Top 100 Greatest Movie Scenes of All Time
You'll recognize these even if you haven't seen the movies! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the greatest singular scenes that have ever graced the big screen.
Transcript
00:00 "Mark! Mark!"
00:03 "He's wired in."
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the greatest singular scenes
00:09 that have ever graced the big screen.
00:10 Just so you know, this list will be focusing on live action scenes only,
00:15 so animated films will have to wait their turn.
00:17 Watch out for spoilers ahead.
00:19 "I want my wounded out of there in the hospital in 15 minutes. I want my men out."
00:24 Number 100.
00:27 "I Will Have My Vengeance."
00:28 "Gladiator."
00:29 "Why doesn't the hero reveal himself and tell us all your real name?"
00:32 "You do have a name."
00:36 "My name is Gladiator."
00:39 Some moments are just so satisfying you can't help but cheer.
00:43 That's exactly how this identity reveal in Gladiator makes us feel.
00:47 For a good chunk of the movie,
00:48 Commodus believes that Maximus died along with his family
00:51 when he refused to swear loyalty to the new emperor.
00:53 "You give your orders, the orders are obeyed, and the battle is won.
00:57 But these senators scheme, squabble, and flatter and deceive."
01:01 But when Maximus leads the gladiators to victory in a fight,
01:05 and Commodus comes down to congratulate him, the jig is up.
01:08 Compelled to unmask himself by Commodus,
01:10 Maximus tells the unsuspecting ruler just exactly who he is and what he's after.
01:15 And that, my friends, is vengeance.
01:17 "Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife,
01:23 and I will have my vengeance in this life or the next."
01:27 Number 99.
01:28 A super rescue.
01:30 Superman.
01:30 There's nothing quite like Clark Kent ripping open his button down
01:40 to reveal that S underneath.
01:42 When that moment is followed by a rescue like this, forget about it.
01:46 In this scene from Richard Donner's Superman,
01:47 Clark Kent looks up to see none other than Lois Lane dangling from a crashed helicopter.
01:52 [Screaming]
01:57 He immediately takes matters into his own hands,
01:59 throwing on that disguise and shooting up into the sky to catch her.
02:03 Considering the film was made in 1978,
02:06 it still looks pretty impressive from an effects standpoint.
02:09 And the performances of Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are nothing if not iconic.
02:13 "Well, I certainly hope this little incident hasn't put you off flying, miss.
02:19 Statistically speaking, of course, it's still the safest way to travel."
02:22 Number 98.
02:24 Harry Lime.
02:24 The Third Man.
02:26 "What kind of a spy do you think you are, satchelfoot?
02:28 What are you tailing me for?"
02:33 There's just something about Orson Welles' face.
02:36 But Welles alone isn't what makes this character introduction in The Third Man so great.
02:41 When Holly Martins comes to Vienna,
02:42 it's with the hope of accepting a job from his friend Harry Lime.
02:46 When he finds out Harry has mysteriously died,
02:48 he decides to stick around and investigate.
02:50 "Where did you see him last?
02:52 When? What did you do?"
02:53 "Oh, we didn't make much sense.
02:55 We drank too much once they tried to steal my girl."
02:59 One night, Martins gets the feeling that someone is watching him as he strolls down the street.
03:03 He notices a man standing in a doorway.
03:06 A streak of light flashes against the man's face,
03:09 and we see none other than Harry Lime himself.
03:12 "Step out in the light and let's have a look at you.
03:14 Who's your boss?"
03:16 "You're too dead to know what it was you did to our nose."
03:18 Everything about the shot lines up perfectly to create an indelible movie moment.
03:23 Number 97.
03:25 Down to the Basement.
03:26 Parasite
03:27 Bong Joon-ho's Parasite took the world by storm in 2019.
03:38 Every frame of the film is stellar,
03:40 but the moment when it's revealed what exactly is happening in the Park family's house
03:44 is unforgettable.
03:45 One night when the Parks are away,
03:47 the Kim family overtakes the house,
03:49 when the old housekeeper shows up claiming she left something behind.
03:52 We learn that the old housekeeper's husband has been living in a bunker underneath the house,
04:10 and slowly going mad while trying to avoid loan sharks.
04:13 Things get a little unhinged here,
04:16 leaving the audience reeling with this reveal and its implications.
04:19 Number 96.
04:32 Escape to the Beach.
04:34 The 400 Blows
04:35 [Music]
04:45 What do you call that feeling when you get what you've always wanted,
04:48 but don't know what to do next?
04:50 Director François Truffaut captured that feeling with the amazing ending of his film,
04:55 The 400 Blows.
04:56 [Speaking French]
05:07 In the movie, Antoine is a troubled young boy.
05:10 Abandoned by his family to what amounts to a detention center,
05:13 the movie ends with Antoine escaping and running toward the beach.
05:16 He's always wanted to see the ocean,
05:18 but when he finally gets there,
05:19 the film freezes on his face,
05:21 his expression unreadable.
05:23 We don't know if he's happy,
05:24 disappointed or wondering where he goes from here.
05:27 Maybe it's a little bit of everything.
05:29 [Music]
05:38 Number 95.
05:39 The Phone Call, Scream.
05:41 - You like scary movies?
05:43 - Uh-huh.
05:43 - What's your favorite scary movie?
05:46 - Uh, I don't know.
05:47 - You have to have a favorite.
05:49 What comes to mind?
05:50 Do you like scary movies?
05:51 It was an innocent enough question before 1996.
05:54 But after Scream came out,
05:56 things would never be the same.
05:58 It's hard to open a movie with a bang,
06:00 but Scream has done it better than most.
