Meet me in Montauk…
The beach scene and the one in which Briony is walking through the hospital (Atonement)
Every scene in “Satantango”,
Cabiria’s final scene in “Nights of Cabiria” as she gets lost in the traveling throng,
the final sequence of stills in “Night of the Living Dead”,
the duel between Barry Lyndon and Lord Bullingdon at the climax of “Barry Lyndon”,
when The Man thinks his wife has drowned in “Sunrise”
the scene with the shard of glass in “Cries and Whispers”
the end of “In the Mood for Love”… devastating
The opening scene in 2046…it was so beautiful it left me speechless the first time I saw it.
I so agree with you AD. The opening of Once Upon a time in the West is genius. Also Tarkovsky’s The Mirror comes to mind with one slow opening take, so much is told without words. Ah, then there is Woo’s bullet ballet in Hard Boiled—a symphony of violent poetry!
The Player
Jack Nicholson’s diner monologue in Five Easy Pieces and the scene in This Sporting Life when Richard Harris looks away from Rachel Roberts at the bug on the wall and turns back and she is dead. And, of course, the endless and amazing single shot scene from the top of a Havana hotel in I Am Cuba. Best opening? Mean Streets: (Voice) You don’t pay for your sins in some church. You pay for them in the streets, where you live. The rest is bullshit and you know it."
-The end of L’eclisse
-The scene in Symbiopsychotaxiplasm where the homeless artist comes up the “set” and talks for about 10 minutes
-The supermarket scene in Tout Va Bien
-The party scene in Lost in Translation where the Chemical Brother’s song is playing
The Dance Tap in The Bowlling, performance by Cristina Ricchi, in The Movie “Buffalo 66”
The Smiling Father in the movie “Eraserhead”
The 3 people in jail singing “I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream”, in the movie “Down By Law”
the fight of Dae-su in old boy, with a hammer he fights for his life against a crowd…
barely advancing in a thight corridor
The scene with the premature infant in Stroszek.
I think Kathryn Bigelow and John Dahl are very under-rated as directors.
The shoot-out in the woods in Red Rock West is beautifully shot as is the tracking shot at the oilfield at the beginning of the film.
The foot chase scene in Kathy Bigelow’s Point Break, (after the botched bank robbery), is poetry.
…And do you remember the guilty thrill of watching John Travolta’s feet jiving down the street during the opening of Saturday Night Fever?
In terms of performance scenes, Martin Scorcese in the cab in Taxi Driver AND as the Geritol president in Quiz Show.
i don’t know if this is the “best sequence” but one scene which gives me extreme chills down my spine is when Jack Nicholson walks up the stairs exclaiming “Give Me the Bat” in The Shining…..fucking scary
The first twenty minutes of The Wild Bunch from the children torturing the scorpion to “Kiss my sister’s black cat’s ass.”
The shootout at the end of L.A. Confidential
Eyeball slicing in “Un Chien Andalou”
Eyeball slicing in “Terminator”
Tyler Durden and “Narrator” getting into their first fight in Fight Club. (“You hit my ear. That was great!”)
And Mao — great call on Collateral.
Oh god… where, to, begin.
- The first sequence in “Suspiria” (although the whole film is magnificent)
- The scene in “The Blair Witch Project” where Heather, Mike and Josh run into the woods after hearing a disturbing noise outside their tent
- The final scene in “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”
- Any single sequence from “A Clockwork Orange” – I mean this, there are so so so many classic scenes.
- The orgy sequence in “Eyes Wide Shut”
- The “spider-walk” scene in “The Exorcist”, as well as any of the possession scenes
- The Ring Tape scene in “The Ring”
- The final confrontational scenes in “May”
- Any single scene from “Kill Bill Volume 1”, in particular the first scene and also the Crazy 88 Massacre sequence
- The grave scene in “Kill Bill Volume 2” (although really, every scene in the movie is brilliant)
- The scene in “The Others” where Nicole Kidman walks down stairs and hears the piano playing – but there’s no one there; and of course, the “I am your daughter…” scene
- The most iconic Freddy Krueger kill scene in “A Nightmare on Elm Street” where the girl is crawling up the walls screaming
- The shower sequence in “Psycho”, as well as virtually every other scene
- The scene in “Airplane!” where Leslie Nielsen opens the door to the cockpit appearing perfectly as the other characters are sweating and moving up and down
- The scenes in “The Eye” where she sees the room change into a completely different one for a few seconds; the elevator scene
- Any scene with that fantastic music score from “28 Days Later”, and the ending
- The final scene in “Welcome to the Jungle”; the scene where they see Bijou naked and impaled on a bamboo spear; the scenes where the cannibals just appear out of nowhere; the scene where the find the guy with his leg cut off
- Any single scene from “Session 9”, in particular the twist ending
- The final sequence in [rec], as well as the scene with the old lady in the apartment and the scene where Chloe bites her mother
- The scenes in “Pulse” showing the disturbing images of the guy in his apartment
When Michael shoots the two men in The Godfather.
The whole Ishmael sequence in Fanny and Alexander.
When Adam rejects Cal’s gift in East of Eden.
