100 Great Moments in the Movies

In Shanghai Lily, Dietrich says "It took more than one MAN to change my name to Shanghai Lily;" after Clive Brook asks if she's been married.

I would add the tracking shot down to the key in Ingrid Bergman's palm in "Notorious."

And Bernard Herrmann's stirring soundtrack swelling over the montage of waves and deteriorating driftwood in "The Ghost and Mrs Muir."

"One of us! One of us!" in Tod Browning's "Freaks."

Oh man, I couldn't wait to add "the smell of napalm" line, but I ran into it at the end... Marcello!

No love for Andy Dufresne coming out of the sewer in Shawshank Redemption?

Thank you for that. It played like a movie montage in my head. There are so many. One of my favorites:

A tortured Salieri in Amadeus, "I was staring through the cage of those maticulous ink strokes...at a true beauty."

My all time favorites:

Raymond Burr sees Grace Kelly point to the ring on her hand and realizes he is being watched in Rear Window.

Michael J. Fox sees his father for the first time in the diner in Back to the Future.

You picked 100 very memorable moments, but there were four that stuck out and made me remember with almost overwhelming fondness:

"The computer Hal 9000 reading lips, in '2001: a Space Odyssey.'" I'm a Kubrick nerd (but who isn't)

"Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta discuss what they call Quarter Pounders in France, in 'Pulp Fiction.'"

"Jean-Paul Belmondo flipping a cigarette into his mouth in Godard's 'Breathless.'"

But most of all, "An old man found dead in a child's swing, his mission completed, at the end of Kurosawa's 'Ikiru.'" I will never forget this moment because it was the catalyst for my ever-growing love for Kurosawa's work. I can't say it's my favorite moment in cinematic history, but it was an extremely touching and resolving moment.

"It's in the hole!" Bill Murray in "Caddy Shack."

Nice list. My list would include the 3-way showdown at the end of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly; first really good shot of the shark in Jaws; Judd Nelson's arm raised at the end of the Breakfast Club; the steady-cam shot in Goodfellas; and the crypt scene between the monster and Dr. Pretaureus in Bride of Frankenstein.

A very nice list. My two favorite moments, the ones that made me fall in love with movies are from the same film. When the young boy opens the front door to the alien lights dancing outside in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and then when the mothership rises over Devil's Tower at the end.

What a great list! I'll add the opening shot in Touch of Evil.

To this list I would only change from Hal reading lips (also memorable) to the enchanting moment when the tossed bone morphs into the orbiting space station in "2001-A Space Odyssey" set to "The Blue Danube", when we all became space cadets.

Terrific list and great memories. A couple of my own: Clint Eastwood sharing his cigarette with a dying soldier in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. And, "We're gonna need a bigger boat!"

If you are including historical footage, I would add Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon to the list.

You forgot:

Mel Gibson yelling "freedom!" in "Braveheart."

Brad Pitt shaking his blood all over Lou and saying: "You don't know where I've been" from "fight club."

Keven Spacey revealing himself to be Keyser Sose in "The Usual Suspects."

The family dancing at the end of "Little miss sunshine."

Beethoven disappearing into the stars in "Immortal Beloved."

Adam Sandler beating up the blond guys in "Punch Drunk Love."

Brendan Gleeson trying to kill Colin Farrell only to save him from suicide in "In Bruges."

Kieth David "I know it's pretty baby, but I didn't take it out for air" from Requiem for a dream."

Daniel Day Lewis getting baptized in "there will be blood."

Heath Ledger sticking his head out of the police car in "The dark Knight."

etc.

wow! just wow! these are some amazing moments! tears almost came out of my eyes as I was reading them. these were my personal favorites on here:
City Lights
Vertigo
The Third Man
The Producers (hilarious moment!)
Tokyo Story
La Dolce Vita
High and Low
Schindler's List
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Silence Of the Lambs
Some Like It Hot
Citizen Kane
The Rules Of the Game
The 400 Blows (I almost cry every time I watch it)
Breathless
Andrei Rublev
Ikiru
The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (truly incredible!!!!)
Pather Panchali (I would add when the daughter dies and then it cuts to those insects floating on the water, incredible!)
Battlehip Potemkin
Lawrence Of Arabia (amazing! would love to see this scene on the big screen)
Easy Rider
The Night Of the Hunter
Raging Bull
All About Eve
Ben-Hur
The Deer Hunter (intense!)
The French Connection, Bullitt, Raiders Of the Lost Ark
On the Waterfront (my favorite scene in any film. might be THE greatest acting scene ever filmed)
Patton
Rocky
Cinema Paradiso (this is probably the only scene ever made that naturally made me cry. no other movie has ever done that to me)
Exterminating Angel
The Seventh Seal
Sunset Blvd
Notorious (one of the most virtuoso shots ever filmed)
Midnight Cowboy
White Heat
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
The Treasure Of the Sierra Madre (love it!!!!)
From Here To Eternity
Do the Right Thing
Apocalypse Now
Little Caesar

The reveal of the face of Lon Chaney Sr in "The Phantom of the Opera"

"I know thee not, old man..."-"Chimes at Midnight"

Mr. X's 15-minute long monologue in "JFK"

The climax of "Adaptation", where Charlie Kaufman willfully and hilariously breaks all of his own rules of screenwriting to get himself out of a bind.

Not just the little boy in sounder...cecily tyson running, running, running. I was a little boy when I saw it but it made me understand what love was.

I feel you missed The argument between Smeagol and Gollum in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The most impressive sequence in a series chock full of impressive shots.

The vast expanse of desert, and then tiny figures appearing, in "Lawrence of Arabia."

The peacock spreading its tail feathers in the snow, in Fellini's "Amarcord."

These two... just reading the words... gave me goose bumps. Two of my all-time favorite movie moments.

Respectable list. Some inspired choices and some obvious ones. But this is your list, not mine. So instead of accusing you of overlooking a few, I will simply give you my top 3.

1. The close-up of Jimmy Stewart's face, looking crazed and bewildered, just after discovering that his own mother doesn't recognize him, in "It's a Wonderful Life."

2. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) rebelliously playing opera over the loudspeakers in Shawshank prison as all of his fellow prisoners stand awestruck in the prison yard.

3. Robert Deniro in "Awakenings" as his character Leonard Lowe slow-dances with Penelope Ann Miller in the hospital cafeteria, just before leaving her for the last time.

ET and the little boy touching fingers.

"Don't you ever talk that way to me. Never. Never!" Strother slugs Paul who falls into pit.
"What we have here is--failure to communicate."

Well, that was fun. Thank you.

I'm kind of surprised that you didn't include the moment pictured on your Twitter page, from The Third Man, when Valli walks right past the waiting Joseph Cotten...How did Selznick not understand the importance of that moment?

Ebert: Well, of course I should have.

Perfect – now all we need is the DVD of it all!

I would add:

Pan to a door for awhile, in Reservoir Dogs.

Pan away from a scene in the alley for awhile, in From Here to Eternity.

The lack of a visible shark, in the first half of Jaws.

Anthony Hopkins staying silent after a tense scene in Remains of the Day.

"All these things will be lost in time... like tears in rain. Time... to die".

Paul Dano in "Little Miss Sunshine" going berserk in the bus and then running screaming from it when he finds out he's colourblind.

I dunno why, but I'm surprised by how many of these scenes I've seen. I dunno about that North By Northwest one, though. I think That long sequence of Cary Grant standing by the empty roadside is a bit better. Maybe that or him being chased by the plane. And no Bond? Surely the lovely Bond Girl covered in gold paint is worthy of a 100 Greatest Movie Moments list! John Wayne, framed in the doorway in The Searchers... Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, swinging onto the tree limb of Gallow's Oak... Martin Balsam being hit by a spent round in Tora, Tora, Tora... Bogart telling Mary Astor, "You're going over for it," in The Maltese Falcon...

Oh, my! I really need to stop now...!

Hi Roger,

A great moment that stands out for me is in Key Largo when Rocco refuses to let Gay Dawn have a drink after he promised it if she sang.

Frank, Bogart, walks behind the bar, pours a drink and gives it to her while Rocco and his hoods watch. Amazing.

Best regards.

Bud
PS: Keep the good writing coming.

Gena Rowlands in "Gloria":

"You let a woman beat ya, huh? You little tiny nuthin'. Ya punk!"

The sing-along-at-the-movies scene with Melvyn Douglas and Brandon de Wilde from Hud.

Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo sitting on a bench together at the bus stop at the end of You Can Count On Me, not saying what we've waiting the entire movie to hear.

The old man from the village of the watermills joining the dancing funeral procession in Akira Kurosawa's Dreams.

The lemonade and peanut cart fracas between Chico, Harpo, and Edgar Kennedy in Duck Soup.

"And don't call me Shirley." Airplane

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Casablanca (also: shocked,shocked to find that gambling is going on in here", "You played it for her, you can play it for me!")

But the four hooves in the air thing wasn't cinematic, it was photographic, in the 1870s.

Great list! Thanks for compiling it. Another highlight for me is Bill Murray whispering at Scarlett Johansson's ear in "Lost in Translation".

Wonderful! My uncalled-for two cents, Robert Shaw's U.S.S. Indianapolis monologue in Jaws.

Ashitaka opening the gate to Iron Town.

Waiting for the bus in the rain with Totoro.

For me the most romantic moment is the kiss in A Room With a View.

You're trying to seduce me Mrs. Robinson, arent' you.

the end of Bonnie and Clyde

come back Shane

I'm mad as hell, I'm not going to take it anymore.

Sophie's Choice (I don't want to give that scene away)

The match in Lawrence of Arabia

I have to add that, like Bill (above), I would have The three-way shoot out in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" on mine too. What an incredible and intense moment in cinema.

My moment in the top 100 of movie lines is the soliliquy (sp) of James Earl Jones during Field of Dreams about baseball.It makes the hair stand up on my arms. That's good. I haven't had the hair stand up on my arms since The Natural.

My moment in the top 100 of movie lines is the soliliquy (sp) of James Earl Jones during Field of Dreams about baseball.It makes the hair stand up on my arms. That's good. I haven't had the hair stand up on my arms since The Natural.

My moment in the top 100 of movie lines is the soliliquy (sp) of James Earl Jones during Field of Dreams about baseball.It makes the hair stand up on my arms. That's good. I haven't had the hair stand up on my arms since The Natural.

I'll put some of my personal faves. Why not? :D

"No. I. Am your father!" - The Empire Strikes Back

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." - LOTR:FOTR

"Let's do it for Johnny, man. We'll do it for Johnny!" - The Outsiders

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner" - Dirty Dancing

John Travolta dancing to "You Should Be Dancing" - Saturday Night Fever

Yuri watching Lara leave Varykino. - Dr. Zhivago

Spaghetti Dinner - Lady & the Tramp

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya..." - The Princess Bride

The bottle of ketchup upstaging Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino - Heat

The recital - About A Boy

"Son you got a panty on your head" chase scene - Raising Arizona

Frogs - Magnolia

"Oh Captain, My Captain" - Dead Poets Society

"They took my thumb, Charlie!" - Pope of Greenwich Village

"And like that, he's gone." - The Usual Suspects

I also thought Empire's climax belonged.
And Jedi's Emperor tossing scene.
How could u skip the last shots of Butch Cassidy or Thelma & Louise. Judgment At Nuremburg, To Kill a Mockingbird & Of Mice & Men qualify.

I like understated moments when someone realizes a lot from something small and insignificant: when a Jewish "scavenger" employed by Germans at the Train Station in Schindler's List (going thru suitcases the departing Jews left for safe transport) peering thru a jeweler's eyepiece has a pile of gold fillings poured onto his workbench.

Sorry, but Samuel L. Jackson & John Travolta were discussing about they call Quarter Pounders in The Netherlands, not France.

John Travolta, in Pulp Fiction, reviving Uma Thurman with the hyperdermic needle after the drug overdose.

The ending scene of Casablanca, where Claud Rains and Humphrey Bogart walk out in to the mist, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Frogs raining from the sky.

The little boy riding his Big Wheel through the empty Overlook Hotel, from The Shining.

The last shot in Rushmore. I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger.

And while I'm doing Wes Anderson - Gwenyth Paltrow getting off the bus to Nico singing "These Days", in The Royal Tenenbaums.

The candleabras in Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, held by human hands.

Peter Finch is mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore.

The shadow of Indiana Jones in Marion's bar.

Jimmy Stewart watching Grace Kelly across the courtyard in Rear Window.

The tour bus singing "Tiny Dancer", from Almost Famous.

Ray Liotta brings his girlfriend to the club in Goodfellas.

Michael Corleone kissing Fredo in The Godfather Part II

Veronique sees herself on the bus, The Double Life of Veronique

Ofelia meets the Pale Man, Pan's Labyrinth

Dorothy steps into Oz, and technicolor!

Harry Dean Stanton talks to his wife at the peep show, and can't look at her, in Paris, Texas.

The burning oil rig in There Will Be Blood.

The city collapsing in Fight Club

The theater scene, Diane and Rita holding hands, while the woman sings "Crying" in spanish. No hay banda. Mullholland Drive.

The young guy hiding in the wardrobe watching Isabella Rosselini and Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet. "Mommy!"

Now that I'm onto David Lynch I could go all day, so I'll stop it here.

Danny Boy playing as Leo guns down his assailants in Miller's Crossing.

The last scene in Altered States when Eddie Jessup realizes that love is the only thing that will save him.

james Cagney rubbing the grapefruit into his girlfriend's face in The Public Enemy.

"We're on a mission from God."

-Dorothy clicking her heels and going home to Kansas

Slim Pickens riding the bomb.

The camera pans to Hannibal Lecter, standing and smiling from his cell.

The smile on Joann Pflug's face in M*A*S*H as she lifted out of camp in the helicopter.

Dustin Hoffman's doubletake in The Graduate when Anne slams the door behind them.

Liv Tyler in the first LoTR" "Come and claim him!"

Isn't it raining - I couldn't tell - Three Weddings and a Funeral...I'M KIDDING....

But what about Rushmore - Bill Murray falls off the diving board and the kid swims by giving him the finger. God I love that scene.

"Time to die" at the end of Blade Runner.Possibly my favourite scene of all time.

Love the list. I've seen more of these than I expected.

Just watched The Wizard of Oz last night - the first viewing for my five year old son. When Dorothy stepped through the door into a Technicolour Oz, he gasped audibly and said "well, she must feel better now! She's all in bright colours!"

One of my favourite moments. And now, one of his, too.

Surprised to not see

-"Forget it Jake. It's Chinatown."
-Fritz Lang's Mad Scientist animating the Maria Robot in "Metropolis."
-The Goodfellas steadycam shot, which someone mentioned, is a good addition.
-The ultimate car chase/short film, and subsequent controversy, "C'etait un Rendezvous."
-"The Usual Suspects" Keyzer Soze reveal, which was mentioned, is also good.
-Martin Sheen staring into the hotel fan blade, hearing helicopters in "Apocalypse Now." The opening napalming with The Doors "This is the End" track under is also good.

Juror #3, admitting defeat, saying 'Not Guilty' in "12 Angry Men"

The Terminator arriving in the present day in the first two movies. I always thought that was pretty epic.

Or the Circle of Life opening scene in the Lion King.

Thanks for including the chase scene in "Diva", one of my all-time favorite movies, lumps and all.

I agree with all of your choices, but I would add:

-To Kill a Mockingbird-when everyone's out of the courtroom besides Atticus, his children, and the blacks in the rafters. And they all stand for him out of respect as he leaves.
-The Dark Knight-the interrogation scene. Their first scene together in the movie. You think Batman has the upper hand, but the Joker was toying with him the entire time.
-The final scene of The Third Man.
-Goodfellas-the scene where Henry Hill takes Karen to the club on their first date.
-Children of Men-the scene in the car where it's one continuous shot and the camera goes 360 degrees to show everyone. How do you stage such a thing?

Forrest Gump: My name is Forrest,Forrest Gump.
My name's Forrest Gump.People call me Forrest Gump.
My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates.
You never know what you're going to get.

My favorite, the introduction of Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West. (The opening scene is epic as well)

Star Wars - "Yahoo! You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home."

In addition to many of the ones mentioned by both you and the other commenters:

Chihiro and No-Face on a long one-way train ride.

Wall-E and EVE hold hands for the first time watching Hello Dolly.

It snows for the the first time in Suburbia, thanks to a kindly boy with a unique deformity.

"This is Halloween."

"Falling Slowly."

Neo-Tokyo explodes.

A car is pushed off a cliff. A boy plays guitar.

"The spoon is not real."

4 stories of rape and murder on, a woodcutter gives a priest new reason for faith in humanity.

The T-1000.

"This... is the face... OF JEWISH VENGANCE!"

Ennis Del Mar gets a phonecall and a jacket.

"The farmers have won. We have lost."

Since that was made in 1995, I'll add a few from films after 1995:

-Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix
-Anton Chigurh tosses a coin in No Country for Old Men
-Daniel Plainview drinks his milkshake in There Will Be Blood
-The Joker escapes in a police car in The Dark Knight
-"What's in the box" from Se7en
-The car ambush in Children of Men
-The elevator scene in The Departed
-Leonard realizing he's the one being chased in Memento
-Tyler Durden explaining the rules of fight club in Fight Club
-Maximus entertaining the crowd in Gladiator
-The last shot of the totem in Inception
-Wall-E & EVE dancing in space in Wall-E
-The Bride fighting the Crazy 88s in Kill Bill

Pretty good list, some suggestions:

The end sequence of Dr. Strangelove

Alan Arkin leaping at Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark

Larry Gopnick's dream with Sy Ableman in the classroom from A Serious Man

Great List!
How about Ray to his father at the end of Field of Dreams? "Hey Dad, wanna have a catch?" I always know it's coming, but I cry each time anyway.

And Indiana Jones in Raiders to Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) while peering down into the Well of Souls: "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" Sallah: "Asps. Very dangerous. You go first."

When Rhys-Davies meets people, they ask him to "do snakes."

Tracking shot of Spike lee and John torturro looking at each other, as Danny talks to spike's sister in 'Do the right thing'

The snow fall after the girl gets raped and murdered in 'Virgin Spring'.

The introduction scene of the girl in Kubrick's 'Lolita'

The Kid confronting pedophile dad in 'Happiness'

The revelation scene in the 'Celebration'

The brother and sister running towards the train in Pather Panchali

Opening shot in the movie 'Player'

The climax shooting of 'Bonnie and clyde'

The climatic moment in 'Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid'

The closeup of premature baby in Eraser Head

Faye dunnaway showing her thighs in Barfly

The 'mother,sister,mother,sister...' scene in chinatown

The alien laughing in Predator

The climatic scene in '400 blows'

The blowup scene in 'Blowup'

"I wouldn't like to take a bite of you; you're a cookie full of arsenic." in Sweet Smell of Success.

The mirror scene in Taxi Driver

and so on..

The baby's crying brings a moment of temporary peace in Children of Men.

Your inclusion of the mental patients' outing in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is surprising -- I remember from your original review that was one of the few elements of the picture you felt rang false. Though I suppose the years have led to a change of heart. As you've said before, films don't change over time but the perspective of the viewer does.

A few years ago, I started a list of movies that I have seen. Although by no means as many as you have seen, it was close to 600. After perusing your list of memorable movie moments, I feel like I want to watch (most of) those movies all over again, as well as the ones on your list that I have not yet seen. I am 57 years old and hope I live long enough to accomplish that. Thank you for reminding me that movies are an art form on many levels, as well as an enjoyable hobby.
Did you ever write a list of movies that you regret taking the time to watch? Or have you lost count?

I got chills reading this.

Some of my own:

The opening closeup of Faye Dunaway's face in Bonnie and Clyde.

Mary Tyler Moore's breakdown on the putting green in Ordinary People. ("Happy? You tell me how to be happy...")

"Where is my dream?" Laura Dern in Blue Velvet

"She's my daughter too." John Huston in Chinatown

Marilyn Burns' escape in Texas Chainsaw

Cathy Moriarty's legs in the pool in Raging Bull

The passerby with the beautiful face in L'Eclisse

The last scene in The Piano Teacher

Birgit Minichmayr's jump out the window in Everyone Else

Kevin Costner plays catch with his dad in Field of Dreams

Linda Blair's reaction to the priest's collar at the end of The Exorcist

Uma's OD in Pulp Fiction

The threesome description in Weekend

"These moments will be lost... like tears in the rain."

"Luke I am your father."

"I drink your milkshake! I drink it UP!"

The final montage of The Usual Suspects

John Cazale' speech in Godfather Part II about Fredo's deire for respect.

(1) I must second Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) standing outside, framed by the doorway, at the end of The Searchers.

(2) On a similar note, Tom (John Wayne) coming home brokenhearted in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

(3) "I've decided to become a "mensch". You know what that means? A human being."

(4) Mr. Matuschek learning about his wife in Shop Around the Corner

Pulp Fiction: Samuel L. Jackson's conversation with Tim Roth in the climax.
Nobody's gonna hurt anybody. We're gonna be like three Fonzies.And what' Fonzie like?
Correct-amundo! And that's what we're gonna be, we're gonna be cool.

Eric Liddell coming from behind to win his race in "Chariots of Fire."

Jean-Louis Baurrault miming the pickpocket in "Children of Paradise."

"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" - A Few Good Men

ah yes, and Peter Stormare stuffing Steve Buscemi's leg into the wood chipper at the end of Fargo, completely oblivious to the river of blood created by it.

The father peeling the apple at the end of Ozu's Late Spring.

Tommy Lee Jones' speech at the end of No Country For Old Men.

Steve Buscemi escapes with the money in Reservoir Dogs.

The whole last scene of There Will Be Blood. Then, Daniel Day Lewis: "I'm all done now."

Gandalf and Pippin ride into view of Minas Tirith in The Return of the King.

Tony Stark working on the Iron Man suit with his cadre of robot assistants

Penelope Cruz singing (well, lip-synching) "Volver" as her believed-to-be-deceased mother listens in a car nearby

The prison cooking scene in Goodfellas

The end of 8 1/2

The Nerd showing off Andie's underwear in the bathroom during Sixteen Candles

Gwyneth Paltrow posing for Ethan Hawke in Great Expectations as Pulp's "Like a Friend" plays in the background

From movies I grew up with, I'd have to add:
-Johnny & Baby's last dance in Dirty Dancing
-Lloyd Dobbler holding his boom box above his head in Say Anything
-Daniel's final "crane" kick in The Karate Kid
-James Earl Jones' "Baseball" monologue at the end of Field of Dreams
-"What the hell is a jigawatt?" - Back to the Future

I wanted to add a moment from a movie that has come out since this list, and the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Heath Ledger as Ennis Delmar, standing in Jack's closet, holding his shirt at the end of Brokeback Mountain. I can cry just thinking about it.

So many good ones already mentioned! I would also include Indy's shadow in Marion's bar in "Raiders" though it's my favorite movie of all time so it's sort of 100 Greatest Moments by itself for me.

A couple of others:

Baloo the Bear's intro in Disney's The Jungle Book is very memorable for me.

"To infinity...and beyond!"

"Wait 'til they get a load of me."- The Joker in Tim Burton's Batman

"You've got me?!? Who's got you??!"-Lois Lane in Richard Donner's Superman The Movie (btw, one of the few times I've been in a theater where applause erupted spontaneously)

"In my case, an accident of birth...but you're a self-made man." Lee Marvin in "The Professionals"

Steve McQueen and the baseball in "The Great Escape" or the chase.

Steve Martin, not needing anything...except..., in "The Jerk".

Oh maybe I missed it but how is there nothing from Blazing Saddles? After all, "You'd do it for Randolph Scott!"

I'll stop now.

"We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write "f**k" on their airplanes because it's obscene!"
It mightn't be the most iconic line, but as far as I'm concerned it's the best one in Apocalypse Now.

"Fuck you, Captain Yardley. Fuck you very much" from Falling Down

The second knife through the table in 12 Angry Men.

"You know the damage one ignorant Negro can do? We were in France in the first war; we'd won decorations. But the white boys had told all them French gals that we had tails. Then they found this ignorant colored soldier, paid him to tie a tail to his ass and run around half-naked, making monkey sounds. Put him on the big round table in the Cafe Napoleon, put a reed in his hand, crown on his head, blanket on his shoulders, and made him eat *bananas* in front of all them Frenchies. Oh, how the white boys danced that night... passed out leaflets with that boy's picture on it. Called him Moonshine, King of the Monkeys. And when we slit his throat, you know that fool asked us what he had done wrong? " Sgt. Waters in A Soldiers Story

The post Diamond Heist massacre in Once Upon A Time in America.

The execution in Paths Of Glory

The news flash at the metro station in La Haine

The death montage to Derek & the Dominoes' Layla in Goodfellas

The final sneeze in The Taking Of Pelham 1,2,3 (1974 version)

Buscape is surrounded & the scene shifts back to the Past in City of God

Some more recent ones:

- The life montage in "Up"
- Anton Ego tasting "Ratatouille"
- "Cue the sun", Truman Show
- Gyllenhaal smelling Ledger's shirt in "Brokeback Mountain"
- Flying paper bag in "American Beauty"

And of course, one of my all time favorites:
- The seduction of Lady Lyndon.

I'll do ten less famous but no less great moments:

- Guilietta Masina's heartbreaking hypnosis fantasy in Nights of Cabiria

- Liam Neeson in Rob Roy grabbing Tim Roth's sword by the blade after he seems certainly doomed, and all Roth can do is stare at him quizzically before he realizes what is happening

- Jim Carrey in the crumbling house at the end of his memories in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

- Roger Livesey smiles at a baffled Anton Walbrook before they are to duel in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

- The Iron Giant closing his eyes and becoming Superman

- The endless novel getting blown away by the wind in Wonder Boys

- Kevin Kline eating Michael Palin's fish in A Fish Called Wanda

- The sun comes out from behind a cloud during Sam the Lion's reminiscence of young love in The Last Picture Show

- The vampire strikes while Oskar is held under water for an interminably long time in Let the Right One In

- Ed Norton cursing off New York City and everyone in it in 25th Hour

- "We're gonna need a bigger boat."
- Steven McQueen jumping fences in The Great Escape
- Donald Sutherland in Kelly's Heroes "I'm drinking some wine, eating some cheese, and catching some rays."
- The Natural rounding the bases after his final game winning homerun with that epic music playing.
- Shower scene in Psycho.

- The moment when Optimus Prime rises from the...oh heck...i can't even try and pretend I think a Bay movie is any good...

I'll do ten less famous but no less great moments:

- Guilietta Masina's heartbreaking hypnosis fantasy in Nights of Cabiria

- Liam Neeson in Rob Roy grabbing Tim Roth's sword by the blade after he seems certainly doomed, and all Roth can do is stare at him quizzically before he realizes what is happening

- Jim Carrey in the crumbling house at the end of his memories in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

- Roger Livesey smiles at a baffled Anton Walbrook before they are to duel in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

- The Iron Giant closing his eyes and becoming Superman

- The endless novel getting blown away by the wind in Wonder Boys

- Kevin Kline eating Michael Palin's fish in A Fish Called Wanda

- The sun comes out from behind a cloud during Sam the Lion's reminiscence of young love in The Last Picture Show

- The vampire strikes while Oskar is held under water for an interminably long time in Let the Right One In

- Ed Norton cursing off New York City and everyone in it in 25th Hour

McCabe Saying to Mrs Miller, "All I ever wanted to do was put a smile on your face.>

"We don't need no stinking badges!!

Strangelove:
Pickens on the bomb.
Keenan wynn as Bat Guano
"Mein Feuhrer, I cah valk again!!"

Butch saying to Sundance, "Who are those guys?"

Bishop in wild bunch: "Let's go."

Racing through Paris in Rififfi.

Ratso yelling at the rude driver.

McQueen and McGraw crossing the Mexican border to freedom in The Getaway.

Hombre to Cicero Grimes: "How you gonna get down that hill?"

"I am Spartacus."

Benjamin driving Highway 1 in the Graduate

Ladd and Turner in the train yard in This Gun for Hire

McCabe Saying to Mrs Miller, "All I ever wanted to do was put a smile on your face.>

"We don't need no stinking badges!!

Strangelove:
Pickens on the bomb.
Keenan wynn as Bat Guano
"Mein Feuhrer, I cah valk again!!"

Butch saying to Sundance, "Who are those guys?"

Bishop in wild bunch: "Let's go."

Racing through Paris in Rififfi.

Ratso yelling at the rude driver.

McQueen and McGraw crossing the Mexican border to freedom in The Getaway.

Hombre to Cicero Grimes: "How you gonna get down that hill?"

"I am Spartacus."

Benjamin driving Highway 1 in the Graduate

Ladd and Turner in the train yard in This Gun for Hire

dance and Nat King Cole's song in car headlights in "Badlands"

The scene in 'Hope Floats', where the little girl, Bernice, is screaming after her father's car as he drives off, crying and shouting "Daddy, don't leave me, I love you". A very unexpected, startling moment in the film.

A few of mine:

Henry Fonda, killing the boy in the opening of "Once Upon a Time in the West".

The closing shot of Kim Ki-Duk's "The Isle".

The Adoration, in "Children of Men".

"I love you!" "I know." in "The Empire Strikes Back."

"Come with me if you want to live." Arnold, in "Terminator 2".

Bruce Lee, ripping a handful of chest hair off of Chuck Norris in "Return of the Dragon".

The deranged penguin, in "Encounters at the End of the World".

"Jean Louise. Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing." as the black gallery rises to its feet at the end of the trial in "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Warden throwing rocks through the Raquel Welch poster in "Shawshank Redemption"

Jon Favreau "He's so little!" as Rudy runs onto the field for his only Notre Dame game.

Tom Hanks falling apart after Giovanni Ribisi's character dies in "Saving Private Ryan"

Fighting stops and crowd of soldiers stands in silent awe as Clive Owen carries the baby down the stairs and out into the street in "Children of Men"

Me and You and Everyone We Know - "Ice Land is - It's kind of like that point in a relationship, you know, where you suddenly realize it's not going to last forever. You know, you can see the end in sight. Tyrone Street."

Young Frankenstein - "Wait. Where are you going? I was going to make Espresso."

Glengarry Glen Ross - Alec Baldwin delivering his profane monologue.

Toy Story - "This isn't flying. This is falling with style!"

To paraphrase Mr. Ebert: reading these lists of moments makes my heart glad. Here are a few of mine:

Three dead characters (Sammy, Benny, Tyrone) haunt Juliet's dream in "Tromeo & Juliet" - and exit singing "Shall We Gather at the River."

Frances McDormand realizes William Macy fled the interview in "Fargo."

Frances McDormand (again) changes in an instant into a grieving widow in "Darkman."

Bruce Willis discovers a machine gun in his house in "Pulp Fiction."

The "commercial" in "Used Cars."

"Broke into the wrong goddamned rec room, didn't ya!" in "Tremors" (the person who doesn't want to see Stephen Keaton and Reba McEntire blow up a giant worm is a person I don't need in my life).

Terrence Stamp gets thrown out of the warehouse, but he's got another gun ("The Limey").

Nicholas Cage realizes he's fighting his own manifestation in "Raizing Arizona."

When James Woods adjusts his tie - and what happens next - at the end of "Diggstown," an underrated B-movie gem.

"Keep watching the sky, MacIntyre" in "Local Hero."

"I suppose you think you raised hell" in "Miller's Crossing."

The penultimate scene - the one with too much honesty - of "Chasing Amy."

"8 percent!?" in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang."

The production of "Red, White & Blaine" in "Waiting for Guffman."

Wendy O. Williams rides to her righteous death in "Reform School Girls," an exploitation cheapie about 6 times better than it needs to be.

Finally - the exhilirating, nonsensical but somehow perfectly logical final scene of "Repo Man."

Now that I've thought about these scenes, I'll be happy all day.

Up: The montage explaining the past of the man and his wife.

The Sixth Sense: The reveal by dropping the wedding ring.

To erakat, regarding Pulp Fiction, Vincent just returned from Amsterdam, but they were talking about Quarter Pounders with Cheese in France.

Great list! Great comments!

One of mine:

When Schmidt gets the letter from the kid he is sponsoring in About Schmidt.

The tiniest unexpected positive interaction can work miracles. One of the few movies better than the book.

Great List!
It includes a lot of movies I haven't seen but that sound wonderful. So there will be many additions to my Netflix queue today.

One of my favorites is Tom Cruise as Daniel Kaffee establishing that he and Sam aren't Markinson and ending with "well that's two of us" in 'A Few Good Men.

Another:

in "flawless" Robert de Niro about Philip Seymour Hoffman in the ambulance: "HE'SH MY SHISHTER!"

This is an extra- movie moment: I loaned "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" to a friend who liked Leo and Depp. Next time I saw him he thanked me and said he cried. Then I never got it back!!

Tom Hanks murdering Rooney and all his men in the rain "Road to Perdition"

The ten year breakfast in "Citizen Kane"

When Malcolm knows he will be killed but goes on stage anyway "Malcolm X"

The final speech by Gordon in "The Dark Knight"

Ledger with his head out of the cop car "The Dark Knight"

Rudy being carried off the field "Rudy"

Al Pacino's game of inches speech in "Any Given Sunday"

Everytime a bell rings... "It's a Wonderful Life"

I'll do ten less famous but no less great moments:

- Guilietta Masina's heartbreaking hypnosis fantasy in Nights of Cabiria

- Liam Neeson in Rob Roy grabbing Tim Roth's sword by the blade after he seems certainly doomed, and all Roth can do is stare at him quizzically before he realizes what is happening

- Jim Carrey in the crumbling house at the end of his memories in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

- Roger Livesey smiles at a baffled Anton Walbrook before they are to duel in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

- The Iron Giant closing his eyes and becoming Superman

- The endless novel getting blown away by the wind in Wonder Boys

- Kevin Kline eating Michael Palin's fish in A Fish Called Wanda

- The sun comes out from behind a cloud during Sam the Lion's reminiscence of young love in The Last Picture Show

- The vampire attacks after Oskar's head is held under the water for an interminably long time in Let the Right One In

- Ed Norton cursing off New York City and everyone in it in 25th Hour

I usually hesitate to put new films on lists like this, but I'd agree with the above comment that the final totem shot in "Inception" should make the list. My heart was in my throat, I knew the movie was ending but I just kept thinking "a few more seconds, a few more seconds" to see what happened to it.

The opening shot of Star Wars with the rebel cruiser going by and then the long, seemingly endless imperial cruiser. Showed how big the empire is in relation to the rebellion.

The scene in Henry V (1989) where Kenneth Branaugh carries Christian bale's body across the battlefield with that Latin song playing.

" know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!" Godfather II

The scene in Easy Rider where Jack Nicholson visibly gets really stoned around the campfire

"Oh, we've met before, actually. This thing last year, Christmas at the Sheraton..."
"Oh yeah, yes...:
"It's OK, I wouldn't remember me either."
"Honey, don't be weird."
"OK honey, I won't be weird. I'll be whatever what you want me to be." American Beauty

"What do you call that haircut" "Arthur" George Harrison A Hard Days Night

Toshiro Mifune's furious monologue about the farmers in "Seven Samurai".

