Greatest Film Sequences

[Pannonian]

Which reminds me.

A Better Tomorrow, restaurant shootout

[Peasant Phill]

Some great scenes in here, ...

I'm surprised that 'the devils advocate' hasn't been mentioned yet. The scene where Keano is the only person in New york, the scene where he makes love to his wife and/or his coworker (wonderfully confusing) and of course the devils monologue.

I also liked the well known interrogation scene from 'a few good men', "You want the truth?", man did Nicholson shine in that movie.

Lastly I nominate the 'building of a new earth' scene from the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. The sheer absurdity of a crew of men painting Ayers Rockthe right color and other great moments within that scene.
For that matter I really liked the trailer to.

[Bijo]

Godfather:

Starting scene where the guy is on the wedding day of the Godfather to ask him for a favour. "You come to me... on the day o' my daughte's wedding.... and ask me to kill a man...."

The Kiss of Death scene.

The ending scenes of part 3 starting from the theatre.

What the hell... this whole movie series is great.

[Kagemusha]

Leon also has quite a few great and powerful scenes including the following. If its too rough for frontroom, my apologies and please delete it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlbS...eature=related

[Lemur]

The use of the song "Angel" in Snatch.

Same film, the use of "****** in the Bushes."

[drone]

Leon also has quite a few great and powerful scenes including the following. If its too rough for frontroom, my apologies and please delete it.

Another Besson great, the opera scene in The Fifth Element

[Bijo]

I must concur with the film sequence of Reservoir Dogs where the cop was being tortured while that song was played. Vile and disgusting, but a great film sequence nevertheless. There were many times in college I actually imitated that dance while singing that song as I told a fellow colleague or friend of a great achievement I had. What a great expressive -- and unpredictable especially in public -- way to celebrate.

Another great film sequence of that movie is the beginning where they talk about music and stuff which is closely followed by the opening credits with that beautiful tune played (Little Green Bag).

Another great Tarantino film sequence is in True Romance. Near the end in the director's/producer's house as they point guns at each other (which also happened in RD by the way).

Or what about the scene in Pulp Ficton when Pumpkin and Honeybunny rob the place? Especially the part where Sam Jackson talks to him calling him Ringo and such, and talking about shepherds and so on.

Gladiator has a memorable battle sequence during the opening buildup of excitement. It gets more and more and more, then at some point the sound effects are dimmed out as you continue to see them battling in chaos while the beautiful music plays. Beautiful.

[El Diablo]

For out and out fun - the car chase scene in THE BLUES BROTHERS. A classic.

[Mikeus Caesar]

In the film Children of Men, the giant battle in the Refugee shanty-town of Bexhill. That entire scene is about 10 minutes long and is all filmed in one shot, with explosions and death everywhere. Brilliant.

[GeneralHankerchief]

A lot of good ones have been mentioned already.

First thing that comes to mind for me that, IIRC, hasn't been said yet was the final shootout scene in Hot Fuzz.

Talk about absurd, this one takes the cake.

[Mithrandir]

A lot of good ones have been mentioned already.

First thing that comes to mind for me that, IIRC, hasn't been said yet was the final shootout scene in Hot Fuzz.

Talk about absurd, this one takes the cake.

hahahaha



NEver saw the movie but will have to see it now...

the drive by from the granny on the bike

[Gregoshi]

I'll second (or third or...) D-day and "Am I a good man" scenes in Saving Private Ryan (horror and emotion) and the docking sequence in 2001 (grace and beauty).

One other scene that is memorable for its sheer impact is the openning of Star Wars (A New Hope as it is called now) when the Imperial Star Destroyer flys overhead...and keeps going and going. I remember being completely dumbfounded at the enormous size of the ship. It is old hat now-a-days, but up until 1977, nothing had been seen quite like this on the movie screen before.

Another scene that invoked a powerful sense of awe and wonder is the "Welcome to Jurassic Park" scene from Jurassic Park. The apatosaurus(?) feeding on the trees and then seeing the herds of dinosaurs in the distance coupled with the beautiful score by John Williams was quite overwhelming. Goosebumps and teary eyes at the majesty and beauty of it all was the order of the day. Again, nothing like this had been seen on the big screen before - the dinosaurs looked so real...

[Bijo]

Se7en has a good movie sequence near/at the end, as they drive towards the location while talking, then later the whole thing is ended. What a masterpiece.

And check out some of the cinematography: that shot when your detective Pitt is being held at gunpoint on his knees in the rain as you see the blurry image of the gunman looking down upon him/you. What a camera shot.

The end battle in Saving Private Ryan is superb. Especially the parts where the Jewish American soldier is fighting the German soldier hand-to-hand as his buddy is lying on the ground dying and the part where Upham shoots this German soldier are good ones.

