Big Daddy
The Moment: Vinnie Jones gets his moment in the sun in Lock Stock , going feral on Frank Harper's portly thug by repeatedly slamming his head in a car door. he really shouldn't have laid a finger on his son…
Why It's Great: He might be a figure of fun these days, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Vinnie's turn in Lock Stock is really rather good, balancing deadpan comedy with fearful bouts of violence. This is the moment at which that calm exterior finally slips away into all-consuming rage. Scary stuff...
You're All Welcome
The Moment: Frank White rolls into a poker game being held by a rival mobster and lays down the law. When said mobster doesn't respond favourably, Frank whips out his gun and shoots him dead. "You're welcome," he shouts at the frightened players. "You're all welcome."
Why It's Great: Nobody calls Frank White "a hump" and gets away with it, see? Nobody.
Wasted Journey
The Moment: In Bruges puts the black in black comedy as Ken silently approaches Ray, planning to put a bullet in his head, only to see his target reach for his gun and make to save him a job…
Why It's Great: The scene is tense, funny and terribly sad all at the same time. It pretty much sums up everything that's good about the film in a single sequence.
Night Watchman
The Moment: With Don Vito lying prone in his hospital bed, Michael takes it upon himself to ensure his father's safety in one of The Godfather 's most nerve-wracking scenes. Sure enough, it isn't long before company comes calling…
Why It's Great: It's a truly terrifying sequence as the echoing sound of footsteps combines with the insistent piano-led score to devastating effect.
Fuggedaboudit
The Moment: Donnie Brasco takes a comedy time-out as an off-duty Pistone talks his FBI pals through the varying meanings of the phrase "forget about it". Or should that be, "fuggedaboudit"?
Why It's Great: As well as its obvious comedic nature, the scene also demonstrates how Pistone is becoming wrapped up in his new life, with a slight edge of irritation creeping into his voice as his pals mock the ways of the mafioso.
Shine Box
The Moment: Billy Batts gives Tommy some shit about his childhood career as a shoe-shine boy, much to Tommy's displeasure. It seems as though everything is going to be smoothed over until Billy yells out, "now go home and get your fucking shine box!" Big mistake…
Why It's Great: The timing is great here, with just the right number of beats before Billy says one thing too many and all hell breaks loose. The subsequent beating he takes is also one of the most brutal in the movie.
Turn Away
The Moment: Michael and Kay become embroiled in a fevered argument over the new direction Michael's life is taking. "Don't ask me about my business," shouts Michael before bringing the shutters down on his wife. As she leaves the room, she looks back to see some of the family associates paying tribute to "Don Corleone".
Why It's Great: The look of total defeat on Kay's face as the door closes on her is utterly heartbreaking. Michael is lost to her now.
Karma
The Moment: Nicky Santoro meets a very sticky end in Casino , as he's forced to watch his brother get beaten to death, before being buried alive next to his corpse. Still, he probably had it coming really, didn't he?
Why It's Great: The scene pulls absolutely no punches, and is as shocking as they come. On a side note, it's interesting to see Billy Batts get his revenge, as in Goodfellas it was Joe Pesci who put the hurting on Frank Vincent.
Last Man Standing
The Moment: Sullivan returns to his apartment from Costigan's funeral, only to find Dignam waiting for him, wearing surgical boots and shoe covers. the one loose end comes back to bite Sullivan in a big way…
Why It's Great: Dignam is such a badass and Sullivan such a two-faced wretch, that it's hard to resist punching the air when justice is finally served. The way the camera focuses on a rat at the windowsill is another nice touch.
Offer You Can't Refuse
The Moment: Ben Kingsley's Don Logan steals Sexy Beast away from co-star Ray Winstone, losing the plot entirely here as he fumes over the big man's refusal to come out of retirement. Altogether now… "No…no no no no no… NO NO NO NO!"
Why It's Great: Kingsley really is incredible when he gets up a head of steam, but Winstone deserves a nod for his contribution. Rarely has a man looked so totally and utterly browbeaten!
