Voices
in
Japan

have your say

Name some scenes from movies that had such a powerful effect on you that you thought about them often for days after you saw the movie.

39 Comments

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

39 Comments
Login to comment

Aurora borealis in Local Hero. End scene of Easy Rider.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The ending scene in "Whale rider (2003)" when Paikea mounts the largest beached whale and coaxes it and the others back out to sea (while almost dying in the process). Proving to her grandfather that women are not worthless and that she is fit to become leader of the tribe even though she is not a man.

Still makes me cry every time I see it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That scene in "Crash" where the little girl runs out and jumps in front of her father to shield him from the guy about to shoot him. The gun fires, and then... Watch the movie. It's a pretty intense scene.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Crying Game. Made me nervously check for Adam's apples for a bit after that one....

I thought it was obvious long before the 'reveal'.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Crying Game. Made me nervously check for Adam's apples for a bit after that one....

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Galadriel refusing Frodo's offer to take the Ring of Power.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The last scene of Casablanca. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof? from beginning to end. The final shot of Citizen Kane (Rosebud being consumed in flames. The ending of City Lights. The opening sequence of City Lights. The first factory sequence of Modern Times. Every scene with the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. The last scene of Bicycle Thieves. "Silly Disturbances" in Monty Python's Flying Circus. Every moment in Ikiru*.

.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Jason and the Argonauts was a good one, back when TV was only in black and white. It was impressive when we were kids. I do not think kids would even watch it because of so much computer effects. But the Greatest Story Ever Told is certainly a classic one. It is sobering movie to our daily problems.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Oh, and the ending of Seven! That one is still with me.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

The Blair Witch Project, especially the end... That one stayed with me for a while.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Some good choices of films here. Some more generic and not so impressive but I'm going to try and top all of you and I think many of you readers will agree but a few key scenes from a B-grade made for TV movie called 'The Bermuda Depths' left a HUGE impression on countless people.

Do a google search and you'll all know what I mean about how this movie impacted and made impressions on peoples psyche for years to come following the original and very rare air dates. Myself being one of them.

Some examples of scenes that stuck in my mind since I was about 3 y.o. for years before I finally found out the title of this gem are:

--The girl with the glowing green eyes.

--The sea turtle hatching on the beach and the boy and girl carving their initials in it later to be seen near the end of the film.

--The opening theme. Absolutely lovely and haunting at the same time.

Trust me, if you people look this film up, I might be doing you all a favor by mentioning it here in this thread because some of you have probably seen it but it's been buried so deep in your mind you've only got faint memories of it and don't know the title.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The scene from Mr. Holland's Opus when Richard Dreyfuss (musician / composer / teacher) is at a parade with his family. A fire truck goes by with it's siren blaring, causing all of the babies to cry. He turns to his baby son, who isn't crying. At that moment he realizes that his son is deaf.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The scene where Richard Dreyfuss is carving up a mountain out of mash potatoes... I still have a bit of urge to do that when I see a huge bowl of mash potatoes at the dinner table ;)

2 ( +2 / -1 )

The landing scene from saving private ryan. Gave my girlfriend a panic attack. Finally an end to the crappy gung ho american movies promoting war, for a while anyway, until that trash, the hurt locker among others arrived. A friend of mine took his grandfather, who was at normandy, to see that movie, he said it was pretty accurate.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Numerous scenes from both "The Shining" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" made strong impressions:

The Shining:

When Jack is talking to Wendy threateningly and she is holding a knife and backing away from him up the stairs.

The bartender scene

The scene when Grady appears

Cuckoo's Nest:

Scene when McMurphy pretends to watch the baseball game on TV

Scene when Mcmurphy tries to lift up the faucet: "I tried, didn't I? At least I did that much..."

Scene when The Chief actually lifts it.

many more...

I'm off to Tsutaya this evening to rent both of these

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Maggie Cheung walking up steps in a Cheong san dress in slow motion in "in the mood for love".

In fact, most of the scenes in that film, as it gave me the push I needed to buy a DSLR and take up photography properly; something I get huge enjoyment from now.

The dream sequence in Tarkovsky's "Stalker" is quite fantastic too; just hauntingly beautiful.

The end of "The Elephant man". It's overused now, but that was the first time (I think) that Samuel Barber's adagio for strings was used for such heart-breaking effect in a film.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Pirates 2: Stagnetti's Revenge - made me want to become a pirate

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why anyone is giving any of the above posts thumbs downs is beyond me.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

The ending of "Brazil" (the proper ending) - tragic it is, simply tragic. "The Cell", when Jennifer gets that evil look on her face. "The Fisher King" - all of it really, but I giggle when I recall Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges in the park at the end, Williams is so hairy. "You Got Mail", when Meg's in bed with a cold and Tom leans over to hush her - there's something wonderful about that moment. So sue me, I need more romantic moments in my life. "Grosse Pointe Blank", when the Cusacks interact with the throwaway Sergeant Pepper comment. "Catch-22", when Yossarian finally opens to the pilot's shirt - oh!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the shooting scene from Crash. it was so moving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6PQgJ-Qcg8

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the scene in Half Baked where Scarface quits his job and Brian gets fired. that, or the scene in Billy Madison where the old woman states, "If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis".