06:02 When none other than Drew Barrymore answers the telephone
06:05 during the film's opening sequence,
06:06 we think that she's our main character.
06:08 - You never told me your name.
06:10 - Why do you want to know my name?
06:12 - Because I want to know who I'm looking at.
06:13 - What did you say?
06:17 As the caller turns more and more sadistic
06:19 as he quizzes her about horror films, however,
06:21 things start to feel unsure.
06:24 The subsequent murder of Barrymore's character
06:26 came as a huge shock to audiences
06:28 and still feels subversive to this day.
06:30 - Kasey!
06:31 - Kasey, you upstairs?
06:35 - Kasey, babe.
06:37 Number 94, The Crazy 88, Kill Bill Vol. 1.
06:52 - What?
06:54 Is there any outfit more iconic
06:56 than Uma Thurman's yellow jumpsuit in Kill Bill Vol. 1?
06:59 We don't think so.
07:00 The Bride's revenge spree throughout both Kill Bill movies
07:03 is riveting at every turn,
07:05 but nothing beats the Crazy 88 sequence.
07:07 The Bride's mission to kill members of her former team,
07:18 the Deadly Vipers,
07:19 leads her to O-Ren in Tokyo.
07:21 O-Ren wouldn't go down without a fight, however,
07:23 and she has plenty willing to do her bidding.
07:26 The martial arts sequence where the Bride takes out
07:28 every single member of O-Ren's souped-up group of bodyguards
07:31 is one of the best fight sequences in cinema history.
07:34 Number 93, I Bid You Welcome, Dracula.
07:42 - The spider spinning his web for the unwary fly.
07:46 The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield.
07:50 It's hard to imagine a movie world without Dracula,
07:53 but back in the early 1930s,
07:55 the most famous vampire of them all
07:57 hadn't yet made it to the big sound screen.
07:59 Todd Browning's 1931 adaptation of Dracula
08:02 was the first sound film version
08:04 of Bram Stoker's famous novel.
08:06 It starred Bela Lugosi, who played the role on the stage.
08:09 - Come here.
08:12 - This movie would jumpstart Lugosi's long
08:15 and illustrious horror film career,
08:17 ranging for more than 20 years.
08:20 This moment, where he introduces himself to Renfield,
08:23 marks the start of Lugosi and Dracula's long effect on the culture.
08:27 - I don't know what happened to the driver and my luggage and...
08:30 Well, and with all this, I thought I was in the wrong place.
08:35 I bid you welcome.
08:38 Number 92, Dance at the Gym, West Side Story.
08:42 (crowd cheering)
08:51 On their own, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
08:53 are two of the most important figures
08:55 in the worlds of cinema and theater.
08:57 Put them together, and it's no wonder they were unstoppable.
09:00 Wise and Robbins co-directed the film version of West Side Story.
09:04 The film features one of the greatest bits of choreography
09:07 ever put to screen, the dance at the gym.
09:09 (crowd cheering)
09:16 The sequence is a feat of choreography and camera work,
09:18 encompassing the beginning of the dance,
09:20 a semi-truce and then standoff between the sharks and the jets,
09:24 and the first meeting of Tony and Maria.
09:26 Robbins' choreography is unmatched,
09:29 emotionally dynamic, and rich with story.
09:31 (crowd cheering)
09:39 Number 91, Run, Forest, Run, Forrest Gump.
09:43 Run, Forrest, run!
09:46 Without a doubt, there's been a time in your life
09:48 when you've said these words.
09:50 There are so many memorable scenes
09:52 and quotable moments from Forrest Gump.
09:54 This one comes at the beginning of the film
09:55 when the titular character and his friend Jenny are being chased.
09:58 Jenny tells Forrest to run,
10:00 and despite the leg braces that have always hindered him,
10:03 he takes that advice to heart.
10:04 - Now you wouldn't believe it if I told you...
10:07 - ...that I can run like the wind blows.
10:11 From that moment on,
10:12 the words have held a special place in pop culture.
10:15 Whether you find this moment silly or moving,
10:17 you can't deny that.
10:18 (dramatic music)
10:25 Number 90, Chased by a Cropduster.
10:28 North by Northwest.
10:29 (plane engine roaring)
10:35 Even if you haven't seen Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest,
10:38 we're willing to bet one image comes to mind
10:40 when you hear that title.
10:42 If that image is Cary Grant being chased by a cropduster,
10:44 you're correct.
10:45 The scene is iconic for many reasons,
10:47 but perhaps one of the most important ones
10:49 is the desolation of the setting.
10:51 - That's funny.
10:52 - What?
10:53 - That plane's dusting crops where there ain't no crops.
10:56 (plane engine roaring)
10:58 The plane is completely flat and empty
11:00 in a way that feels a little too eerie
11:02 right from the beginning.
11:04 Once the cropduster starts coming, that's it.
11:06 The landscape is completely open.
11:08 There's nowhere for Cary Grant's character to hide.
11:11 (plane engine roaring)
11:19 Number 89, Bohemian Rhapsody, Wayne's World.
11:22 (singing in foreign language)
11:33 Number 88, The Odessa Steps, Battleship Potemkin.
11:36 (dramatic music)
11:46 Number 87, No Man's Land, Wonder Woman.
11:49 (dramatic music)
11:58 - What the bloody hell's he playing at?
12:01 Number 86, News Team Brawl, Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
12:06 - Begin!
12:06 (screaming)
12:16 Number 85, Circle of Confessions, The Breakfast Club.
12:19 - What would I do for a million bucks?
12:21 I guess that I'd do as little as I had to.
12:25 - That's boring.
12:27 - Well, how am I supposed to answer?
