My Top 10 Movie Moments

Then Moses (Charlton Heston) says, "Behold His mighty hand." He stretches out his arms and the Red Sea parts.

You mention Peckinpah.Good choice for many moments, but mine is from his first big film, Ride the High Country. At the end there is a walk into a gunfight by Randolf Scott and Joel McCrae with a great backup score. They are aging gunmen, confident in being able to overcome their enimies, yet aware of their age and limitations. Seing that walk and gunfight that follows is iconic to me because when I first saw it I was overcome with the emotion of two great western stars also at their end. I grew up with their films and realized that this was an ending for them as well. It moved me greatly. It was also followed up by the death scene of McCrae and his turning to stare at his West before he slumps and fades out of the picture. If that doesn't bring a tear to the eye, not much will.

The rolling boulder in Raiders of the lost Ark is a favourite. I remember the first time I saw this movie in UK and everybody was excited in the theatre . Sadly that doesn't happen much these days!!!!

GOLDFINGER. James Bond, locked inside the awesome gold laden vault of Fort Knox, is handcuffed to the case of a ticking atomic bomb! The seconds slowly tick by as he desperately uses two gold bricks to break open the case and hopefully, figure out a way to prevent the bomb from detonating!

To Bond Trader: And of course the classic scene of "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to DIE!"

A scene imprinted in my brain is when Heathcliff is holding Cathy up by the window to view the moors once again before she dies. Her rolling eyes still scare the begeezers out of me every time I see ''Wuthering Heights".

How about the ending of Apollo 13 when you are waiting to see if the astronauts return to earth safely. (I know, true story they make it) but every time I watch it I say "are they going to make it" and am sitting on the edge of my seat - now thats great acting.

I go with you with The Wild Bunch but my personal favourite scenes are when Strother Martin another "deputy" fight over a dead guys boots. You get an idea about who aren't the good guys just from that one moment in the movie. The scene in the sand dunes when Ben Johnson, (a favourite actor of mine) wants to gun down, "the old man" because of the fall with the horses is also a riveter. I have never been able to stomach the opening scenes where the children feed the scorpion to the ants though. Peckinpah at his "demon ridden", best...though the Ballad of Cable Hogue has more moments than I can write down here.

When Lawrence blows out the match and is transported to the furnace of the desert.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES IS FROM ATONEMENT WHEN THE SOLDIERS ARE WANDERING THE BEACHES AT NORMANDY - A BRILLIANT SET PIECE THAT I WATCH AGAIN AND AGAIN. ALSO, EACH AND EVERY SCENE IN THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, A HIGHLY UNDERRATED FILM THAT I HAVE IN MY TOP TEN ALL TIME. IN ADDITION, IN VERTIGO AS JAMES STEWART IS FOLLOWING KIM NOVAK THROUGH THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO.

One moment for me is in "An Affair To Remember" when Cary Grant realizes where the painting is, and opens the bedroom door to find it. The look on his face. Wow.

Or in "Forrest Gump", when he's is asking the mother of his child if the kid is like him.

Another I never forget is the explanation about the Krell civilization in "Forbidden Planet" and the machine that outlived them.

Many, many scenes come to mind:
Scout: (looking towards Robert Duvall behind the door) Hey Boo!
Atticus: Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you.

Incredible stuff.

Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty to Deckard (Harrison Ford), raining. "All those moments in time lost, like tears in rain. Time to die."

Dan Akroyd to Bill Murray in Ghostbusters:
Where do those steps go?
Bill Murray: They go up.

My congratulations to those who have who have taken the time to contribute their favourite film moments. They're all great!

For me, there are two that I will probably remember after I am dead. #2 is the final scene from "A Star is Born" when Judy Garland triumphantly states, "Hello everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine!" It's the film that made me a lifelong Judy Garland fan, so towering did I find her performance.