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

There was a scene in Marathon Man that made me think about becoming a dentist.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Exorcist....that whole bedroom scene. I saw that movie many years ago and still can't get it out of my mind!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Requim for a Dream had many images that stayed with me. It exposed the truth about America to me. Also, the "curbing" scene in American History X, that showed me what many American fanasize about.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

From the movie "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and her Lover" the scene where the wife forced her husband (the cook) to eat her lover whom he had killed earlier.

Unforgettable lines from Helen Mirren who played the wife " Try the cock, Albert. Its delicacy and you know where it has been..."

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The scene in Titanic when Kate Winslet is standing at the rail of the ship with her arms spread with Leonardo DiCaprio behind her.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

The scene in Schindler's List where Schindler sees the dead body of the little girl in the red coat among the many bodies piled up on the cart.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I won't forget the "live" autopsy of that cop in "Robocop"2. It was so disgusting, that I began to hate all the Robocop franchise .

But a scene that moved me and I'll never forget was a scene from one very old Russian movie, directed and starring Sregey Bondarchuk. It is called Destiny of a Man (or at least I can translate it this way). The main character survives the war and the concentration camp with all its horrors, only to find out that while he was away, his whole family has been killed. So he begins to work as a truck driver and befriends a homeless boy, an orphan, . So one day, as the guy gives the kid a ride on his truck, andasks the boy : "Whereis your dad?" "He died on the front" the boy answers. "And your mom?" a bomb hit the train and killed her. " "Don't you have any relatives?" "No." Where do you sleep" "Wherever I can find a place to sleep." Then the guy , with a determined expression, suddenly asks: "Do you know who I am? Actually, I'm your father." And then theboy , all dirty and ruggy, wraps his skinny hands around the man's neck and screams "Daddy!Daddy dearest! I knew you would come for me!I waited so long. Dearest!!" Here's a link, I couldn't find something with both sound and subtitles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aGDhembtyg&feature=related Watch from 3.30

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The scene in Titanic where Rose is hanging up all her paintings makes me laugh. 'Something Picasso...' OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBQ5uMCgAsM

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Gone with the wind, when the woman says, horse make tracks.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Alien - the concept of facehuggers and chestbursters is something I still see frequently in dreams (needless to say, these are not nice). I saw if for the first time when I was 13 or 14 and I'm still seeing these images vividly after doubling that timespan. There has never, ever been a movie scene to leave a deeper impression on me than the good old Ridley Scott movies.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Was 13 or so when I saw The Killing Fields for the first time. When the daughter puts the plastic bag over her fathers head and kills him, that was so disturbing on so many levels. Was probably the impetus for me to study more about history, other cultures, and international relations.

Around the same time, I saw Blade Runner and the scene where Rutger Hauer's character kills his maker with the thumbs in the eyes - that haunted me for more than while.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The scene from Holiday On The Buses where the toilet explodes while Wally Briggs is sitting on it, this was after Olive Butler had thrown petrol down the toilet and her brother Stan threw a cigarette in it that caused the explosion.

This traumatic scene made me heavily involved in health and safety issues to this day.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The Matrix: Agent Smith talking to Morpheus about his understanding of humans and other life forms.

The Dark Knight: The Joker: Hospital scene where The Joker talks to Harvey Two-Face and explains the nature of society.

The Dark Knight: The Joker and Batman in the interrogation room.

Seven: Kevin Spacey talking with Morgan Free and Brad Pitt about people in this sick society.

All of the villains listed above in way or another had an awakening moment where the vulnerabilities of our society are so clear for them to see yet to so many of us....well.....we are just living out our lives making decisions without any regard as to who we hurt or affect negatively.

I've always been intrigued by intelligent anti-heroes who show us the complexity of what we consider to be right and wrong.

The directors of such movies blurred the lines between what is right and what is wrong. The good guy, the hero, and the bad guy, are much more difficult to discern.

Is he a terrorist or a freedom fighter?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

The scene from the film "The Pianist"; Roman Polanski, 2002

The pianist is playing a Chopin piece, broadcast live...

Just a few years before, the bombing hit the studio and halted his music career, and began his experience of The Holocaust, which along with the daily horrors, took the lives of most of his family, and friends.

He survives, and after the tale is told, he is at the restored studio, with his health and pre-Holocaust appearance, playing the same Chopin piece.

The smile he gives the radio producers is both joyous and poignant...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The revelation scenes in "Sixth Sense" and "The Usual Suspects" stayed with me a long time.

Many scenes from "Pulp Fiction" but the one that stands out the most is the hypodermic needle to the heart scene.

Many scenes from "Hotaru no Haka".

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The final moments of the Titanic going down in the black and white film, "A Night to Remember." That really upset me because of all the "ifs" that led up to the tragedy that night. I also kept wondering what I would have done if I had been on that ship that night.

I was also shaken for awhile after the end of "The Silence of the Lambs." It was fairly intense and I was glad to leave the theater and walk outside for awhile.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Seeing Kathy Bates naked in "About Schmidt". I had restless sleep and bad dreams for days afterward.

-1 ( +5 / -5 )

When Jaws came on board the stearn of the fishing vessel and ate the ships captain in the original version of the movie. I had restless sleep and bad dreams about the sharks eyes for days afterward. I guess I shouldn't have seen the movie at such a young age. It was rated R and I was around 8 or 9 when I got to sneak a showing on TV. It was quite scary then, but I think it hardened me, because I don't scare easily anymore.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites