Embarassing to admit but...

[Marco van Belle]

I was just reading the thread on best CGI/effects that impressed people, and I got thinking about how so many of my best movie moments aren't about beautiful craft or skill or CGI - or even script....

Instead, they are about the joy that comes from a moment when you know you shouldn't feel the hairs stand up on you neck, but you do anyway. Those moments that are cheesy in the extreme, or just plain soppy, but still they make you want to roar "YEAH!".

Basically, moments that are embarassing to admit to liking.

So lets do it now. Lets list all the bits we shouldn't love, but do anyway.

Here goes mine - the bit in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the evil Nazi's in their U-Boat have boarded the ship that Indie and his girl are on. They've taken the damzel in distress, but where's Indie?

Suddenly the Captain points and shouts "There he is!". Indie is on the U-Boat!! He swimmed to it and climbed aboard!!! The music starts and Indie (I seem to remember) even throws a salute!!

Please add to the list...

[Andrew Todd]

in indiana jones last crusade... when the tank hes in goes over the cliff... and everyone thinks hes dead... but hes clinging onto some roots and climbs back over.. wow.. i havent seen that in a while.. ill have to rewatch it agin tonite for like the 1000 time

[Jonathan Jones]

That part at the end of Boogie Nights where he's checkin' himself in the mirror...oops, wrong thread....nevermind




lol
-Jon

[Andrew Todd]

im the man... is what i think he says

[Keith Loh]

OUT OF SIGHT - George Clooney is conducting surveillance on the Jennifer Lopez character when she bends over to get something from the trunk of her car. Clooney: "Oh, mannn..."

RED DAWN - The rebels cheering: "Wolverinnnnneesss!"

GLORY - The black regiment marches out to the beach for their final battle. All the flags are fluttering in the wind. Cannons are firing overhead. White troops stand at attention on either side of the column. James Horner's music is swelling. One of the previously-bigotted white soldiers shouts out: "Give 'em hell 54th!" And I start bawling like a baby.

PULP FICTION - Travolta doing the Saturday Night Fever thing.

THE MATRIX - "I know kung fu!"

CONAN THE BARBARIAN - Conan does his practice routine with that huge sweeping sword.

APOCALYPSE NOW - All the lead up to the treeline napalm bombing.

ROCKY - Rocky racing up the steps and suddenly everyone appears to cheer him on.

SUPERMAN - Superman turns time back to save Lois.

[Chris Barcellos]

I find these moments mostoften in films that you do not expect anything of any significance from. Last night I saw a neat little film called "Millions". It turned out to be a heart warming story about a young boy who had lost his mother and the fantasies and real things going on around him as he and his family established a new home in another community.

The same thing happened to me with Star Wars. For some reason, I had a couple of hours to kill before I went to work, and I decided to go to the movies. I had never heard of Star Wars, in fact it had just been released that Day. I remember sitting down in the theater and when the opening credits began, I was dumbfounded for the rest of the movie. It seems as if that battle cruiser came in right over my head.

[Edward Slonaker]

Oh man was that really THIRTY YEARS ago???? I can VIVIDLY remember that scene. I was sitting towards the front row when that planet loomed up from the bottom and all hell broke loose shortly there after. And, bless him, Lucas hasn't been able to match that feeling since.

The other moment was watching that Death Star explode for the first time. Wow!

[Richard Alvarez]

"Oh my God, it's filled with stars..."

And the final sequence as he ages into the star child... it seems cliched now, but man, it was amazing at the time. 2001 by Kubric still impresses the hell out of me, but bored the shit out of my son.

Yeah, that dates me.

I recall going to see Star Wars with a buddy. We were/are big SciFi fans, and I heard the ad on the radio. We got to the theatre in Houston, and walked right in at MATINEE PRICES. Sat in the front row.

Yeah, the battle cruiser sent a chill right up my spine. In fact, just about every reference I saw reminded me of some element of my favorite sci fi novels (armored suits from Heinlein, 'spice' from Herbert, ...) Yeah, he's never matched the raw feelings of wonder and awe since then.

[Lorinda Norton]

Apollo 13. They finally hear from the crew and the shot goes to an emotional chief--played by Ed Harris. The music.....

Gets me every time.

[John Kang]

The movies I've come to love are by Akira Kurosawa and Stanley Kubrick.

Both of them were masters of the camera. You don't see too much, or any(?), of that type of camera work lately. Everythings all fast cuts.

The stories they told were intriguing and kept you glued to your seats, hoping the movie would end soon so you can rush to the restroom and yet, wishing it would last longer...

Stanley Kubrick : Thanks for the memories or how I learned to love the atom bomb.
Clockwork Orange (I think still the best movie)
Lolita

Akira Kurosawa : Seven Samurai
Ran

[Andy Graham]

Of course i'm gonna say this being a scot.....Braveheart at the end when Wallace sees his dead wife in the crowd and then shouts freedom, man I felt like grabbing a sword and heading down to England ;)...but then I turned off the dvd and went down the pub instead.

Andy.

[K. Forman]

I enjoyed Braveheart immensly, but it just doesn't seem as real as Rob Roy with Liam Neeson. I can't put my finger on it, but Rob Roy is the better film in my mind.

[Stephen Finton]

The movie TITUS, when Lavinia is found by her uncle in the swamp and she "calls out" to him with her tongue cut out.

Chills me to the bone.

[Philip Boyer]

Shakespeare in Love - When Romeo and Juliet has ended and there's that moment of absolute silence before the audience erupts with applause.

[Keith Loh]

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

I enjoyed Braveheart immensly, but it just doesn't seem as real as Rob Roy with Liam Neeson. I can't put my finger on it, but Rob Roy is the better film in my mind.

All Keiths are in agreement on this.

I think "Braveheart" is a triumph of production over content.

Both films are about personal heroism and honor in the face of overwhelming odds. But I found "Braveheart" cliched, many parts of it contrived and focused on egoistic image rather than a compelling personal story. There are similarities in their stories but the creative decisions made are telling. "Rob Roy" struck much more of a chord with me because it never felt like Rob was being funneled toward an inevitable triumph or tragic failure in the way that William Wallace in "Braveheart" felt. At any point Rob could have turned away from his path toward honour. He had an internal conflict that wasn't subsumed by the external conflict and it turned out that his internal conflict was more important to the story (and to his character) than the external conflict. An example of this is in his decision to meet Archie in the final duel. In less deft films this is a cliche. Of course the hero will meet the villain (and the audience demands it). But in "Rob Roy" this is a more telling decision because Rob can in fact walk away without any consequence because his external conflict has already been solved both negatively and positively. His cause is already hopeless and even his duel will not solve that. His family is already under the protection of his new patron. You get the feeling that he could work everything out politically. Yet, because of the terrible dishonour done to his wife (on which the entire story turns for his character) he returns for the duel. This returns to the central theme of honour being the whole thing for this man. All other characters (even his wife) are prepared to sacrifice their honour for reality or for moving on.

Compare this with William Wallace in "Braveheart". It is all about the external conflict. He IS the external conflict because he seems very little more than the rebel leadership figure. What is his character about? It's about the rebellion and how he is the heroic leader. What exactly is his internal conflict? He has a subsidiary romance with the Queen. He has identification with his cause. But beyond that, what is there but a messianic impulse that goes to martyrdom?