Bergman’s “Winter Light” — the scene where Martha offered herself to Tomas, only to be treated with disgust.
Kawalerowicz’s “Mother Joan of the Angels” — the scene where Mother Joan was “possessed” and rolled down the church.
everyone else says when john travolta plunges the needle into uma’s chest in the OD scene in pulp fiction…
the end of schindler’s list really does it for me.
the rally scene in citizen kane.
“i’ve abandoned my child! i’ve abandoned my boy” – there will be blood
- end of The Dark Knight
- from “Forgive me First Father! I did not know it was you.” right up to the credits – The Fountain
- “Stop, Dave. I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going” – 2001: A Space Odyssey
- the end of Lord of War
- Sam carries Frodo in Return of the King (yeah, I can be such a sucker for mainstream stuff…but it was well done)
- the scene where Eric Draven becomes “The Crow”…in The Crow….
- “Say Goodnight!” – American History X
- Climaxes of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II
When the Tyrannosaur is roaming freely around the paddock and Tim Hammond closes the door to the Ford Explorer and that bitch looks right at him.
Every time.
Every.
Time.
- The last scene in “Zodiac”
- “These Days” montage in “The Royal Tenenbaums”
- The closing monologue of the 25th Hour
The beer garden in “Cabaret,” where a fresh-faced youth sings “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” as the camera pans to his brown shirt and swastika.
The final sequence in “Mulholland Drive”. Terrifying, brilliant and poignant all at the same time.
In the movie IN AMERICA when Christie asks her father to say goodbye to Frankie. Goosebumps, lump in the throat and watery eyes all at once. Great scene.
Two scenes in Fanny and Alexander: The scene where Carl is fighting with his wife, and the scene where the children are woken up by their mothers screaming.
When Cal hugs Adam after his gift is rejected in East of Eden.
So many to mention but the one I have stuck in my mind at the moment (I haven’t seen it since the cinema) is the karaoke scene from Lost In Translation. I keep playing Roxy Music’s ‘More Than This’ and it makes me want to be there in the scene. Wonderfully done.
Probably have already mentioned some of these:
Last scene of Dancer in the Dark
Scene from Pandora’s Box when Lulu is dancing for her father (in that beautiful dress)
Scene when Ana Torrent imitates her aunt while singing in Cria Cuervos
Tiny Dancer scene on the bus in Almost Famous.
1/2 of the entire film of The King of Kong
as well as the last scene in doubt.
and about 200+ others that are absent from my mind at the moment.
…the courtroom scene in To Kill a Mockingbird
the scene in the river with Ryu and the dad in Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
1/2 of 28 Days Later…
Buster Keaton running from all those COPS.
The Papal Fashion Show in Fellini’s ROMA.
Pretty much all of Fellini’s 8 1/2.
The final scene of Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW.
The shot at the beginning of the auction house sequence in NORTH BY NORTHWEST, of James Mason stroking the back of Eva Marie Saint’s neck like it was a precious art object.
Fredric March’s homecoming in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. It gets me every time.
The scene that most recently gave me the goosebumps was in “Broken Blossoms” where we first see Lucy push up the sides of her mouth in a fragile smile only to look at her eyes and see all of that sadness. Just beautiful.
I share these with previous posters:
Closing montage of 25th hour
Sam carries Frodo
I will add:
Tom Cruise enters the house in Eyes Wide Shut
ReinHardt kills in Berlin Alexanderplatz
The ending of Moolaade
The showdown between Bulington and Barry in Barry Lyndon
The theater scene on Mulholland Drive
Ending of the Devils
James Mason’s shadow looms large in Bigger Than Life
Death row sequence in chapter 5 of the Decalog
Neil Patrick Harris in SS gear in Starship Troopers.
The kids and Mabel run up and down the stairs in A Woman Under the Influence
Barbara Jean has a nervous breakdown in Nashville
Keith Carradine sings to four women at once in Nashville
Charlie hums the Merry Widow waltz in Shadow of a Doubt
The camera starts to spin around the performance hall in The Rules of the Game
Travolta takes over the dance floor in Saturday Night Fever.
Charles Crumb talks about wanting to kill Robert in Crumb
The opening credits scene in McCabe and Mrs. Miller
George and Fannie walk through the empty house in the Magnificent Ambersons
“Blindness”
When the WOMEN begin walking towards Ward 3, that’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen on film in my life. And they’re just walking! I tend to think a lot when watching films, and I just thought these WOMEN don’t have tampons; Nobody’s taken a real bath or shower; and at this point in the movie you have literally seen someone walk barefooted through sh!t. Any man who would want to have sex in these conditions is not going to be gentle, because he’s classless and pathetic. The animals in the film actually start cheering when the WOMEN are coming down the hall. On top of it all, they can’t see. So these WOMEN are just walking towards this chaos blind. Talk about a bad blind date. It’s all horrible, then the WOMEN walk back. Carrying their dead friend, and fresh water. Then they clean their friend, who died going through hell with them.