12:28 Detention, but make it therapy.
12:30 The Breakfast Club was a phenomenon back in 1985.
12:33 The story of five teens from different cliques coming together
12:36 still feels just as relevant today.
12:38 This scene in particular remains one of the film's most memorable.
12:42 While spending the day in detention together,
12:44 our five misfits come together and start to commiserate about their problems.
12:48 - Andrew, you've got to be number one!
12:51 I won't tolerate any losers in this family.
12:55 From depression, to peer pressure, to abuse at home,
12:58 actually talking with each other helps these kids realize
13:01 that they aren't so different after all.
13:02 It's an incredibly cathartic scene that's tremendously well acted.
13:06 - My God, are we gonna be like our parents?
13:08 - Not me.
13:14 - Ever.
13:14 - Buried alive. Buried alive.
13:22 Kahn!
13:43 - It's nice.
13:43 - We'll make her one of us!
13:48 A loving cop! A loving cop!
13:51 We accept her one of us! We accept her one of us!
13:55 - Goober gobble, goober gobble.
13:57 Number 81, Battlefield Run, 1917.
14:01 Number 80, Playing Chess With Death, The Seventh Seal.
14:17 - Who are you? - I am Death.
14:20 - Are you coming to get me? - I've been by your side for a long time.
14:26 - I know that.
14:27 When it comes to creating a literal personification of death,
14:31 most movie makers have their work cut out for them.
14:34 We're not sure anyone has really come as close to nailing it
14:36 as Ingmar Bergman did with The Seventh Seal.
14:38 The film is a fantasy revolving around a knight who challenges death to a chess match.
14:43 Death has come for him, but he believes that as long as he can keep the match going,
14:47 he can continue to live.
14:48 The chess game between the knight and death is characterized by themes of the afterlife,
14:58 faith and fate.
15:00 And yet the most mesmerizing thing about Bergman's film is not so much the words,
15:04 but the images themselves.
15:05 Number 79, The Hills Are Alive, The Sound of Music.
15:16 The hills are alive with the sound of music,
15:24 with songs they have sung.
15:27 Number 78, In Line at the Movies, Annie Hall.
15:30 - Come over here a second. - Oh, I heard what you were saying.
15:34 You know nothing of my work.
15:36 You mean my whole fallacy is wrong.
15:39 How you ever got to teach a course in anything is totally amazing.
15:42 Boy, if life were only like this.
15:44 Number 77, Oh Captain, My Captain, Dead Poets Society.
15:48 Captain, my captain.
15:50 Sit down, Mr. Anderson.
15:52 Do you hear me? Sit down.
15:58 Sit down.
16:00 Number 76, Vault Break-In, Mission Impossible.
16:12 Number 75, Heroes Return, Avengers Endgame.
16:16 Over the years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has given us a lot of great moments.
16:31 Tony Stark's casual reveal that he is indeed Iron Man in the franchise's first installment
16:35 comes to mind.
16:36 But nothing has really come close to this Avengers Endgame moment.
16:39 During the final battle against Thanos, there are so many moments when it feels like all is lost.
16:44 But when we heard Sam's tinny voice in Captain America's ear for the first time,
16:48 we could barely believe our ears.
16:51 Captain Sam, can you hear me?
16:52 On your left.
16:58 Seeing all of our favorite superheroes reunite to defeat evil on a big screen
17:04 brought such joy to our hearts.
17:06 If those audience reaction videos are anything to go by, we were not the only ones.
17:10 Avengers!
17:13 Assemble.
17:20 Number 74, Car Ambush, Children of Men.
17:24 Hold on, hold on!
17:25 Get your post box out!
17:26 Stop!
17:27 Get your post box out!
17:28 Number 73, The Secret, In the Mood for Love.
17:39 Number 72, Empty London, 28 Days Later.
17:53 Hello!
18:05 Number 71, The Time of My Life, Dirty Dancing.
18:22 Number 70, You're Tearing Me Apart, Rebel Without a Cause.
18:26 Rebel Without a Cause might be the quintessential American movie about teenage rebellion and the
18:40 rift between overbearing, repressive parents and their more sensitive children.
18:44 It's the movie that made James Dean an icon,
18:47 and a lot of that has to do with this particular scene.
18:49 Dean's character Jim Stark sits drunk as his parents argue over whether he's done anything
18:53 wrong and who is to blame for his behavior.
18:56 At one point, Jim just can't take it anymore.
18:58 "You're tearing me apart!" he screams out in agony, blue eyes shining with tears.
19:03 "You're tearing me apart!"
19:05 "What?"
19:07 "You, you say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!"
19:11 With that one line, Dean helped define the thesis of a generation.
19:15 Number 69, Whisper, Lost in Translation.
19:20 "I'm doing you a favor. Come on, Jake." "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown."
19:30 Number 67, The Ludovico Technique, A Clockwork Orange.
19:34 "Are you referring to the background score?"
19:37 "Yes!"
19:38 "You've heard Beethoven before?"
19:40 "Yes!"
19:41 Number 66, French Market Dreaming, Inception.
19:46 Number 65, Aragorn's Speech at the Black Gate, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King.
19:52 "I'm going to kill you, you little bastard!"
19:54 "I'm going to kill you!"
19:56 "I'm going to kill you!"
19:58 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:00 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:02 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:04 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:06 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:08 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:10 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:12 "I'm going to kill you!"
20:14 The Lord of the Rings, A Clockwork Orange, A Return of the King.
20:16 "I do not believe it."
20:18 "I will not."
20:20 The Lord of the Rings might be one of the most successfully adapted franchises of all time,
20:25 both in terms of fan appreciation and quality of film.
