BEST SEQUENCE OR SCENE FROM ANY FILM(CAN BE AN OPENING OR ANYTHING ELSE)
also videodrome ,i love whoever edited the dvd menu for the criterion collection
sorry for the triple post lol ,its hard for me to think I’ve so many great scenes but im obsessive over opening credits,also wanted to mention altered states editing on the beginning,and the last trippy scene.
also on children of men when their getting attacked by rioters ,the camera the travels around the van was amazing for me.
ichi the killer perhaps has the coolest yet strangest opening scene ,while the chick gets beaten up ,ichi watches from outside getting an erection when the abusive man discovers there was someone out theres sperm on a leaf of a plant and a drip drops down and we see the credits coming up on a spill of sperm,cant think of anything else at the moment too many great scenes but like i said im obsessed with editing credits.peace!
I’m loathe to say “the entirety of X” but since it’s a short film: Guy Maddin’s The Heart of the World, all of it.
Also Harry Dean’s confession in Paris, Texas, the children’s escape in The Night of the Hunter, the final minutes of Brazil, the dream within a dream in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, exploding the rock in The Wages of Fear, the hospital scene in Werckmeister Harmonies, the ice cream riot in Down by Law, Shelly Duvall’s epiphany upon reading Sissy Spacek’s diary entry in 3 Women, the moment when “Ghost of Love” plays in Inland Empire, the burial in Blood Simple…
the 17 minute dream/dance sequence in The Red Shoes
the confession in Paris, Texas
In Dreams, Blue Velvet
The scene on the docks in Pierrot Le Fou, and the ending.
The opening scene of ’Don’t Look Now’
The ending of Faces, and A Woman Under the Influence
The opening of 8 1/2
Paul’s conversation with Fritz Lang while hiking through Capri in Contempt
i have to second the in dreams scene on blue velvet,Dennis Hopper is awesome
Top 5 right now, in no particular order:
i The dance scene with the little girl in the market in Anchors Aweigh.
ii The letter reading scene in Winter Light.
iii The milk scene in Inglorious Basterds.
iv Really fast getaway from the gas station scene in Pierrot le Fou.
v The last hotel room scene in L’Avventura
The drug deal sequence in Boogie Nights comes to mind when I think about perfectly executed scenes.
The merchant entering the castle in LA BELLE ET LA BETE
Orphee’s trip to hades in ORPHEE
The creation of the bride in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
The duel with the skeleton in 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD
The unloading of the pirate ship near the beginning of PIRATES OF CAPRI
The funeral procession in OTHELLO
the slo mo scene in reservoir dogs when they are walking to theirs cars, the train robbery scene in the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford,
The end of Michael Clayton is great.
Here goes…
1. In Paris, Texas, from the moment Kinski is in the hotel room with her son through the shot of Harry Dean Stanton driving away – a perfect ending to what I think is a perfect film.
2. The ending sequence of The Sixth Sense, when Bruce Willis’ character realizes the true nature of things. One of the best scored scenes ever, by James Newton Howard.
3. In Three Days of the Condor, when Joubert finally converses with Robert Redford’s character (Condor) regarding his future. The scene closes, if anyone recalls, with Joubert (Max Von Sydow) handing Redford something, and with a look of faint compassion and camaraderie, says, “For that day.”
4. The opening attack sequence in Cloverfield, when it began to occur to me that Abrams and Reeves might actually have reinvented an all but dead genre.
5. The end scene in a little known Bart Freundlich film called World Traveler when Billy Crudup’s character comes home. The look on his wife’s face, played astonishing well by Francie Swift, communicates more than 1000 pages of scripting.
6. The scene in Aldrich’s original Flight of the Phoenix, when Richard Attenborough realizes what Hardy Kruger’s character, Heinrich Dorfmann, really does for a living. Attenborough played this scene so well it brings me close to tears every time I see it.
7. And finally, as corny as it may sound (and as corny as many have thought it actually was), the conclusion of The Dark Knight, when Oldman is explaning to the boy, as best he can, why is is that Bale is running, as the shot goes to Bale accelerating up the ramp and into the light, because I knew then that Nolan, finally, demonstrates that he knows exactly what a hero is – that is, not someone who makes a touchdown on a football field. For all of its manipulative quality, still a brilliantly staged ending by Nolan. First time in awhile that I wanted to stand and clap for the ending of a movie, and I’m about as far from superhero fanboy as you will ever meet.
“Mein Fürer I can walk”, end of Dr Strangelove, the end of Chinatown and more recently the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds, Christoph Waltz deserves the oscar.
It’s A Wonderful Life : Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed’s scene by the telephone (among others)
The Princess Bride: The Battle of Wits
Fargo: Mike Yanigata
The Godfather Part II: The Michael and Kay fight, as well as one of Michael’s confrontation with Fredo (“I’m smart!”)
Jaws: The Indianapolis speech
Pulp Fiction: The watch.
Contact: The Trial scene
Hair: I Got Life
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack’s Lament
The Wizard of Oz: Over the Rainbow
I’d also say…a scene that really emotionally affected me was Montgomery Clift’s scene in Judgment at Nuremberg. Absolutely brilliant and completley heartbreaking.
The opening shot of Aguirre;
The camera hovers above the jungle on a misty mountainside and slowly descends upon a line of conquistadors who at first look no bigger that ants. Visual poetry.
As long as this thread has been revived, I’d like to mention a few great scenes and set-pieces. These are obviously not ALL my favorite sequences — just a few off the top of my head:
1. For my money, the opening 20 minutes of HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR are the best 20 minutes of any film ever shot and edited. Pure cinematic beauty, and with a complex message.
