How about near the end of Children of Men, where the soldiers who seconds ago had been fighting, all stop when the sound of a baby crying crack the air. All of them stand in awe of it and realize how far more important and amazing it is.
Moments of Pure Awe
- Thread starter OdoWanKenobi
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How about near the end of Children of Men, where the soldiers who seconds ago had been fighting, all stop when the sound of a baby crying crack the air. All of them stand in awe of it and realize how far more important and amazing it is.
The shot of E.T. saying, "Beeee goooood."
The soldiers in Children of men mentioned above.
When the camera slowly pans over George C. Scott's right shoulder to take in all of the bodies and burning vehicles during "Patton" right after the battle.
The Star Destroyer chasing Leia's ship in the opening sequence to the only Star Wars movie that matters(IMO)
the reveal at the end of "Planet of the Apes"
the "music as language" sequence near the end of "Close Encounters"
the tank chasing Judas across the desert in "Jesus Christ Superstar"
the pull-away shot of the half-buried sled in "Citizen Kane"
there are many from across the years but these popped right into my mind so I guess they had the most impact on me.
The soldiers in Children of men mentioned above.
When the camera slowly pans over George C. Scott's right shoulder to take in all of the bodies and burning vehicles during "Patton" right after the battle.
The Star Destroyer chasing Leia's ship in the opening sequence to the only Star Wars movie that matters(IMO)
the reveal at the end of "Planet of the Apes"
the "music as language" sequence near the end of "Close Encounters"
the tank chasing Judas across the desert in "Jesus Christ Superstar"
the pull-away shot of the half-buried sled in "Citizen Kane"
there are many from across the years but these popped right into my mind so I guess they had the most impact on me.
That scene is amazing: the rapidly accelerating tempo of the exchange between the mothership and the computer mainframe, then the blast of sound that knocks the windows out. Awesome!
Actually, the entire Devil's Tower sequence is one of my favourite movie acts ever.
When the Autobots land in Transformers
When Optimus Prime introduces himself in Transformers
When Prime thanks Sam for saving his life in Transformers
"Thank you...all of you. You honor us with your bravery." from Transformers
Yes. You should sense a pattern here.
When Optimus Prime introduces himself in Transformers
When Prime thanks Sam for saving his life in Transformers
"Thank you...all of you. You honor us with your bravery." from Transformers
Yes. You should sense a pattern here.
I love that movie. In recent years that was the last time my jaw dropped. Before that, Jurassic Park's T-Rex attack
I haven't seen the movie in a while, so I know I won't be able to describe nearly as well as I want to, but...
Any one of the numerous sweeping landscape shots throughout Brokeback Mountain.
I'll have more later, but this is the first that came to mind.
Any one of the numerous sweeping landscape shots throughout Brokeback Mountain.
I'll have more later, but this is the first that came to mind.
Okay, here's some a bit different:
"Beauty and the Beast" when they begin dancing and the camera "pivots" to the chandelier.
"Lion King" entire opening number. Heck, at the El Capitan, Hubby and I were satisfied with just that--nothing further was needed for us to have enjoyed the film. Mufasa's dying was also "awe-ful"--to be able to care so much for an animated character.
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Swear to God, when Jessica was first shown, that theater audience gasped. I heard a collective gasp.
"Beauty and the Beast" when they begin dancing and the camera "pivots" to the chandelier.
"Lion King" entire opening number. Heck, at the El Capitan, Hubby and I were satisfied with just that--nothing further was needed for us to have enjoyed the film. Mufasa's dying was also "awe-ful"--to be able to care so much for an animated character.
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Swear to God, when Jessica was first shown, that theater audience gasped. I heard a collective gasp.
Others have mentioned some good scenes from LOTR, but the one that really stands out for me is Gandalf and the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dum. That was a very powerful moment for me and exactly like I imagined.
I also really liked the sequence of Gandalf's return. Specifically, how he is initially obscured by light and McKellan's voice is doubled with Christopher Lee's just before the reveal.
I also am really moved by the sequence in The Two Towers where Elrond is describing Arwen's fate to her and the image of her weeping over Aragorn's tomb. The music and everything was perfect in that sequence.
I also really liked the sequence of Gandalf's return. Specifically, how he is initially obscured by light and McKellan's voice is doubled with Christopher Lee's just before the reveal.