20:28 Peter Jackson's trilogy has brought us such joy over the years.
20:32 We'll never get over the feeling of seeing The Fellowship together for the first time.
20:35 "You shall be the Fellowship of the Rings."
20:38 "Great."
20:40 Today, though, we're going to focus on one of our favorite moments of the whole series.
20:44 Aragorn's speech at the Black Gate.
20:46 Not only does Viggo Mortensen give a truly inspired performance,
20:49 but the speech itself is unforgettable.
20:52 Aragorn yelling "I bid you stand, men of the West" has us ready to rush off into battle.
20:57 "By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, men of the West!"
21:05 Number 64, Say Hello, Scarface.
21:09 "Okay."
21:09 "Do you want to play rough?"
21:10 "Okay."
21:12 "Say hello to my little friend!"
21:14 Number 63, Mark Betrays Eduardo, The Social Network.
21:19 "You did it, I knew you did it! You planted that story about the chicken!"
21:22 "I didn't plant the story about the chicken."
21:24 "What's he talking about?"
21:25 "You're having me accused of animal cruelty."
21:26 "Seriously, what the hell's the chicken?"
21:28 "And I'll bet what you hated the most is that they identified me as a co-founder of Facebook."
21:33 "Which I am."
21:34 Number 62, Donnie's Ashes, The Big Lebowski.
21:38 "Good night, sweet prince."
21:39 Number 61, Cointoss, No Country for Old Men.
21:44 "You know what date is on this coin?"
21:46 "No."
21:47 "1958. It's been traveling 22 years to get here, and now it's here, and it's either heads or tails. And you have to say it, call it."
21:57 Number 60, The Sunken Place, Get Out.
22:00 "You just dangle a pocket watch in front of people's faces, and you say, 'Get out!'"
22:04 "I'm not getting out."
22:05 "You're not getting out."
22:06 "I'm not getting out."
22:07 "You dangle a pocket watch in front of people's faces, is that it?"
22:10 "You watch a lot of TV."
22:13 It's difficult to create a cinematic image that will last with audiences for years to come.
22:18 But in 2017, Jordan Peele was able to do just that with The Sunken Place.
22:23 With Get Out, Peele expertly blended horror and comedy to create something that felt fresh.
22:28 The idea of The Sunken Place, however, was straight-up horror.
22:32 "Now, sink into the floor."
22:36 "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait."
22:37 "Sink."
22:37 In the film, The Sunken Place is a sort of void that characters find themselves in,
22:45 where they can see out of their own eyes, but aren't in control of their body.
22:49 Peele has said he wasn't thinking of any deeper meaning when the idea first came to him.
22:53 But the connections to themes of imprisonment and abduction were immediately obvious.
23:06 Number 59.
23:07 The Big Reveal.
23:08 The Sixth Sense.
23:10 Number 58.
23:25 Ophelia Meets the Pale Man.
23:26 Pan's Labyrinth.
23:27 Number 57.
23:35 The Chariot Race.
23:36 Ben-Hur.
23:37 Number 56.
23:46 Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's Intro.
23:48 Full Metal Jacket.
23:49 Number 55.
24:04 You Talkin' to Me?
24:05 Taxi Driver.
24:06 At this point, it's common knowledge that one of the most famous monologues in cinema history
24:17 was improvised by Robert De Niro.
24:19 But that cultural knowledge does not make this moment in Taxi Driver any less impressive.
24:23 The moment happens when Travis Bickle, essentially out of his mind by this point,
24:27 catches sight of himself in a mirror and says,
24:34 Martin Scorsese says the scene was inspired by a similar Marlon Brando moment in Reflections
24:39 in a Golden Eye.
24:40 But the dialogue is all De Niro.
24:42 His deranged energy helps sets the performance apart.
24:45 Number 54.
24:52 You Can't Handle the Truth.
24:54 A Few Good Men.
24:55 Number 53.
25:02 The Black Knight.
25:04 Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
25:05 Number 52.
25:19 The Great Speech.
25:20 The Great Dictator.
25:21 Number 51.
25:33 Diner Conversation.
25:34 Heat.
25:35 Number 50.
25:46 Magic Trick.
25:47 The Dark Knight.
26:02 We're generally pretty fond of magic,
26:04 but when it comes to this trick, we could take it or leave it.
26:07 The Joker is one of the most demented characters in comic book history.
26:11 Heath Ledger's portrayal of the villain in 2008's The Dark Knight
26:14 definitely lived up to that darkly comic energy.
26:17 This scene is a big reason why.
26:19 In it, the Joker sticks a pencil in a table and tells everyone he's gonna make it disappear.
26:23 He does, by slamming a mobster's head straight into it.
26:27 I'm gonna make this pencil disappear.
26:29 The quickness with which Ledger goes back and forth between humor and horror
26:36 is something to behold.
26:38 If we don't deal with this now,
26:40 soon little Gamble here won't be able to get a nickel for his grandma.
26:48 Number 49.
26:49 Could Have Been a Contender.
26:51 On the Waterfront.
26:52 You should have taken care of me just a little bit
26:54 so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short end money.
26:56 I had some bets down for you.
26:58 You saw some money.
26:59 You don't understand.
27:00 I could have had class.
27:01 I could have been a contender.
27:04 I could have been somebody.
27:06 Number 48.
27:07 What's in the Box.
27:09 Seven.
27:09 Because I envy your normal life.
27:11 Put the gun down, baby.
27:12 It seems that envy is my sin.
27:14 Oh, what's in the box?
27:16 Number 47.
27:17 The Riot.
27:18 Do the Right Thing.
27:19 Number 46.