The burning castle in "Ran".

Ivan in his rudeboy duds, posing in the mirror in "The Harder They Come".

The first student's death in "Battle Royale"

"Spirited Away": No Face gorges himself.

"Bonnie and Clyde": Estelle Parsons running out onto the front lawn, screaming, with the spatula in her hand.

"Oldboy" Oh Dae-su opens the photo album. (Whenever I watch the movie with friends now, I look at their faces during this scene. I don't need to know what's going on up on the screen. It's their reactions I savor.)

"Akira": Tetsuo's synthetic arm rebels and roots him to his throne.

"Paprika": Paprika goes ad-jumping.

"Russian Ark": The girls laughing and running down the hallway.

When the walls of Jericho fell in "It Happened One Night," nudge nudge wink wink...

oh yes, how could we forget

M I C K E Y M O U S E at the end of "Full Metal Jacket."

Buttercup and the Dread Pirate Roberts falling down the hill in The Princess Bride, as she realizes who he really is.

"Where Is My Mind?" at the end of Fight Club.

Renton diving into the filthiest toilet in Scotland in Trainspotting.

John Cusack holding up the boom box in Say Anything.

"Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge!

The baptism sequence from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Marge Gunderson's final words in Fargo.

The opening monologue sequence from Amélie.

The reunion scene in The Color Purple.

The reveal at the end of Dark City.

No love for the Sixth Sense twist?

First 2-3 seconds of the Star Wars theme at the beginning of each movie.

Morpheus and Neo sparring match

Nazi faces melting after opening the Ark of the Covenant

Cillian Murphy exploring an empty London at the beginning of 28 Days Later

Rutger Hauer, Blade Runner: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...

Ralphie and the Santa Claus in A Christmas Story

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge

Beach landing in Saving Private Ryan

Giant piano duet in Big

When Audrey Hepburn sings Moon River.

The entire Planetarium scene in Manhattan.

And pretty much every scene in Casablanca, but especially when:

Ilsa has Sam play As Time Goes by, and Rick comes in all angry - "Sam, I thought I told you to never play...!" and then he sees her for the first time.

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine"...and then Ilsa comes back into the bar, the soft light pouring in from behind her. Is she fuzzy because of the film or because I'm crying now?

And finally: "We'll always have Paris"

Definitely going to have to second Brendan Gleeson's fall in In Bruges, and the train over water in Spirited Away. Also:

Amélie and Nino on a bicycle

"Kill Claudio." - Emma Thompson in Much Ado About Nothing

Otilia with a bag, hurrying through a dark city in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Peter Lorre being chased through the streets of Germany in Fritz Lang's "M".

There's no point in quibbling over any of the choices you've made - we all have our favorites, and I'm thankful you've chosen to elucidate what is obviously a very personal aspect of the movie going experience. In reading through your list, I find myself instantly transported to personal moments of viewing the items you discuss, and a whole range of thoughts, emotions, and, importantly, subconscious ideas come to the surface in vivid ways. So, thanks for that.

One thing I noticed about your list though is that you're not consistent when you detail the scenes in referring to characters as opposed to actors. In particular, Rocky, Hannibal, and Mookie stand out as instances you have chosen to remember through the context of character and not actors (though there are many more where this distinction is made). In thinking back to those moments as well, I find myself remembering them in the context of a character, complete engrossed in the reality of the moment and not thinking about an actor performing his art.

Was this conscious? And what does it say about the context through which you've reacted to some of the great moments in film history?

Much beard stroking has been done on this topic already from my end.

And PS: Big Ern bowling in Kingpin - gotta make the list if and when you choose to update it to reflect that past 15 years of cinema.

The bell-casting sequence at the end of Andrei Rublev is one of the most moving pieces of cinema I've ever seen. The end of Nostalghia is also pretty high on my list.

I'd also add:

John Turturro begging Gabriel Byrne's forgiveness for a second time, and Byrne's response, in Miller's Crossing

"The Walk" at the end of The Wild Bunch

Sterling Hayden's performance in The Long Goodbye

Terrence Stamp returns to the warehouse after getting beaten to a pulp in The Limey

Totally fun thread to read...both the original list and the additions in the comments. I would concur with a lot of what's been said, and add one more of my own -- the final scene in "Mississippi Masala" as the Ugandan child places her hand over the face of Roshan Seth as other Ugandans dance around them in the marketplace.

My very first film memory: Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dancing in the Place De la Concorde Fountain in An American in Paris. Ooh-la-LA! They fell for each other and I fell for the whole damn medium.

(fans self)

Presenting the single longest and loudest laugh I've ever heard in a movie theater:

The In-Laws:
After Alan Arkin breaks into Peter Falk's office safe to get its contents,
and after the bad guys find him and chase him with guns blazing down West 53rd Street,
and after Falk rescues him and takes him back in the taxi to his dentist office -
- they find the lady Arkin had left in the dental chair (with pounds of slowly hardening dental goop in her mouth) at the start of the scene, about 20 minutes earlier.
I saw this film four times in a theater. Each time I saw it,the laugh continued into the next scene; I never knew for sure what Falk and Arkin were saying to each other until I saw the picture on home video.

That's one; others may follow.

Thank you for including the chariot scene from Ben-Hur. One of my favourites. Other scenes that move me would include:

At the end of Parenthood, when the baby turns out to be Helen's, that always gets to me.

The scene in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly where Jean-Do gets his eye sewn closed was a masterful piece of camera work.

You can have all the CGI in the world, but you're never going to have a better tornado than in The Wizard of Oz. I do appreciate good digital effects, though, and I think that Peter Jackson took all that he learned from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and really nailed it with King Kong.

The band playing Danny Boy in Brassed Off.

Fred Knittle singing Fix You in Young@Heart.

And, lastly (for now), the wordless montage at the beginning of Up!

The long take at the end of "Big Night."

"Nothing is written" - Peter O'Toole in 'Lawrence of Arabia'
"Give Us Free" -- Djimon Hounsou in 'Amistad'
Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren in the thunderstorm sequence in Hitchcock's 'Marnie'
The "It's YOU" moment between Alec Guinness and William Holden at the end of 'Bridge on the River Kwai'
The scene in 'The Thin Red Line' where they're burning down the village with flamethrowers - it evokes a haunting feeling of both awe and despair as the viewer realizes the sheer reality of the war
"I'm Spartacus!"
The very often misquoted revelation that Darth Vader is Luke's father in 'Empire Strikes Back' and the equally often misquoted scene in 'Casablanca' where Ilsa asks Sam to play 'As Time Goes By'
Any scene with either Peter Sellers or David Niven in 'The Pink Panther'
The scene in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' where Hugh Grant is so very awkwardly stuck in the closet as two newlyweds go at it
"You have bled with Wallace -- now bleed with me!" - Robert the Bruce in "Braveheart"
The Black Knight sequence in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'
Kenneth Branagh's Saint Crispin's Day Speech in his post-vietnam interpretation of 'Henry V'
The infamous oysters versus snails debate between Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis in 'Spartacus'
Errol Flynn and his great big dead stag in 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'
The final moments of 'Amelie' and any scene involving the little gnome in 'Amelie'
The escape from Moria in 'Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring'; Bernard Hill's transformation in 'The Two Towers' and the Charge of the Rohirrim in 'Return of the King'
Edward Norton's haunting performance in 'Kingdom of Heaven'
Harvey Dent screaming out his dead love's name in 'The Dark Knight'
Yoda's death in 'Return of the Jedi'
The cornfield sequence in 'North By Northwest'
Any scene involving any combination of Heburn, Grant, and Stewart in 'The Philadelphia Story'
The siege with arrows in 'Hero'
Paul Bettany at the Galapagos in 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'
The infamously extravagant Cleopatra's entrance into Rome in 'Cleopatra'
The final moments of Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove'
"Lend me your ears!" in Mel Brooks's 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights'
'The pen is mightier than the sword' - "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
Laurence Fishburne's haunting performance with the "It is the cause" speech in 'Othello'
"I HAVE NO SONS!" - Peter O'Toole in 'The Lion in Winter'
"You are still my enemy tonight" - O'Toole in the scene that showed what 'Troy' could and should have been, but alas was not
John Cleese stripping and speaking Russian in 'A Fish Called Wanda' and Kevin Kline's ultimate demise in 'A Fish Called Wanda'
Denzel Washington in 'The Hurricane' - no specific scene, just every little nuance of his performance
The opening moments of 'Chariots of Fire'
"Romeo and Juliet... just a suggestion" - Ben Affleck in 'Shakespeare in Love'
The single scene between Robert Shaw and Paul Scofield in 'A Man for All Seasons'
Elizabeth and Walsingham's Godfather-esque arrest of the conspirators in the albeit historically inaccurate 'Elizabeth'

"Nothing is written" - Peter O'Toole in 'Lawrence of Arabia'
"Give Us Free" -- Djimon Hounsou in 'Amistad'
Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren in the thunderstorm sequence in Hitchcock's 'Marnie'
The "It's YOU" moment between Alec Guinness and William Holden at the end of 'Bridge on the River Kwai'
The scene in 'The Thin Red Line' where they're burning down the village with flamethrowers - it evokes a haunting feeling of both awe and despair as the viewer realizes the sheer reality of the war
"I'm Spartacus!"
The very often misquoted revelation that Darth Vader is Luke's father in 'Empire Strikes Back' and the equally often misquoted scene in 'Casablanca' where Ilsa asks Sam to play 'As Time Goes By'
Any scene with either Peter Sellers or David Niven in 'The Pink Panther'
The scene in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' where Hugh Grant is so very awkwardly stuck in the closet as two newlyweds go at it
"You have bled with Wallace -- now bleed with me!" - Robert the Bruce in "Braveheart"
The Black Knight sequence in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'
Kenneth Branagh's Saint Crispin's Day Speech in his post-vietnam interpretation of 'Henry V'
The infamous oysters versus snails debate between Laurence Olivier and Tony Curtis in 'Spartacus'
Errol Flynn and his great big dead stag in 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'
The final moments of 'Amelie' and any scene involving the little gnome in 'Amelie'
The escape from Moria in 'Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring'; Bernard Hill's transformation in 'The Two Towers' and the Charge of the Rohirrim in 'Return of the King'
Edward Norton's haunting performance in 'Kingdom of Heaven'
Harvey Dent screaming out his dead love's name in 'The Dark Knight'
Yoda's death in 'Return of the Jedi'
The cornfield sequence in 'North By Northwest'
Any scene involving any combination of Heburn, Grant, and Stewart in 'The Philadelphia Story'
The siege with arrows in 'Hero'
Paul Bettany at the Galapagos in 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'
The infamously extravagant Cleopatra's entrance into Rome in 'Cleopatra'
The final moments of Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove'
"Lend me your ears!" in Mel Brooks's 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights'
'The pen is mightier than the sword' - "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
Laurence Fishburne's haunting performance with the "It is the cause" speech in 'Othello'
"I HAVE NO SONS!" - Peter O'Toole in 'The Lion in Winter'
"You are still my enemy tonight" - O'Toole in the scene that showed what 'Troy' could and should have been, but alas was not
John Cleese stripping and speaking Russian in 'A Fish Called Wanda' and Kevin Kline's ultimate demise in 'A Fish Called Wanda'
Denzel Washington in 'The Hurricane' - no specific scene, just every little nuance of his performance
The opening moments of 'Chariots of Fire'
"Romeo and Juliet... just a suggestion" - Ben Affleck in 'Shakespeare in Love'
The single scene between Robert Shaw and Paul Scofield in 'A Man for All Seasons'
Elizabeth and Walsingham's Godfather-esque arrest of the conspirators in the albeit historically inaccurate 'Elizabeth'

i'm surprised to not see the great ending to planet of the apes (1968) anywhere!

"Nobody put's baby in the corner"
Apartment changing owners scene in "City of God"
Tongue being ripped out in "Blood Feast"
Beginning shot of "Aguirre: Wrath of God"
SWAT team shootout in beginning of "Dawn of the Dead"
Iron Man flies for the first time.
The Gremlin getting put in the blender.
Abusrd ending to "Commando" where Arnold takes out close to a 100 guys on his own.

Here's the first dozen that popped into my head.

Henry Fonda in Fail-Safe: "What do we say to the dead?"

Orson Welles's Chartres Cathedral monologue in F for Fake.

Peeping Tom: a blind woman talking to a serial killer, unaware of the horrific "home movie" he's projecting on the wall behind her.

Persona: Bibi Andersson's monologue about some boys she and a friend met at the beach...

The fatal wrestling match in Night and the City.

Buster Keaton dodging boulders in Seven Chances.

Joe Versus the Volcano: the full moon. "I forgot how big..."

Walter Huston in Dodsworth, struggling to hold in his emotions: "Have I told you today how much I adore you?"

The Iron Giant: "Superman."

Hobson's Choice - the wedding night.

Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Klaus Kinski on a raft, talking to monkeys.

The haunting epilogue of Being John Malkovich: "Look away. Look away."

Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack

Jurassic Park - T Rex examines the lawyer sitting on the toilet, then chomps him.

Door closes on Kate at the end of Godfather 1

Chance the Gardner walks on water at the end of Being There

"We blew it." Easy Rider

Jackie Treehorn's "doodle" in the Big Lebowski

Elle Driver crunching the ice in response to Budd thanking her for the money in the suitcase. Before the Black Mamba comes out.

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

The "speed limit" exchange from "Double Indemnity".

The scene in the field set to "Can't Buy Me Love" in A Hard Day's Night. Also from that film, Ringo's response to the man on the train:

MAN: I fought the war for your sort!
RINGO: Bet you're sorry you won!

And from Seven Samurai, the final battle scene in the rain, with Katsushiro crying over Kikuchiyo's corpse.

I think the only glaring omission is the namesake's hand with a life of its own at the end Dr. Strangelove; "Mein Furer, I can walk!" or "Gentlemen you can't fight in here, this is the war room!".

Yugoslavian woman tries to grope Soviet ice skater, he smacks her down, she looks up at him sadly, instead of the ice skater looking back, it's Stalin...(WR: Mysteries of the Organism)

Man watches his own funeral procession from inside the casket...(Vampyr)

Dizzying camera circles dumb teenagers as they try to plot a murder...(Bully)

Uncle Isak tells the children an old Jewish parable, and Alexander imagines himself in the tale...(Fanny and Alexander, TV Version)

We learn why Mr. Harmonica plays the harmonica...(Once Upon a Time in the West)

Wonderful list. I'm so glad you included the singing of 'La Marseillaise' as, though it seems insane to write this about a scene from 'Casablanca', I think it's dreadfully underrated.

I'd have to include the ending of 'Bicycle Thieves'; von Stroheim's 'fortunes of war' speech in 'La Grande Illusion'; the rocket in the moon's eye in 'A Trip to the Moon'; and, similarly, the razor blade through the eye in 'Un Chien Andalou'.

I also love Clint's entry into the tavern at the beginning of 'Unforgiven's climax; the dance along the road in 'Zemlya'; and 'Nosferatu's shadow on the wall (or the duelling wall shadows or 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' ... or the final wall shadows in 'La Regle du Jeu').

Even though the freeze frame from '400 Blows' is there, I'd have a tough time leaving out the freeze frame at the end of 'Butch Cassidy', too.

Casablanca
The ending scene where Bogart and the policeman walk away, talking about their future as new best friends.

Edward G. Robinson's entrance in "Key Largo" -- in a bathtub.

And if memory serves me correctly, didn't Joe E. Brown say that dandy kicker in "Some Like It Hot" to Jack Lemmon, not Tony Curtis?

Goodfellas: "As far back as i can remember i always wanted to be a gangster"
&
"Funny how?"

The Dark Knight: The Joker's magic trick

Inglorious basterds: Col. Hans Landa's interrogation of the french farmer Perrier Lapadite

Seven: "What's in the box?"

When Harry met sally: Faking it

Close encounters of the third kind: The sign language of the alien

The Godfather: The Mane scene

Reservoir dogs: the opening scene "like a virgin"

Brokeback mountain: “Brokeback got us good, don’t it?”

Lagaan: Bhuvan realising he hit a six of the last ball

Up: Married life

Almost famous: the tour bus sings along with 'tiny dancer'

Harrison Allsworth in BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS:

"I want it, I need it, I love it when a beautiful woman licks between my toes."

the apt. scene in Godard's Contempt

So many great moments. One more I'd like to add is Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not, "You know how to whistle, don't you Steve?..."

Peter Fonda throwing his watch into the dirt in Easy Rider

Guy teaching Girl how to play Falling Slowly, then the two playing it together in Once

Clint Eastwood in the rain at the end of Unforgiven

Great list...a few more...
-Tom Hanks standing transfixed by Julia Child on TV while an electrical fire in the kitchen causes the TV to go out and the turkey to be blown out of the oven in The Money Pit.
-The sleeping hippo modestly attempting to pull her tutu down in Fantasia.
-Richard Widmark coming to see his gal for possibly the last time before the big shootout in Warlock.
-Katy Jurado in High Noon--"I will let no man put his hands on me..."
-Ally Sheedy shaking dandruff onto her desk in The Breakfast Club.

Major Kong riding the nuclear bomb- cowboy style, at the end of Dr. Strangelove (as well as the end sequence listed above.)

In no particular order . . .