Yah, I sure did pick one hell of scene, but it gave me goosebumps. Plus, Milla Jovovich & Angelina Jolie can kick all the ass, and raid all the tombs they want. This scene in “Blindness” was the ultimate, WOMEN don’t need men statement for me. This is what that Rosie the Riveter poster was all about. That segment was like the entire 139 minutes of Fight Club, only for WOMEN. They were, “Remaining WOMEN together.” It’s just powerful. I’ve read a lot of bad reviews for this movie, and I just don’t know what movie those reviewers were watching.
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” – Gone With the Wind. Sure, it’s cliche, but it gets me every time.
End of Sleuth, really well done.
Godfather II – “It was you, Fredo! It was you!” the kiss!
there are more moments than i can count in ‘andrei rublev’, but most vividly are the scenes of the luminescent pagans running through the forest, their torches glimmering through the shroud of night and greenery, and but of course, the horse. i don’t think i ever recovered from that moment. the shock of seeing a life end on screen is too much for me; while it is one of those moments that i will forever remember, imbued with a horrible beauty, i simply can’t do that to myself again. almost all of ’l’atalante’, but specifically the underwater moments. all of "the passion of joan of arc’. and for whatever reason i’ve fallen in love with the ending of ‘amarcord’ as the wedding drifts away like the puffballs in the wind.
The ending sequence of Irreversible (or technically the beginning sequence). When you see Monica Bellucci lying in the grass and the camera lifts up, looking down at her, and starts to spin, all the while Beethoven’s 7th-second movement is building to an unbearable intensity, instant chills.
The ending sequence of Irreversible (or technically the beginning sequence). When you see Monica Bellucci lying in the grass and the camera lifts up, looking down at her, and starts to spin, all the while Beethoven’s 7th-second movement is building to an unbearable intensity, instant chills.
“The theater scene on Mulholland Drive”
I’ll take the audition scene from that film. Incredible piece of acting by Naomi Watts.
MAGIC MOMENTS
Magic moments meander through celluloid history,
From Melies and Griffith to the “Blair Witch” Mystery.
Marilyn feels the breeze in “The Seven Year Itch”,
Cary Grant comes a cropper – a technical Hitch.
“I’ll be back!” warned Big Arnie, and we knew it was true,
Moira Shearer dances to her death in The Archer’s “Red Shoes”.
A thrown bone becomes spacecraft in "2001"’s seemless match-cut,
Mr Orange lies down bleeding, shot in the gut.
Al and Bobby buy coffee and have a nice chat,
Lugosi and Karloff ham it up in “The Black Cat”.
James Cameron sinks ships and becomes “King of the World”,
King Kong’s heart stops beating, killed by guns and a girl.
Guitar versus banjo – Voight and Reynolds look on,
Newman shoots Redford – it’s “The Sting”, it’s a con.
The credits take time in “Once Upon a Time in the West”,
Stan and Ollie wonder who it was created yet another fine mess.
“Ride of the Valkryies” – it must be “Apocalypse Now”,
Sharon Stone crosses her legs – the reaction is “wow!”.
Brynner meets McQueen, and five more join the group,
The Marx Brothers prove immortal, their best is “Duck Soup”.
Ethan Edwards stands alone, cinema’s greatest loner,
Drew Barrymore’s "Scream"ing – some loony’s trying to phone her.
While Travis stands taunting in front of the mirror,
Sissy Spacek, as “Carrie”, is striking ultimate terror.
From the bowels of his mansion Kane whispers “Rosebud”,
And “Shane” rides off into the sunset, this time for good.
Freddy and Jason sharpen their hatchets,
McMurphy, the wacko, squares up to Nurse Ratched.
“By gad, sir, you’re a character” – the Fat Man to Sam Spade,
Chrissie Watkins, in “Jaws”, picks the wrong time to bathe.
Jack wants the waitress to hold onto the chicken,
The Big One goes off, ridden by yee-hawing Slim Pickens.
“Is it safe?” enquires Laurence, of Dustin’s “Marathon Man”,
Kathy Bates certainly isn’t, as James Caan’s Number One Fan.