27:21 Mad As Hell.
27:22 Network.
27:23 I want all of you to get up out of your chairs.
27:25 I want you to get up right now and go to the window,
27:29 open it, and stick your head out and yell,
27:33 "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"
27:37 Number 45.
27:39 Merry Christmas.
27:40 It's a Wonderful Life.
27:42 Hey, you're mad as hell.
27:43 I'm not gonna take this anymore!
27:45 Number 46.
27:46 The Devil Wears Prada.
27:48 Hey, your mouth's bleeding.
27:49 Are you sure you're all right?
27:50 What?
27:51 My mouth's bleeding, Bert!
27:57 We dare you to get through this entry without crying happy tears.
28:01 Over the years, It's a Wonderful Life has become one of the most popular Christmas movies ever,
28:05 even though a good chunk of the movie doesn't take place during the holiday.
28:09 It doesn't really matter, though.
28:10 George Bailey galloping through the streets screaming "Merry Christmas" is sheer personified.
28:14 Merry Christmas, George!
28:16 Merry Christmas, movie house!
28:19 Merry Christmas, Emporium!
28:21 Merry Christmas, you wonderful old building and loam!
28:26 That, plus seeing how much everyone cares about him at the end of the film
28:30 when everyone lends a helping hand with their extra cash, is just so special.
28:34 That little bell ringing and Clarence getting his wings is just the cherry on top.
28:38 We'll drink a cup of kindness, just for old and done!
28:50 Number 44, Learning to Swim, Moonlight.
28:53 I think you're ready.
28:54 I think you gotta swim it.
28:57 You wanna try?
28:59 You ready to swim?
29:00 Number 43, The Marriage of Figaro, The Shawshank Redemption.
29:05 Andy?
29:06 I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about.
29:10 Truth is, I don't wanna know.
29:13 Some things are best left unsaid.
29:16 Number 42, Truman Escapes, The Truman Show.
29:19 Was nothing real?
29:20 You were real.
29:22 It's what made you so good to watch.
29:26 Number 41, Tears in Rain, Blade Runner.
29:30 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
29:46 Number 40, I'm Ready for My Close-Up, Sunset Boulevard.
29:50 The cameras have arrived.
29:51 They have.
29:52 Tell Mr. DeMille I'll be on the set at once.
29:55 Norma Desmond always dreamt she would find her way back to the big screen one day.
29:59 We're willing to bet this isn't exactly what she meant, but hey,
30:02 you gotta take what you can get.
30:03 Sunset Boulevard is widely considered one of the best films ever made.
30:07 You see, the body of a young man was found floating in the pool of her mansion,
30:11 with two shots in his back and one in his stomach.
30:14 Nobody important, really.
30:16 The film follows a struggling writer named Joe Gillis,
30:19 who lands a job writing a movie for a forgotten Hollywood star.
30:22 Norma, mad with a desire to be loved, ends up killing Joe when he tries to leave her.
30:27 To lure her downstairs, the police pretend she's shooting a movie.
30:31 The lights, the drama, the people watching, it's everything Norma's been dreaming of.
30:36 All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.
30:38 Number 39, What Now?
30:50 The Graduate
30:54 Hello, darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again.
31:00 Number 38, Lift Off, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
31:05 Number 37, Motorcycle Chase, Terminator 2, Judgment Day
31:20 Number 36, I Ate His Liver, The Silence of the Lambs
31:24 A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
31:32 Number 35, The Devil Wears Prada, The Devil Wears Prada
31:39 The Devil Wears Prada is a film about a man who's been in love for a long time.
31:44 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
31:48 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
31:50 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
31:52 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
31:54 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
31:56 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
31:58 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
32:00 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
32:02 He's been in love for a long time, and he's been in love for a long time.
32:04 We get that feeling every single time we watch this fight sequence from Ang Lee's masterpiece.
32:08 In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the answer is almost always incredible practical effects.
32:14 In this sequence, characters Jen and Mu Bai battle each other on top of a bamboo forest.
32:18 How can you old people see the heart?
32:20 The actors and stunt performers make the fight choreography look effortless,
32:26 but in reality, the sequence took two weeks to film and months of work in the editing room.
32:30 The performers were suspended by wires, making it look as though they were really floating on air.
32:36 My name is Inigo Montoya, the princess bride.
32:48 My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
32:58 I expect you to die.
33:00 The purpose of our two previous encounters is now very clear to me.
33:06 I do not intend to be distracted by another. Good night, Mr. Bond.
33:10 Do you expect me to talk?
33:14 No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.
33:16 Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.
33:18 Hey, Ray.
33:36 Never went down, Ray.
33:38 You never got me down, Ray.
33:44 I have discovered the great ray that first brought life into the world.
33:48 Oh, and your proof?
33:50 Tonight you shall have your proof.
33:52 Between Frankenstein and Dracula, 1931 was quite the year for classic horror.
33:58 This moment in the story of Dr. Frankenstein's monster gave us one of the most iconic quotes in cinema history.
34:04 As Colin Clive's Dr. Frankenstein's contraption begins to work its magic on the corpse that will become the monster,
34:10 the electricity in the scene is palpable.
34:12 Quite a good scene, isn't it?
34:14 One man crazy, three very sane spectators.
34:18 But it's Clive's performance that really pushes things over the edge.
34:24 His repetition of the phrase "it's alive" is full of manic excitement.
34:28 It's a performance that has lasted for generations.
34:30 It's alive.
34:32 It's alive.
34:34 It's alive.
34:36 It's alive.
34:38 The feature that makes me such an effective hunter of the Jews is, as opposed to most German soldiers,
34:48 I can think like a Jew.
