While great movies are consistently good throughout, I would argue that individual moments are what most people remember most about any movie they watch. I know particular scenes live in my head even years after watching them. This is true of both good and bad movies, and they stick around in my head for different reasons.
So I have tried to distill the best moments in film history into a nice, concise list. It was a tough job. Think of how many great movies there are, and now think of how many great scenes are contained in those films. So yeah, not easy to do, but to me, not only are these some truly great movie moments, but they’re also the most rewatchable scenes you’ll come across.
Andrew Garfield’s outburst in The Social Network
We all knew he was a special actor after this scene
While we all like watching a familiarly great actor chew up scenery, I think there’s something equally special about discovering a new actor who just completely blows you away with their level of skill. For me, that was the scene in The Social Network where Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) verbally explodes on Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) after discovering he’s essentially been phased out of Facebook. It’s a powerhouse moment that quickly establishes Garfield as an actor to watch.
And look how that turned out. Garfield has become a household name, starring in many high-profile films and earning himself multiple Oscar nominations in the process. The Social Network is easily one of director David Fincher’s best films, though he’s also responsible for one of the best detective series in Mindhunter, so it’s hardly surprising. Man, I really hope we get the third season of that someday.
Robin Williams’ park speech in Good Will Hunting
“You don’t know about real loss, ’cause that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself”
We all know by now that Robin Williams is one of the great comedic actors of all time. That statement shouldn’t bring any sort of controversy or argument from many. But one of the many ways that Williams surprised me during his magnificent acting career is how well he could bring out a serious side in dramatic roles. He wasn’t just good at it; he would escape into the role. For me, no other film showcased this quite like Good Will Hunting.
Choosing his best scene in this film was tough, but I ultimately had to settle for his character’s speech to the eponymous protagonist Will Hunting (Matt Damon) at the park on a bench. It’s one of the great film monologues in which Sean (Williams) completely eviscerates Will verbally. It’s one of the rare moments where Will doesn’t have some smart comeback, because who can withstand the might of this man? It’s truly brilliant stuff that wouldn’t have worked nearly as well in the hands of a lesser actor.
Matthew McConaughey breaks down in Interstellar
One of those scenes you can’t help but sob to
I have never understood the criticism that Christopher Nolan’s films are “emotionless” or more interested in concepts than characters, and Interstellar is a big reason why. Yes, the concepts within are interesting, and it’s one of the few time-travel movies to try and nail the science, but it wouldn’t work without its central cast of fascinating characters. And Matthew McConaughey’s Joseph “Coop” Cooper is arguably one of Nolan’s most heartbreakingly beautiful characters ever.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in the scene where he returns to the ship to years upon years of messages from his children, though it’s only been moments for him. Watching him shift from laughter to outright sobbing is one of the most emotionally affecting moments I have ever seen, and I’m still mad that McConaughey was not nominated for Best Actor based almost entirely on this scene alone. I often find myself returning to this scene when I’m in the mood for a good cry, and it works every time.
Daniel Day-Lewis drinks the milkshake in There Will Be Blood
“I drink it up”
There’s been a lot of praise thrown at Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, One Battle After Another, and for good reason, but I still believe that There Will Be Blood is the director’s crowning achievement as a filmmaker. A lot of that has to do with Daniel Day-Lewis’s magnetic performance, which culminates in one of the most bizarre and wonderful speeches at the end, where his character confronts Eli (Paul Dano), destroys his entire belief system with a vicious monologue, and then murders the man.
You could argue that Eli deserves this fate because he is a liar and a charlatan, but there’s little redeemable in either character. It is a truly harrowing ending, but it fits the film’s tone. Both actors here give it their all, but Day-Lewis is in his element, giving perhaps the best performance of his career.
Drew Barrymore answers the phone in Scream
“What’s your favorite scary movie?”
When Scream was first released, Drew Barrymore was by far the most recognizable star in the film. This led a lot of viewers to believe that she would be the star of the film, which was pretty reasonable. However, that was not to be the case, as the opening scene sees her character killed off in brutal fashion. As a big fan of Barrymore at the time, it was a truly shocking moment in horror film history for me.
And it’s not just that her character was killed off instantly; it was the way in which it was done. The killer, Ghostface, calls her on the phone and quizzes her on horror movie history. When she gets something wrong, she dies. It was a truly subversive way of starting off a slasher, which typically featured silent, almost otherworldly killers. It may not be nightmare fuel like other horror movies, but Scream is a classic for a reason, and this opening sequence is a big reason why.