2. The Marilyn Monroe mass in Ken Russell’s TOMMY.
3. The stock market scene and ending of Antonioni’s ECLIPSE.
4. The ending (and only the ending) of ZABRISKIE POINT.
5. The Odessa Steps sequence in BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN.
6. The ending of JULES ET JIM.
Nice call on Jules et Jim.
Recent faves-
1. The opening archive montage from – Milk
2. The archive montages from – The Golden Bowl
3. Avatar flyng sequences!
The best sequence i’ve ever seen i think is the ending of Modern Times, with Chaplin and Paulette Goddard in that road…
Others that i love are
- the ending of City Lights again with Chaplin,
- the scene of the re-birth of the wife in Ordet (The Word, my favourite film from Dreyer),
- the ending of Dancer in the Dark,
- the mother-daughter reencounter in Secrets and Lies,
- Gregory Peck in the final trial scenes in To Kill a Mockingbird,
- Henry Fonda in every scene in 12 Angry Men,
- the moment of the great revelation in Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved you so Long),
- the ending of Control,
- the woman running in the snow looking to dump the unwanted child in 4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days),
- Theo Faron and Marichka running after the baby in Children of Men,
- the ending of The Man from Earth in which i was OoO!!
- the father trying to get off his baby in L’enfant,
- the ending of The Girl in the Café (an awesome Bill Nighy),
- the fantastic ending od Sideways,
- Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love. The scene of his rage attack in the party with her sisters,
- the ending of Perfect Blue…
And several more but i don’t hace much time =)
Monica Bellucci in every scene in Malena
Amelie’s opening scene
the rain kiss in Cinema Paradiso and Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Tim Robbin’s escaping from Shawshank prison
Cleopatra turned into a freak in Freak
Borat taking a dump in front of Trump Tower in Borat.
Nicole Kidman entrance in Moulin Rouge
chariots race in Ben Hur
Final scene in Citizen Kane
every singing and dancing in SIngin in the Rain
Brad Pitt in all of his scenes in Burn After Reading.
damn,that’s too much for an asking,.i’m gonna try limit it to the 2000’s first, then
The Pale man in Pan’s Labyrinth
The Climactic scene of Children Of Men
The Dunkirk Scene in Atonement
That 20 minutes conversation in Hunger
The Pelennor Field battle of LOTR Return of the King
and of course, The Whole Russian Ark
One film,
Satantango:
-opening.
-the sequence with the owl, the camera wanders around in circle with the sleeping protagonists, then the owl in distance, a very beautiful scene
-The scene when the doctor is watching the environment, the dog wandering.
-protagonists walking through the street, a lot of wind and garbage.
-AND MANY SCENES MORE
I like so many movies and mostly because of certain scenes.
I love all of Apocolypse Now but one scene not mentioned is the dinner scene where Kurtz’s voice is played for Captain Williard and he is told to terminate the Colonels command “with extreme prejudice.”
The scene between Kirk Douglas and Adolphe Menjou where Douglas calls him a sick degenerate, classic Kirk Douglas.
John Wayne and Henry Fonda before Fonda’s suicidal charge into a trap, In Fort Apache
The closing scene from How green was my valley and the narration I loved it as a child and now even more as an adult.
Clint Eastwood as Josey Wales and his conversation with Ten Bears.
Humphrey Bogart recalling Paris as Sam plays As time goes by and the final moment when his head sinks in despair on the table, CAsablanca, wow.
The final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, both shot up and breathing a sigh of reliev cause Forrester wasn’t out there, “for a minute I thought we were in trouble.”
jack nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in the marijuana space aliens conversation. Easy Rider
Max Von Sydow and Robert Redford in 3 days of the Condor, as Von sydow questions him about how he came about making all the moves that kept him alive and his explanation about how he views his work as an assasin.
Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia telling his superiors how he enjoyed executing one of his men.
The closing scene from Los Olvidados.
I could go all day.
The opening scene from Clerks II with a song by Talking Heads (Flowers)
1) “I was stepped over…” Godfather, Part II. John Cazale was brilliant, so weak, yet trying to show strength (special thanks to the Art Dept for the selection of the chair he was sitting in). Pacino was so cold, and Gordon Willis’ lighting fit the mood perfectly.
2) “Pardon them…” Schindler’s List. Just dialogue between Neeson and Fiennes on the balcony overlooking the camp. Great sound mix, stong performances, unobstrusive camerawork.
3) “She seems very nice…” Kissing Jessica Stein. Jennifer Westfeldt as Jessica is very good in the scene when she kind of let’s her mom know she is in love with a woman. Tovah Feldshuh is brilliant as her mom. Good writing, all the technical aspects are good, but the performances make the scene. I think that performance gets lost on occasion, film people just focus on filmmaking and forget about humanity, we watch films and do not allow them to touch us. These three scenes are about people and the performances are what make them.
4) “America” West Side Story. A perfect musical number. Great dancing, singing, fantastic camerawork and editing.
5) “Sales Meeting” Glengarry Glen Ross. Great acting by Alec Baldwin, but Mamet’s words are what make the scene.
The opening scene of ‘The Legend of 1900’ is beautiful.
The assassination sequence from Guy Ritchie’s Revolver is poetically stunning.
Angel HERNANDEZ
I love how irreversible starts, backward credits then until it reaches the title , the music starts spinning around the door entrance where the butcher is ,then the credits strobing fonts changing credit along with every hit PAN PAN PAN i dont know that really kept my eyes staring.