34:50 Where they can only think like a German.
34:54 Oh, do you feel the breeze from the subway?
35:00 Isn't it delicious?
35:02 Delicious?
35:04 Number 27. All work and no play. The Shining.
35:10 Number 26. Copacabana. Goodfellas.
35:22 [Singing]
35:34 Number 25. The Girl in the Red Coat. Schindler's List.
35:38 [Singing]
35:44 Famously, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List is shot almost exclusively in black and white.
35:48 Except for one very key, very heartbreaking exception.
35:52 At one point in the film, Liam Neeson's Oscar Schindler sees a girl in a red coat running from the Nazis during a massacre.
35:58 [Singing]
36:08 The girl represents the innocent cost of the war.
36:10 And she's one of the reasons Schindler can't forgive himself no matter how many people he saves.
36:14 Later, when he sees her coat on top of a mass of bodies, it represents the point of no return for the character.
36:20 [Singing]
36:28 Number 24. Ezekiel 2517. Pulp Fiction.
36:33 And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.
36:44 Number 23. Climbing the Empire State Building. King Kong.
37:00 Number 22. Headspinning. The Exorcist.
37:03 With the Father and the Holy Spirit.
37:06 Deviant.
37:08 Amen.
37:10 God, defender of the human rights.
37:13 Number 21. The Boulder. Raiders of the Lost Ark.
37:27 Number 20. The Standoff. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
37:31 Everyone loves a good old-fashioned standoff between cowboys.
37:42 The standoff is a staple of the Western.
37:44 But this moment from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly might be the most famous of them all.
37:49 Everything that happens is exactly what you think of when you imagine a standoff.
37:54 [Music]
38:05 The way the camera flits from each man's weapon to each man's face.
38:08 The lilting score in the background. All leading up to the big bangs.
38:12 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly created the blueprint for standoffs to come. Literally.
38:22 Number 19. Bullet Dodge. The Matrix.
38:25 Please remove any metallic items you are carrying. Keys, loose change.
38:29 How must it feel to have created one of the most iconic images in cinema history?
38:36 Someone should ask the Wachowskis because they did it with Neo's rooftop bullet dodge in The Matrix.
38:42 There are so many gorgeous visuals in the Wachowskis' masterpiece.
38:45 But this showdown between the agents and Neo takes them all by storm.
38:49 Beyond just looking cool, the Wachowskis helped introduce what's known appropriately as bullet time.
38:55 To show how fast a character is moving, the camera moves through a slow motion shot at a normal pace.
39:08 This helps put the audience in the character's shoes and is part of what makes this scene so amazing.
39:14 "Dodge this."
39:15 [Gunshot]
39:16 Number 18. Factory Scene. Modern Times.
39:24 Back in the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin was making movie magic.
39:35 The Tramp had a number of amazing films and memorable movie moments, but one remains above the others.
39:41 The Factory Scene from 1936's Modern Times is still arguably Chaplin's most iconic bit.
39:46 It starts with Chaplin's inability to understand how an assembly line works and just ramps up the ridiculousness from there.
39:53 Even almost 100 years later, Chaplin's physical comedy is unmatched by almost anyone.
40:07 His over-the-top expressions and sensibilities are funny even today to a modern audience.
40:12 "Damn, where is that kid?"
40:26 If you're looking to time travel, no worries. According to Back to the Future, all you need is a clock tower and some lightning.
40:32 "According to the flyer at precisely 10.04 PM this Saturday night, lightning will strike the clock tower, electrifying the cable,
40:39 just as the connecting hook makes contact, thereby sending 1.21 gigawatts into the flux capacitor and sending you back to 1985."
40:47 Back to the Future has been a classic since its release in 1985, and this scene remains part of its iconic imagery.
40:54 In order to travel back and forth in time, Marty McFly uses 1.21 gigawatts from a lightning strike that hits the clock tower in his town.
41:02 The image of the lightning strike is just as memorable as the movie itself.
41:06 Over the years, the clock tower has remained one of the most recognizable images in Hollywood history.
41:12 [Music]
41:37 The slight jiggle of the water, the dead goat landing on top of the jeep, that giant head finally coming into view.
41:44 All of this and more makes the T-Rex escape in Jurassic Park one of the most well-crafted moments in cinema history.
41:50 "Mr. Grant?"
41:59 The moment the Tyrannosaurus Rex breaks out of her cage and begins attacking our heroes is one of the scariest things we've ever seen in a Steven Spielberg film.
42:07 The combination of visual and practical effects makes the look of the movie timeless, and the construction of this moment in particular is amazing.
42:15 "Tam! Tam!"
42:17 [Screaming]
42:20 "Don't move! You can't see us if we don't move."
42:24 Number 15. "I drink your milkshake. There will be blood."
42:29 "The Lord sometimes challenges us, doesn't he, Lord?"
42:32 "Oh yes, he does, Daniel. Yes, he does."
42:37 "Yes, he does."
42:41 Without any context, this famous line from "There will be blood" seems a bit silly.
42:45 To be quite honest, we didn't even know milkshakes existed in the early 1900s.
42:50 But when you see the scene in full, its sinister nature is unmistakable.
42:55 "My straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake. I drink your milkshake!"
43:10 Throughout the film, Daniel Day-Lewis' character has an unrelenting, ruthless commitment to capitalism, culminating in the milkshake moment.
43:17 The milkshake, in this case, serves as a metaphor for oil drainage and the evils of capitalism.
43:22 Day-Lewis' delivery of the moment is absurd, but that makes it all the scarier.
43:27 "Drainage! Drainage, Eli, you boy!"