1. A bone turns into a space weapon in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The most profound jump cut in film history.
2. The revelation of Rosebud in Citizen Kane. It sells us everything-and nothing.
3. Judy emerges from a bathroom door morphed into Madeline in Vertigo.
4. Travis Bickle alone in his apartment in Taxi Driver. “Here is a man who would not take it anymore.”
5. The 3 man gunfight in a graveyard that seems to stretch into eternity in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
6. Michael Corleone emerges from a bathroom in a small Italian restaurant and faces his destiny in The Godfather.
7. “I know it was you, Fredo.” The Godfather Part 2.
8. Blood erupts from a toilet in a previously spotless hotel room in The Conversation.
9. Wendy Torrance discovers her husband’s writing in The Shining. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
10. The Lady in the Radiator serenades Henry in Eraserhead.
11. A spinning tape recorder plays a murderer’s confession in The Thin Blue Line.
12. “Stonehenge” descends to the stage in This is Spinal Tap.
13. Marge Gunderson confronts failed criminal Jerry Ludergaard in Fargo.
14. Man versus dog in a death race in No Country for Old Men.
15. Dorothy emerges from her house into Oz in The Wizard of Oz.
16. A maniacally laughing puppet emerges from a closet and startles a soon to be victim in Deep Red.
17. Indiana Jones versus a giant stone ball in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
18. Baghdad, Iraq: Day 360 in The Hurt Locker.
19. A woman discovers her own corpse in Mulholland Drive.
20. An organist plays a duet with the mother ship, as Melinda Dillon giggles like an excited child in Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.
21. The car versus subway chase in The French Connection.
22. The chase through the hills of San Francisco in Bullitt.
23. Four gunfighters walk stoically into a Mexican village, knowing they will not walk out, in The Wild Bunch.
24. A thief enters a forest and the woods take on a mysterious, fairyland quality in Rashomon.
25. John Wayne stands in the doorway, unable to enter, in The Searchers.
26. Annie and Woody stand framed under the Brooklyn Bridge in Annie Hall.
27. The production in the asylum descends into chaos and madness in Marat/Sade.
28. Tony struts down the street, paint can in hand, in Saturday Night Fever.
29. Harry confronts the whimpering, pathetic killer in an empty stadium in Dirty Harry.
30. Benjamin and Elaine run from the church in The Graduate.
31. A woman stands over her sleeping boyfriend, seemingly for hours, in Paranormal Activity.
32. Randall and Wooderson drive to Houston for Aerosmith tickets in the early morning sun in Dazed and Confused.
33. A corpse emerges slowly from the tub in Diabolique.
34. “Those aren’t pillows!” Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
35. Cousin Eddie tells Clark the story of the metal plate in his head in Christmas Vacation.
36. “I’ll have what she’s having.” When Harry Met Sally.
37. The eye of a maniac is seen through the crack in a door in Black Christmas.
38. Clark falls asleep at the wheel in National Lampoon’s Vacation.
39. The wounded fox speaks in Antichrist. “Chaos reigns.”
40. “Be sure the drink your Ovaltine.” A Christmas Story.
41. “To my brother George, the richest man in town.” It’s a Wonderful Life.
42. Napoleon leads a snowball fight at his school in Napoleon.
43. Leatherface dances a chainsaw ballet in the dawn in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
44. Wild coyotes run through downtown LA in Collateral.
45. The spontaneous guitar banjo duet in Deliverance.
46. Ray is reunited with his father for a game of catch in Field of Dreams.
47. Rosie Perez dances fiercely during the opening credits of Do the Right Thing.
48. “Weren’t you even going to say goodbye, Tom?” The Grapes of Wrath.
49. The sun rises over the desert in Lawrence of Arabia.
50. A blind man’s dog turns on him in Suspiria.
51. “Superman!” The Iron Giant
52. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Jaws
53. Schindler says goodbye to Stern and is given a ring in Schindler’s List.
54. A key to the mystery (perhaps) is hidden in plain sight in the final shot of Cache.
55. A carousel spins out of control in Strangers on a Train.
56. Rhett doesn’t give a damn in Gone With the Wind.
57. Adrian runs to the ring as Rocky calls her name in Rocky.
58. Emma says goodbye to her children in Terms of Endearment.
59. Warren Schmidt receives a child’s drawing in About Schmidt.
60. Michal Myers rises behind Laurie Strode, as if resurrected, in Halloween.
61. The wronged African-Americans stand for Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.
62. A corpse’s chest sprouts fangs and the head turns into a spider in The Thing.
63. “Thank you very much! Thank you very much!” Scrooge
64. The children enter the chocolate garden in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
65. The Dodge Challenger outraces the cops in Vanishing Point.
66. Phoebe Cates emerges from the pool in her red bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
67. The Joker makes a pencil “disappear” in The Dark Knight.
68. The music montage at the end of Shrek.
69. Heather, frightened and cold, gives the camera her confessional in The Blair Witch Project.
70. “Is that hair gel?” There’s Something about Mary.
71. A billboard rises outside a hotel window in Minority Report.
72. The child in the red raincoat is revealed in Don’t Look Now.
73. The conquistadors descend down a mountain along the Amazon in Aguirre: The Wrath of God.
74. Jack Sparrow makes his entrance aboard a sinking ship in Pirates of the Carribean.
75. Regan MacNeil’s head spins in The Exorcist
76. Beauty kills the beast in King Kong.
77. Lampwick becomes a donkey in Pinocchio.
78. Roberto makes his child laugh one final time in Life is Beautiful.
79. Bonnie and Clyde meet their destiny.
80. Aldo Raine tries to speak Italian in Inglorious Basterds.
81. “He has his father’s eyes.” Rosemary’s Baby
82. The Bride versus the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill.
83. A flight attendant serenades a sick child and nearly kills her in Airplane!
84. Hands emerge from the apartment walls in Repulsion.
85. Peter Parker is carried like a martyr in the subway train in Spider-Man 2.
86. The storm downs the plane in Cast Away.
87. Randall orders a copy of “Happy Scrappy Hero Pup” in Clerks.
88. Jack Nicholson orders a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast in Five Easy Pieces.
89. Norma Desmond is ready for her close up in Sunset Boulevard.
90. The Woman seems to silently float across a living room in Inside.
91. The phantom is unmasked in The Phantom of the Opera.
92. An alien is “born” through poor John Hurt’s chest in Alien.
93. A man’s face meets a fire extinguisher and loses in Irreversible.
94. Tommy menacingly asks Henry why he thinks he’s “funny” in Goodfellas.
95. Mrs. Crane takes a fateful shower in Psycho.
96. Slim Pickens rides a nuclear missile like a bronco in Dr. Strangelove.
97. Gene Kelley is Singin’ in the Rain.
98. The Ringo Kid makes his entrance in Stagecoach.
99. Bogie and Bergman say goodbye in Casablanca.
100. Luke’s father is revealed in The Empire Strikes Back.

Ebert: This is one doozy of a list.

Since I somehow missed the rocket in the moon's eye already being on the list, I'll swap it from my list with Jackie Chan's slide down the string of lights in 'Police Story'. And Apu and his sister running to see the train in 'Pather Panchali'.

Ned? Ned RYERSON???

Roy Batty dies "Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion" - Blade Runner

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

"No man can kill me."
"I am no man."

No words. . . just the snapping fingers and the slowly swaying hips of William Holden, eyes locked, as he dances apart from Kim Novak in "Picnic." I was VERY young, but that woke me up fast.

Good choices, and lots of good suggestions added as well. For me, though, the list can't be complete without the part in the courtroom when Atticus is leaving after losing the case and the older black man tells Scout to stand up, "Your father's passin'." It gives me goosebumps every time.

"SEDAGIVE"!!!!!!

Boy, Roger, I think you made some tears come into my eyes with that list. You've given me a burning desire to borrow out/rent/tape/download a lot of these films now and watch them all over again.

One caveat- you should have put a major spoiler warning before this list. You've spoiled three fourths of American cinema- heck, you've spoiled three fourths of cinema!- right here with no warning!

If a very serious film goer who nevertheless still hasn't gotten to many of these films yet (and quite understandably, too)- in other words, someone like me- checks out this post, he/she will find many of the best moments in the history of cinematography ruined for him/her.

I just had a few spoiled to me. Hope that either I can forget it by the time I get to the movie or that watching these films is such a great experience that knowing what happens still doesn't rob you of the viewing experience.

"I'll remember you, honey. You're the one that got away"

Paul Newman just CRUSHING it in HUD.

Bang The Drum Slowly: "From now on, I rag no one."
Jimmy Stewart calls Mr. Potter a "scurvy little spider."
Church scene in The Graduate: "Elaine! Elaine!
Helicopter scene Apocalypse Now
Stateroom scene Marx Brothers
Blind Rabbi (Sam Waterston) dancing Crimes and Misdemeanors
Slow motion shadow boxing w classical music Raging Bull.
Kevin Costner plays catch w his dad Field of Dreams
"Here's Johnny!" Nicholson The Shining
Jets and Sharks carry Tony's body at the end of West Side Story.
Travis calls Betsy from pay phone, slow pan, Taxi Driver.

A goofy one: "Hey, Malkovich, think fast!" (bonk.) Actually improvised by the extra--not in the script--and kept in at Malkovich's insistence, despite the fact that he had just been hit in the head with a beer can.

The final instructions on the earpiece in "Synecdoche, New York."

"Meet me in Montauk."

That wonderful, insanely elaborate tracking shot through the bureaucratic halls in "Brazil" that delights me every time I see it.

"My spoon is too big. My spoon is too big! My SPOON is too big!"

Off of Scott, at 11:40 AM: John Turturro's walk through the woods in "Miller's Crossing": "We're not like them. They're ANIMALS!"

The Hudsucker Proxy, from the wonderful character actor Bill Hobbs: "Now, strictly speaking, I ain't NEVER supposed to do this--but have you got a better idea?"

"Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human."

Can barely restrain myself from tearing up as I think about this. Star Trek 2.

Once Upon a Time in the West...

Harmonica: The reward for this man is 5000 dollars, is that right?
Cheyenne: Judas was content for 4970 dollars less.
Harmonica: There were no dollars in them days.
Cheyenne: But sons of bitches... yeah.

OK! OK!

Robert DeNiro, The Deer Hunter.

Ebert I loved your list, and I love all the comments! This has been so much fun to read! Allow me to add a few of my favorites (some of which I've seen mentioned):
"Tiny Dancer" bus scene in "Almost Famous". Instant classic.
"RAZZLE DAZZLE!" the graduation scene from "Stripes".
The pie scene from "American Pie".
"They took the bar! THE WHOLE F**KING BAR!" The visual inspired the poster that to this day hangs on 95% of dorm room walls.
"And the flowers are still standing." ("Ghostbusters")
The scene from "Stand By Me" where Gordie sees the deer early in the morning.
Clark's rant about his boss towards the end of "Christmas Vacation".
"WILLLLLSONNNNNN!"
The FAO Schwartz scene with the giant foot-piano from "Big".
And finally...
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas and a half a packet of cigarettes. It's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it."
Thank you and good night folks!

I'd go with the Wonka boat ride personally.
These lists are fantastic. Let's see... I'll add Bruce Lee vs Kareem in Game of Death & NightCrawler's attack on the White House in X-men 2. Stallone's deleted speech from Rambo 4. The prison breakout in Raising Arizona & last shot of the '70s Body Snatcher were great. And the Aliens queen fight. The alternate ending to The Abyss was neat, before such things were common. The alley fight in They LIve. Either dream sequence in The Big Lebowski. Mickey & the brooms in Fantasia. The reveal in Open Your Eyes, though Vanilla Sky's version was good, too. The Duke of Death scenes in The Unforgiven. The campfire scene in Treasure of Sierra Madre. The printer beat down in Office Space. Beavis in the Whitehouse. The last scene of Godfather III. The Rodney Dangerfield scenes in Natural Born Killers. The subway scene in Spiderman in 2. The flying monkey attack in The Wizard of Oz. The crowd wearing masks in V fro Vendetta. Any shootout from The Matrix. The hammer fight in Old Boy. The Penguin's public speech in Batman 2. The convoy in Smokey & The Bandit. Elvis dying in Bubba Ho-tep. Kickass' first battle. The will reading in Greedy. Over Macho Grande in Airplane. The badguy posse hiring in Blazing Saddles. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. Any Jackie Chan battle. The funeral in Death Becomes Her. And finally, the creepiest of all. The foot tapping finale to Bob Roberts.

-Blood dripping into Brendan Gleeson's eye and the heartbreaking dialogue that follows in '28 Days Later.'

-Ending of 'Perfume' where everyone bows to Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, then they orgy.

-Juicy fruit from 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest.'

-The last line of 'Session 9.'

-Frogs from 'Magnolia'

-"He ain't pretty no more." From 'Raging Bull.'

-Clitoris cutting in 'Antichrist.'

-Jeffrey Wright taking drugs and laughing at the tire sculpture in 'Basquiat.' (Beautiful)

-Truman stopping traffic to Philip Glass in 'The Truman Show.'

-The deer head, lamp and book laughing with Bruce Campbell in 'Evil Dead 2.'

-And Anthony Hopkins playing Burt Munro in the happiest movie ever made, 'the worlds fastest Indian.'

Almost every great scene I can think of has been covered here, either by you or a commenter. My faves are Orson Welles in the doorway in The Third Man and the old man on the swing in Ikiru. Some others that come to mind are:

Marilyn Monroe's dress blowing up over the vent in The Seven Year Itch.

Robin Williams' chat with Matt Damon on the park bench in Good Will Hunting.

James Stewart collapses onto a table of letters in Mr Smith Goes To Washington.

James Dean stands with his arms outstretched amidst gushing oil in Giant.

Harold Russell smashes his hook hands through the window at the young boy in The Best Years Of Our Lives

and, although Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain dance gets a lot of love, I think that Donald O'Conner's 'Make 'Em Laugh' is the single greatest comedic moment in cinema.

(A very silly and embarrassed part of me also wants to add the closing credits march at the end of Buckaroo Banzai, just because it's cheesiness makes me laugh uncontrollably every time I see it)

Great romantic moments:

"See ya, Katie." "See ya, Hubbell." The end of The Way We Were.

Holly finds Cat in the rain-soaked alley, and herself in Paul's arms. Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Ned Seton tries to break it gently to his sister, Linda, that yes, it shows that she loves Johnny Case. Holiday.

George and Mary sharing the phone, no longer listening to Sam Wainwright. It's a Wonderful Life.

Matt explains to all assembled that, yes, he remembers how love and passion and romance feel, as Christina tearfully looks on. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Jack sketching Rose while she wears nothing but her necklace in Titanic.

And of course the moment shown at the top of your post, which is Rhett perusing Scarlett as if he knows what she looks like without her shimmy. GWTW

Nuclear war erupts in The Day After. Each time a bomb hits, there's a flash, and fleeing citizens are frozen and x-rayed mid-stride. Simple but harrowingly effective. I dunno if this counts since, according to Wikipedia, it was a TV-movie. I only saw it on Betamax as a kid.

The hand reaching for the butterfly and being stopped, at the end of "All Quiet on the Western Front."

The last line from "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang." (And anyone who hasn't should see that.)

The shoot-out in "Peking Opera Blues," as the people caught in the cross-fire keep jumping from on top of the benches to below them, trying to stay out of the way.

Kim Novak and William Holden dancing for the first time in "Picnic."

The funhouse scene from "The Lady From Shanghai." Even people who haven't seen that movie are familiar with that scene, it's been copied so often.

Pinnochio, dead, face down in the water. No modern maker of films for children would have the courage to do that shot.

"Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." Goldfinger

Jackie Chan handcuffed to a criminal while fighting off the Axe Gang, in "Project A, Part 2."

"That'll do, pig," in "Babe."

And everyone quotes the stinkin' badges, but the scene that sticks with me is Howard and Curtin laughing together at the end of the "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."

The secret policeman chillingly threatens the old lady across the hall from his target, in "The Lives of Others." And then the scene at the end where he tries to do something right.

Colonel Nicholson and his troops arrive at the prison compound, whistling, in "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

Anthony Quinn on the beach at the end of "La Strada"

Pazu rescues Shita from the burning tower in "Laputa." And later, the shadow of the Goliath emerging from the clouds in the same movie. And the first reveal of the city when Shita and Pazu finally get there. If you're lucky, you'll see it on the biggest screen you can. (A 70mm print of this would be a wonderful thing to bring to the Roger Ebert film festival. Just sayin'.)

The bar scene in "Near Dark." "Finger-lickin' good!"

"Get away from her, you BITCH!" Aliens

"Man has come to the forest." After a gunshot is heard, in "Bambi."

The first attempt to show off the frog, in "One Froggy Evening." Traditionalists may instead opt for the entrance of Bugs as Leopold in "Long-Haired Hare."

A drunken Dean Jagger telling Gregory Peck that he can no longer remember the faces of all the men who've died in "Twelve O'Clock High."

Margaret Sullivan's hand feeling around the post box for a letter that isn't there, in "The Shop Around the Corner."

The scene with the blind man at the piano in John Landis's first feature, "Schlock."

The scene with the blind man in "Young Frankenstein."

John Wayne pulling Maureen O'Hara back into his cottage and kissing her, in "The Quiet Man."

A dying and delirious James Mason quoting scripture near the end of "Odd Man Out."

George C. Scott realizing there's more than they've previously heard on the tape recording, in "The Changeling." The ghost of the boy appearing, later in the same film. (These two are great examples of totally memorable moments in otherwise forgettable movies.)

The heart-broken reaction of Alec Guinness in "The Man in the White Suit," as everyone realizes he's failed, and everyone laughs at his failure.