Balls Of Steel
The Moment: The narrator is woken by a phone call from angry hitman Dragan, who intends to put the shits up our drug-peddling hero. "I've got an idea," responds the narrator. "Why don't you come round for breakfast? I'll squeeze some orange juice and grind some coffee and we can talk about this like adults… do you know where I live? No? Well fuck off then."
Why It's Great: Daniel Craig's cool points go rocketing off the scale in this scene. A very clever piece of business on his character's part. Although sadly, Dragan does eventually track him down.
Ear We Go
The Moment: With the rest of the guys otherwise occupied, the luckless Officer Nash finds himself at the mercy of the psychotic Mr. Blonde. "You can torture me all you want," he says, foolishly. "Torture you," replies Blonde, amused. "I like that."
Why it's Great: This scene should be nigh-on impossible to watch, but thanks to the addition of Steeler's Wheel, it takes on an obscene sense of cool. It really shouldn't, but there it is...
Remember Me?
The Moment: Carlito Brigante finds himself undone at the last, as a familiar figure strides grinning from the train, a gun concealed within the folds of a sling. "Hey, remember me?" he calls out jauntily. "Benny Blanco from the Bronx?" And that's that for Carlito…
Why It's Great: The point is brutally rammed home that in this life, nobody walks away clean. And John Leguizamo delivers his line perfectly.
Payback
The Moment: Road To Perdition reaches its rain-sodden conclusion as Michael Sullivan puts his Tommy gun to good use, cleaning out John Rooney's associates before turning it on the old man himself. "I'm glad it was you," says Rooney, defeated.
Why It's Great: Despite all the carnage that each has brought down upon the other, the bond between Rooney and Sullivan is clear for all to see, even at the end. A supremely bittersweet finale.
An Englishman's Home
The Moment: Jack Carter runs a couple of thugs out of his house wearing nothing but a scowl and his trusty shotgun. "Come on Jack, put it away," pleads one of the men. "You know you're not going to use it." "The gun, he means," sniggers his pal.
Why It's Great: Not only does the scene make Carter look a total badass (as if anyone needed any further convincing), it also finds time for a throwaway knob joke. Lovely stuff.
You're Hired
The Moment: Frank White is confronted by a trio of muggers in this brilliant scene from King Of New York . Pulling a gun on his assailants, Frank soon turns the tables, before instructing them to report to the Plaza Hotel, where they will find work waiting for them. Now that's how you recruit…
Why It's Great: The way Christopher Walken (for it is he) turns the tables in this scene is simply spine-tingling. Not a man to be trifled with.
Home Sweet Home
The Moment: Tommy, Jimmy and Henry stop for a spot of dinner at Tommy's mother's house, with the bloodied body of Billy Batts curled up in the trunk of their car outside. Murder is all well and good, but a man's gotta eat!
Why It's Great: It's a marvellously incongruous scene of domestic bliss following the brutal beating we've just witnessed. Plus, the scene contains a cameo from Scorsese's old dear, which automatically makes it twice as cool!
Somebody Or Nobody
The Moment: Denzel Washington flexes his muscles in American Gangster , telling his pals "you're either somebody or nobody" before striding out into the street to give Idris Elba some serious aggro… and a bullet through the head.
Why It's Great: 'What you gon' do," chides Elba. "You gonna shoot me? In front of everybody? Uh? Come on!" The answering gunshot is just about as pithy as it gets.
The Cleanup
The Moment: Pulp Fiction 's premier gangsters, Jules and Vincent, are in need of a little assistance from The Wolf, but Vincent's constant backchat is getting on the older man's nerves. "If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor," he explains, with more than a touch of irritation. "I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this. So, pretty please... with sugar on top. Clean the fucking car."