I also am really moved by the sequence in The Two Towers where Elrond is describing Arwen's fate to her and the image of her weeping over Aragorn's tomb. The music and everything was perfect in that sequence.
The scene I mentioned from the animated movie Clanad does exactly what you describe. Just a moment of pure beauty. You can see a bit of it by watching this, but a trailer is a pale comparison to it's real amazing on-screen presence. At any rate the movie is probabally the best animated thing I've seen to date.
For some reason this scene does it for me (It's probabally the music that does it)
I also mentioned the fighter jet dogfights in Macross Zero earlier.
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The opening scenes of the first Star Wars movie. In 1977, we didn't know a movie could do that.
For TV, well...DS9's battle sequences were pretty amazing in a TV context, as was BSG's "dropping the Bucket" sequence. Also a couple of scenes in Band of Brothers - the D-Day sequence when the paratroopers were expected to jump into what looked like a burning maelstrom below, and in an later episode, when the parachutes opened in the sky like a swarm of white jellyfish drifting down...what a contrast!
Back to BSG, the entire end of Crossroads Pt II...yowsah!
For TV, well...DS9's battle sequences were pretty amazing in a TV context, as was BSG's "dropping the Bucket" sequence. Also a couple of scenes in Band of Brothers - the D-Day sequence when the paratroopers were expected to jump into what looked like a burning maelstrom below, and in an later episode, when the parachutes opened in the sky like a swarm of white jellyfish drifting down...what a contrast!
Back to BSG, the entire end of Crossroads Pt II...yowsah!
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That was fucking great. I couldn't believe it. I was honestly thinking in my head, "Noooo, they're not about to... Are they? Holy shit, they did!" And the fact that you get to play through that moment, as though you can actually change anything, is especially great.
When the Autobots land in Transformers
When Optimus Prime introduces himself in Transformers
When Prime thanks Sam for saving his life in Transformers
"Thank you...all of you. You honor us with your bravery." from Transformers
Yes. You should sense a pattern here.
I agree. The intro scene with the Transformers landing, then meeting up with Sam and that revolving shot of Optimus and the group transforming is breath-taking. The score with the "TF theme" is a really good piece of work.
Big special effects scenes:
First off, there's a whole crapload of them throughout The Lord of the Rings.
- The battle scene in the opening prologue.
- There's this one really big shot in FOTR where the camera sweeps down from the top of Saruman's tower down through the mine shafts to end on a close-up of Saruman.
- Any of the scenes in Moria or with the Balrog in them. I was totally blown away by the scale of the production values on this movie.
- The Battle of Helm's Deep.
- The Battle of Pellenor Fields.
- The big scene in TTT where Gollum & Smegol are arguing. That was acting beyond belief.
The Star Wars prequels hit those levels a few times.
- "Duel of the Fates" in The Phantom Menace is a masterpiece of fight choreography.
- The Battle of Geonosis in Attack of the Clones is on par with the great battles of The Lord of the Rings.
- The Battle of Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith, although it was slightly less awe-inspiring because I knew that it was something that special effects could do and had seen it before on slightly smaller scales. Still, the sheer ambitious size of that battle, especially in the opening shot is remarkable.
Pretty much any of the long tracking shots in Children of Men. As an amateur filmmaker, I don't know how the hell the director had the patience to pull those off.
Superman saving the airplane in Superman Returns.
Steven Spielberg proved his mastery of the visceral art of filmmaking with the T-Rex attacks in Jurassic Park & The Lost World.
And on a more... "human" level...
- Neve Campbell & Denise Richards in Wild Things
- Alyssa Milano & Charlotte Lewis in Embrace of the Vampire
- Jennifer Tilly & Gina Gershon in Bound
Makes me get down on my knees & pray.
First off, there's a whole crapload of them throughout The Lord of the Rings.
- The battle scene in the opening prologue.
- There's this one really big shot in FOTR where the camera sweeps down from the top of Saruman's tower down through the mine shafts to end on a close-up of Saruman.
- Any of the scenes in Moria or with the Balrog in them. I was totally blown away by the scale of the production values on this movie.
- The Battle of Helm's Deep.
- The Battle of Pellenor Fields.
- The big scene in TTT where Gollum & Smegol are arguing. That was acting beyond belief.
The Star Wars prequels hit those levels a few times.
- "Duel of the Fates" in The Phantom Menace is a masterpiece of fight choreography.