Courtroom scene in A Few Good Men
“You can’t handle the truth”
It’s no big shocker that this is the second Aaron Sorkin-scripted film to end up on this list, alongside The Social Network. He’s a writer who knows how to construct those big, memorable scenes. But the climactic courtroom scene in A Few Good Men just might be his most memorable. With two heavyweight actors in Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson sparring verbally, it’s easily one of the most suspenseful parts of the movie, and it’s all just two characters talking in a courtroom.
Everyone knows the big lines by now, even if they’ve never seen A Few Good Men, but in the context of the film, this moment hits even harder. It’s all the more impressive considering Nicholson has such little screen time, but still managed to get himself nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Now that’s a testament to true skill.
Coin flip scene from No Country for Old Men
A coin flip has never felt so tense
This was probably the most difficult film to pull a rewatchable scene from, because the whole movie is just packed with them. Anton Chigurh’s (Javier Bardem) confrontation with Carson (Woody Harrelson) in the hotel? Cinematic brilliance. But I just had to pick the tense coin flip scene in the gas station, because it’s a perfect encapsulation of who Chigurh is as a character. He’s not just some mindless killer; he’s a force of unpredictable, chaotic nature.
Everyone else who had come across Chigurh up to that point was an obstacle in achieving his goals, but not the gas station owner. It’s a scene that showcases that Bardem’s character must follow his code, no matter how messed up it might be to us. And when the coin deems that the man lives, Chigurh leaves, just like that. It’s a perfectly designed scene, and one of the best examples of how you effectively build tension.
The Galleria sequence in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
“Come with me if you want to live”
What I love the most about this whole sequence is that up until Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 character tells John Connor (Edward Furlong) to duck, we have no idea if he’s the good machine or the evil machine. In fact, up to that point, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) has been shown to have a civil personality and even disguises himself as a cop. Why wouldn’t he be the good guy? Well, because director James Cameron loves smartly subverting expectations.
The lead-up is brilliant, but the escape from the Galleria is just as tense, and what follows is one of the most expertly crafted action sequences of all time. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released all the way back in 1991, and that whole scene still looks better than a lot of action movies nowadays. I’ve probably watched this whole part at least 50 times.
The final confrontation in Knives Out
“A doughnut hole in a doughnut’s hole”
I’ve made it no secret over the years that I’m a big admirer of Rian Johnson and his entire filmography. Yes, that even includes the controversial Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but that’s an argument for a different article. But Knives Out is that film where the writer/director is truly having the most fun. A murder mystery that starts as a whodunit, shifts to something else, and then back to a whodunit by the end.
It’s a winding maze of hilarity and subverting genre tropes, and a lot of it works because of the smart writing and Daniel Craig’s giddy, dedicated performance. All of that comes to a head in the final sequence, where his character, Benoit Blanc, puts all the pieces together and confronts the killer, Ransom (Chris Evans), while vindicating Marta (Ana de Armas). What could have been a typical scene of “detective reveals the killer” is instead layered, stylish, and unique in its structure. Truly one of my most rewatched scenes ever.
The final loop in Groundhog Day
I love a good character growth moment
Groundhog Day is easily one of the most rewatchable films of all time, which is a little ironic given its time-loop gimmick. I could probably rewatch the whole thing from start to finish many times a day if I had the time to. But one of my favorite moments is when everything that Phil (Bill Murray) learns comes full circle in what will be his final loop.
He saves what seems like the whole town from one disaster or another, and then plays piano at the Groundhog Day celebration. It all ends with Phil finally breaking from the loop, dedicating himself to being a better person, and becoming much closer to Rita (Andie MacDowell). It’s everything you could hope for in a Hollywood happy ending, but it feels so much more earned than a lot of climaxes. This is one of those sequences I’ll rewatch when I really need a pick-me-up.
The right scene can make a good movie even better
There are so many movies that I have seen, some of them even on this list, that I enjoyed well enough until these particular scenes just hit. It’s that moment when you know that a movie is about to elevate from good to something else, maybe even fantastic. For other films, there are just scenes from something you already knew was great, but it lives on in your brain for one reason or another. For me, this list is a nice combination of the two.