Why It's Great: Harvey Keitel doesn't enjoy a lot of screen time in Pulp Fiction , but he certainly makes his presence felt here. After all, he is doing Vincent a rather considerable favour…
Good Offer
The Moment: Vito Corleone takes a moment out of his daughter's wedding day to talk business, as his godson Johnny Fontane tells him of a movie role he wants to bag. Telling the younger man he has nothing to worry about, Vito says he's going to make the head of the studio, "an offer he can't refuse".
Why It's Great: The phrase is now iconic of course, and Marlon Brando is superb throughout the scene, both fatherly and threatening at the same time.
Look In Your Heart
The Moment: The excellently named Bernie Bernbaum begs Tom Reagan for his life, pleading "I can't die out here in the woods," and begging his aggressor to "look in your heart!" "What heart?" comes the stone cold reply.
Why It's Great: So moving is the scene that it gets a namecheck in Ocean's Twelve by Elliot Gould's character. "'Look in your heart'" he quotes. "I cry every time." Hear Hear!
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The Moment: Sonny Corleone is ambushed at a toll booth, where a dozen or so hitmen are waiting to fill him full of lead. And good lord, fill him they most certainly do!
Why It's Great: The hit isn't entirely unexpected, but the sheer ferocity with which the bullets plough into poor Sonny is shocking nonetheless. Looks like a closed casket job to us…
Here's Johnny
The Moment: Johnny Boy makes his grand entrance in Mean Streets , swaggering through a crimson-shadowed nightclub to the strains of The Rolling Stones' Jumping Jack Flash . Cool as you like.
Why It's Great: Simply the perfect choice of song for the character, this is one of Scorsese's best Stones' moments, and one of the coolest character introductions of all time.
Mightier Than The Sword
The Moment: Nicky and Sam are out enjoying a quiet drink, when a fellow punter foolishly becomes embroiled in an argument with Sam over a pen. Irritated by the show of disrespect, Nicky grabs said pen and proceeds to plunge it into the poor sap's neck. Over and over again.
Why It's Great: Nicky Santoro is the dictionary definition of a "loose cannon", and this casual assault is a perfect case in point. Nuts.
The Kids Are Alright
The Moment: City Of God takes a turn for the terrifying as Li'l Zé initiates one of the runts by having him shoot one of his little pals. The fear in the eyes of the kid in question is seriously troubling to watch.
Why It's Great: Fernando Meirelles point blank refuses to glamourise the life of gang crime, and this is just about as unglamorous a moment as you could wish to see. A tough one to forget.
Dinner Time
The Moment: Paulie and the boys whip themselves up a prison feast, with a pasta course to start, followed by "a fish or a meat". No standard-issue gruel for this firm…
Why It's Great: It's such a joyful, humorous scene, from Henry's admiration of Paulie's garlic-slicing routine to the bickering over how many onions should go in the sauce. You wouldn't imagine a prison scene could seem cosy, and yet…
Batter Up
The Moment: Al Capone exerts his power over his associates in this grisly scene from The Untouchables , holding the room in the palm of his hand with a spine-tingling speech, before beating one poor unfortunate into a pulp with his baseball bat.
Why It's Great: The scene is incredibly tense, not least because Capone takes his sweet time circling the room, lingering behind the chairs of his increasingly nervous colleagues. The pull-away shot of the now bloody tablecloth lingers long in the memory.
Out Of Shape
The Moment: Jack Carter puts Alf Roberts, sorry, Cliff Brumby in his place with a solid punch, and a derisory slap round the chops for good measure. "You're a big man, but you're in bad shape," he chides. "With me it's a full time job. Now behave yourself."
Why It's Great: It's the "behave yourself" that really makes this scene. Carter is in total control, and slaps Brumby down like a naughty schoolboy. Owned.
Anyone For Coffee
The Moment: Psychotic gangster Vince Stone doesn't take kindly to the company his moll has been keeping, and an argument ensues. After a few sharp words, Stone loses his rag, tossing a pot of scalding coffee into the lady's face. Ouch.