Timothy Hutton and John Lone singing together in "Iceman."

The ending sequence of "Fahrenht 451," with its perfect mix of mood, acting, weather and one of Bernard Herrmann's best pieces of music ever.

The first reveal of Gort in "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

The assassination scene near the end of "The Conformist."

Nino Manfredi's sad reaction to the singing at the end of "Bread and Chocolate."

The first reveal of the farm in "Days of Heaven."

The last scene of "Children of Men," where a slight amount of hope causes the warring factions to stop shooting, although we know it will only be a brief respite. (Can't be more specific without spoiling it--great movie!) Also, the attack on the car in the same movie.

Leo proves once again that he's a master of the Thompson, in "Miller's Crossing."

The dim-witted T. Rex tells the rather dim-witted villain that he isn't sure how well his plan has been thought out, in "Meet the Robinsons."

Mrs. Danvers shows the new wife Rebecca's bedroom, in "Rebecca."

Silent Bob explains to Holden that what he's been doing is "Chasing Amy," and explains what that meanas, in the film of that title.

The entire courtship sequence between Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage in "Raising Arizona."

Claudette Colbert showing Clark Gable how to hitch a ride, in "It Happened One Night."

The pretend duel in the tavern in "The Three Musketeers," where our heroes cheerfully hoodwink and rob the innkeeper.

Ben Johnson talks to the two boys out by his fishing hole, in "The Last Picture Show."

The fight with the Id monster, in "Forbidden Planet."

Judy Garland singing, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," in "Meet Me in St. Louis."

The little girl in the red dress in Schindler's List.

My favorite 10 seconds of film ever:

"Hey, Boo!"
"That's Mr. Radley, Scout."

The look on Scout's face and on Boo Radley's face as their eyes meet; Scout's full of wonder, and Boo's shy and fearful. That may even have been the best scene Robert Duvall ever played. Despite all the greatness that followed.

And why, oh why did Mary Badham not work more after that?

Roger: Have you ever interviewed her? Found out what happened after her great performance in one of the best movies ever made?

Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper discuss lying and Italian ancestry in True Romance.

Marilyn Monroe opens the door in Asphalt Jungle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ezr6aO0f4

in no particular order:

* [throwing door open] Eve Harrington: Get out.
Addison DeWitt: You're too short for that gesture."
* the "kiss" between michael and fredo
* sophie being told she needs to make a choice
* "harold, i need you to do something for me. its about meg." (all women in audience 'ah hell nah')
* "i won't be ignored, dan"
* kujan realizes he has been w/soze the entire time
* kent becomes keyser on the sidewalk
* "you slithered out of your mother's filth";"you're just the afterbirth; they should have put you in a jar; drainage; milkshake"
* e.t. leaves elliot - :o(
* "rollo tomasi"
* john nash reaction to alicia asking him on date
* jake lamotta banging his head on the wall
* "alright vicomte - war."
* the kiss between michael and fredo
* sonny being gunned down
* joey: what things you heard? jake: i heard things, i heard some things.

i could go on and on forever...

Since this list was originally made in 1995, I'll stick with moments from movies made after this list.

The Bollywood musical number at the end of The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Nicolas Cage looking at the iguanas in Bad Lieutenant.

Batman vs Ra's Ah-Guhl in Batman Begins.

The tracking shot at the beginning of Boogie Nights.

Ennis del Mar touching Jack's shirt in Brokeback Mountain.

Bruce granting everyone's wishes in Bruce Almighty.

The bugs store food for the winter in A Bug's Life.

Lightning and Sally drive through the countryside in Cars.

The opening sequence in Casino Royale.

Tom Hanks on the island in Cast Away.

Vince vs. Max in Collateral.

The reveal of the true nature of the city in Dark City.

The pencil trick in The Dark Knight.

The plot of The Departed.

Peter discussing his relationship with Sarah while being naked in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Agent 99 moving through the laser maze in Get Smart.

The reveal of the true nature of Mary in Hancock.

Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro talking in the coffee shop in Heat.

James trying to decide what cereal to buy in the supermarket in The Hurt Locker.

Colonel Landa interviewing the people at the beginning of Inglorious Basterds.

The cinematography revealing the midnight sun landscape in Alaska in Insomnia.

Iron Man revealing himself to the world in Iron Man.

Any dialogue coming out of Juno's mouth in Juno.

The Bride vs. the 88's in Kill Bill Vol. 1.

Bill talking about Superman in Bill Bill Vol. 2.

King Kong skating on the ice in Central Park in King Kong.

The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven being far superior to the theatrical version.

Ben being confused as to why Alison is in his bed in Knocked Up.

The earth being destroyed in Knowing.

The Japanese soldiers killing themselves and American soldiers in Letters from Iwo Jima.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The battle in Master and Commander.

The first bullet time sequence in The Matrix.

The opening 8 minutes of Memento.

Michael watching the horses in Michael Clayton.

The crowds gathered in remembrance of Harvey in Milk.

The pivotal punch in Million Dollar Baby.

The spider sequence in Minority Report.

Mike and Sully in the door factory in Monster's Inc.

Annabeth's speech to Jimmy in Mystic River.

Ben trying to take the Declaration of Independence and the cashier thinking he's trying to steal a copy.

Anton Chigurh using his air gun in No Country for Old Men.

The heist revealed in Ocean's Eleven.

Julia Roberts "introduced" in Ocean's Twelve.

Anytime Gary Cole is onscreen in Office Space.

The boat trying to make it up the 80 foot wave in The Perfect Storm.

Anytime Captain Jack Sparrow is onscreen in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

The fact that Quantum of Solace picks up right where Casino Royale left off.

Remy making ratatouille in Ratatouille.

Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road.

The opening 30 minutes in Saving Private Ryan.

The TV show Firefly being given a proper sendoff in Serentiy.

The Simpsons revitalizing themselves in The Simpsons: The Movie.

J.J. Abrams rebooting the franchise in Star Trek.

Bryan telling the Saudis about the finiteness of oil in Syriana.

John and Kate hiding out underground in Terminator 3.

Daniel Plainview in There Will be Blood.

To infinity and beyond in Toy Story.

"When She Loved Me" in Toy Story 2.

The depth charges going off in U-571.

Carl and Elie's relationship montage in Up.

Ryan taking the pictures in Up in the Air.

Parliament going up in flames in V for Vendetta.

Wall-E and Eve in Wall-E.

Anytime Johnny Cash sings in Walk the Line.

The curving of the bullets in Wanted.

The true nature of Elektra in The World is Not Enough.

Randy the Ram talking to his daughter in The Wrestler.

Professor X in the X-Men trilogy.

The car crashing at the beginning of Zack and Miri make a Porno.

Robert Graysmith and Arthur Leigh Allen look at each other at the end of Zodiac.

Billy Elliot's mad dance.
Billy Elliot's letter from him mum.
Billy Elliot dancing for his father.
Billy Elliot's father watching him perform in Swan Lake.

Superman bids Lois goodnight and flies away after their flight over Metropolis.

Locked outside the space craft and all of the monolith scenes in "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Bickle and Iris discussing prostitution over a meal in "Taxi Driver"

Andy Dufresne listening putting the opera on loud speaker "and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free" in "The Shawshank Redemption"

ALLLLAAAARMMM! The submarine dives and the crew await the depth charges in "Das Boot"

About every single scene in "Citizen Kane"

The orgy sequence and the mysterious man following Tom Cruise around the dark streets of NY in "Eyes Wide Shut"

The guests arriving twice in "The Exterminating Angel"

Both the audience and Captain Willard finally arrive to where Colonel Kurtz is hiding in "Apocalypse Now"

Jake Lamott dancing in his robe and when he waits in the empty locker room with his fist dipped in ice in "Raging Bull"

Flying off during traffic in "8 1/2"

"It was you Charlie.." The heartbreaking cab scene in "On the Waterfront"

Besides the Russian Roulette scenes, I always found the scene when Michael first return heartbreaking. He tells the cab driver to skip his stop and spends the night alone in a hotel room. "The Deer Hunter"

Marlon Brando scares the kid with by inserting orange peel in his mouth at the end of "The Godfather"

Young Vito Corleone jumping from one roof to the next while his target walks past a busy market below in "The Godfather Part II"

Norman Bates conversates with Marion about mother in the parol because the office is too "officious" and the shower scene in "Psycho"

The final whisper in "Lost in Translation"

William Hurt and the audience finally realizing the dark secret of "Dark City"

Quint's indianapolis speech and right at the peak of the tension the yellow barrells break the surface of the ocean in "JAWS"

Luke's smile montage at the end of "Cool Hand Luke"

The bar brawl in "Mean Streets" - "A mook? What's a mook? You can't call me a mook."

A starving Setsuko eating dust balls in "Grave of the Fireflies"

Chaplin and Coogan fighting the bully father and his bully son and the window smashing sequence in "The Kid"

The playground gradually getting crowded with "The Birds"

Jack and Rose dance to Irish music while the 1st class passengers smoke cigars on the "Titanic"

The donkey's final moments in "Balthazar"

Should I continue?

Don't forget the long crane shot that ends with a tight close up of the dove pulling the miniature chariot across the banquet table during Nebuchadnezzar's feast in Griffith's Intolerance.

Some more great moments.

(Note: I haven't included scenes which I've seen people already mention here.)

'Amadeus': Mozart immensely improving Salieri's welcoming-tune right in front of him.

'Jackie Brown': Jackie and Max's conversation about the different effects age has on men and women.

'Synecdoche New York': Caden resting his head on the shoulder of a woman he knew, and telling her he loves her.

'Raging Bull': The home-video montage.

'Pulp Fiction': John Travolta and Uma Thurman dancing, 'Aw man, I shot Marvin in the face!', the opening credits, Samuel Jackson's early speech in the apartment.

'Broken Flowers': Murray comes to the grave of a past girl-friend. 'Hello, beautiful.'

'Blood Simple': The haunting and beautiful climactic show-down.

'Sexy Beast': Every scene with Ben Kingsley (and some without).

'Big Man Japan': The climactic, hilarious parody of Showa-era action shows.

'Fargo': The opening credits, Stormare and Buscemi's final disagreement in the cabin, Marge Gunderson slowly approaching the cabin.

'Zodiac': Gyllenhaal in the old man's basement with an unknown and supposedly nonexistent person walking above them.

'Kids': Chloe Sevigny telling her friend, 'I can't believe I have to tell my little brother I'm gonna die! I can't make him his lunches any more!'

'Inglourious Basterds': The introduction of Hugo Stiglitz, Sergeant Werner awaiting the bear-Jew.

'A Single Man': George and Charlotte comforting each other as they dance, George sitting on his bed at the end of the film remembering the happy parts of his day.

'No Country for Old Men': Chigurh dressing his wound, Chigurh and Carson conversing, Moss walking through the desert and coming upon the site of the carnage, Chigurh speaking with the old gas-station owner, the opening monologue.

'Kill Bill Vol. 2': The Bride and Bill conversing on the porch of the chapel, Budd's pride shrinking at his boss's orders, The Bride being buried, Bill telling the tale of Pai Mei, The Bride escaping her coffin (this, I think, is my central image of the cinema, and has the best use of music I've heard in a movie), The Bride and Elle's final show-down in the hall-way and the climax of that scene, ALL of Bill's dialogue with The Bride, The Bride slowly putting B.B. to bed, and Bill's death (this has the second best use of music I've heard).

'Lost in Translation': Bob in his limousine slowly waking to the strange city around him, the Suntory whiskey shoot, Charlotte sitting by her hotel window contemplating the vast city and what she means in it, Bob's visit to Charlotte before their night on the town, Bob singing 'Peace, Love and Understanding', the lulling drive back to the hotel, Bob and Charlotte lying on the bed talking about their lives (especially Bob's speech about children), their unheard agreement at the end, and Bob leaving Tokyo.

'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls': 'You bin a broad all along, right Barzell? God-damn broad? GOD-DAMN UGLY BROAD BARZELL!!! (Laughs) An ugly broad! (Laughs) NO, RONNY! NO! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!'

as before, I like understated moments e.g. when Julia Roberts as Erin Brokovich lets the lawyers indifferent about possible illness to the community know about the water in their glasses

Shane? Come back, Shane.

Roger, I've taken your original list and converted it into an on-line quiz. Basically, I've listed your descriptions without the film titles and ask which films you refer to. It's on the quiz site Sporcle.com, which has over 110,000 user-created quizzes, which cumulatively have been played over 300,000,000 times. You can view and play the quiz by clicking on my name atop this column.

You are of course credited as the creator of the list and the quiz links back to this page. In the comments, I encourage quiztakers to visit your page, although I suspect most Sporcle film quiz takers do that already.

If you have any objections to my repurposing of your work, let me know and I'll take the quiz down.

At the end of Heat, when Al Pacino takes Robert de Niro's hand as a sign of respect.

Forrest Gump: When Forrest tells Jenny about all the beautiful places he has seen near then end of the film, and she says "I wish I could have been there with you." And he says: "But you were"

The Kevin Spacey Monologue at the end of American Beauty: "It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time"

Ebert missed a big one, by not mentioning (either) the opening or the closing shots of Aguire: The Wraith of God.

I'd substitute the boat going up the mountain in Fitzcarraldo though.

"You're not big enough to do that to Johnny Rocco! I'LL KILL YOU!!" Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo

Tim Holt reading the letter from Cody's wife, after he is killed, in Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Elliot's mom reading Peter Pan to Gertie, while E.T. watches while hidden in adjacent closet.

The rotting dead woman rising from the bath tub in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

Sean Thornton (John Wayne) and Will Danaher (Victor Mclaughlin) become unlikely friends, and stagger home drunk together after their comically epic fistfight in The Quiet Man.

An interesting list, but it could've used more Pixar. If I had to choose one, I would pick the scene where Buzz and Woody fly in the original Toy Story, when Nemo is given a tour of the coral reef on Mr Ray's back in Finding Nemo, or either the Define Dancing scene or the ending of Wall-E. Not to mention the Married Life scene in Up. Forget it, all the Pixar movies have great moments.

Bravo to Robert Daniel for his wonderful list, which includes several oddities I had in mind. Here are a few more:

A little girl's eyes grow wide as she starts screaming, "Them! Them! Them!"

Ann-Margaret swimming in baked beans ("Tommy")

Ma Joad/Jane Darwell in the mirror ("Grapes of Wrath")

King Kong on the Empire State Building (original)

Will Kane/Gary Cooper leaves his badge in the dust ("High Noon")

Pasqualino/Giancarlo Giannini & the Commandant/Shirley Stoler get intimate ("Seven Beauties")

"Later that night ... 1787" ("Start the Revolution Without Me")

The actual "Last Tango in Paris" itself

Outing of the mental patients in "David & Lisa" (cp. "Cookoo's Nest")

Harold/Bud Cort's long, slow take to the camera as one of his potential dates runs screaming from the house ("Harold and Maude")

"Here's Johnny" -- How can that one not be here somewhere!!! ("The Shining")

The bandit shoots at the camera ("The Great Train Robbery")

Captain Ahab's/Gregory Peck's free arm beckons his men follow him after the white whale ("Moby Dick")

The hand twitches, Colin Clive/Dr. von Frankenstein turns and exclaims again and again, "It's alive! It's alive!" ("Frankenstein")

Nina/Glenda Jackson runs back and forth throwing herself against the walls of the madhouse yard screaming, "He hated me! He hated me!" ("The Music Lovers")

Godzilla's head appears over the mountain (original "Godzilla")

Lawrence Talbot/Lon Chaney, Jr. becomes a werewolf. ("The Werewolf")

Tracking shot with crane showing the wounded soldiers in the street as Scarlet goes running for help ("Gone With the Wind")

The peasants bless Jonathan Harker ("Dracula" - "We people of the mountains believe there are vampires ... Dracula and his 'vives' .... Take this ... for your mother!")

with firecrackers popping and "Jessie's Girl" blaring, Dirk Diggler ponders the abyss...
Boogie Nights

Chas: I've had a rough year, dad.
Royal: I know you have, Chassie.
The Royal Tennenbaums

Phil: Dammit B.A., we're not the team! They're the team! We're just the equipment!
North Dallas Forty

A curious Miss Kenton teases an awkward Mr. Stevens into revealing his reading habits
The Remains of the Day

James Woods confesses his sins
Salvador

Planet of the Apes!!!!!

Aloysius dancing to "Up There in Orbit" with detached abandon in "Permanent Vacation".

Cousin Eva dancing to "I Put a Spell on You" with similarly detached abandon in "Stranger Than Paradise".

Bob and Nicoletta slow-dancing like two kids at the hop to "It's Raining" while Zack and Jack watch from the table in "Down by Law".

Mitsuko's varied attempts to cheer taciturn boyfriend Jun up, including puffing out her cheeks, squishing her nose closed, daubing on lipstick and kissing him until they both look like clowns in "Mystery Train".

When Helmut and Yo-Yo begin talking as Yoyo drives the cab Helmut should be driving, in "Night on Earth".

Conway Twill asking no one in particular "Ever wish you were the moon?" in "Dead Man".

Ghost Dog lamenting; "Everything
seems to be changing around us. Nothing makes sense any more." in "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai".

Bill Rice and Taylor Mead toasting with coffee they're pretending is champagne in "Coffee and Cigarettes".

The final shot circling Don Johnston in "Broken Flowers".

Every single "That's all!" sung by Annette Hanshaw in "Sita Sings the Blues".

Billy and Stu gleefully stabbing themselves in "Scream".

Captain Zhurov reading a bound and imprisoned Angelika letters she never recieved from her boyfriend who died in combat, whose fly-ridden corpse now lays next to her.