In Schindler's List there's a good film sequence when you see the little girl lying dead at a pile of corpses. There isn't much said or explained, but when you see it you know what it's about.

The Kill Bill scene where the story of the Japanese character is explained. Arrgh, that music... BEAUTIFUL.

The part in Platoon where a certain character is chased and destroyed by the foe as the friendly choppers leave him behind. The poor ******. And that music that's playing while it happens..... it is brilliant.


(Language - Beirut)

[drone]

The part in Platoon where a certain character is chased and destroyed by the foe as the friendly choppers leave him behind. The poor ******. And that music that's playing while it happens..... it is brilliant.

Elias' betrayal by Barnes , I was thinking about this one as well. The music was a perfect choice (Adagio for Strings)


(Edit quoted text - Beirut)

[Bijo]

Good links, drone. That music, that scene... arrrgh. I can listen to this music anytime, all day long. Simply, to me, one of the most dramatic music pieces in existence... and it fits war perfectly.

[Tribesman]

The exploding cow scene or the shooting the rabbit closing scene from Six Shooter , but I don't think the youtube links to them would be allowed in the frontroom .

[Lemur]

First thing that comes to mind for me that, IIRC, hasn't been said yet was the final shootout scene in Hot Fuzz.

Talk about absurd, this one takes the cake.

Even better, from the same team, is the sequence in Shaun of the Dead when the protagonist wanders out into a zombie-infested city, and is too hung over to notice.

[Beefy187]

Battle against Neo and Mr Smith in Matrix 3 is epic

[econ21]

The end battle in Saving Private Ryan is superb. Especially the parts where the Jewish American soldier is fighting the German soldier hand-to-hand as his buddy is lying on the ground dying and the part where Upham shoots this German soldier are good ones.

I don't recall a buddy lying dying - I do remember Upham lying too scared to help outside on the stairs. The German soldier Upham shoots is not the one who was in the knife fight though - we never see what happened to him. It's the one Upham saved mid-way in the film and who at the end shoots, well you know. The two German soldiers look similar, but are played by different actors and are distinct roles.

[Whacker]

I'll post some action scenes that stand out in my mind.

Hero - The movie with Jet Li as nameless, had dozens of good fight scenes. My favorites were probably the chess court and the fight to honor flying snow.

Equilibrium - The gun kata scenes were excellent, esp. the first one.

The Matrix - Neo and Morpheus' kung fu match.

The Animatrix; Final flight of the Osiris - Holy crap the whole swordmatch was just amazing.

[Fragony]

I don't recall a buddy lying dying - I do remember Upham lying too scared to help outside on the stairs. The German soldier Upham shoots is not the one who was in the knife fight though - we never see what happened to him. It's the one Upham saved mid-way in the film and who at the end shoots, well you know. The two German soldiers look similar, but are played by different actors and are distinct roles.

That is a great scene, it made me sick. The worst of it is the that the german soldier is trying to comfort the guy 'shhht it will soon be over'. That has to be one of the most unbearable scene minus every murder in Munich. Spielberg knows how to make violence repulisve.

[Bijo]

I don't recall a buddy lying dying - I do remember Upham lying too scared to help outside on the stairs. The German soldier Upham shoots is not the one who was in the knife fight though - we never see what happened to him. It's the one Upham saved mid-way in the film and who at the end shoots, well you know. The two German soldiers look similar, but are played by different actors and are distinct roles.

They were with two in that little room where they positioned a machine gun pointed outside through the rubble inbetween the buildings. At some point their ammunition is used up because Upham was too scared to continue. It is quiet and they hear footsteps and wonder if it's Upham. They position themselves a little spread and shoot and kill one of them (at least) as you see blood flowing over the floor. Then the one US soldier suddenly gets hit in the throat and falls to the floor whereafter the German soldier barges in and starts fighting the Jewish American one while the other US soldier is still on the floor dying as he holds his hands to his throat. During their fight they even roll over him uncontrollably as they yell at each other... and him I think.

[Ronin]

The car chase scene in RONIN

[King Kurt]

Loads spring to mind - some of which have already been mentioned. 2 personal favourites are

The Gambler

This is a film with James Caan from the 70's It had the best line on a poster ever:-

"For $10,000 they break your arms. For $20,000 they break your legs. Axel Freed owes $44,000"

Caan plays a compulsive gambler who owes money to the Mob. He goes to Vegas to try and win the money. The key sequence is when he is playing Black jack. The dealer turns Caan's cards over and he has 18. Caan asks for another card - the dealer looks horrified and checks that he is sure. Caan just looks at him and says:

"Some of us are blessed - give me the 3

The point is that the dealer turns the card and it is a 3 - this gives Caan enough money to pay off the Mob.... but he goes on to loose it all again. Brilliant film - my memory of it is as clear as when I saw it in the 70's

The Searchers

The film John Wayne should have won an Oscar for - and the film many directors quote as a major influence. Many magnificent scenes but the opening scene as Wayne rides in framed by the door which is mirrored at the end of the film as he rides away are just brilliant. if you haven't seen it - rent it, buy it somehow get to see it. What is incredible is that a film with it's examination of racism, genocide and physcotic obsession could have been made in Hollywood in 1956. You will recognise scenes in it from Lawence of Arabia, Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan and many more.