43:35 Number 14. "Ride of the Valkyries. Apocalypse Now."
43:39 "I never have got used to a light board, and I can't get used to one. I'm used to a heavy board."
43:44 "I know, it's a real drag. Do you prefer a heavier or a light board?"
43:48 "Heavier!"
43:49 If there's one thing Francis Ford Coppola knows how to do, it's create a cinematic image that we'll never be able to get out of our heads.
43:56 The famous "Ride of the Valkyries" sequence from "Apocalypse Now" is just that.
44:00 The movie is famous for being an unflinching take on the Vietnam War, and this scene is one of its most famous.
44:06 [Helicopter sounds]
44:16 As the helicopters, or the Valkyries if you will, start to roar off into the air,
44:20 Richard Wagner's incredible music undercuts the sound of metal.
44:24 As the helicopters take off, we also see shots of the villagers they're headed for, creating a sense of dread that's unmistakable.
44:31 [Villagers shouting]
44:38 Number 13, "Faking It"
44:40 "When Harry Met Sally"
44:41 "How do you know that they're really..."
44:43 "What are you saying, that they fake orgasm?"
44:46 "It's possible."
44:48 There are some lines of dialogue that just never get old, no matter how many times you say them.
44:52 "When Harry Met Sally" is a masterclass of a romantic comedy, and so much of its humor comes from this amazing scene.
44:59 When Harry tells Sally that he would for sure know if a woman was faking an orgasm, she decides to test him out.
45:05 "Oh my god."
45:07 "Are you okay?"
45:09 "Oh...oh god."
45:14 She fakes one, right there in the middle of Katz's delicatessen.
45:18 Quite well, we might add.
45:20 After she's done, a woman at another booth, played by Rob Reiner's mother, says,
45:25 "I'll have what she's having."
45:27 It's the perfect button on an iconic scene.
45:29 Number 12, "The Statue of Liberty"
45:32 "The Planet of the Apes"
45:34 "You maniacs!"
45:37 "You blew it up!"
45:39 "Oh, damn you!"
45:41 The ending of "The Planet of the Apes" is one of those moments you never forget.
45:45 This 1968 science fiction classic was groundbreaking in so many ways, from its makeup to its themes.
45:51 But this moment where everything becomes clear remains its lasting legacy.
45:55 For the entirety of the film, we think the main characters are on an alien planet.
46:00 Then we see the remains of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand.
46:04 [Sounds of the ocean]
46:11 The reveal that everything has actually been happening on a future version of Earth
46:15 changes the meaning of everything we've seen thus far.
46:18 [Sounds of the ocean]
46:24 Number 11, "Rhett Butler's Exit"
46:26 "Gone With the Wind"
46:28 "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."
46:32 "My darling, you're such a child. You think that by saying I'm sorry, all the past can be corrected."
46:39 From a modern perspective, there are a lot of things that are wrong with "Gone With the Wind."
46:44 But the central relationship between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler,
46:48 and all the complications that entails, is one of the movie's most interesting components.
46:53 "I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands."
46:56 "You're coarse and you're conceited. And I think this conversation's gone far enough."
47:02 Scarlett clearly has some attraction to Rhett, but spends nearly their entire marriage pining after Ashley.
47:08 Following a terrible tragedy, and some pretty despicable behavior from Rhett, he decides to leave her.
47:13 As she begs him to stay, he utters one of the most famous lines in movies.
47:18 "Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?"
47:23 "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
47:26 It's still a pretty great zinger to this day.
47:29 Number 10. Rosebud Revealed. Citizen Kane.
47:33 "What's Rosebud?" "That's what he said when he died."
47:36 "Did you ever find out what it means?" "No, I didn't."
47:40 "What did you find out about him, Jerry?" "Not much, really."
47:43 It's amazing to think about how a twenty-something Orson Welles came to Hollywood and made perhaps the greatest movie of all time on his first go-round.
47:51 Over the years, Citizen Kane has become widely acclaimed as one of the best films ever made.
47:56 From beginning to end, it's impressive. We love that opening shot of the camera winding its way through Xanadu.
48:02 But the thing everyone seems to remember is the reveal of Rosebud.
48:06 "Rosebud."
48:08 [angelic choir]
48:11 Kane whispers the word at the beginning, but at the end, we find out it was the name of a sled he owned as a boy.
48:18 All this time, Kane was looking for love, simplicity, and comfort.
48:22 [angelic choir]
48:33 Number 9. Chestburster. Alien.
48:36 "You remember some...a horrible dream about...smothering?"
48:42 "Anyway, where are we?" "Right here."
48:47 The moment in Alien when Kane is attacked by a small alien creature is one of the film's first instances of true terror.
48:54 [screeching]
48:57 But it has nothing on Kane's next encounter with the creature.
49:01 As the crew on the commercial spaceship Nostromo enjoy a meal together, Kane begins to spasm uncontrollably.
49:07 Suddenly, an alien bursts through his chest, ripping it open and killing him immediately.
49:13 [screeching]
49:17 The effect is practical. A puppeteer pushed the alien through the table and what was actually a fake torso in order to get the shot.
49:26 It doesn't get much gnarlier than that.
49:28 Number 8. Singing in the Rain. Singing in the Rain.
49:32 "I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, what a glorious feeling, I'm happy again."
49:45 The song Singing in the Rain existed long before the 1952 film.
49:50 It was actually introduced in 1929 in a different film.
49:54 But over the years, we've only come to associate it with the movie Singing in the Rain, and more specifically with this magnificent Gene Kelly scene.
50:02 Many people have performed the song over the years, but Kelly's remains the best and most memorable.
