A little while back, redditor u/janearcade asked the cinema connoisseurs of AskReddit, "What is the single greatest movie scene ever filmed?" From crushing death scenes to triumphant special effects moments, here are 18 scenes that they would send to the Movie Olympics.
Responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1. "It's when Dorothy steps out of the house into Technicolor and into a new world in The Wizard of Oz. It changed film. The emotional aspect is unreal. That scene is forever engraved."
2. "The opening scene of Up. That montage of a life together was pure poetry."
3. "The night vision sequence in The Silence of the Lambs is great suspense."
4. "The hanging scene in Jojo Rabbit. The buildup and timing is perfect...the way the movie makes you sad, then it makes you nervous, then it makes you laugh, then it kind of floats along for a couple of minutes before it kicks you in the guts. It's brilliant."
5. "Goodfellas. 'You're a funny guy.' You could cut that tension. Great scene."
6. "Truman finally realizing his reality and trying to escape it in The Truman Show."
7. "No matter how insufferable I find Tom Cruise, watching him question Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men is mesmerizing every time I watch it."
8. "The Princess Bride. 'Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"
9. "When the T-rex showed up in Jurassic Park."
10. "Parting and crossing the Red Sea from The Prince of Egypt. Most beautiful bit of animation I've ever seen."
11. "The opening scene of Inglourious Basterds."
12. "The scene in Planes, Trains & Automobiles where Neal realizes that Del's wife is dead and he has no one to go home to for Thanksgiving."
13. "How has nobody mentioned Charlie Chaplin's speech at the end of The Great Dictator?"
14. "The scene where the bunny kills the knights at the end of Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
15. "Darcy walking toward Elizabeth in the field at sunrise in Pride & Prejudice (2005)."
16. "The end of The Shawshank Redemption was pretty good."
17. "The scene at the beginning of Pulp Fiction with Samuel L. Jackson and the royale with cheese."
18. And finally: "The scene in Ratatouille where Ego samples the dish and has the flashback."
What movie (or TV) scenes do you feel like are absolutely perfect from beginning to end? Tell us about 'em in the comments!
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