Bela Lugosi's heartbreaking "Home? I have no home!" speech in "Bride of the Monster".

David communicating with Lisa through rhymes in "David and Lisa".

All the main characters arriving back together for the perfect denouement in "A Room for Romeo Brass".

Woody and his skinhead pals attempting to cheer Shaun up in "This Is England".

Howard Hughes seducing the cigarette girl in "The Aviator".

The shot closely following a sweat-sheened Anna Paquin as she dances the night away in "25th Hour".

Nicola getting chocolate eaten off of her stomach by her lover in "Life Is Sweet".

Father Flanagan and his boys marching together to save Whitey from his gangster brother in "Boys Town".

Having skimmed the comments, I thought I'd try to avoid duplicating anyone else's entries, so here goes:

Count Orlock rises from his coffin in Nosferatu.

The monster meets the blind man in Bride of Frankenstein, as well as the scene's counterpart in Young Frankenstein.

A then-unknown Jack Black turns out to be a great singer in High Fidelity.

The queen drinks a potion in Snow White.

Nicholas G. Winton, appearing on a British talk show, learns the entire audience is made up of the children he rescued from the Holocaust.

Grandma's creative tire fix in The Triplets of Belleville.

The final scene in Paths of Glory.

The birth of a child in Man with a Movie Camera.

A lab assistant seems to be missing one of his mice in Return of the Creature. Fifty years later, the same actor would win an Oscar for directing Million Dollar Baby.

Interview subjects choose their favourite memories in After Life.

The Keaton vs. Chaplain debate in The Dreamers.

Every single goddamn scene in Sunset Blvd.

Ralph bursts into tears when his mom catches him beating up the bully in A Christmas Story.

Mick Jagger's reaction to the Altamont footage in Gimme Shelter.

Marshall McLuhan settles an argument in Annie Hall. (Yes, I wish life were like that.)

Norm McLaren's Neighbours fight over a flower.

A grieving daughter tearfully sings her late father's favourite-but-hilariously-innappropriate song at his funeral in The Saddest Music in the World.

A young boy buys a pastry to trade for sexual favours in Once Upon a Time in America, but decides he'd rather have the dessert instead.

Alvin Straight trades war stories with a fellow veteran in The Straight Story.

Sinbad fights a sword-weilding skeleton.

Ryan Larkin nearly becomes whole again when he sees one of the original cells from Walking.

The opening shot of Cache.

The closing shot of Cache.

Peter Sellers finds love in The Party.

The damn frog just won't sing when anyone's around.

Kirk Douglas dies in Ace in the Hole.

Toshiro Mifune dies in Throne of Blood.

Piper Laurie dies in Carrie.

Robert Shaw dies in Jaws.

Everybody dies in Titus.

"Leave the gun; take the cannoli."

Robert Downy Jr. explains why you never go full retard.

Edward G. Robinson explains why you never commit suicide by jumping off the back of a train.

Bogart and Bacall exchange innuendo-filled dialogue on the subject of horse racing.

"My sister! My daughter! My sister! My daughter!"

Dracula's Daughter seduces a would-be model.

Ed Wood meets Orson Welles.

Gulliver discovers the gramophone under the king's robe in New Gulliver.

John Cleese asks, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" and gets myriad answers in The Life of Brian.

The Lumiere brothers create the old kink-in-the-garden-hose gag.

When Indiana Jones first spots the huge boulder coming at him in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Classic.........

I won't repeat any of Roger's selections The scene at the end of "The Wild Bunch" where the gang walks up the street to meet their fate. From the moment when William Holden simply says "Let's go"

The elevator of blood in "The Shining"

"No, Luke. I am your father."

Toshire Mfune going medevial at the end of "The Seven Samurai" (without pants!)

The ape discovering that bones can be used as weapons in "2001". Hell, all of "2001"!

The three way mexican stand-off at the end of "The Good the Bad and the Ugly"

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Peter Sellers' phone call to the Russian president in Dr. Strangelove

"Springtime for Hitler" from "The Producers"

The first exchange between Steve McQueen's "Hiltz" and the German Commandant at the beginning of "The Great Escape"....

Hiltz: "You'll still be here when I get out?"

Commandant: "Cooler!"

John Wayne walking out through the doorway and back into the wilderness at the end of "The Searchers"

There are so many great ones still to be mentioned...

Excellent List. Reminds me so much of the short, 'History in the Movies' from the 72nd Academy Awards... and similar compliations.

Add some stirring music, and this list is a tribute to all the glory of the silver screen!

I didn't see lightning striking the clocktower, electrifying the cable extended over the road, connecting with the hook on the back of an oncoming DeLorean time machine, sending it Back To The Future.

The thing with making lists about various facets of cinema over the years is that it begins quite well giving beautiful insights into certain notions and trivia but it invariably ends with bitter,pointless squabbles as u move down the page ie. when it comes to the reader's comments...

After having seen several such instances,i'm really glad i came across this piece of heartfelt cine-appreciation - and all the other comments just added on to the joy!!

My head's really swimming with celluloid nostalgia and am really tempted to add another 100 or so to the already gi-normous list of 'Great Moments in Movies' but will only add just one more..

This is from "Empire of the Sun" when Bale's character finds himself next to the already dead 'Mrs.Victor' and the camera pans out to glimpse the visual impact of the nuclear explosions of Hiroshima-Nagasaki - an ethereally euphemistic depiction of one the most defining moments of the 20the Century....

So many wonderful ones...

A couple not already mentioned:
The unemployment line dance to Donna Summer, and the finale to "You Can Leave Your Hat On", both from "The Full Monty".

"Boogie Wonderland" from "Happy Feet".

Great job Roger. I am heartened to note the incredible range of films here. Also, the inclusion of so many foreign films. I was impressed. Anyway let me just add 5 from my vast store of memories. The final scene from Away from her, with the view of the husband gazing out the picture window at the falling snow with KD Laing singing on the soundtrack , Neil Young's Helpless. Also Umberto D when the little dog his only companion runs back to him in the park. Man, I wailed like a baby. Charles Laughton snatching Maureen Ohara, Sanctuary. The chase scene in French Connection, and the little boy in Bicycle Thieves protecting his father from the vengeful mob. Oh yeah, Laurel and Hardy dancing in Way Out West. Priceless. Thanks.

Several of my favorite movie moments:

Paul Robeson singing "Ol' Man River" in "Show Boat" (1936).

helen Morgan singing "Can't Help Lovin' That man" and "Bill" in "Show Boat" (1936).

William Warfield singing "Ol' Man River' in "Show Boat" (1951 remake).

Kenneth Branagh reciting "To be or not to be" in "Hamlet' (1996).

Laurence Olivier's speech to the Venetian Senate in Act I, Scene 3 of "Othello" (1965).

The duels in Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" (1968).

Laurence Olivier's first soliloquy in "Richard III" (1955).

Gordon MacRae singing the "Soliloquy" in "Carousel" (1956).

Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones singing "If I Loved You" in "Carousel" (1956).

Claramae Turner and Shirley Jones singing "You'll Never Walk Alone' in "carousel".

"Gordon MacRae singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' " in "Oklahoma!"

Gordon MacRae and cast singing "Oklahoma!" in "Oklahoma!"

I could go on, but there are way too many.

My single favorite scene from any movie is Harpo, playing the harp, in Night at the Opera. Film was created for that moment! As Chaplin said, (describing Kubrick's Barry Lyndon) "Beautiful, beautiful"

Kong breaking through the great gate and into the village (1933.

Oliver Hardy looking at the camera and pleading for audience sympathy after Stan Laurel has gotten him into another nice mess.

The Monster entering the room backward and turning around to face the camera in Frankenstein (1931).

Charles Laughton as Quasimodo pouring molten lead on the Beggars Guild trying to break into Notre Dame.

From 1776 (1972)

[Thomson, reading George Washington's last letter]

"I can now state, with some certainty, that the eve of battle is upon us. Toward this end, I have ordered the evacuation of Manhattan, and have ordered my men to take up stronger positions along the Brooklyn heights.

At this time, my troops consist entirely of Rhode Island militia, and smallwoods Marylanders, a total of five thousand troops to stand against... twenty-five thousand of the enemy.

...

As I write these words, the enemy is plainly in sight beyond the river, and I begin to notice that many of us are lads under fifteen and old men, none of whom can truly be called soldiers. How it will end, only providence can direct.

But dear God, what brave men... I shall lose... before this business... ends.

Your humble, and obedient...[drum roll] G. Washington."

After scrolling through all of the great comments I have decided that Star Wars needs more love.

First the inclusion of "R2D2 and C3Po in Star Wars" as one of the great scenes in Star Wars is EPIC LAME!

I put up for your consideration:

"That's no moon, it's a space station" delivered by Sir Alec Guiness followed by the shots of the Millenium Falcon being dragged into the Death Star.

I would also add the whole "What's your operating number" exchange with Harrison Ford.

To boil down 6 Star Wars films to 'R2-D2 and C-3PO in "Star Wars"' as a great film moment is a major disservice. Any of the following would at least be a step in the right direction:

"A New Hope": Artoo is captured by the Jawas.

"A New Hope": Luke Skywalker watches the setting suns of Tatooine, wishing for adventure to change his humdrum life. All against the lush and swelling score of John Williams.

"A New Hope": Luke switches off his targeting computer, uses The Force, and blows up the Death Star.

"The Empire Strikes Back": The Millenium Falcon is chased by TIE Fighters through the Asteroid Field.

"The Empire Strikes Back:" Han Solo's characteristic reply to Princess Leia when she tells him she loves him, "I know."

"The Empire Strikes Back": Darth Vader makes the chilling confession, "No...I am your father."

"Return of the Jedi": The unmasking of Darth Vader. "Tell your sister you were right about me...you were right."

Thank you for the very impressive list.

One of my favorite moments is when Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes so elegantly and hands one to Bette Davis in "Now Voyager"

A lot of great ones, but what about:

Gary Cooper alone in the street as the noon train arrives. "High Noon"

Carey Grant. Just about any Carey Grant scene.

a few adds:
1- Bill`s monologue about the Superman mithology in KILL BILL VOL. 2
2- Robert Redford´s final home run in THE NATURAL
3- from JURASSIC PARK, the T-Rex last scene and the "when the dinosaurs rules the earth" flag
4- the soccer stadium one-take sequence scene in THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
5- when Henry Fonda reveals his knife to the other in 12 ANGRY MEN

In no particular order:

Peter Boyle as "The Creature" speaks up for Gene Wilder as Herr Doktor, after the transference.

The animator [Terry Gilliam] suffers a fatal heart attack.

Claude Rains as Louis and the soliloquy on the tarmac.

Robbie relays advice from Ronnie Hawkins.

Bond addresses Grant [Robert Shaw] after he kills him.

Trapper requests a nurse, with specifications, and then orders lunch.

The guy sits outside practicing what he's going to say to Don Corleone.

Kendall and Thornhill in the dining car.

Professor Wagstaff goes to the microscope and looks at the slide.

Here's another few which deserve recognition:

"It was an abortion. An abortion, Michael. Just like our marriage is an abortion. Something that's unholy and evil. I didn't want your son, Michael! I wouldn't bring another one of you sons into this world! It was an abortion, rMichael! It was a son Michael! A son! And I had it killed because this must all end!" -Kay in Godfather Part II

Howard Beale gunned down on live television in Network.

The wide "faceless worker" shot in King Vidor's The Crowd.

The murder in the glasses' reflection in Strangers on a Train.

The sinking car stalls in Psycho.

Ben, the hero, is shot by deputies and burned outside on a pile in Night of the Living Dead.

The burning of the 'witch' in Day of Wrath.

The harmonica player appears as the train leaves the station in Once Upon A Time in the West.

Taketori meets his end in Throne of Blood.

Hans Beckert notices the chalk 'M' on his back in the shop window's reflection in Fritz Lang's M.

-Winona Ryder dancing in the ice shavings coming from Edward Scissorhands' sculpture
-Sally Field's breakdown in the cemetary in Steel Magnolias
-Dorothy and Jerry's kiss in the street from Jerry McGuire
-the presentation of the Hatori Hanzo sword to The Bride
-Edward Norton trying to live a normal life after prison in American History X
-JD and the bomb in Heathers
-the "shrimp" list from Forrest Gump
-the final dance from Dirty Dancing
-the phone call from the opening sequence of Scream
-Jigsaw's reveal in the bathroom in Saw

"Heeeeeere's Johnny!" - The Shining

Roger,

This is blasphemy!

You misquoted De Niro in Taxi Driver. "Are you lookin' at me?" is incorrect.

It's "You talkin' to me?"

The end of Butch and Sundance when they stop the film, but you can hear the gunshots of the Bolivian army

The "Show me the way to go home" sing along in Jaws

"We deal in lead, friend" - Steve McQueen in the Mag 7

Roddy Pipers Ten min fight seen in "they Live"

Discussion in Clerks about the construction workers killed on the Death Star in ROTJ

Gunfight in the train station in the Untouchables - "You got him, yeah, i got him" BOOM"

Every time in airplane that they show the jet flying and have prop plane sound effects

Gonna Need a bigger boat

What we have here is a failure to communicate

The final home run in the natural, when redford takes the home mad bat from the bat boy.....

The monaloge that Kevin Costner has in Bull Durham when asked what he believes in

Tom Cruise sliding accross the floor in his socks in Risky Business

for just a few.....

"Klaatu barada nikto"

"Them1 Them! Them!"

"Put the candle back..."

From Roberto Rossellini's "Rome, Open City": Pina being shot down in the street and her young son in his white alter boy robe falling on her body, crying "Mama, Mama."

"Go ahead, make my day." Clint Eastwood...Although not a memorable movie, it was most definitely one of the most memorable moments in movie history...What a line!

Lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) walking down the steps of his burning castle in Kurosawa's Ran.

I can't say I am familiar with all of these, but the scenes I knew are phenomenal. I would have considered:

"2001: A Space Odyssey", either the Dawn of Man or the Voyage to the Infinite scenes ... DoM for its compelling theatric drama with mimes, and the VttI for being pure film ... one of the first scenes I ever saw that could not be duplicated in any other medium (even Clarke's book pales to what Kubrick did here ... it could never be reproduced on stage).

"The Shawshank Redemption", I would have picked the moment the warden throws the pebbles through the poster ... to me the film went quickly from a suicide, to something supernatural, to the victory of intellect and hope over repression.

"Up" ... I am not a huge fan of animation, and I normally rail against recentism, but the opening scenes of the film had some remarkable emotional resonance with me, without relying on a lot of expository dialogue.

"Think you used enough dynamite, there, Butch?"

Two great tear-inducing scenes:

Centenarian Cicely Tyson struggling along the walkway to drink from the whites only drinking fountain in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman"

Catherine Burns telling the story of her mother's death in "Last Summer"

This may not be a "great movie moment" but I'm extremely personally touched by the last speech in Trainspotting. The "Choose Life" speech.

Mark Renton finally chooses ordinary, boring, humdrum, wonderful, beautiful, marvelous life.

He can't wait for washing machines, work schedules, a car, insurance, a mortgage to have to pay, a nagging wife, ungrateful kids, dental appointments, boring friends and a lawn to have to mow every week.

Lucky, lucky him.

He's headed for a wonderful life.

There can be no greater movie moment than Slim Pickens riding a nuclear bomb in "Dr. Strangelove."

Great moments all. Here are a few more:

The scene in STARMAN when Karen Allen looks out into the parking lot and sees Jeff Bridges bring the deer back to life - my all time favorite movie moment.

The last line of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang when Paul Muni's girlfriend asks him how will he live and he says "I'll steal!"

Frederic March's homecoming scene in The Best Years of Our Lives masterfully filmed by Greg Toland.

Susan Alexander putting the jig saw puzzle together by the fire in Citizen Kane.

The scene in Ordinary People where Tim Hutton says I feel bad about this, just let me feel bad about this.

I could go on and on but that is why we go to the movies, isn't it?

Great lists. A couple more:

Paul Giamatti's reaction to his ex-wife's news towards end of "Sideways."

First seduction scene in "Y tu Mama Tambien"

Alec Baldwin's speech in "Glengarry Glen Ross"

Dream sequences in "Brazil"

"You don't know what you're talking about, do you?"--Anton Chigurh.

Chaplin singing in "Modern Times"

(My personal #1 is soldiers kneeling before crying baby in "Children of Men")

Wonderful list. I would add the 8 minute opening of Woody Allen's "Manhattan".

The sudden appearance of Sister Ruth at the end of Black Narcissus

"We are jungle creatures"-The Lion in Winter

Robin Hood at Maid Marian's window in The Adventures of Robin Hood

Balcony scene from Cyrano de Bergerac

The Invisible Man unveiling his plan to Dr. Kemp

Here's some of my favorites (some spoilers ahead)

Father Merrin's arrival in The Exorcist

Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) searches hopelessly for a bug that may or may not be in the hotel room in The Conversation

The line "Who can trust a cop who won't take money?" from Serpico (Side note: What ever happened to Jack Kehoe, the actor who said that line?)

"Squeal like a pig" from Deliverance

The montage in The Parallax View (one word - freaky)

The end of The Parallax View (not recommended if one is in a bad mood)

The final image of 2001: A Space Odyssey

A truck carrying nitroglycerin trying to drive across a rope-suspension bridge in the middle of a bad storm in Sorcerer (1977)

Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) tearing up because of the nearby onions, or his impending death in The Onion Field

Billy Hayes gets arrested in Midnight Express

The chestburster in Alien

Ripley battling the mother alien, and any scene involving Pvt. Vasquez in Aliens

Tony Montana (Al Pacino) stares at a blimp proclaiming, "the world is yours" in Scarface

The "Comfortably Numb" sequence in Pink Floyd: The Wall

Gekko's "greed is good" speech in Wall Street

The death of Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) in Platoon.

