Favorite Scenes/Lines in Film
How many of us remember specific scenes or lines from movies? It is remarkable which of these can impact us individually. This list could be huge so I am going to limit it to just 25 films (only one scene/line per film...difficult I know). I would love to know your opinion. They are in no particular order. My explanations may contain spoilers of some kind so proceed with caution if you have not seen the film I am talking about.
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- DirectorMarc ForsterStarsWill FerrellEmma ThompsonDustin HoffmanI.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.There are several lines in this film I love but the one that kind of says it all to me is when Ferrell's character is doing his comedy vs tragedy checklist and at the end of the day he says to Gyllenhaal's character, "This may sound like jibberish to you, but I think I'm in a tragedy." To me this sums up his entire life up till now and is the most poignant moment in the film.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.Admittedly I was a child when I first saw this movie but even today the scene is still intense. I am sure many of you will have already guessed just by the title of the film and it is the scene in which the Alien baby explodes out of the chest of John Hurt's chest.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMatt DamonTom SizemoreFollowing the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.The scene in which Tom Hanks' character dies is memorable enough but his line is what I remember. He tells Matt Damon's character, "James, earn this...earn this."
- DirectorBen StillerStarsBen StillerJack BlackRobert Downey Jr.Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.Love him or hate him for it but Robert Downey Jr's character was hilarious in Tropic Thunder. I tend to stop and rewind this part endlessly: the scene when the director gets blown up and Jr's character says, "Yo *beep* This motha' *beep* dead. Ain't no Criss Angel Mindfreak, David Blane *beep* jumpin' off here!" I can't stop laughing even now writing it.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsBruce WillisAlan RickmanBonnie BedeliaA New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.I was 10 when this came out so of course I was among those boys who quoted everything. And once Willis's John McClaine said, "yippeekayay mother *beep* that is all you could hear in school for the next month or two (well when teachers were not around)
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsMark HamillHarrison FordCarrie FisherLuke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.So I know what the fanboys will say...why not Empire's Strike Back? Well sure now I truly recognize the importance of Darth Vader revealing himself as Luke's father or Han Solo responding to Princess Leia's "I love you" with the oh-so-awesome "I know" (I mean really...what guy has not attempted to get away with that?), but I was just a very young boy when I first saw it and had no clue as to the real significance so I cannot put either on this list. But to this day my favorite scene and pretty much the only one I remember from the first time I saw Star Wars from when I was 4 or 5 was the scene in the garbage disposal area in the Death Star after Luke and Han had busted Leia out of the brig. I just loved it for some reason and it still remains my favorite.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsTom HanksRobin WrightGary SiniseThe history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.To this day I probably can recite every line word for word using either a Forrest Gump or Bubba accent (strange how the two get mixed up lol). There are way too many memorable lines in this film, but my favorite (and one of the greatest ever) was just after Forrest asks Jenny why she doesn't love him and he says,"I'm not a smart man...but I know what love is." Amazing line...(so I am cheating a bit but the close second would be the line he asks Jenny after finding out he has a son)
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.I saw this when it came out (seriously my childhood was messed up with some jacked up movies lol). The whole prologue at Perris Island is one of the greatest in film, but the scene I remember most (and there are many to choose...soap socks come to mind as one lol) is the closing scene of the act when Private Pile is in the latrine and he his reciting the Marine rifle creed. Of course the ending of that whole act is forever ingrained in my mind but I found this to be very powerful to me (even at 9 years old)
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.It is strange what lines stick with us. Much like Schneider's famous line in Jaws, "we're gonna need a bigger boat" I think it is typically the more lighthearted lines that get remembered. Well for me the most memorable line was by Samuel L Jackson. I don't know...maybe I was just amazed to finally see a black man in a Spielberg film that wasn't A Color Purple (and there hasn't been many since either save Amistad...seriously I think that's how Spielberg is able to defend himself from such criticism...just make slave-era films with mostly black casts lol). Anyway, the line I remember most is the one in which Jackson's character says, "hold on to your butts". I still use it to this day.