But my number one pick comes from Billy ilder's most un-Billy Wilder movie, "The Spirit of St. Louis." Jimmy Stewart's pioneer aviator, Charles Lindbergh is exhausted. He had little sleep before he left on his solo transatlantic flight, he has crossed the ocean at night, seen a mirage for good measure and now thinks he might be viewing another one. First there's a seagull, fishing boats and then, suddenly, " as Franz Waxman's magnificent score (my own, personal favourite movie soundtrack) introduces a charming celtic theme, the realization hits, "It could be Dingle Bay...It is, it's Dingle Bay, it's IRELAND." Man, that scene gets to me everytime as the music swells in crescendo with Waxman's brilliant mixture of main theme and Irish jig. I well remember sitting in the Tivoli Theatre here in Hamilton, Ontario the first time I saw that film on its opening day. I was only seventeen, I had never heard of Charles Lindbergh but trust me, no one was ever so engrossed in a movie. I flew that plane and, to paraphrase the N.Y. Daily News review, I was lifted right out of my seat the moment 'Lucky Lindy' let his joy runneth over when he screamed and yelled and pounded the side of his monoplane. "IRELAND!" It's an experience I will never forget, indeed get to re-approximate every time I put on the DVD.

you are right TOO MANY to mention, so heres a couple more LOL:
CAPRICORN ONE when the astronaut shows up at his own funeral!
UNFAITHFUL Diane Lane's masterful breakdown on the commuter train after her liason in the City.
PENNY SERENADE The last phone call Irene Dunne and Cary Grant receive from the adoption agency.
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS the finale of this boy and his dog(s) story!
These are all moments that bring film-making home to us.

Ralph Richardson in The Heiress telling Olivia DeHaviland,who could never measure up to his deceased wife, "Well Katherine, you have finally found your tongue."

The scene from The Victors where they execute the deserter while Sinatra sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Two scenes from "Saving Private Ryan". In the beginning when the soldiers hit the beach and are killed by the thousands. I always wonder how anyone could have the courage to do that. And in the end when an aging Private Ryan is visiting Tom Hanks' grave and he asks his wife if he has been a good man. Always brings a tear to my eye.

The cafe scene in "Bad Day at Black Rock" when the one-armed Spencer Tracy finally gets enough of local bully Ernest Borgnine's bullying him and beats the crap out of him. It's totally unexpected and completely and utterly gratifying.

Barbara Stanwyck; DOUBLE INDEMNITY; she sits on the driver's side of the front seat of the car while Fred MacMurray garrets her husband in the back seat. Her face traces anxiety to excitement to orgasim to satisfaction and relief.

Another silent moment from Stanwyck; EXECUTIVE SUITE; the camera travels into the room focusing on the backside of a tall chair when the phone rings. Never stopping, the camera continues forward; we see a woman's hand reach out and take the receiver. The camera continues the tracking shot, comes around the chair and we see Stanwyck listening. We know she is being told her lover has just died. She returns the receiver to the cradle of the phone as we watch her life force drain from her face and body.

And yet one final silent moment from Stanwyck; STELLA DALLAS; in a worn coat and hat, standing behind a tall iron fence, she watches her daughter marry into the life Stanwyck has always wanted for her; at a cop's insistence, she turns and walks into the rain with the brilliant glow of love and pleasure radiating from her face.

The scene in "Chinatown" where a frustrated Jack Nicholson slaps Faye Dunaway when he feels she's not telling the whole truth."She's my sister"-slap-"she's my daughter"-slap-"she's my sister and my daughter".It's still creepy.

I Want To Live: Susan Hayward as the real Barbara Graham on trial for a murder rap, "I was desperate, do you know what's it like to be desperate?"
I'll Cry Tomorrow: Hayward as real life singer Lillian Roth, after having tanked-up in her dressing room, staggering backstage as she heads for the stage holding on to a railing, " H..e.r...e we go!" in that inimitable husky, tough Hayward delivery.

Great movie endings (I believe in "payback"):

Breakfast at Tiffany's: Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard and "Cat" in the rain.

Some Like it Hot: Joe E. Brown to Jack Lemon, "Well, nobody's perfect."

