Favorite movie scene

- Indy shooting the sword wielding guy in Indiana Jones
- The ending of Usual Suspects
- The second time the kidnapper tells Liam Neeson "Good luck" in Taken
- Jean Reno going into the station house to get Mathilda in The Professional
- Bill Murray playing the piano in the ballroom at the end of Groundhog Day
- The battle of wits in The Princess Bride
- The shootout in LA Confidential

 

A very funny but relatively unknown scene is the "light saber" scene in the John Ritter comedy Skin Deep

 

The following movies have been mentioned, but I cite different scenes:

"Tombstone" -- After Morgan is killed, the Earps pack up and head out with their dead brother and, seemingly, their tails between their legs; and of course, two of the Cowboys follow them to the train station, where they're ambushed by Wyatt, followed by the "hell's coming with me!" speech.

"Armageddon" -- Will Patton's character is walking down the runway after the landing when his kid suddenly pops out between two emergency vehicles and starts running toward him. That gets me every time.

"My Cousin Vinny" -- The questioning of Lisa as a "hostile" expert witness. Judge: "Do you two know each other?" Vinny: "Yes, your honor, she's my fiancee" Judge: "Well, that explains the hostility."

"Shawshank Redemption" -- The whole scene explaining Andy's escape and the aftermath. All with the top-notch narration by Morgan Freeman.

 

Why was he arrested?
Cock fighting.

 

- the clone betrayal scene in the the final/third Star Wars ... "execute Order 66" and the clones start killing off the Jedi.

- I'm a total Pulp Fiction geek, so there are too many to boil down to a favorite: Jules and Vincent in the apartment with the young guys "What does Marsellus Wallace look like?"; Vincent and Mia at Jack Rabbit Slims; Vincent in the toilet talking to himself, Mia finding the baggie in his coat pocket; Tarantino as Jimmy; Marsellus after Butch rescues him "I'm pretty fuckin' far from OK .... I'ma get medieval on your ass."

- the scene in Reservoir Dogs with them slo-mo walking just after the diner scene that leads to the opening credits (the one which has been copied about a million times since then any time you have a large group)

- helicopters in Apocalypse Now -- Col. Kilgore, "Charlie don't surf"

- Peter Fonda delivering the eulogy in Wild Angels

 

Lea Thompson in All the Right Moves

 

--- FREEEEEDDOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

--- In Shawshank, when Andy plays the opera and every man stops and stands completely still in the yard.

--- When Gina Davis watches as her sister's character is given a standing ovation in "A League of Their Own". I always tear up.

--- One that I just saw today, in the Patriot, when Mel Gibson's youngest daughter starts speaking again on the beach and begs him not to go back to war.

 

I always use this line with the babes but it's from Superman II.
Kneel before Zod!

 

There are so many great ones. How do you pick a favorite?

-- As others have noted, the baptism scene from "The Godfather," and the opening scenes from "Saving Private Ryan."

I would add these, for completely different reasons:

-- the trail ride in "City Slickers," when Phil, Mitch and Ed are recounting the best/worst days of their lives.

-- the restaurant orgasm scene in "When Harry Met Sally."

-- the breakthrough scene between the psychologist (Judd Hirsch) and the suicidal kid (Timothy Hutton) in "Ordinary People."

-- the final good bye scene in the classroom as Robin Williams leaves the school in "Dead Poets Society."

-- Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of Howard Hughes' descent into mental illness in "The Aviator," as he never leaves his darkened theater. You actually forgot you were looking at one of the world's most famous people.

-- Speaking of DiCaprio, his turn as the mentally retarded little brother in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" was amazing. Can't even pick out one scene, it has to be one of the most amazing portrayals of a handicapped person ever given by someone who isn't handicapped.

-- For Trekkies, here are two from "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan": the scene early in the movie when Spock suggests that it was a mistake for Kirk to have given up his captaincy to become an admiral, and the one late in the movie when the two share a Vulcan salute from opposite sides of the dillithium chamber, Kirk looking on helplessly as Spock is dying inside it.

-- And, from a TV movie, "Roots": Kunta Kinte refuses to say his new, given slave name, "Toby," getting bull-whipped repeatedly until he is forced to accept it, and finally, to say it.

 

--Elisabeth Shue sitting by while Nicolas Cage is dying in Leaving Las Vegas
--When Clint Eastwood directs the sharpshooter while in the elevator with the assassin in In the Line of Fire
--Christopher Walken's watch speech in Pulp Fiction
--Arnold Schwarzenegger under the truth serum in True Lies[/mancardreturned]
--Any scene in Terms of Endearment where Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson banter.[/mancardrerevoked]

 

- Eli Wallach running through the cemetary looking for Arch Stanton's tombstone while Ennio Morricone's "Ecstasy of Gold" plays in the background in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"

- The lighter fluid scene from "Withnail and I"

- The Dude vs. the Malibu Chief of Police from "The Big Lebowski"

- Painless' last supper from "M*A*S*H"

- Maude dies/Harold's last fake suicide from "Harold and Maude"

- The baptism, bowling alley, or bastard from a basket scenes from "There Will Be Blood"

- The tavern scene from "Inglorious Basterds"

and of course, Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell stabbing Martin Bormann to death on the beach in "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"

 

The landing of the mother ship in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".
The closing battle...and Tom Hanks' death....in "Saving Private Ryan".
The closing State of Liberty scene in the original "Planet of the Apes".
The Christmas dinner scene in "Christmas Vacation".
Almost any scene-setting shot of the town in "The Last Picture Show".
Jamie Lee Curtis' strip/dance scene in "True Lies".