50:08 [music]
50:13 Right after kissing Kathy Seldon, his character Don Lockwood leaps and bounds through puddles and sheets of rain, joyously singing about falling in love.
50:21 Much like it's impossible to be unhappy when you're falling in love, it's impossible to watch this without smiling.
50:28 [music]
50:39 Number 7. I Am Your Father. Star Wars Episode V. The Empire Strikes Back.
50:45 "Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."
50:51 If there's one movie we wish we could go back in time to see, it might be this one.
50:56 The moment when Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke's father in The Empire Strikes Back is so well known at this point.
51:02 If you haven't seen any Star Wars movies, you definitely still know this twist.
51:07 "It won't be you who killed him." "No, I am the father."
51:13 [music]
51:19 But in 1980, there was no concept of what Star Wars might turn into, and nobody had any idea that this was coming.
51:26 The fight between Luke and Vader leading up to this moment is an emotionally fraught one, and the choice to essentially end the film with this reveal is daring.
51:34 Audiences must have left feeling gutted.
51:37 [music]
51:40 "Why didn't you tell me?"
51:42 Number 6. Omaha Beach. Saving Private Ryan.
51:46 "Horse side stick, starboard side stick. Move fast and clear those murder holes."
51:51 It might be one of the hardest scenes in movie history to make it through, but it's also one of the most important.
51:57 Saving Private Ryan opens up with the Normandy invasion, and what follows is a roughly 24-minute sequence of unfettered violence.
52:04 [music]
52:09 "I said what the hell do we do now, sir?"
52:12 The length and unrelenting onslaught of the sequence as men storm onto the beach draws out the horror to an almost unbearable degree.
52:20 Yet even as the sequence goes on, Steven Spielberg never allows you to become numb to the terror you see in front of you.
52:27 [gunfire]
52:28 "Storm party! No armor has made it ashore! We've got no DT tanks on the beach! Dog 1 is not open!"
52:37 Number 5. Dawn of Man. 2001, A Space Odyssey.
52:41 [music]
52:53 The first time one watches 2001, A Space Odyssey, the experience can be a bit disorienting as you jump from sequence to sequence.
53:00 But it's also completely unforgettable, and a lot of that has to do with the film's riveting opening scene.
53:06 We start years in the past as a group of humanoid apes discovers a giant monolith in their midst.
53:11 [monolith roaring]
53:18 The arrival of the monolith brings with it the discovery of weapons, and therefore the discovery of war, beginning a journey into the themes the film explores.
53:27 The visuals are stunning, but the most memorable part of the sequence is the use of Alzo Sprach Zarathustra for the score.
53:33 [monolith roaring]
53:43 Number 4. Here's looking at you, kid. Casablanca.
53:47 "But what about us?"
53:49 "We'll always have Paris. We didn't have. We lost it until you came to Casablanca."
53:54 What do you even say about Casablanca? Over 80 years have gone by, and it's still one of the most romantic movies ever made.
54:01 Despite the fact that its central couple doesn't end up together.
54:04 Ilsa and Rick's bittersweet goodbye, however, forms the essence of the movie.
54:08 It definitely makes the film's end so beautifully indelible.
54:11 "No, Richard, no. What has happened to you? Last night you said-"
54:14 "Last night we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us.
54:18 Well, I've done a lot of it since then. It all adds up to one thing.
54:20 You're getting on that plane with Victor where you belong."
54:22 On a plane runway, Rick urges Ilsa to leave him behind and stay with her husband Laszlo.
54:28 He knows she loves Laszlo, and even though he loves her, he won't let her give that up.
54:33 As he sends her off, he says,
54:35 "Who is looking at you, kid?"
54:37 That sound you hear is hearts breaking around the world.
54:56 Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy has given us a plethora of quotable and memorable moments.
55:01 "I Know It Was You, Fredo" still gives us chills to this day.
55:04 "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart."
55:11 But the highest high of the trilogy actually comes the moment it begins.
55:15 The first Godfather film starts with a scene-stealing monologue from humble undertaker Amerigo Bonacera,
55:21 who has come to ask Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone for a favor.
55:24 The "I believe in America" speech sets the tone for the entire franchise.
55:28 "I stood in the courtroom like a fool, and those two bastards, they smiled at me."
55:35 It tells the audience exactly what to expect from the Corleone family, and it's delivered beautifully.
55:52 Alfred Hitchcock had already made a slew of movies before 1960,
55:56 even winning an Oscar for Outstanding Production for 1940's Rebecca.
56:00 But in 1960, he would solidify himself as a master of the thriller genre with Psycho.
56:06 One scene in particular more than left its mark.
56:08 The first half of the film centers on Janet Leigh as she finds herself in a remote motel while on the run,
56:14 when she's taking a shower.
56:15 Out of nowhere, a shadowy figure attacks her with a knife and kills her.
56:20 Everything about this shot, from the editing style to the music,
56:24 has made its way into the cultural lexicon.
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56:50 The Wizard of Oz wasn't the first film to be shot in color,
57:08 but it certainly has the most memorable use of color, even nearly a century later.
57:13 The film begins in sepia tone, not quite black and white,
57:17 but devoid of all color as Dorothy wishes she could go somewhere far away.
57:21 She ultimately gets her wish and is whisked off by a tornado until she lands in Oz.
57:26 -We must be over the rainbow!
57:28 After all these years, the effect of Dorothy stepping out of her drab world
57:33 into a world of amazing technicolor is still unbelievable to behold.
57:38 -I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
57:40 Did we think of all your favorite iconic movie moments?
57:44 Let us know what we missed in the comments below.
57:47 Check out these other clips from WatchMojo
57:49 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
57:54 [music]
58:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]