And, of course, the final scene of "The Graduate."

The seen in Moby Dick where Captain Ahab's dead body beckons the rest of the crew while he is entagled in the ropes wrapped around "The White Whale". Also two scenes in "The Thing". I believe it was 1953. When the airmen lead by Tobey Keith, open the door to the greenhouse and the monster is standing on the other side. He swings wildly with his thorned arm and rips pieces of the door jam away as the door is slammed shut. The first time I saw that seen I nearly jumped out of my skin. Another seen in the beginning of the movie where the group spreads out on the refrozen ice and holds their arms out to their sides to try and determine the shape of the object under the ice. It's round! "We've found a flying saucer"> That made my skin crawl and still does all these years later.

#1. George C. Scott as General Gearge S. Patton giving his opening speech to the troops in "Patton".
#2. Gary Cooper as Lou Gherig in "Pride of the Yankees" the "Luckiest Guy in the World" speech.
#3. Clint Easwood as "Dirty Harry", "Go Ahead, Make My Day".

1935 'don't touch that lever; you'll blow us all to atoms'. 10 years later we did touch that lever and blew a few cities to atoms. 'bride of frankenstein' remember seeing it as a child in a theater and place was packed with cheering kids as boris, ernest and elsa get blown to bits in finale scene.

Wow! Someone other than me remembers Chelo Alonso, one of the most beautiful and sexy women ever in the movies. Her dances livened up many a "sword & sandal" flick back in the early sixties. She did really shook things up with her dancing in SON OF SAMSON and MORGAN THE PIRATE. I recently got a copy of the original Italian version of MORGAN and her dance is longer and sexier.
My own most favorite moment is CONAN THE BARBARIAN's prayer to his god Crom when James Earl Jones and all the bad guys in the world ride down on him (at least all the bad guys the budget could afford--looks like about 30). "Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. You don't care who lives and who dies, only that few stood against many. I ask only one thing. Grant me revenge! And if you do not, the hell with you."

The name of the movie escapes me -- it's been YEARS UPON YEARS since I last saw it as a kid. It involved a probe sent to Mars returning with a living substance called "Blood Rust" (thank goodness it was filmed in black-n-white!) and it frightened me so, I had nightmares for years after! It's never been shown on TV, though; must have been lost way back when.

Another movie I only saw a tiny bit of involved a downed helocopter, lava and dinosaurs (I presume animated by Harryhousen) which gave me nightmares as well . . . until I decided to make "friends" with the dinosaurs.

My favorite SF is, naturally, "Forbidden Planet." That one has stayed in my mind since I saw it at the theater as a child, too, and I own several copies now. Loved Robbie and that beautiful space ship coming in to land as well as that "monster caught in the disintegrater beems" (thank you, Walt Disney Studios!)

Yet I'm partial to Westerns too, so count those mentioned above in my favorites and many more that weren't...

"The Lord of Hosts will do battle for us! Behold His Mighty Hands!"

"In the hardness of his heart Pharoah has mocked God and brings death to his own son!"

"Where He sends you I will go. Your God is my God."

"Then let us go forth to the Mountain of God that He may write His laws upon our minds and upon our hearts, forever."

"We MARCH! Praising His Mighty Name!"

- all from Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments

Great choices! Here are a few more:

1. Carrie's hand at the end of "Carrie."
2. "Soylent Green is people!"
3. "You're next!!" at the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
4. Briggs: "In thirty years on the force, my gun's never been out of its holster, Callahan -- I'm proud of that!" Callahan, in that way only he can sneer: "You're a good man, Briggs. A good man always knows his limitations."
5. Dean Wormer: "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

Too many to mention, but here's a few that may not have been mentioned.
Fistful of Dollars '64-the scene where Eastwood guns down 4 Baxters. His seriously given, funny lines are some of the best ever and the after, "My mistake, Four Coffins..." Also from Fistful, When Marisol asks him "why you do this for us?" (helping her family escape) Eastwood, says "I knew someone like you once, there was no one there to help." The soundtrack makes it such a cool scene.

