One of my favorite things about watching movies is sitting
in a dark room and letting myself get drawn into the story unfolding in front
of me. It's one of the greatest feelings to walk away from a really good or
really powerful movie after letting yourself be taken away. I am a sucker for
dramatic moments in film and I just wanted to take this opportunity to talk
about movies that have really left their mark on me because I thought they were
extremely well done or just incredibly powerful.
One of my favorite movies of last year and probably my
second favorite movie of all time was one that wasn't so popular to the general
population but managed to leave a lasting impression on me. Tron Legacy came
out last December and although I went into not expecting much as it was a
sequel 20 years in the making I ended up being blown away and coming out of the
theater feeling as though I had just watched the greatest movie ever made. I
thought Tron Legacy had some of the best directed scenes I have ever witnessed
and when mixed with its already fantastic soundtrack that I was listening to
before I even saw the movie it left such an impression on me that my life
became enveloped in everything Tron for the next few months. While I could
point out many different scenes in this film such as the lightcycle battle or
the entire climax of the movie, the one scene that struck me as the most
powerful was Flynn telling his story to his son Sam. The flashback tells the
story of what happened in the Tron universe between the first and second movie
and is well put together and well edited. What really sells the scene to me is
the acting from Jeff Bridges and the soundtrack that goes along with the scene.
In my opinion it was one of the highlights to the movie and is still a scene I
enjoy watching almost a year later.
Say what you will about the Star Wars prequels but I have
been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid and while the prequel do have their
flaws I still enjoy them just as much as any Star Wars movie. While Episode I
and II were definitely the weakest Episode III did turn out to be a pretty
great film and one of the best Star Wars movies. With this being the last Star
Wars film and the final story of Anakin before turning into Darth Vader, it was
all a build up to the end fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin. The fight alone was
a powerful moment as these two men who were like brothers are now battling to
the death over an ideal. While the whole fight as a great moment the most
powerful is the end when Obi-Wan cuts off Anakin's arm and legs and delivers
his speech before leaving him to die by the river of lava. This scene really
showed the dynamic of these characters and how far Anakin had fallen as Obi-Wan
still claims them to be brothers while the now crowned Darth Vader only screams
in hate for his old master. This was actually to me the most powerful moment in
any of the Star Wars saga next to Luke finding out Darth Vader is his father.
George Lucas may have dropped the ball before but this scene can still speak to
his abilities.
I don't often feel a physical reaction from watching
difficult movies such as the Saw franchise. I never feel the need to puke and
hardly ever cringe but buried was a movie that managed to affect me in a way
that no other movie had done before. The entire movie takes place inside of a
coffin and the only people you hear are Ryan Reynolds and the people he talks
with on the phone. The movie is extremely claustrophobic and while that doesn't
usually bother me Reynold's performance was just compelling enough to make me
feel trapped inside this coffin just as he was. There were a few times through
the movie where I found myself hard to breathe or holding my breathe. The film
left me in a constant state of worry and even when I thought I knew how the
movie was going to end it still managed to end strong and throw me for a loop
multiple time before the credits rolled.
One of my favorite independent movies is The Boondock
Saints. This movie was first introduced to me through a friend of mine and I
fell in love with it instantly. The one scene I always point out from this film
is the end court room scene. This one scene just demonstrates the total
badassary of the Saints as they walk straight into a court room with a bag of
guns and give a breathtaking speech before dropping the mafia boss to his knees
and blowing him away right in a crowded court room. By this point in the story
the Saints had gone through some shit, losing their friend and then finding
their father, so to see this scene was the ultimate satisfaction. The sequel
while not as good as the first was still still enjoyable and had an equally
powerful scene where the father El Duce is playing Russian roulette with one of
the villains. The scene is well established and the way it's edited you really
feel the tension of these characters. One of the more interesting aspects of
this scene is the villain character knows that even if he wins he will be
killed by the sons but still goes with it just to be the one to kill their
father who is a legend in the underground.
While watching a good movie is always an enjoyable
experience the ones that stick with me are the films that have a scene I can't
get out of my head even years after I have seen them. These films may not be
the best examples or from my all-time favorite movies but they are still
powerful moments in cinema that stuck with me. I would love to hear about any movie
moments that you still remember lovingly to this day so if you want to share
them feel free to sound off in the comments and you can always find me on Twitter @advent_crash.
