(1 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10) You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

Predator (1987)

I love this bit in Predator (just as much as I love the rest of the film of course). In this scene, the commandos are moving around in the jungle looking for whatever enemy is lurking between the trees, not knowing the predator is nearby and about to strike. Everyone is treading carefully. Blain, played by Jesse Ventura, is carrying a hefty mini-gun which he used earlier to good effect. Unfortunately, he gets ambushed quite easily by the roaming predator. Mac, played by Bill Duke, runs up first and discovers his dead buddy’s body before unleashing a torrent of bullets into the jungle. When the ammo runs out, he picks up Mac’s awesome mini-gun and uses that up too. The others join in and completely destroy the entire bit of jungle in front of them, and a spooky silence descends on the scene of utter destruction. What a brilliantly played out scene.

It’s worth noting that in the book, it’s mentioned that Mac and Blain served together during the Vietnam War. When Blain is killed and Mac is the first to arrive, Mac becomes a bit unhinged and has a kind of flash back, calling for his old squads Sergeant as if they were being ambushed back in the jungles of Vietnam. As you can see in the movie too, this is why he isn’t quite the same after Blain’s death.

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Fight Club (1999)

There are probably a few “scene perfect” moments in Fight Club which I will end up posting, but I will start with this one. Edward Norton (The Narrator / Tyler Durden), decides he’s had enough of his job, and at the same time realises how he can get his other project, Fight Club, funded for a long time…

I particularly love scenes where you get an ordinary person in a very ordinary situation faced with someone who is obviously on a completely different wavelength. The boss, played here by Zach Grenier, has absolutely no idea what’s going on when Norton starts going off on one, and you can completley understand his utter astonishment and amazement when the action really kicks off.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

In my opinion, this was Captain Jack Sparrow’s finest moment. It would have been good if they hadn’t brought him back for the third film but coin coffers need filling so I guess they had no choice.

Johnny Depp, of course, plays the role superbly, and I love the nonchalant way he faces the Kraken in the final scene of Dead Man’s Chest. “Hello beastie!”. Yet, he still manages to pull off a wonderfully grandiose attacking pose as the film goes into slow motion. Excellent scene, topped off nicely by Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) at the end.

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Taxi Driver (1976)

Martin Scorsese gave Robert De Niro the opportunity to play a fantastic part as psychopath Travis Bickle in this dark urban thriller. In this scene, he’s psyching himself up and getting ready for his series of kills.

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The Matrix (1999)

When this film first came out, it was simply mind-blowing. There hadn’t been any sci-fi films like it, but of course, many since. When I first watched it, I hadn’t seen any trailers or info and had no idea what it was about. So, by the end of this first scene, I was completely hooked. I remember barely breathing throughout.

I think the first ‘wtf’ moment is when the agents arrive and tell the police officer his “men are already dead”. I thought this was going to be some kind of generic hacking flick - how can one girl be any kind of serious threat? The fact that she then proceeded to kick the crap out of them in the most spectacularly cool way was incredible enough (with the first use of bullet-time too), but then a completely surreal situation unfolded as she escapes on the rooftops, with her and the agents doing seemingly superhuman acrobatics. Followed by a shocking phone booth/truch incident… this scene certainly left me aghast. One of the most amazing openings to a film ever.

(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10) You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning… Smells like victory”

Carrying on the trend of morbidly fascinating war clips, here is the infamous helicopter attack scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.

Not being a war vet, I wouldn’t know how realistic this all really is, but I would imagine it’s pretty close to the mark. Wagner’s ride of the valkyrie’s putting a bizarre bravado twist to it all, but actually the American army did blast out various tunes like that just to confuse and intimidate the people they were attacking.

Suggested by Grumbledook.

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Full Metal Jacket (1987)

This excellent movie directed by Stanley Kubrick has some incredibly visceral moments in it. This scene introduces the legendary drill sergeant Gny. Sgt. Hartman, played, in my opinion, perfectly by Lee Ermey.

At times the scene is quite comical, but if you think about actually being on the receiving end of the verbal slaughter, the comedy suddenly takes on a sharp edge.

(1 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10) You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Possibly one of the most perfectly scariest scenes ever, especially if you imagine being in Ofelia’s shoes at the time, who has to get past the Pale Man to find some key or something to progress through Pan’s Labyrinth. Unfortunately, having been trekking for quite some time now, the poor child’s hunger takes over, and before she leaves she can’t help but take just a tiny bit of the fruit on the Pale Man’s table… which really wasn’t a good idea…

Suggested by Grumbledook.

(2 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10) You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

True Romance (1993)

This clip is a long one but then again most scenes featuring Christopher Walken usually are. In this one he plays a Sicilian mafiosa, Vincenzo Coccotti, trying to extract information from retired police officer Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper) regarding the wherabouts of Worley’s Son, Clarence. Clarence screwed over the mafia by messing up a big cocaine deal and making off with the money and the drugs, but Worley simply won’t tell the mafia where his son is. Worley knows he won’t survive this situation anyway, so decides to make it quick for himself by extremely pissing Coccotti off with an interesting story about the history of Sicilians.

(1 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10) You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

Blade Runner (1982)

The incredible moment of Roy Batty’s retribution, played wonderfully by Rutger Hauer. Just as you think he is about to finish off the battered and hanging Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), he saves the blade runner’s life and sits down to give a sublime and legendary farewell ode to life. The lines were completely unscripted, and probably weren’t supposed to make much sense, but the words always conjure up magical images for me, mixed with heartfelt pain at the truth of them.

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Crocodile Dundee (1986)

Oldie and goodie. Paul Hogan’s perfectly calm reaction to a street mugging. And rightfully so…

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One of the most touching moments in any war movie… Platoon (1986): Thinking that Sgt. Elias Grodin (Willem Dafoe) had already been killed in action, the platoon took off in their choppers with whoever they could manage to rescue in time. As they fly away, numerous enemy soldiers are seen chasing a lone figure, who turns out to be Sgt. Elias. In a rare moment of complete despair, Sgt. Elias reaches for the helicopter as it flies overhead, knowing the bullets riddling his body will never allow him to leave the vietnamese jungle. Sgt. Bob Barnes (Tom Berenger), who had left Sgt. Elias for dead during an earlier personal clash, overlooks the execution with a cold eye.

With Barber’s Adagio for Strings mounting steadily in the background, this one will definitely jerk a few tears.

(2 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10) You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

I reckon this is the best ending to any series ever. Excellent build up, excellent backing track, perfect filming. And what a great story it was. Thanks for the memories.

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In this dubious scifi flick, Ghosts of Mars (2001), ‘featuring’ Ice Cube, a magic moment develops when one of the uber macho touch guys decides to show off to one of the women. Up until this point, the film had mostly consisted of testosterone pumped action and the usual cheesy one liners. The comic relief was most welcome. I love the way he holds the can up to show her what a good job he did, and her completely unimpressed look back.