The Invisible Man '33-when Claude Rains enters the Inn/pub all wrapped up with glasses and the place goes silent. Love the camerawork also.

Frankenstein '31-The Henry Frankenstein "It's alive! It's alive!" scene. Movie film history.

Bride of Frankenstein '35-The scene where the bride is presented. Great scene and better film than the original. Love the Dr Pretorius line "To a new world of Gods and Monsters!"

Blade Runner '82-The rooftop "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion." scene with Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer. I hear it mentioned and quoted often.

Caddyshack '80-Pick a scene...one of the most quoted films ever from one of the best comedies ever.

Tombstone '93-The scene where Val Kilmer mocks Micheal Biehn with the shot cup. Maybe not an alltime great but it's a personal fave.

Wow, I could go on all day.

Hey Schar Saxe,
"The Awful Truth" is one of my favorite comedies from the 30's along with "Twentieth Century", "Ruggles of Red Gap" and "My Man Godfrey" among others.

The "Young Frankenstein" Abbey Normal scene is one of my favorites and is all time classic also.

Oh Lord, how many of these? (No particular order)
1 . The Quiet Man, when Sean first grabs Mary Kate from out of the always -late Dublin train. The tension of that moment is astounding.
2 . To Kill A Mockingbird.."Your daddy's passin' by!" I'm emotional every time I just THINK about that scene.
3 . (Original) King Kong..the incredible blood curdling scream of Fay Wray upon first seeing the monster gorilla while tied up.
4 . Yankee Doodle Dandy..."and put ants in his Ger-pants..and that's ..FOR ..the record!!" No better patriotic explosion than following that chant.
5 . "Roswell" (1994)...when Townshend (Martin Sheen) tells retired Lt. Col. Marcel (Kyle MacLachan".."Jesse..you have NOTHING!!"
6 . The Music Box...Prof. Von Schwartzenhoffen screaming at Stan and Ollie..."I HATE and DETEST pianos!They are MECHANICAL BLUNDERBUSSES!!"
7 . Some Like It Hot..MM leaning out (literally) from the upper train berth, to a speechless Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.
8 . Psycho...Bates' demonic end-of-film look with a skull superimposed .
9 . Sudden Impact...the rapists about to attack Sondra Locke (again) when they suddenly see the silhouetted, menacing figure of Harry Callahan and his long necked firearm.
10 . It's A Wonderful Life....Donna Reed's look of controlled terror as she watches George Bailey begin to 'lose it" in front of his family.

How about the scene in "The Third Man" where Orson Wells and Joseph Cotton are at the top of the farriswheel looking out over the amusement park.

Slim Pickens, James Coburn, and the magnificient Katy Jurado in the aftermoments of a shootout and Picken's death in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

What fun!

Gary Vidmar's #2 Kim Novak slinking down the stairs to "Moonglow". Wow

A seatjumper for me was the first scene following the intermission of Dr. Zhivago. The churning, charging locomotive with Red flags flying.

To Dennis Harrington...Consider me busted. How did I miss that when I was writing it?

To Cat: You are thinking od Spacemaster X-7 I believe.

This is addictive! Thanks, Fred.

Conan the Barbarian. As Arnold S. and his side-kick creep up and peer at the evil goings on in the bad guy's cave, the side-kick mutters, "So this is paradise."

The scene from Enter the Dragon when O'Hara punches the wooden board and Bruce Lee looks at him in disgust and says " boards don't hit back!" Also the scene from Gold Finger,' No, Mr. Bond I expect you to die.'

Some of the great scenes:

Gloria Swanson coming down the stairs in "Sunset Boulevard" saying "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup".
Joe E Brown at the end of "Some Like It Hot" saying "Nobody's Perfect" when he finds his love is really a man Jack Lemmon.
The scene of the Alps and the zooming camera coming in to see Julie Andrews and she starts singing "The Sound of Music".
The scene where John Corbett is hit by the old woman and also Nia Vardalos falls down after he walks into her travel office in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

Olivia DeHavilland climbing the stairs with a lamp at the end of "The Heiress" while Montgomery Clift pounds on the door outside.
Cary Grant pulls Eva Marie Saint to safety on Mt Rushmore and this fades into him pulling her into a sleeping bunk at the end of "North by Northwest".

