when Edward Norton disposes of Brad Pitt. He sits back with the large wound in his neck, thinking its over. His ladyfriend comes to concsole him as "Where is my Mind" by the Pixies comes on. Then as he feels everything is over, all of the buildings around him begin to drop.

[Guest gwf0704]

In no particular order:

 

1) Light sabre duel between Luke and Vader in Empire Strikes Back.

 

2) DeNiro as Jake LaMotta getting the crap beat out of him by Robinson in Raging Bull.

 

3) Willem Dafoe raising his arms being chased by the Vietcong in Platoon.

 

4) "Stella!!!!!!!!!!!" Brando , NUFF SAID!

 

5) Linda Blair's head doing a 360 in the Exorcist.

 

6) George C Scott as Patton standing on the battlefield of war....

 

7) Chariot race from Ben Hur.

 

8) Original King Kong movie where he falls from the Empire State Building.

 

9) Bluto peeping at the sorority girl's window in Animal House.

 

10) Bruce Lee's scarred chest in Enter the Dragon.

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

Hannibal Lecter's Escape - Silence of the Lambs

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I liked the end basement scene in SOTL more, but Lecter's escape was awesome. As said earlier, the opening of Full Metal Jacket is absolutely brilliant.

 

Some other favorite scenes of mine:

 

Big Lebowski: Toe discussion in the diner, and the ringer scene. "At 15 mph, I roll out."

 

Blues Brothers: Bob's Country Bunker.

 

Braveheart: Battle of Stirling.

 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Benicio Del Toro on acid in the tub, the ether scene.

 

Taxi Driver-You talkin' to me?

 

Four Rooms-The Penthouse scene.

 

Pulp Fiction-Butch selecting a weapon, the scene where Mia overdoses, and the scene with The Wolf and the restaurant robbery.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

I love that scene w/ Tim Roth and S.L.J in Pulp Fiction, 'cause of the way it totally turns the tables and makes Sam in control, even though Roth and Amanda Plummer have the guns.

 

"Now normally both yo asses would be dead as fuckin fried chicken, but you happened to pull this shit when I'm in a transitional phase and I don't wanna hurt you, I wanna help you."

[Guest NoCalMike]

The ending montage in Requiem for a Dream really drives the movie home. Everyone is basically over.

 

Just about ANY scene in Pulp Fiction.

 

The opening resteraunt scene in Resevoir Dogs is simply amazing. The Dialogue is top notch.

 

Dennis Hopper/Christopher Walkin scene in True Romance.

 

The Brock Landers/Chest Rockwell stuff from Boogie Nights was classic.

 

many more of course.....

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

If I were to agree with all the great scenes in this post, it would take weeks, these are all awesome. So I'll just pimp 3 yet to be mentioned.

 

The suprise in Magnolia. If you've seen it, you know what it is. And it is, if nothing else, suprising.

 

the unanimously hated Minority Report, when John finally comes face to face with the man he's destined to kill.

 

and this scene from Rushmore, paraphrased.

 

Bill Murray: You said you wanted to meet.

Schwartzman: yep

M: you said you wanted to put an end to all this.

S: yeah

M: Why here?

S: I sawed through that tree, I was gonna have it fall on you *points to large tree*

M: *looks* that big one?

S: Yes.

M: (in stride) Why didn't you

S: What's the point? *similar whiny statements* *walks off*

 

Then Murray walks up to the tree, looks it over, goes to lean on it...and the tree falls down on contact. Genius.

[Guest godthedog]

'pulp fiction' is probably the best example of as many great scenes as possible being in one movie.

 

and i saw 'the third man' the other day for the first time in years...all orson welles's scenes could justifiably be called the greatest scene ever. especially the ferris wheel scene. ho. ly. shit.

[Guest Sandman9000]

Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from "Game of Death."

 

The entire ending fights from "Legend of Drunken Master." Jackie Chan rolled through hot coals 3 times to get the shot. Nuckin' futs.

 

Bruce Lee = God

Jackie Chan = Jesus