[drone]

The sex scene in History of Violence. Completely unexpected and shocking, considering your knowledge of the characters at that point in the movie. Later on it makes sense. My first reaction, "Where the heck did that come from?!?"

Sorry, no link for that one.


The part in Fargo, where the Jerry the salesman is out in the parking lot alone, scraping ice off his car, and just loses it. William Macy does a great job in this scene, dropping the midwestern "nice" act in private, and letting the frustration and anger out for a moment, before calming down and getting back to scraping ice.

[Bijo]

Even though we know the whole series is superior, another good sequence I must mention from The Godfather is in part one: their way in the cars onto the restaurant, driving over the bridge, suddenly turning, then the hit on the Turk and the police chief in the restaurant. Beautiful.

...Which reminds me of the other sequence where.... "a certain character" gets hit as he tries to pass the toll area. Arrgh, this movie series...! BEAUTIFUL! The music: BEAUTIFUL.

[Louis VI the Fat]

I must fight the urge to name whole movies, instead of single scenes. It's just that, I find it difficult to separate the two. Individual scenes don't make sense without the full movie. And movies that left an impression are often the ones where the whole was bigger than the sum of it's parts.

Here are some, all from highly recommended movies:

The Sixth Sense. If you've seen it you the moment I'm talking about. I loved this movie. I didn't realise anything until this scene. Thank God I always try to avoid spoilers.

Trainspotting - 'are you her flatmates?'. I could nominate just about the entire movie. The Highlands scene was great as well. What was it?: 'but to be colonised by the world's biggest bunch of ....'

Lost in Translation - the karaoke scene. This is one of those movies where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Le Peuple Migrateur - the scene with the crabs gave me the creeps. All the more shocking since the rest of the movie is of such poetic tranquility.

Groundhog Day - the scene when Bill Murray wakes up and goes off for breakfast. Also the scene when Bill Murray wakes up and goes off for breakfast.

[Mount Suribachi]

The Usual Suspects - the final scene as all the pieces are slowly revealed.....

Saving Private Ryan - Everyone has named the opening scene, and rightly so, but the scene that stands out in my mind is the bit before the German attack at the end of the movie where there'll all just sitting around chewing the fat "fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the waydown" but you know, and they know that at some point the Germans are going to attack. There is just an underlying menace going on, the fear that the opening 30 minutes is about to be repeated. I remember my legs were shaking, and I saw it in Australia, in January so I wasn't cold!

The Phantom Menace Yep, you heard me right. Take away Jar-Jar and the awful dialogue and there are several "take-your-breath-away" set pieces. The first time Obi-Wan and Qui-Jon power up their sabres and you go WOW! The pod-race (even if it was cribbed from Ben Hur). And the duel with Darth Maul made every lightsaber battle previously look like kindergarden. Who, the first time they saw the double-lightsabre, didn't go "that is SO COOL!" ?


And yeah, the "excuse me, I speak Jive" in Airplane.

Chump don't want no help, chump don't get no help.

[Papewaio]

Lost in Translation - the karaoke scene. This is one of those movies where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Her films tend to be like that. Scenes that are well shot but kind of vacuous. Then when added up the whole is much more deep.

Mind you I was living in Taiwan at the time when I saw this movie (only figured out after leaving Taiwan that most western movies there are the airline cuts... so I do wonder if I missed some crucial scenes)... anyhow I was going 'culture shock'... try Taiwan. At least Japan is clean, has level pavements and signs that are at least 6 foot above the same pavement... not a good look when you are watching your footing only to step under then up into a sign to crack a sharp metal edge into ones crown etc.

Also I think the movie highlighted the culture shock by basing itself in a Western Hotel with little forays into Japanese culture. Mind you even then it is the type that you can get anywhere... Karaoke... so it really didn't go to deep into the culture and as such missed some of the things that can really be disorientating (I'll keep that pun and pass Gregoshi all due royalties).

[Beirut]

The Phantom Menace
Who, the first time they saw the double-lightsabre, didn't go "that is SO COOL!" ?

I know of no one - because there is no one.