- The Battle of Geonosis in Attack of the Clones is on par with the great battles of The Lord of the Rings.
- The Battle of Coruscant in Revenge of the Sith, although it was slightly less awe-inspiring because I knew that it was something that special effects could do and had seen it before on slightly smaller scales. Still, the sheer ambitious size of that battle, especially in the opening shot is remarkable.
Pretty much any of the long tracking shots in Children of Men. As an amateur filmmaker, I don't know how the hell the director had the patience to pull those off.
Superman saving the airplane in Superman Returns.
Steven Spielberg proved his mastery of the visceral art of filmmaking with the T-Rex attacks in Jurassic Park & The Lost World.
And on a more... "human" level
...- Neve Campbell & Denise Richards in Wild Things
- Alyssa Milano & Charlotte Lewis in Embrace of the Vampire
- Jennifer Tilly & Gina Gershon in Bound
Makes me get down on my knees & pray.
Ah, just remembered another one, though it was "awe" in a bit different way from my previous choice...
The first time Davy Jones shows up in PotC: Dead Man's Chest, and then throughout the rest of the movie, ESPECIALLY in the daytime scenes. Now THAT is some awe-inspiring CG work!
Joy
The first time Davy Jones shows up in PotC: Dead Man's Chest, and then throughout the rest of the movie, ESPECIALLY in the daytime scenes. Now THAT is some awe-inspiring CG work!
Joy
The first shot of the star destroyer flying in from overhead in Star Wars 
.
Jennifer Connelly roller skating in Career Opportunities.
The reavers chasing Serenity in "Serenity," the pilot of Firefly (virtual cinematography at its finest!)
The entire episode "Out of Gas" from Firefly (again, amazing cinematography, esp. for TV, as well as some of the finest editing and plotting)
The exorcism scenes in The Exorcist.
.Jennifer Connelly roller skating in Career Opportunities.
The reavers chasing Serenity in "Serenity," the pilot of Firefly (virtual cinematography at its finest!)
The entire episode "Out of Gas" from Firefly (again, amazing cinematography, esp. for TV, as well as some of the finest editing and plotting)
The exorcism scenes in The Exorcist.
How about the scene in Lawrence of Arabia, in which Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) first meets Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) in the middle of this vast, empty desert?
Works for me.
Since Temis jumped the shark I'll dive in. From TV:
In the Firefly pilot, when the Shepherd seeks absolution from the Companion. What a moving piece.
The scene in B5 when Sheridan jumps out of the tram and is saved by Kosh. Still one of my all-time favorite scenes.
The pull-back in the opening teaser of BOBW part one(STTNG) of the crater in the ground-whoosh! You knew there was going to be one bad-assed enemy involved after that.
The pancakes floating through space at the end of "Raymond Butts" from Space: Above and Beyond
The opening sequence of Voyager-say what you will about the series the credits sequence was jaw-dropping.
The message written in rocks by BJ in the final ep of MASH. Can't watch without crying to this day.
and returning to movies: In The Lion In Winter when Henry is standing behind Eleanor tearing into her, telling her she was always an unfeeling bitch the camera is on her face and you can see a thousand things cross her face-for me, one of the most amazing bits of acting ever executed.
In the Firefly pilot, when the Shepherd seeks absolution from the Companion. What a moving piece.
The scene in B5 when Sheridan jumps out of the tram and is saved by Kosh. Still one of my all-time favorite scenes.
The pull-back in the opening teaser of BOBW part one(STTNG) of the crater in the ground-whoosh! You knew there was going to be one bad-assed enemy involved after that.
The pancakes floating through space at the end of "Raymond Butts" from Space: Above and Beyond
The opening sequence of Voyager-say what you will about the series the credits sequence was jaw-dropping.
The message written in rocks by BJ in the final ep of MASH. Can't watch without crying to this day.
and returning to movies: In The Lion In Winter when Henry is standing behind Eleanor tearing into her, telling her she was always an unfeeling bitch the camera is on her face and you can see a thousand things cross her face-for me, one of the most amazing bits of acting ever executed.
A
Amaris
Guest
The closing scenes from "The Man from Earth."
Spectacular.
J.
Spectacular.
J.
The opening act of "He That Believeth In Me", BSG. I know it was only on the other day, but I described it to my friend as an overdose of awesomeness, because it just built and built and built all within the first 5 minutes of the actual show, it was just so goddamn intense.
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