Nominate your choice for single most dramatic moment in film

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

My choice is Roy Batty's death scene in Blade Runner.

My second choice is the end sequence in the original Rollerball.

[quiet.american]

1. The first one that comes to mind is the death leap in Hitchcock's "Vertigo."

When I first saw Vertigo, I was in a stunned daze for the immediate second part of the movie. I couldn't believe that Kim Novak had actually jumped!

Second-place -- Willem Defoe's character in Platoon -- racing through the jungle, the helicopter pulling away, shots ringing out -- it took me years to be able to actually watch that whole scene.

[Archae]

2. "You're going to need a bigger boat..."

I love that scene...

[stuntcat]

12. JAWS?

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[bigwillq]

59. I just watched that movie again

last night...I've seen it many, many times and I must say it is still one of the best movies ever made.

[Patsy Stone]

3. The Shining

where she reads his "manuscript".

[AlCzervik]

11. good one, that was horrifying, that could be one of the scariest as well.

[Patsy Stone]

15. The whole movie is so tense

There's a scene where the screen is black, and the word Tuesday appears. When I saw it in the theater, everyone screamed at that moment. That's talent.

My other choice was a scene from Rebecca, but I couldn't bring myself to choose just one.

:hi:

[AlCzervik]

17. i loved the Book and i thought that translated so well to the screen (The shining)

when so many of King's novels haven't, that one caught the feel of the book. Loved Rebbecca as well.

:toast:

[Goblinmonger]

18. That's because Kubrik is a genius

An unbiased opinion of course.

[AlCzervik]

25. Full metal Jacket and Lolita are two of my favotire Kubrick films besides the shining.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

32. Speaking of FMJ...

"I... AM... in a world... of SHIT!" was pretty damned dramatic. :thumbsup:

[stuntcat]

13. :shiver:

I :loveya: The Shining

[XemaSab]

45. Not like the scene where he chops the door down with the axe isn't dramatic

Or any scene with the boy riding his big wheels.

Or the scene where Jack goes into the room with the ghosts.

Or about 10 other scenes. :P

[Patsy Stone]

56. The twins.

The old lady in the bathtub. The hedge maze. :)

[XemaSab]

68. Any scene with Scatman Crothers

:)

[rug]

4. The President springing into action upon hearing the second plane hit.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. Go to your room.

:argh:




:evilgrin:

[Frank Cannon]

6. Those are two great choices

The Roy Batty death was my first choice, as well.

And the final scene in the original Rollerball is pretty powerful and satisfying. It's one of the most underrated movies of all time.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

14. I have Rollerball on DVD

I've watched it- shall we say "several" times...

Ever watch James Caan in "Thief"? It was a Michael Mann production- they used real diamond thieves as advisers on the film. I also have it on DVD.

[Frank Cannon]

36. I never saw the 2002 John McTiernan remake

There are some things in this world that absolutely have no right to exist. That is one of them. I cannot believe some idiot actually thought they could somehow improve on the Norman Jewison original, which was based on a short story that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.



Funny you should mention "Thief". I've never seen it, but it just happens to be coming up at about number 5 in my Netflix queue! I am, of course, a fan of both James Caan and director Michael Mann, so I look forward to seeing it. (Just call me a Caan Mann!)

[AllegroRondo]

44. Be glad you missed it.

incredible bad re-make.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

53. The remake was horrible.

It was a complete waste.

Thief is as famous for its soundtrack as it is for the story itself. It was done by Tangerine Dream- focus on it when you watch the movie. It's hypnotic.

[InternalDialogue]

7. Sophie's Choice

When she realizes she doesn't get to leave the train with both of her children.


......


:cry:

[NC_Nurse]

62. My God....

that movie messed me up for weeks.....I had small children then.

I'll never forget that scene. :-(

[KG]

8. Kirk: What does God need with a starship?

Kirk: What does God need with a starship?
McCoy: Jim, what are you doing?
Kirk: I'm asking a question.
"God": Who is this creature?
Kirk: Who am I? Don't you know? Aren't you God?
Sybok: He has his doubts.
"God": You doubt me?
Kirk: I seek proof.
McCoy: Jim! You don't ask the Almighty for his ID!
"God": Then here is the proof you seek.

Kirk: Why is God angry?
Sybok: Why? Why have you done this to my friend?
"God": He doubts me.
Sybok: You have not answered his question. What does God need with a starship?
"God": Do you doubt me?
McCoy: I doubt any God who inflicts pain for his own pleasure.

[dEMOK]

16. Excellent...

:rofl:

[Goblinmonger]

9. The end of The Tenant

when we learn who is in the "mummy wrap." I won't say more in case people haven't seen it (and if you haven't--get off you ass and watch that film because it kicks ass and almost makes you want to forgive Polansky for being a pedophile).

[cemaphonic]

33. That movie is seriously icky

But in a good way of course. I would say the pentultimate scene is more dramatic though.