Would you be willin’ to accept Mel’s Scottish burr,
Or go head-to-head in a chariot with Heston’s “Ben Hur”?
Slow motion gunfights define “The Wild Bunch”,
Hannibal, the gourmet, has an old friend for lunch.
Margo Channing advises “it’s gonna be a bumpy night,”
“The Quiet Man” and Red Danaher have one helluva fight.
Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb – two of the “12 Angry Men”,
“Dirty Harry” does it his way, again and again.
“Ghost” gets creative with a pottery wheel,
Miss Kubelik, for a finish, shouts “shut up and deal!”
Brad Pitt asks his partner what’s in the box,
“Goldfinger”, with Oddjob, plans on robbing Fort Knox.
Indy cracks his whip in some faraway land,
“Lawrence of Arabia” stirs it up in acres of sand.
Lemmon and Curtis dress up in “Some Like It Hot”,
Chief Brody, on the Orca, attempts to master that knot.
Woody blows his butt off in “The Thin Red Line”,
The bourgeoisie, discreetly charming, find it impossible to dine.
“Pinocchio” gets swallowed by Monstro the whale,
John Houseman, in “The Fog”, spins his wild tale.
Harry Lime talks profoundly on Borgias and clocks,
Louise Brooks shines ethereal in “Pandora’s Box”.
Forrest Gump keeps on running, when not fishing for shrimp,
In the basement Brucie listens to “bring out the gimp”.
Gershwin and Allen record "Manhattan"’s great beauty,
The accused in “Judgment at Nuremberg” were just doing their duty.
All moments to savour from the cinema’s best,
From an art form adept at putting life to the test.
And as we move forward, feeling Time’s angry whip,
Let me offer this word, this melancholic tip:
Gone are the days when Bogie was king;
When Cagney strutted his stuff, doing his thing.
James Stewart reached “The Far Country”, but it’s not of this earth,
Gone too Bob Hope and other purveyors of mirth.
Now we have Tom Cruise, Angelina, Leonardo and Mel,
We’ve got “Star Wars” and “Watchmen” and new tales to tell.
All totally different, and yet – simply put – just the same,
The heroes keep coming in this endless cinema game.
But I won’t trade my “Genevieve” for your new “Coupe de Ville”,
I’ll keep “Dr No” – you stick with “Licence to Kill”.
In my mind’s eye two giants come to a place,
The Duke and Clint Eastwood meet face-to-face;
Cagney and Pesci eye each other and frown,
Not a sound can be heard in this film noirish town.
It’s Old versus New in a fight to the death,
Walter Brennan counts down, the duo get set.
“Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’,” says Clint with a snigger,
“That’ll be the day,” growls Big John and fingers the trigger.
Two titanic icons take aim and then fire,
The birds in the trees become a discordant choir.
The contest is over, a man has bitten the dust,
The townspeople stare, some of them cuss.
The victor strides forth, the crowd clears a path,
(Who would provoke this man and his wrath?)
One man steps forth and the silence is broken,
He offers the winner a white horse as a token.
The gesture is gracious, the townspeople approve,
But then a young voice pipes up when the man starts to move.
A sun-bleached child moves into the path of the beast,
Hearts miss a beat – suspense is increased.
“What if the other was faster with a gun?”
“That’ll be the day,” the man smiles, and rides off towards the sun.
In “Paths of Glory” when the German girl sings, bringing all the soldiers in the room to tears.
The end of This Is England when Shaun tosses the flag into the sea while “please please please let me get what I want” plays in the background. Heartbreaking and moving…
“Well he should’ve armed himself if he’s gonna decorate his saloon with my friend” in Unforgiven (and all that followed – especially when Munny spits “you better bury Ned right!” at the shellhocked townspeople, as the music continues its ominous tone, before he rides off…
“Seven years in Folsom…” and all that folllows – in Heat.
That brilliant scene between Stanton and Kinski in Paris, Texas was goosepimple city for me.
^ Ahnmin Lee, good call on the Paths of Glory scene.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – scary goosebumps
Titanic – when they’re singing “Nearer My God To Thee” – sad goosebumps
A Few Good Men – Nicholson/Cruise courtroom scene – Gotcha! goosebumps
Shawshank Redemption – escape sequence – holy sh*t goosebumps
All of Me, Serial Mom – ROTFL goosebumps
Ryan
I’ve found that movie as a whole don’t give me chills, but certain scenes do. One great example is during Casablanca, when the Germans are singing “Die Wacht am Rhein”, and Laszlo gets everyone to sing “La Marseillaise”. It is such a moving scene. What scenes give you goosebumps?