It's great fun reliving all these wonderful movie momemnts. A few of my favorites:

Blade Runner: Roy Battey's final moments.
The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word. I do not think that that word means what you think that it means."
Apocalypse Now: the almost-surreal scene at the bridge and the scene where he shoots the old woman on the boat, with the long, long silence afterwards.
Life of Brian: "You are all individuals.", "Uh, I'm not"; or the scene with the space ship which sounds like a hot rod.
2001: A Space Odyssey: "Jupiter and beyond the infinite"
The Shining: "Hello, Danny. Come and play with us."
1984 (with John Hurt and Richard Burton): "How many fingers do you see?"
Untouchables: the shootout at Union Station.
Barbarella: "I hear screaming. A great many dramatic moments begin with screaming."

My own favorite is also from "The Ten Commandments." Ramses (Yul Brenner) has made a number of accusations of treason against Pharoah Seti (Cecil Hardwicke) by Ramses' adopted brother, Prince Moses (Charleton Heston). Moses shows them the city he has built in Seti's honor. Seti, overwhelmed, announces that he will pass the throne to Moses, with the words: "Who would take a throne by force that he has earned by deeds?"

Two of my favorites: (1) The final scene in "African Queen", floating in the water - "Are you all right, Mr. Allnut?" .....reply "Not too bad for an old married man, Mrs. Allnut." (paraphrased) and (2) in "Friendly Persuasion" when Anthony Perkins, a pacifist Quaker, uses a gun to shoot another person, an enemy soldier, and tears roll down his face....no dialogue.

Scenes that will always stay in my mind.........

(Obvious one) John Wayne with the reins in his teeth.."Fill your hands you sonofabitch!"

Wizard of OZ...Dorthy landing in Oz...or any of a million lines or scenes from that movie.

The Searchers....Duke telling Jeffrey Hunter...." don't ever ask me about that again"

Casablanca....Bogie and Claude Rains walking down the runway. You know the line!!

The Producers....Gene Wilder to Zero Mostel..."scared, can't talk" and "I want my blue blankie, I want my blue blankie"

this was a really fun trip! a couple that came to mind--ghostbusters, when dan ackroyd comes running out the library--he looks just like a scared little kid!! and most of young frankenstein, but my fav is "igor, help me with the bags" "okay, you take the blonde and I'll take the one in the turban". then in gone with the wind, when Scarlett comes to the birthday party dressed to kill and the whole room comes to a standstill-wow!

the next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.

Your place is valueble for me. Thanks!…

Bette Davis "Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy night"

King George 3rd (Nigel Hawthorne) being tied up while the sound track plays Zadok the Priest and the doctor says No Sir, You are the Patient. The ending of Bubba Hotep with Elvis dying saying Thank you very much.  The opening scene of Ruthless People with Danny DeVito telling about the old man dying "And then he stabilized!"  And the big sword fight in El Cid, with Charlton getting his saddle chopped to pieces and then he gets a sword and kills the bad knight.

There are dozens of scenes but one I like is when William Holden is finished with the young prostitute in The Wild Bunch and her baby is in the room and he looks at her and the baby and just looks away knowing his time is up.
I also like scene when Humphrey Bogart says "This is the stuff dreams are made of" in The Maltese Falcon.Â
 Robert Redford talking in Jeramiah Johnson talking to Del and he ask where are you headed and the reply is Hell in the end same as you.Â
How about the moment of realization by Alec Guiness in Bridge on the River Kwai when he finally realizes that the building of the bridge is a mistake.
The moment in Jaws  -  We gonna need a bigger boat.

There in fact are many that have so much value and make movies memorable.