Greatest Moments in Cinema
by Wuchakk | created - 27 Apr 2017 | updated - 07 Feb 2023 | PublicNo particular order.
WARNING: Some of my comments contain SPOILERS.
(More to come)
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1. Wolfen (1981)
R | 115 min | Horror, Thriller
A New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.
Director: Michael Wadleigh | Stars: Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos, Gregory Hines
Votes: 11,484 | Gross: $10.63M
At the 90 minute mark Dewey Wilson (Finney), half-dazed after the death of his buddy, lumbers into a Native American bar where a couple of Natives explain to him the mystery of the wolfen. This 5 minute scene is one of the most captivating, surreal and potent scenes in all of cinema; everything works -- the music, dialogue, acting & casting. The sequence could have easily failed if everything wasn't just perfect, but it is.
2. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
R | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig
Votes: 187,761 | Gross: $75.51M
When Alice threatens to jump off a cliff to Magua's bafflement.
3. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 710,602 | Gross: $83.47M
The entire opening sequence where Captain Willard suffers an alcoholic bout of cabin fever in his Saigon hotel room to the tune of The Doors "The End."
4. Runaway Train (I) (1985)
R | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a speeding train with no brakes and nobody driving.
Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy | Stars: Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner
Votes: 33,023 | Gross: $7.94M
Manny has a knife and mercilessly comes against his own "partner" on the train. You see the rage on his face, like a cornered animal. After intense emotions are vented Manny suddenly realizes... and then he just bows over, completely spent. Then a character, who should be afraid of him, somehow understands and compassionately reaches out in a semi-embrace.
5. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,490 | Gross: $95.86M
The ending when an overly meek student dares to defy the rules in order to salute his scapegoated English teacher.
6. Where Eagles Dare (1968)
M | 158 min | Action, Adventure, War
Allied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.
Director: Brian G. Hutton | Stars: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark
Votes: 62,937
The opening with the breath-taking Alps and Ron Goodwin's incredible score is one of the greatest cinematic openings in history.
7. Platoon (1986)
R | 120 min | Drama, War
Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David
Votes: 439,695 | Gross: $138.53M
In a dugout six of the soldiers who sided with Sgt. Elias discuss what to do after it appears Elias had been shot by Barnes in combat. They all want to kill the scarred-face Barnes, but Rhah reveals Barnes' stature with the men is nigh mythological at this point; he's been hit seven times and still isn't dead. "Barnes ain't meant to die! The only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes". A shirtless Barnes suddenly appears, drinking a bottle of whiskey; apparently he heard the whole conversation. He boldly confronts all six with a fascinating rant ("I am reality") and challenges them to kill him. None of them take the bait because they deem him a human tiger, except Taylor, who's no match for Barnes in man-to-man combat. Although Barnes is the villain in the film you can't help but admire his sheer boldness and killer skills; it's clear why the men respect and fear him.
8. The Edge (1997)
R | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An intellectual billionaire and two other men struggle to band together and survive after getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a blood-thirsty Kodiak Bear hunting them down.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Elle Macpherson, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 79,065 | Gross: $27.78M
The ending when Charles is asked by a reporter what happened to the other two guys, one his former moral enemy, Bob. Charles simply responds, "They died... saving my life."
This shows that Charles accepted Bob's repentance; he thus forgave him. He realized that ALL OF US are screw-ups to some degree. We all have a dark, carnal side to our psyche, Bob simply made the mistake of going over THE EDGE; yet, in the end, he realized this and was truly sorry for it.
What an amazing testimony to the power of repentance and forgiveness -- goodwill triumphing over evil!
9. Planet of the Apes (1968)
G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
Votes: 193,449 | Gross: $33.40M
The climax where Taylor and Nova travel a LONG distance down the shoreline while the viewer hears eerie music on the soundtrack. Something's just not right; it's too quiet and uneventful. There's no way it's gonna end like this. And then, suddenly, the truth about the "planet of the apes" is revealed. Utterly dumbfounded, Taylor jumps off his horse and furiously pounds his fists into the surf while screaming curses at humanity.