- DirectorDavid Mickey EvansStarsTom GuiryMike VitarArt LaFleurIn the summer of 1962, a new kid in town is taken under the wing of a young baseball prodigy and his rowdy team, resulting in many adventures.One of the greatest boyhood films ever. I think you all know the line I am referring to and perhaps one of the most quoted lines in history. C'mon say it with me..., "You're killin' me Smalls" (of course these days it's so sad when kids ask you who Smalls is)
- DirectorJames CameronStarsLeonardo DiCaprioKate WinsletBilly ZaneA seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.I am sure people have their favorite lines or scenes from Titanic. For me (not a huge fan I admit) the most intense and impact-full scene was when the ship was sinking and we start to see the montage of how different people were coping. It was depressing enough when we see the old couple hugging each other as the water rises, but I was speechless when the scene shifted to the mother singing her two children to sleep. I swear you could hear a pin drop in the theater. NOT COOL JAMES CAMERON lol.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsMichael BeckJames RemarDorsey WrightA street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.Once again I was a kid when I first saw this film and to this day the scene bothers me a bit. It was the scene in the subway when the other gang member kept repeating, "Warriors..come out to playay..." Totally disturbing to a child lol.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHenry ThomasDrew BarrymorePeter CoyoteA troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.I think for the rest of this list I will just have to predicate that childhood memories are the most powerful...warranted or not. I saw E.T. in the theater. I only remember two or three scenes from that day but what stuck out to me the most (and freaked me out for a very long time) was the scene when all the space-suit men are jumping through windows and terrorizing Elliot and his family. Sure I watch it now and I think, oh that's not so bad...but I was freaked out by that as a kid, to the extent I did not watch E.T. again until a couple years ago.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKate CapshawKe Huy QuanIn 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.It is sad to say but I think I was already beginning to be highly desensitized by movies at this point. One of my favorite scenes of all time is when Mola Ram tears out the heart of the sacrificial guy. And of course if you too love this then you also remember his whole prayer which allowed him to penetrate the chest and what the sacrifice repeats...classic lol.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsEmilio EstevezJudd NelsonMolly RingwaldFive high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.This still remains one of my favorite films of all time. My favorite scene has changed over the years but now I think it is the end when Vernon is reading the essay Brian wrote for everyone (I have still yet to count...how many words is it because I know it isn't 1000?) and it ends with Bender punching his fist in the air (cliched I know but still awesome)
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsGene KellyLeslie CaronOscar LevantThree friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.I grew up in the theater and my mom shoving every musical down my throat so of course the most memorable scene for me was when Gene Kelly is dancing with Jerry the Mouse. I think people forget how awesome this was...for animation and live action to be synched. It was 1951 after all and to my knowledge it had not been done yet (please correct me if I am wrong). And to a kid who just wanted to watch cartoons, this scene was awesome...and still is (of course I now prefer the homage version Family Guy did with Stewie superimposed onto Jerry)
- DirectorPete DocterBob PetersonStarsEdward AsnerJordan NagaiJohn Ratzenberger78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.I adore animation and in a long tradition of heart-wrenching introductions, Disney Pixar (at the time still just Pixar) took it to a whole new level. The opening montage after Mr Fredricksen and his wife meet as children takes you through a whirlwind of emotions ending in heart break. I mean damn people the movie could only get happier from there lol. But i will say it is one of the greatest scenes I can remember.
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsTom CruiseCuba Gooding Jr.Renée ZellwegerWhen a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.I know this is over the top cheezy but who does not love Zellweger's line at the end, "you had me at hello"? Seriously what hopeless romantic wouldn't want to hear this? Gooding's "show me the money" is a close second though lol.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsBrad PittAngelina JolieAdam BrodyA bored married couple is surprised to learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other.I am pretty sure you all know the scene I am going to mention here. The love scene. So visceral and passionate. I mean damn...I usually don't blush but even to this day I feel myself a little embarrassed watching this scene. Maybe it was because deep down we all knew that it was just too real to be acting.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsSean AstinJosh BrolinJeff CohenA group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure.Who doesn't love the Truffle Shuffle? But I would say my favorite scene is where Data falls through the floor of the pirate ship and loses it. Hilarious:)
- DirectorRich MooreStarsJohn C. ReillyJack McBrayerJane LynchA video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.I have watched this more times then I can count. I love the scene toward the end when Ralph finally accepts who he is and seemingly sacrifices himself to save Vanellope reciting the Badanon creed on his way down.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayDan AykroydSigourney WeaverThree parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.Like Forrest Gump I am sure I could recite this entire movie. My favorite line is on the roof toward the end just after Gozer asks Ray if they are gods and it tries to kill them. Winston yells at Ray,"if someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!" I am still waiting for someone to ask me lol.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsMatthew BroderickAlan RuckMia SaraA popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.A true classic. There are many scenes I love but one I still try to copy whenever I have the chance is the scene in the Hancock building when the three of them lean over the rail pressing their heads to the windows. I remember the first time I went to Chicago one of the first things I did was that. And every time I am in a tall building I think of that scene.
- DirectorSteve RashStarsPatrick DempseyAmanda PetersonCourtney GainsAn outcast secretly pays the most popular girl in school one thousand dollars to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month.Even as a kid I was a hopeless romantic and realized the improbability of a geek ever getting a girl as gorgeous as Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson). So my favorite scene (and one that probably ruined my adult love life lol) was at the end when she realizes she loves him and chases after him on the lawn mower and the two ride off into the sunset. So cheezy but who cares lol.
- DirectorPaul WeitzChris WeitzStarsJason BiggsChris KleinThomas Ian NicholasFour teenage boys enter a pact to lose their virginity by prom night.I was a band geek in high school and a subsequent music major in college so when this movie came out there is one line that has always stuck with me (and most everyone that has heard it). "One time at band camp..." should I continue lol?