I like Polanski lots.

[Mendocino]

10. "Stand up Miss Louise, your father is passing"

from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Second choice-The Lew Ayres character is shot while reaching out of a trench for a flower in All Quiet on the Western Front.

Third choice-Henry Fondas "I'll be there" speech in The Grapes of Wrath.

[Goblinmonger]

20. Another Henry Fonda entry--

the "I'll kill you" scene from 12 Angry Men.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

28. Also, the revealing of the second switch blade knife

by Fonda. Funny, I was thinking of that just a moment before I saw your post.

Great minds think alike.

[Twillig]

31. More Fonda

GG PWNT!


Seriously though, that 'Frank' was a Rat-Bastard son-of-a-bitch in Once Upon A Time In The West. He didn't buy it soon enough!

[MissMillie]

40. Miss Jean-Louise... indeed

great choice!

[ironflange]

19. Rear Window

Lisa is in the apartment across the way, Thorwald arrives, and Jeff can only watch helplessly and hope the cops show up.

[johnnie]

21. The courtroom blowup in Justice For All

Al Pachino going off on the court. When that came out, I thought that was a brilliant scene.

[dEMOK]

22. "...but they can't take away our freedom" (Braveheart)

Wallace's entire address (on horseback) to his soldiers is brilliant from every angle.

[Maraya1969]

23. When Thelma and Louise drive off the cliff.

it was totally unexpected.

[idgiehkt]

24. the fight scene in "They Live"

:rofl:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

26. Nothing like a full body slam into the asphalt.

That was GREAT. Rowdy Roddy is da MAN.

[Twillig]

27. When Waldo Pepper's friend (The Great Waldo Pepper)

Says 'Don't let me burn.'--or words to that effect.

And what Waldo does. :cry:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

29. Many, but I'll say the last shot of "The 400 Blows."

[ironflange]

30. I think you'd better put a spoiler warning in your subject line

[cemaphonic]

34. Castle seige in 'Throne of Blood'

due to the fact that they were shooting actual live arrows at Mifune.

[petronius]

69. I did not know that - it as a great scene

The meetings with the ghost? crone? witch? in the woods really freaked me out...

[Adsos Letter]

35. "Schindler's List"

Well...if dramatic also allows for horrifying it would have to be the scene in "Schindler's List" when they lead the little kids out of the "children's camp", all of them singing and holding hands, thinking they're going to a picnic...

That's the moment when I actually started to cry during that movie.

For pure drama (without the horror) it would also have to be "Schindler's List"; the scene at the end, when they all come over the hill and the film switches to color and you suddenly realize it is the real-life survivors accompanied by the actors/actresses who played them in the film...very, very powerful.

[JANdad]

38. And also...

In the same sequence when the children are hiding in the bottom of the toilets...chilling...:scared:

In the end of the movie, when they are placing the stones on Schindlers grave...chokes me up every time I watch it.:cry:

[Joe Fields]

37. The first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan...

If ever I was going to feel what real battle was like, I think it came as close to making me feel it as anything could.

[Lyric]

39. The first Life Support meeting scene in "Rent"

(for those who haven't seen "Rent", Life Support is a support group for people living with HIV)

Look - I find some of what you teach suspect
Because I'm used to relying on intellect
But I try to open up to what I don't know
Because reason says I should have died
Three years ago...

There's only us, there's only this
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss
No other road, no other way
No day but today

I fall apart during that scene every time, and never really manage to regain my composure for the rest of the movie. :cry:

[pokerfan]

41. The Guns of Navarone (1961)

The scene where David Niven goads Gregory Peck into shooting the traitor.

Gregory Peck ... Capt. Keith Mallory
David Niven ... Cpl. Miller

Corporal Miller: But aren't you forgetting something? The lady. As I see it we have three choices. One we can leave her here but there's no guarantee she won't be found, and in her case they won't need a truth drug. Two, we can take her with us, but that would make things worse than they are already. And three... well, that's Andrea's choice, remember?
Mallory: You really want your pound of flesh, don't you?
Corporal Miller: Yes, I do. You see, somehow I just couldn't get to sleep.
Mallory: Well, if you're so anxious to kill her, go ahead!
Corporal Miller: I'm not anxious to kill her, I'm not anxious to kill anyone. You see, I'm not a born soldier. I was trapped. You may find me facetious from time to time, but if I didn't make some rather bad jokes I'd go out of my mind. No, I prefer to leave the killing to someone like you, an officer and a gentleman, a leader of men.
Mallory: If you think I wanted this, any of this, you're out of your mind, I was trapped like you, just like anyone who put on the uniform!
Corporal Miller: Of *course* you wanted it, you're an officer, aren't you? I never let them make *me* an officer! I don't want the responsibility!
Mallory: (starting to get pissed off) So you've had a free ride, all this time! Someone's *got* to take responsibility if the job's going to get done! You think that's easy?
Corporal Miller: (shouts) I don't know! I'm not even sure who really is responsible any more.

(Mallory unholsters his sidearm and approaches the woman. He raises the pistol and Miller moves to stop him. A shot rings out and we see that she's been shot by her friend.)

Mallory: (now completely pissed off) You think you've been getting away with it all this time, standing by. Well, son... your bystanding days are over! You're in it now, up to your neck! They told me that you're a genius with explosives. Start proving it!

Mallory: (gesturing with his pistol) You got me in the mood to use this thing, and by God, if you don't think of something, I'll use it on you! I mean it!

[Lyric]

42. I'll never let go, Jack!

*lets go*

:rofl: :hide:

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

43. The End of Godfather I

when Michael Corleone closes the door on his wife...

Also, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, right before the battle at pelennor

[Auggie]

72. The restaurant scene when Michael shoots Sollozzo was great too

First time I saw that my heart was pumping like crazy.

[Haole Girl]

46. Here are just 2 of my favorite dramatic scenes:

The final scene in Gone with the Wind,

and,

The scene, in Out of Africa, when Klaus Maria Brandauer goes to the nearly empty house of Karen Blixen (played by Meryl Streep), to tell her Denys died. The acting by Meryl Streep, in that scene, is truly remarkable.

[PassingFair]

47. Roberto Benigni's "silly walk "

At the end of "Life is Beautiful"

Makes my eyeballs swell just thinking about it.

On Edit:

Also, Gena Rowlands squaring off against the mobster in
"Gloria"

"You let a WOMAN beat ya!"

PERFECT!

[raccoon]

48. The scene in Saving Private Ryan when the battle of the bridge

has been fought, Tom Hanks' character has died, and we see a young Private Ryan against the sky...then he changes to the old Private Ryan at the military cemetery.

It made me just think, that's life. One day we're young, and then all of a sudden we're old. Or it seems like it. :-)

[leftofthedial]

49. when the Wizard of Oz goes color

[leftyladyfrommo]

50. When they had to shoot Old Yeller.

God that was awful.

[Fire Walk With Me]

51. Laura Palmer's death scene in "Fire Walk With Me". She was into it.

And the subsequent scene with the angel hovering near her in the Black Lodge, as juxtaposition and relief. The destruction we visit upon each other...

Perhaps the end of Zentropa.

[bikebloke]

52. The Best of Youth (La Melgio Gioventu)

When Matteo goes out on the balcony...(to avoid spoilage, I'll leave it at that). I suspected it was coming, but it still shocked me.




And of course, Bambi versus Godzilla.:P

[kwassa]

54. The D-Day landing scene in "Saving Private Ryan"

one of the most gut-wrenching sequences in movies.

[skygazer]

55. When Donnie has a heart attack in the parking lot of the bowling alley

in The Big Lebowski. Took me totally by surprise the first time and still gets me every time I see it. :cry:

[Xipe Totec]

57. Queen Tamara, begging for her son's life - Titus Andronicus

Sophie, choosing which of her children will die, so the other can live - Sophie's Choice.

Captain Vidal, bludgeoning a Spanish peasant to death, with a wine bottle - Pan's Labyrinth.


It's hard to choose... :shrug:

[JoePhilly]

58. The green pestilence in the 10 Commandments ...

Scared the crap out of me as a kid.

[JoePhilly]

60. My wife picks this from the 6th Sense ...

The scene Bruce Willis character realizes that he's one of the dead.

[XemaSab]

70. The scene in the 6th sense

where the boy KNOWS the ghost is coming at his house, and instead of hiding he gets up the courage to face her.

[martymar64]

61. Glasha's panic scene in "Come and See"

An awesome WW2 film from Belarus. Plus the scene of her dancing in the rain is transcendant. She looks just like Helen Hunt.

[maveric]

63. The split-screen sequence from "Jesus's Son".

Billy Crudup and Dennis Leary, each on their half of the split-screen, shooting heroin. Both OD'd but Crudup's girlfriend came home to find him and save him. Leary was alone and passed out and died. Very eery and disturbing.

[Zomby Woof]

64. No! I am your father!

[Jokerman]

65. When the young guy gets shot in "The Shawshank Redemption"

When we see just how evil the warden can be.

[AtomicKitten]

66. in Terms of Endearment

When Aurora (Shirley MacClaine) screams at the nurses to give Emma (Debra Winger) her pain medication.

[Mz Pip]

67. The end of Crying Game

No one saw that coming.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[petronius]

71. When Laurence of Arabia shouts "No prisoners!" always stirs me...

Also, the scene when the Arab Army rides out of camp.

[Oeditpus Rex]

73. How are we defining 'dramatic'?

If by consensus of this thread, I gotta go with the Cajun guy burning to death in the electric chair in "The Green Mile."

:scared:

[MichiganVote]

74. Sophie's Choice, just about any scene will do, but esp. when she has to choose one of her kids