The dead woman in the bath tub in The Shining.
The dream sequences in both Spellbound and Vertigo.
The harem scene in 8 1/2.
Ferdinand talking to the sad man at the docks, in Pierrot le Fou.
Opening scene in Apocalypse Now
Helicopter Attack in Apocalypse Now
Final Shootout in The Wild Bunch
The Three-way Mexican Standoff in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The baptism through to ending in The Godfather
The first part of A Clockwork Orange up to when Alex gets arrested
The first half of Full Metal Jacket
Frank and his posse murdering the McBains in ‘West’
Duel between Frank and Harmonica
The stargate sequence in 2001
Tom Doniphon telling Ranse that he shot Liberty Valance
The ending of Casablanca
Shooting gallery and Scorsese in Taxi Driver
First 30 mins of Goodfellas
Two sequences that move me to tears:
The Great Dictator – the peroration with the Jewish Barber standing in for the dictator Adenoid Hynkel, when Chaplin as a man & citizen & political animal lets rip with his hopes for a better world, and all of a sudden from an address to millions he makes an intimate communication: “Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah. The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world – a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed and their brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow – into the light of hope, into the future, the glorious future that belongs to you, to me, and to all of us. Look up, Hannah… look up!”
Hannah and Her Sisters – Hannah’s actor parents have had yet another fight, her mother’s been drinking; and as she arrives at the apartment they’re still hollering back & forth, rehearsing old accusations of infidelity, etc. And then the heat subsides, and the father (Lloyd Nolan) sits down at the piano, and plays “You Are Too Beautiful”; and his wife comes out and leans on the piano, and the old couple look at each other…If you’re married or have been married, it’s a staggering little touch in a great movie…
I Am Cuba – pretty much every sequence in the film.
Sunrise – The sequence in the lake, when the husband attempted to kill his wife.
Werckmeister Harmonies – the scene where the townfolks gather to see the dead whale.
Bad Day at Black Rock – the scene at the diner where one-armed stranger Spencer Tracy kick the crap out of bully Ernest Borgnine, terrifying his whole gang.
Stray Dog – the ending sequence that started at the train station, where Mifune finally tracks down the murderer who has his gun, and the chase scene that followed. A girl is shown playing the piano on a house nearby, unaware of what’s happening.
The Longest Day – the uninterrupted tracking shot that followed French commandos from the beach on their way up the hill to assault a chateau.
The opening of the Restored “Touch of Evil” with the crane shot moving around the intersection.
The opening and closing scenes of “The Searchers” with the opening and closing of the door.
The opening steady cam moving through the outside into and through the house in 2005’s “Pride and Prejudice”
Heath Ledger embracing the shirt and in “Brokeback Mountain”
When I say the word “sublime,” two scenes come to mind— The ending in “The 400 Blows,” and the ending to “Aguirre: Wrath of God,” both rightfully already pointed out. Guido’s dream in the beginning of “8 1/2”- another amazing scene, and also along with The Madison in “Band of Outsiders,” I also love the scene where they are running through the Louvre museum. The race in “Jules and Jim”, and the Fontana di Trevi scene in La Dolce Vita, starting from when Anita Ekberg finds the cat.
There are so many but one that I have never forgotten because of its beauty and strangeness is the opening sequence of 8 1/2.
I wouldn’t say best but one of my favourites is the scene in Almost Famous when they’re in the bus singing “Tiny Dancer”.
Tuco running through the cemetery in “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
I’m Singing in the rain (smack), I’m singing int he rain (smack) I’m singing in the rain (another smack) II’m singin, in the raaain!!, very sadistic and yet so fun and hard to watch.. gotta love kubrick…
La Commune – When the actors start breaking character and talk about the film they’re in
The Mission – Rober DeNiro crying
tout va bien – the shopping revolution, what other scene
Kinski’s monologue at the end of Aguirre.
The opening credits of L’Avventura.
Opening scene in Touch of Evil.
“The switch” in Jackie Brown.
De Niro at the phone as the camera tracks right to view an empty hallway with a view to the street in “Taxi Driver” (as Justin mentioned earlier)
The final scene in Rear Window.
Stewart’s speech at the end of Rope.
The final duel in Once Upon a Time in the West.
The Prom Queen/King scene in “Carrie”,
The Halloween sequence in “Meet Me in St. Louis”,
The last 20 minutes of “Some came running”,
The reunion in “Sunrise”,
The ghostly voices in empty spaces at the end of “Mortal Storm”,
The ending of “An Affair to remember” (or of two or three other McCarey movies),
The diving scene in “L’Atalante”,
The beginning of “La Bête Humaine” and “M”,
Any shower scene in a De Palma movie,
Almost any picture in Ozu.
J.R. Hudson
The opening to Carpenter’s Halloween
The opening to the Dawn of the Dead remake
Die Hard – When Bruce drops the monitor laced with C4 down the elevator shaft.
Apocalypse Now – The Air Cav scene.
Glory – The charge on Fort Wagner
Jaws – THE USS INDIANAPOLIS monologue
Titanic – The moment the iceberg hits on
Saving Private Ryan – The opening of D Day
Scarface – The chainsaw scene