Moments That Stuck With Me

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.