The final scene of "To Live and Die in L.A"

The opening credits of The Bounty (1984). Vangelis's theme really gives me goosebumps

Frank (James Caan) gets the corrupt cops of his trail and performs the Bank of California heist, all to the sound of Tangerine Dream's "Thru Metaphoric Rocks" in Thief

John McClane (Bruce Willis) jumps off the Nakatomi building with a firehose wrapped around his waist in Die Hard

Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan) uses the hand of the blind woman (Joan Allen) to hush himself as he cries in shame after sex in Manhunter.

Kaminsky (Arnold Schwarzenegger) takes out the ENTIRE Chicago mob in Raw Deal

The Ski chase sequence from The Soldier, in which the title character (Ken Wahl) spins around in mid-air and fires his Uzi at a terrorist chasing him

Ben (Dean Stockwell) sings Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" in Blue Velvet

The opening credits of The Hit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Epr-Ldi44

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Spanky scrambles an egg...eenee meenee mynee moe

youtube.com--"Spanky sits on an egg."

The Orgy Scene in Eyes Wide Shut

Damn, this really has me recalling lots of great movie moments. Some more:

The drunken Christmas party in "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest", where you realize for the first time that McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) has actually grown to care about the mental patients he plans to leave behind.

James Cagney breaking down in tears at his father's deathbed in "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

Charlie Alnut (Humphrey Bogart) and Rose Sayer (Katherine Hepburn), stranded in the high weeds and mud aboard "The African Queen", give themselves up for dead - not knowing that their deliverance is literally feet away.

The copulating flowers in "Pink Floyd-The Wall".

"Ain't nobody gonna kick me off my land! ...some of us was born on it, and some of us died on it! And that's what makes it our'n - livin on it, and workin on it, and dyin, dyin on it..." John Qualen, as dust bowl Oklahoma farmer "Muley" in "The Grapes of Wrath", after the bank agent tells him he must leave the family farm he has spent his life on.

The young hitchhikers saying goodbye to Professor Borg (Victor Sjostrom) in Bergman's "Wild Strawberries", and his sad reply of "Let's hear from you sometime."

The audition of ridiculously awful singers in Mel Brooks' "The Producers".

"Bring it back stained with his blood." Nefertiti (Anne Baxter)- "I shall. To mingle with your own!" Ramses (Yul Brynner) - from The Ten Commandments

Four men grab their shotguns and walk slowly down a Mexican road to their deaths in "The Wild Bunch".

Glen Hansard building to a screaming crescendo when singing "When Your Mind's Made Up" in the music studio in "Once".

The Riders of Rohan crying "Death!" as they charge the Pelennor Fields in "The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King".

"So we'll hunt him... because he can take it ... because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector ... a dark knight."

A mock duel turns deadly in "The Seven Samurai".

A girl with tears streaming down her face cries out, "George!" as the Beatles finishing singing "She Loves You" in "A Hard Day's Night".

The look on Orson Welles' face as King Henry V tells him, "I know thee not, old man" in "Chimes at Midnight".

A POV shot racing down the side of a tower in "In Bruges".

Rutger Hauer's death scene in "Blade Runner".

Leonardo DiCaprio's long walk through the airport in "Inception".

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro having coffee in "Heat".

The menacing, yet mournful score over the fiery opening credits of "Terminator 2".

Luke Skywalker choosing to fall to almost certain death rather than face his father in "The Empire Strikes Back".

"Always look on the bright side of life" from Monty Python's "Life of Brian".

The graveyard, Ennio Moriconne's score, and the shifting eyes of three men in a Mexican standoff in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".

The Star Baby gazing into the camera at the end of "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Alec Guinness and William Holden recognizing each other in "The Bridge on the River Kwai".

"Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you exactly what to do, what to say?"; the cry of a wounded heart in "Vertigo".

A distant point of light in the sky follows a truck along the horizon in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

The final gunfight in "Unforgiven".

Henry Fonda and Cathy Downs walking to the church in "My Darling Clementine".

The wordless opening scene in "Rio Bravo".

Joe Pesci saying, "Oh no!" in "Goodfellas".

Robert Mitchum and a horse appear in silhouette on the horizon as two children watch from a barn in "Night of the Hunter".

The closeup of Rosebud in "Citizen Kane".

The Incredibles- After Mom goes off to look for dad on the island, Violet puts on the mask and transforms into a superhero before our eyes. That scene always makes me cry for some reason.

2 scenes come to mind immediately, both pre - 1995:
Stagecoach, John Wayne's first scene, a pan right to left as the stagecoach comes round the bend and John Wayne fills the screen. To me this is the scene that defined John Wayne as a bigger than life star. Second, the baptismal scene in Godfather where Al Pacino is answering the priest's questions about being Godfather to his sister's child juxtaposed with the violence as his men exact his revenge on his enemies. The flash of Michael Corleone forswearing evil as his assassins murder people is brilliant and so completely defines his character.

In Gallipoli, Frank (Mel Gibson) is desperately running to deliver the message that would save his friend Archy (Mark Lee) from a certain and futile death, but is too late.

Ben Kingsley, arguing, Sexy Beast
Dom Delouise revealing the Doc in Cannonball Run
Jack Nicholson with dog chews in his pocket, As Good As It Gets

Jesús Quintana dances Hotel California in The Big Lebowski. haw haw haw

I feel like gasping for air - what lists! Let me add four that no one else has listed so far:
1) The final monologue from "The Incredible Shrinking Man". Touching, philosophical, existential - unexpected in a B movie!
2) Laurel and Hardy's "The Music Box". The Boys moving a piano up stairs. Need I say more?
3) Both of these from "A Face In the Crowd": Patricia Neal's fight in the sound booth, and later, Andy Griffin's electrifying howl from the top of the stairs.
4) The tiny "Swan Lake" bit from "The Red Shoes". Moira Shearer sees Anton Walbrook in the audience, pirouettes fast, fast, fast - super closeup of her gorgeous face... he's gone!

Paul Newman's closing words to the jury in "The Verdict."

"Carrie", invited to the prom by a popular guy as an act of kindness, blossoms, and it looks like the guy may actually be starting to fall for her. Then it all goes horribly wrong.

The final shot of the blind man, poking out with a stick at nothingness while standing on the edge of a cliff from Kurosawa's "Ran".

Self proclaimed psychic Criswell's ridiculous opening monologue from Ed Wood's "Plan Nine From Outer Space."

Hey, Rog - Thank you for posting my comment. (You're my patron saint.) I love how you called this simply "100 Great Moments", not "Greatest". That small change makes this a friendly comparison of favorites that people can just add to, instead of a dogfight as to what was/wasn't included. (Well, mostly, anyway.) But I don't want to fight - I want ro read and remember. I have scores of moments I love and I find it more challenging to try to list what's not already here, like:
1) The 3rd-class passengers pouring up onto the top deck from steerage after all the lifeboats are gone, from "A Night to Remember". This moment always makes me just sob.
2) Jimmy Stewart praying to God in Nick's bar, saying, "If you can hear me, if you're really there...", and seeing his eyes glisten with such emotion, in "It's a Wonderful Life". It was the first time I ever saw a man cry, and it's always stayed with me. From the same film, I also love the conflicting expressions on George's face when he realizes (on several occasions) that his dream of leaving to see the world is evaporating before his eyes, because despite his angry arguments, he just cannot let Potter have the whole town.
3) The part in "That Thing You Do" when they first hear themselves on the radio. It makes me just laugh and cry at the same time.
4) "Young Frankenstein": "He vas my....BOYFRIEND!!"
5) "The Heiress": The slow march around the house as Olivia DeHavilland puts out the lamps then walks upstairs as Monty Clift pounds on the door yelling, "Catherine! Catherine! Caaattthhheeerrriinnneee!!!!"
6) "Arsenic and Old Lace": "CHARGE!"
7) "Poltergeist": When the kitchen chairs moved from being around the table to on top of it. This scared the britches off me at the time.
8) "Wings": When the zeppelin's weight needs to be lightened so it can get away from the Allied pilots. The Germans salute - then jump through the opening in the floor.
9) "Ben Hur", the silent film: When Jesus walks by BH's mother and sister and heals them. Simple but jaw-dropping. Keep the tissues handy. SPOILER: You will, no question, lose some respect for the Chuck Heston version if you see the silent version. Whole scenes, notably the entire chariot race, were lifted from the original film. Just couldn't improve on it, I'd say.
10) "Catch 22": The shot of the pilots in their planes - salute, salute, salute, finger!
Man, this is fun!

The tracking shots in Children of Men.

The first 45 minutes of WALL•E.

The opening montage of Up.

The "Wall of Jericho" coming down in It Happened One Night.

"I can't do that, Dave." - 2001: A Space Odyssey

Go home and get your shinebox!

Many from "Clockwork Orange."

If you're gonna shoot,shoot. Don't talk.

Just in case you are actually reading this, I just want to say that I have been a big fan of yours since you and Siskel had your PBS show in the early 80's. Your reviews were my first real introduction to the wider world of cinema - ie, movies not regularly played on the tube. Thanks.

Just a few more great moments before I call it quits:

The shot of the spaceship "Discovery" slowly appearing from the top of the screen in 2001: A Space Odyssey"

Woody Allen's life affirming epiphany while watching an old Marx Brothers movie from "Hannah And Her Sisters"

"It's up to you." - Kevin Costner as New Orleans D. A. Jim Garrison looks directly at the viewer at the end of his summation in Oliver Stone's "JFK"

The opening sequence of scenes, and haunting narration of Orson Welles from "The Magnificent Ambersons"

A silent Travis Bickle, sitting alone in his room, sadly watches a group of young lovers dancing on TV in "Taxi Driver".

101
"God is my witness. I shall never go hungry again." Scarlett in Gone With the Wind

102
Guido Orefice smiling and walking like a clown for his son's benefit who is hiding in a post-box. Life Is Beautiful

I love movies, especially the “good parts.” I’ll play the “good parts” over and over again, almost to the point that I can commit them to memory. I’ll even use some memorable phrases in my work. For example, when talking to a client about a course of action that he or she feels should be taken, but which involve negative immediate consequences, I have said that if the client does not take that course of action, “you are going to regret it, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”

After reading Roger’s 100 favorite moments, and the multiple posts of other readers with hundreds of other favorite moments, I decided to make up my own list, with the discipline of not repeating a favorite moment that has already been listed by Roger or any other reader. For that reason, I was forced to discard most of my favorite moments from Casablanca, Star Wars and Schindler’s List. On the other hand, since there have been few if any references to recent favorite movies of mine such as Michael Clayton, United 93 and Up in the Air, I have multiple references to them. My basic standard is whether I have watched the following 200 or so favorite moments’ dozens and dozens of times. (Thank goodness for the DVD format!)

Roger, not only did I love reading about your 100 favorite movie moments, I’d frankly like know of your second hundred favorite moments, followed by your third hundred favorite moments, etc. A more systematic way to do that might be for you to expand this post by decades, beginning with your favorite moments in the Silent Era, followed by the 1930’s, the 1940’s and so forth, not unlike Jurgen Muller’s great books for each decade. (In the alternative, you could do a retrospective of specific actors, or specific genres.)

In support of my suggestion that you do a series of posts by decade, I am listing my own, remaining favorite moments chronologically. Italics refer to songs. Spoiler warnings are included. Quotes indicated by quotation marks. Enjoy.

• The Freshman, 1925. Harold Lloyd’s silly and endearing little dance.
• The General, 1926. Buster Keaton clearing the railroad track while sitting on the locomotive’s cow-catcher.
• M, 1931. “I can’t help it!”
• The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938. The epic sword fight.
• The Wizard of Oz, 1939. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
• Fantasia, 1940. The finale transitioning from Night on Bald Mountain to Ave Maria.
• Casablanca, 1942. “Your winnings sir.”
• Casablanca, 1942. Spoiler. Rick tells Ilsa, that if she doesn’t get on the plane with Victor Laszlo then she would regret it, “maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”
• The Ox-Bow Incident, 1943. Spoiler. The lynching.
• Henry V, 1944. “We few, we lucky few, we band of brothers.”
• The Naughty Nineties, 1945. “Who’s on first?”
• It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946. “Welcome home, Mr. Bailey.”
• To Each His Own, 1946. Spoiler. Gregory realizes who his Aunt Jody really is after his miraculous wedding.
• Hamlet, 1948. “This is the story of a man who would not make up his mind.”
• Rope, 1948. Spoiler. The hat doesn’t fit.
• An American in Paris, 1951. I’ve got Rhythm.
• The African Queen, 1951. “I declare you man and wife. Proceed with the execution.”
• Strangers on a Train, 1951. The single spectator who doesn’t turn his head during the tennis match.
• High Noon, 1952. Multiple picture of the clock demonstrating that the movie is being shown shot in “real time.”
• Singin’ in the Rain, 1952. Good Morning.
• What’s Opera Doc?, 1957. Elmer Fudd as Siegfried.
• Some Like It Hot, 1959. Marilyn Monroe’s breasts swaying as she walks towards a seated Tony Curtis while on Osgood’s boat.
• Peeping Tom, 1960. Spoiler. The final (and fitting) death of the murderer.
• Lawrence of Arabia, 1962. “Until they band together, the Arabs will be a little people.”
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962. When the legend is more famous than the truth, print the legend.
• Doctor Zhivago, 1965. Spoiler. Dr. Zhivago’s heart attack in the plaza as he tries to follow Laura at end of movie.
• The Sound of Music, 1965. The moment before Maria’s wedding when the other nuns stop at the gate and don’t enter the rest of the church.
• A Man for All Seasons, 1966. Spoiler. “I am commanded by the king to be brief, and since I am the king’s obedient subject, brief I will be. I die His Majesty’s good servant, but God’s first.”
• The Graduate, 1967. Spoiler. Ben and Elaine on the bus, embarking on normal life.
• 2001, a Space Odyssey, 1968. The image of three spheres lined up on top of one another.
• The Sterile Cuckoo, 1969. Come Saturday Morning.
• Z, 1969. Spoiler. “You are indicted for Premeditated Murder.”
• Z, 1969. Spoiler. Epilogue: The death of the witnesses and dismissal of the investigating judge.
• Z, 1969. Spoiler. Last words: “…And the letter ‘Z’ which means ‘he is alive’ in ancient Greek.”
• Patton, 1970. The prayer for clear weather.
• Dirty Harry, 1971. “I gots to know.”
• Straw Dogs, 1971. A man defending his castle.
• The Godfather, 1972. Michael Corleone lights the cigarette of the baker whose hands are shaking after standing outside of the hospital doors.
• The Godfather, 1972. “Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Thursday.” Michael’s Sicilian bride’s repetition of the days of the week.
• Day for Night, 1973. The first reveal of a movie about the making of a movie.
• Godspell, 1973. All Good Things Around Us
• Blazing Saddles, 1974. The campfire scene.
• Jaws, 1975. When the head tumbles through the porthole.
• Jaws, 1975. Robert Shaw crushes a beer can, and Richard Dryfuss crushes a Styrofoam cup in response.
• The Shootist, 1976. “I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977. The scene Roy Neary is being tailgated, but instead of being passed on the left, the headlights goes up and is revealed to be a small space ship.
• Star Wars, 1977. Obi-Wan Kenobi explaining the Force to Luke Skywalker.
• Animal House, 1978 “Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982. Spoiler. The flower comes back to life.
• The Big Chill, 1983. Natural Woman.
• The Bill Chill, 1983. Singing and dancing in the kitchen.
• Terms of Endearment, 1983. “Give my daughter her medicine!”
• Red Dawn, 1984. The teens strike back.
• Anne of Green Gables, 1985. “Anne with an ‘e’.”
• The Big Easy, 1986. Spoiler. Erasing the video tape of police corruption, by placing an industrial battery next to it the evidence room.
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986. Ben Stein teaching economics. “Anybody?”
• Stand By Me, 1986. “Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood.”
• Stand By Me, 1986. “I never had any friends like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
• Adventures in Babysitting, 1987. “Nobody leaves without singing the blues.”
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1987. The most uses of the “F” word in one paragraph without being repetitive.
• The Untouchables, 1987. “He’s in the car.”
• Big, 1988. Spoiler. It’s in Everyone of Us as Josh Baskin walks home, first as Tom Hanks and then as David Moscow.
• Big, 1988. Spoiler. “Mom, I’m home!”
• Clean and Sober, 1988. “And I’ve got this chip, I’ve got this chip.”
• Return to Paradise, 1988. Spoiler. “Louis, you are not alone. … I’m right here. … I see you Louis. … You are not alone.” 1:39:30
• The Dekalog, 1989. This series illustrates each of the Ten Commandments. In the first episode, a scientist determines that the ice must be deep enough to be safe. When the child falls through the ice, the moral is that the scientist had made science his God, violating the first Commandment to not place any God before Me (God).
• The War of the Roses, 1989. “I have more square footage!”
• Pretty Woman, 1990. “I want the dream.”
• 35 Up, 1991. Neal’s heartbreaking story. (See 42 Up, 1998.)
• City Slickers, 1991. Barbara Robbins challenges her husband Mitch to go and find his smile again before coming home again.
• Enchanted April, 1992. Spoiler. Lady Caroline Dester is finally ‘seen’ by a man who can barely see.
• Enchanted April, 1992. Spoiler. Mrs. Fisher plants her walking stick.
• The Last of the Mohicans, 1992. “Wherever you go, I will find you, even if it takes a long, long time.”
• My Cousin Vinny, 1992. “Two yutes.”
• Scent of a Woman, 1992. Col. Slate’s one word description of his favorite portion of female anatomy during his lecture while on the airline flight.
• Scent of a Woman, 1992. When Donna wraps her leg and then foot around Col. Slate’s leg at the end of the tango dance.
• Scent of a Woman, 1992. “I don’t know if Charlie’s silence here today is right or wrong; I’m not a judge or jury. But I can tell you this: he won’t sell anybody out to buy his future!”
• Fearless, 1993. “Pray for us now and in the moment of our death.” A Volvo saves Bubble’s mother and her friend.
• Fearless, 1993. “This is it. This is the moment of your death.”
• Fearless, 1993. Spoiler. Max’s wife saves him at the end of the film.
• The Fugitive, 1993. “How’s the boy doing?” “He saved his life.”
• In the Line of Fire, 1993. “Aim High.”
• Jurassic Park, 1993. Words in bottom of passenger-side rear view mirror as T-Rex fills mirror: “Object is larger than appears in mirror.”
• Schindler’s List, 1993. Spoiler. “Thank you Mr. Jerth.” “Thank you Mr. Jerth.” “Thank you Mr. Jerth.” “Thank you Mr. Jerth.” “Open wide.” “Thank you Mr. Jerth.” A Schindler Jew gives up a gold filling for a gold ring for Oskar Schindler.
• Schindler’s List, 1993. Spoiler. “I could have got more out. I could have got more. … This car. Goeth would have bought this car. What did I keep this car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people. … This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people”
• Shawshank Redemption, 1994. “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
• Apollo 13, 1995. Spoiler. “I don’t care about what anything was DESIGNED to do, I care about what it CAN do.” & “Failure is not an option.”
• Sense and Sensibility, 1995. Spoiler. Emma Thompson’s character gets her husband after all.
• The Battle of Algiers, 1996. Waiting behind the wall.
• Breaking Waves, 1996. Bess’ joy at Jan’s loud snores.
• Eraser, 1996. “I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you.”
• Eraser, 1996. “You’re luggage.”
• Fargo, 1996. “You betcha.”
• Independence Day, 1996. “I’ve got to get me one of these.”
• Jerry Maguire, 1996. “I want my wife.”
• Jerry Maguire, 1996. “Shut up. Shut up. You had me at ‘hello.’ You had me at ‘hello.’”
• Star Trek: First Contact. Spoiler. “The line must be drawn here! This far! No farther!”
• Air Force One, 1997. The sacrifice of a defending jet.
• Air Force One, 1997. A support craft is renamed “Air Force One.”
• As Good as It Gets, 1997. “You make we want to be a better man.”
• Gattaca, 1997. “You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back.”
• L.A. Confidential, 1997. Opening Sequence.
• L.A. Confidential, 1997. Rollo Tomasi.
• Liar Liar, 1997. “I can’t lie!”
• My Best Friend’s Wedding, 1997. I Say A Little Prayer For You.
• Titanic, 1997. The scene at the top of the staircase at the end of the picture.
• Titanic, 1997. My Heart Will Go On.
• 42 Up, 1998. Neal finds himself. (See 35 Up, 1991.)
• The Accidental Tourist, 1998. “I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you’re with them.”
• Meet Joe Black, 1998. “Spoiler” “I. Am. An agent for the Internal Revenue Service.”
• Meet Joe Black, 1998. Spoiler. Brad Pitt reincarnates as the guy from the coffee shop who had previously died.
• Pleasantville, 1998. “Cat!”
• Saving Private Ryan, 1998. “Earn this.”
• Shakespeare in Love, 1998. Spoiler. When Viola steps onto the stage during the public performance.
• Shakespeare in Love, 1998. “Mr. Tinley, take care with my name and not use it up!” & the rest of Judi Dench’s Best Supporting Actress performance.
• There’s Something About Mary, 1998. Kissing the dog on the lips.
• American Pie, 1999. “This one time, at band camp.”
• American Pie, 1999. “What’s my name, bitch?!”
• American Pie, 1999. Strifler’s Mom.
• Cookie’s Fortune, 1999. “He’s innocent.” “And what makes you so sure about that?” “I’ve fished with him.”
• George Lucas in Love, 1999. A parody based upon Shakespeare in Love, which suggests how George Lucas got the ideas behind Star Wars.
• Magnolia, 1999. Wise Up. 2:18:55.
• Magnolia, 1999. “The law is the law, and heck if I’m gonna break it. But if you can forgive someone… Well, that’s the tough part. What can we forgive?”
• Almost Famous, 2000. “Rock stars have kidnapped my son!”
• Dancer in the Dark, 2000. I’ve Seen It All.
• The Tao of Steve, 2000. The first two of the three Rules of Steve: be excellent and be detached.
• American Pie 2, 2001. The sadness on Michelle Flaherty’s face as she leaves Jim’s home after putting on a show for Nadia.
• American Pie 2, 2001. “Nadia, I am a band geek. I just never joined the band.”
• American Pie 2, 2001. “How’s this for a band camp story?”
• American Pie 2, 2001. The four friends raise their beer cups, bottle and flask to each other.
• Black Hawk Down, 2001. “No one gets left behind.”
• Bridget Jones Diary, 2001. “I like you very much. Just as you are.” Later friends ask: “Just as you are? Not thinner? Not cleverer? Not slightly bigger breasts or slightly smaller nose?” “No.”
• 9/11, 2002: A French film crew was to do a routine documentary at a Fire Station in Lower Manhattan on 9/11/01....
• Femme Fatale, 2002. “I am your f***ing fairy godmother!”
• Femme Fatale, 2002. The alternative history during the last 14 minutes of the movie.
• Punch Drunk Love, 2002. The approach and hug in the hotel lobby.
• Punch Drunk Love, 2002. Last words: “So here we go.”
• Real Women Have Curves, 2002. “If you’re a cow, then I’m a hippo.” “And I’m an elephant.” “And I’m an Orca.”
• Secretary, 2002. The first 93 seconds of the film, setting the tone, before “six months earlier” title.
• Secretary, 2002. “Mom, the lock can come off the cabinet now.”
• Secretary, 2002. “Look, we can’t do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” “Why, not.”
• Secretary, 2002. “In one way or another I’ve always suffered. I didn’t know why exactly. But I do know that I’m not so scared of suffering now. I feel more than I’ve ever felt, and I’ve found someone to feel with. To play with. To love in a way that feels right for me. I hope he knows that I can see that he suffers too. And that I want to love him.”
• Mystic River, 2003. “You do your death alone.” & “This part [death], you do alone.”
• Miracle, 2004. “Do you believe in miracles? YES!”
• Spanglish, 2004. Essay to Princeton Admissions Board: “My identity rests firmly and happily on one fact. I am my mother’s daughter.”
• Team America: World Police, 2004. The death of Alec Baldwin.
• What the #$*! Do We (K)now?, 2004. The wedding reception.
• The Constant Gardener, 2005. Spoiler. The reading of the letter at the funeral, followed by “It was a bizarre sort of suicide. His body bore no fewer than eight bullet wounds from three different guns, none of which was the one found in his hand.” 1:54:45.
• The Constant Gardener, 2005. Spoiler. Justine is reunited with his Tessa.
• The Secret Life of Words, 2005. “I’ll learn to swim…I swear, I’ll learn to swim.”
• Amazing Grace, 2006. How one person with a vision led to the abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom. Nothing can defeat an idea whose time has come.
• Away from Her, 2006. “You probably think that I am being foolish.” “No, I should be so lucky.”
• The Departed, 2006. “How’s your mother?” “She’s on her way out.” “We all are; act accordingly.”
• Little Miss Sunshine, 2006. Olives’s scream of delight.
• Little Miss Sunshine, 2006. Olives’s unique performance taught by her grandfather.
• The Lives of Others, 2006. Final words: “It’s for me.”
• Once, 2006. A Hoover vacuum cleaner trailing after Marketa Irglova.
• Once, 2006. Reprise of Falling Slowly at end of movie.
• The Queen, 2006. “You are my tenth prime minister, Mr. Blair. My first, of course, was Winston Churchill. He sat in your chair in frock coat and top hat. He was kind enough to give a shy girl like me quite an education.”
• The Queen, 2006. Tony Blair’s upbraiding of an assistant, “You know, when you get it wrong, you really get it wrong. That woman has given her whole life in service to her people. Fifty years doing a job she never wanted. A job she watched kill her father. She’s executed it with honor, dignity, and as far as I can tell, without a single blemish, and now we are baying for her blood! All because she’s struggling to lead the world in mourning for someone who threw everything she offered back into her face. And who, for the last few years, seemed committed 24/7 to destroying everything she holds most dear!” 1:21:17
• The Queen, 2006. After being thanking a girl who has given her flowers, the women start to curtsey to her. 1:22:54
• The Singing Revolution, 2006. How Estonia successfully declared its independence from the Soviet Union without a single death.
• Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard, 2006. The first interview with Werner Erhard since 1991.
• United 93, 2006. Mark Bingham is the last passenger to make the flight.
• United 93, 2006. “Everybody lands, regardless of destination. … Shut off the East Coast. Shut off all the internationals from Europe. Shut off South America. Shut off the West Coast. Nothing over the top either. … Yeah, Canada too. … Nobody comes in, and nobody takes off. Land them all. … Listen, we’re at war with someone and until we figure out what to do about it, we’re shutting down. That’s it. We’re finished.”
• United 93, 2006. “This is a suicide mission. We have to do something. They are not going to land this plane. They are not going to take us back to the airport.” … “We are alone up here. Nobody is going to help us. We’ve got to do it. Okay?”
• United 93, 2006. “Hi Mom, It’s me. I’m on the plane that’s been hijacked. I’m just calling you to tell you that I love you, and goodbye.”
• United 93, 2006. “If I don’t make it out of this alive, will you promise that you’ll call my family? Thank you. Just tell them I love them. Tell my wife and my boys that I love them.”
• United 93, 2006. “I love you more than anything.”
• United 93, 2006. Handing a cell phone to a seat mate, “Call your people.”
• United 93, 2006. “Let’s roll.”
• Michael Clayton, 2007. “There’s no play here. There’s no angle. There’s no champagne room. I’m not a miracle worker. I’m a janitor. The math on this is simple. The smaller the mess, the easier it is for me to clean up.” Phone rings. “That’s the police, isn’t it?” “They don’t call.”
• Michael Clayton, 2007. “Janitor to Janitor.”
• Michael Clayton, 2007. “Go on Dad, make a wish. “If I get what I wish for, it’ll kill me.” 1:07:24.
• Michael Clayton, 2007. Spoiler. The final confrontation, 1:47:58 to 1:52:25: “Did you see Arthur? He’s wandering around here somewhere.” “I’m not the guy you kill. I’m the guy you buy.” “Is there a number?” “Do I look like I’m negotiating?!” “Ten million dollars, your account, the moment this meeting is through.” “You’re so f***ed.”
• Michael Clayton, 2007. “I am Shiva, the God of Death.”
• Michael Clayton, 2007. George Clooney’s face in a taxi while the credits roll.
• Frozen River, 2008. Spoiler. Resolution so that Ray gets her mobile home and Lilla gets her son.
• Gran Torino, 2008. “Get off my lawn!”
• Gran Torino, 2008. Spoiler. Reaching for his cigarette lighter for the last time.
• Rachel Getting Married, 2008. “My name is Kym and I am an addict.”
• The Wrestler, 2008. “Want to party like a fireman party?” & “Oh, yeah!”
• Invictus, 2009. “Reconciliation starts here.”
• Star Trek, 2009. George Kirk sacrificing himself to save his wife, son and crew.
• Star Trek, 2009. “Your father was captain of a starship for 12 minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mother’s. And yours. I dare you to do better.”
• Star Trek, 2009. The ‘Kobaysaski Maru’ simulation.
• Star Trek, 2009. “I have been and always shall be your friend.”
• Star Trek, 2009. Spoiler. “Either we’re going down, or they are. Kirk out.”
• Up in the Air, 2009. The montage at the beginning and end of the movie.
• Up in the Air, 2009. Ryan’s standard speech to fired employees.
• Up in the Air, 2009. The crisp editing showing how Ryan character packs, and negotiates the airport process.
• Up in the Air, 2009. The flirting between Ryan and Alex.
• Up in the Air, 2009. Ryan teaching Natalie how to travel solely by carry-on.
• Up in the Air, 2009. Natalie’s boyfriend breaks up with her by text message.
• Inception, 2010. Spoiler. The collapsing all three dreams.

Your Friend,

Gary E. Robbins
robbins.law@gmail.com
Flagstaff, AZ

To Gary Robbins: Now THERE'S a fan, and THERE'S a list! I'm really blown away, now.
Loved "the discipline of not repeating a favorite moment that has already been listed by Roger or any other reader" - keeps it fun!
"Adventures In Babysitting": So glad that someone else loves this little gem.
Hey, Rog: You should start another tidal wave of response with a list of sleeper films - you know, the ones you know and love that no one else has apparently ever heard of. Now THAT'S a great way to get a "need-to-see" list.

Just adding (I know about half of yours, others added good ones too).

Searching for Bobby Fischer
'Don't move until you see it.'
I can't see it.'
Don't move until you see it.'
I can't see it.'
Don't move until you see it.'
I'm sorry Dad...'

Memento
'Where was I?'

The Breakfast Club
'Smoke up Johnny!'

The Princess Bride
'You mock my pain!'
'Live is pain, highness, anyone who says differently is selling something.'

Hi Roger,

I have another reason to wish that you would make new 100 great moments, decade by decade. Of the 100 movie moments that you listed, I had already seen 96 of them. They were all great. I want more. Since your initial post came out in 1995, how about you first creating a post on 100 great moments in movies during the 10 years of 2000-2009? Then you could do a “100 great moments in movies” series going backwards, decade by decade every couple of months.

By the way, the four movies that I hadn’t seen were the “Zapruder Kennedy Assassination,” “High and Low,” “The Fatal Glass of Beer,” and “Love Streams.” I moved the first two to the top of my Netflix Queue, and ordered the last two on Amazon. I should have watched them within a couple of weeks.

Gary

PS to Leigh Edwards, September 17, 2010, 2:01 a.m. Thank you for your kind words. It is nice to be part of this virtual community.

"You've got me? WHO'S GOT YOU?!" Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) to the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) in "Superman: The Movie".

"I'd like to tear those little angels wings off ya and make a real woman out of ya." Burt Lancaster to a chaste Jean Simmons in "Elmer Gantry".

Richard Dreyfus stealing a glance of Wolfman Jack talking into the microphone as he leaves the radio station in the wee hours of the morning from "American Graffiti".

Robert Blake's sad monologue about his father just before the hanging from "In Cold Blood."

"Rocky" and a painfully shy Adrien share their first awkward kiss in his dilapidated apartment.

"Rocky" running out into the street to apologize to Mickey after cruelly screaming at him moments before - the whole scene done without dialogue, just the shot of the two of them standing in the dim glow of several Philly street lights.

When Bambi's mother was killed, it was a terribly upsetting moment for me, and I wished I had never come to the cinema. I was 4 years old.
In Tom Jones, during the montage of them falling in love, there is one shot of Suzannah York rowing and Tom gliding by, smoking a clay pipe, when they return, Tom is rowing and Suzannah smoking. She gives a wickedly guilty look at the camera, and in that brief second she stole my heart. I was 15.

The camp scene in Glory the night before the impossible attack on Fort Wagner with everyone singing and sharing their feelings.
Memphis Belle on her final approach after her last bombing run, the crew cranking and cranking and cranking on that wheel, desperately trying to get it to lock in place before touching down.
The entire time Col Jessep is on the witness stand in A Few Good Men.
The Morpheus rescue scene in The Matrix starting with Trinity and Neo sending bags filled with munitions through the scanners and metal detectors, then: the high octane shoot out, dropping the bomb in the elevator, Neo dodging bullets, Trinity with gun extended against the agent's head saying "dodge this", the rain of bullet shells from the helicopter and finally Neo skidding across the roof, pulled by Trinity at the end of the rope until he runs out of roof and hops up on the edge while Trinity bangs against the skyscraper window below.
The trailer scene in Jurassic Park 2 when Dr. Harding (Julianne Moore) has fallen on the window, suspended over the cliff and the cracks in the window slowly propagate through the glass.
Indiana Jones saying, "Nazis, I hate these guys" in The Last Crusade.
The Dallas flashing between the torpedo in the water and the Red October causing the torpedo to reacquire.
The opening montage in Up. I watched this on a plane without sound as I was trying to fall asleep and gave up on sleeping to watch the rest of the movie.
The father and daughter finally letting go of Frankie on the New York balcony in In America.
Michael Myers missing from the lawn after falling from the second story in Halloween.
The scene in Spartan when the Swedish news crew realizes who is walking out of the hangar.
The interrogation scene at the start of Inglorious Basterds.
The running scene in Forrest Gump when "Running On Empty" kicks in.
When Juni and Carmen come walking out of the clothing store with the heavy soundtrack playing and full on slo-mo working.
Frank Drebin butchering the Star Spangled Banner in The Naked Gun.
Fletcher Reede kicking his own ass in Liar Liar.
When Josh offers his supposedly stronger opponent a draw after he "sees it" in Searching For Bobby Fischer.

Mother's skull super-imposed over Anthony Perkins' face at the end of Psycho.

The high school marching band comes up over the horizon playing Twist and Shout in "Ferris Beuller's Day Off".