10. The Horse Whisperer (1998)
PG-13 | 169 min | Drama, Romance, Western
The mother of a severely traumatized daughter enlists the aid of a unique horse trainer to help the girl's equally injured horse.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Neill, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 43,546 | Gross: $75.38M
Late in the film Booker tells Grace about this Blackfoot boy whom he was friends with and who became a paraplegic after an accident. Tom would visit him now and then, but the spirited boy he once knew was gone. It was as if he "just went somewhere else."
Grace responds: "I know where he goes." ”
11. Magnum Force (1973)
R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan pursues a conspiracy of vigilante cops, who are not above going beyond the law to kill San Francisco's undesirables.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Mitchell Ryan, David Soul
Votes: 66,669 | Gross: $4.56M
When Harry is unexpectedly confronted by the eponymous 'magnum force' (four vigilante cops on motorcycles) in the parking garage and Harry comes face to face with what he could've become.
12. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons
Votes: 49,255 | Gross: $84.56M
When the passionate reverend (Gene Hackman) has it out with God Himself at the end, even while he becomes the Christ figure.
13. The Bounty (1984)
PG | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Fed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Edward Fox
Votes: 30,482 | Gross: $8.60M
The end shows Fletcher, the other mutineers and the Tahitians stranded on Pitcairn Island as they sadly observe The Bounty go down in flames. They know they can never go home again. Vangelis' unique piece then plays out over the credits. It perfectly captures the mood and setting -- one of the most potent endings in motion picture history.
14. Sands of the Kalahari (1965)
Approved | 119 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
After a small aircraft crashes in the Kalahari Desert, one of the seven passengers decides that his survival chances would increase if he eliminates the other men in the group.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Stanley Baker, Stuart Whitman, Susannah York, Harry Andrews
Votes: 1,498
Stuart Whitman plays the alpha male antihero. You think the movie's over, but it's not; the climax is unforgettable.
15. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
G | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
Director: Ted Post | Stars: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison
Votes: 51,471 | Gross: $19.00M
The action-packed, ultra-downer climax.
16. Wayne's World 2 (1993)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Music
The inseparable duo try to organize a rock concert while Wayne must fend off a record producer who has an eye for his girlfriend.
Director: Stephen Surjik | Stars: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Christopher Walken, Tia Carrere
Votes: 88,159 | Gross: $48.20M
Near the end when a certain classic actor appears as a gas station attendant. I laughed so hard I was crying!
17. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 340,621 | Gross: $25.59M
At about the 1 hour and 45 minute mark the film cops a truly mysterious and awe-inspiring ambiance as a handful of people escape into the foreboding mist. The score at this point becomes equal parts ominous, beautiful and otherworldly. And then comes the controversial climax. Some hate it but it makes a powerful point: Never give up hope because you never know how close you are to the dawn.
18. The Vikings (1958)
Not Rated | 116 min | Action, Adventure, History
A slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh
Votes: 15,700 | Gross: $7.00M
The arrival in England in the last act and the taking of the castle are nothing short of breathtaking. The score during this sequence is just a constant, primal drum. It's very fitting.
19. Village of the Giants (1965)
Not Rated | 81 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Delinquent teen-agers ingest a substance and grow thirty feet tall, then proceed to take over a small town.
Director: Bert I. Gordon | Stars: Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, Beau Bridges, Ron Howard
Votes: 2,688
The sensual dance sequences accompanied by the offbeat bass-driven 60's song "The Last Race" by Jack Nitzsche.
20. Carrie (1976)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery
Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta
Votes: 206,771 | Gross: $33.80M
After the pig's blood prank where Carrie's dream of acceptance & love is shattered in an ultra-humiliating moment, all hell literally breaks loose.
21. Swimming Pool (2003)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A British mystery author visits her publisher's home in the South of France, where her interaction with his unusual daughter sets off some touchy dynamics.
Director: François Ozon | Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Charles Dance, Ludivine Sagnier, Jean-Marie Lamour
Votes: 48,358 | Gross: $10.11M
The end revelation.
22. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 710,602 | Gross: $83.47M
When Willard's head emerges from the water as he goes to assassinate the willing-to-be-sacrificed Kurtz.
And then, after the slaying, when Willard exits the temple and the Montagnard people submit to the obvious victor; to which Willard throws down his machete.
Really, the entire haunting ending, including the credits.
23. Watchmen (2009)
R | 162 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
In a version of 1985 where superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach on the trail of a conspiracy that will change the course of history.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Malin Akerman
Votes: 582,739 | Gross: $107.51M
Dan Dreiberg (aka Nite Owl) laments that The Comedian is dead and the scene switches to the funeral with "The Sound of Silence" playing.
24. Daredevil (2003)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Crime
A man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero.
Director: Mark Steven Johnson | Stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 229,133 | Gross: $102.54M
Elektra's solo workout while Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life" blares on the soundtrack.
25. The Warriors (1979)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler
Votes: 110,743 | Gross: $22.49M
The ending where the remaining Warriors walk down the Coney Island beach while the DJ offers them a tribute song -- "In the City" by Joe Walsh.
26. Troy (2004)
R | 163 min | Adventure, Drama
An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julian Glover
Votes: 570,738 | Gross: $133.38M
The compelling fight between Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Hector (Eric Bana) outside the massive walls of Troy, perhaps the greatest sword & sandal fight in cinematic history.
27. Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
PG | 143 min | Adventure, Drama
A missing heir of respected Scottish family, raised in African jungles by animals, finally returns to his estate only to realize that difference between the two worlds is really significant.
Director: Hugh Hudson | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Andie MacDowell, Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm
Votes: 21,263 | Gross: $45.90M
Tarzan and Jane's consummation scene, one of the greatest love sequences in cinematic history.
28. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,185 | Gross: $248.16M
Indy's nonchalant response to the flashy swordsman.
29. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 924,614 | Gross: $38.40M
The Terminator's carefully selected response to the guy at the door of his apartment.
30. Little Children (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Romance
The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations in suburban Massachusetts.
Director: Todd Field | Stars: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley
Votes: 116,790 | Gross: $5.46M
The dinner table sequence where the two couples finally spend time together: During the conversation Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) picks up on her radar what's really going on between Brad (Patrick Wilson) and Sarah (Kate Winslet). It's subtle, but she clearly discerns it. The directing, writing and acting of this scene are all flawless -- masterful filmmaking.
31. House of the Witch (2017 TV Movie)
Unrated | 90 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
A group of high-school kids set out to play a Halloween prank at an abandoned house, but once they enter they become victims of a demonic witch who has set her wrath upon them.
Director: Alex Merkin | Stars: Emily Bader, Darren Mann, Michelle Randolph, Arden Belle
Votes: 3,934
The final 10 minutes show artistic ingenuity with the hauntingly beautiful cinematography and the story revelations, along with the affecting score (reminiscent of Unkle's poignant "When things explode" with Ian Astbury). It's comparable to the moving close of 2009's underrated "Wind Chill," although they're decidedly different in theme.
32. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,490 | Gross: $95.86M
After hearing of Neil's suicide, Todd -- shocked -- stumbles outside seeking sanctuary, followed by a few others, falling to the snowy ground in pain.
33. The Blue Max (1966)
Approved | 156 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A young pilot in the German air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous, tries ambitiously to earn the medal offered for 20 kills.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Jeremy Kemp
Votes: 7,628
In the first half Stachel (George Peppard) justly feels he is robbed of a "kill" because the plane he shot down couldn't officially be confirmed (even after he forces a corporal to escort him around the rainy countryside for half a day to find the downed plane). Later, while escorting an enemy plane back to home base he shoots the plane down when a wounded tailgunner awakens and instinctively starts shooting. Stachel lands and runs over to the downed plane along with numerous other Germans; he cuts the emblem from the plane and bitterly throws it at the feet of his superiors, stressing, "Confirmed."
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