Why It's Great: For a film made in the '50s, The Big Heat is shockingly violent, and no moment is more shocking than this one. Gloria Grahame's screams sound horribly authentic.
Power Play
The Moment: Nevada Senator Pat Geary tells Michael Corleone exactly what he thinks of Italian Americans, before instructing him to have an offer of a suitable bribe (the Corleones are after another gaming license) ready by tomorrow. "My offer is this," begins Michael, "nothing."
Why It's Great: Pacino's performance is key here, as Corleone keeps his cool throughout, refusing to rise to the Senator's jibes and eventually sending him on his way. Actions will be taken, naturally...
In Cold Blood
The Moment: One of Once Upon A Time In America 's most horrifying scenes, as Bugsy shoots young Dominic in the back, sending his tiny frame skittering across the cobbled street.
Why It's Great: The slow-motion camerawork in tandem with Ennio Morricone's score only adds to the scene's nightmarish quality.
The Rules
The Moment: Lefty takes Donnie under his wing and teaches him the rules of being a wiseguy. Carrying money in a wallet? No. Paying for your own drinks? Again, no. Wearing cowboy boots with jeans? Definitely not.
Why It's Great: Lefty's world weary but affectionate advice draws in the viewer and Donnie alike. Such is Pacino's charm here that it's thoroughly believable how Donnie would begin to question his mission.
Once Upon A Time
The Moment: Once Upon A Time In America kicks off in fine style, with the introduction (and subsequent exit) of a young woman, Eve, in a shadowy room. Three men enter, one shoots her down, and the room's light is extinguished. Away we go…
Why It's Great: Sergio Leone throws his audience in at the deep end, introducing a sense of menace and disorientation in the very first scene. Who is this woman, and why has she been gunned down? The questions mount up, but the tone of the film has already been firmly established.
Morning, Beautiful
The Moment: In one of The Godfather 's most iconic scenes, Hollywood bigwig Jack Woltz awakens to find himself snuggled up to the severed head of his prize racehorse. Nobody says "no" to the Corleone family.
Why It's Great: It's bloody terrifying for starters, but also serves to effectively demonstrate the extraordinary power and reach of the Corleones. The presence of an Oscar statuette in the background of the frame is also a nice touch.
Good Save
The Moment: The Untouchables ' most famous set-piece, in which Ness and Stone engage some of Capone's goons in a shootout at Chicago's Union Station, with a mother and baby unfortunately caught in the crossfire.
Why It's Great: The moment when Andy Garcia's despairing lunge manages to stop the baby carriage at the last possible moment is one of cinema's greatest punch-the-air moments!
Comedian
The Moment: Tommy decides to wind Henry up a treat in one of Goodfellas ' most iconic scenes. "Funny?" queries Tommy. "Funny how? Funny like a clown? Funny like I amuse you?" Pretty much as tense as it gets...
Why It's Great: Joe Pesci has never been more intimidating. Not in Casino . Not in Home Alone . Not ever.
Head To Head
The Moment: Is True Romance a gangster movie? It's debatable. What isn't debatable is that Vincenzo Coccotti is a gangster, and a terrifying one at that. His face-off with Clifford Worley is a truly electric exchange, as the blue-collar joe successfully works the mafioso into a frenzy with a brief history lesson on the racial ancestry of Sicilians.
Why It's Great: Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper are two of the most intimidating presences ever to share a screen, and seeing them go head to head like this is a rare pleasure.
Big Time
The Moment: Al Pacino cranks it up to eleven as Carlito Brigante, delivering a fearsome challenge to the assorted goons waiting to take him on. "Come on, I'm waitin' for ya! What, you ain't comin' in? Okay, I'm comin' out! Oh, you up against me now, motherfuckers! I'm gonna blow your fuckin' brains out! You think you're big time? You gonna fuckin' die big time! You ready? HERE COMES THE PAIN!"
Why It's Great: It's a little reminiscent of a similar scene in Scarface , only this time, Pacino seems to be even angrier! No mean feat.
Enter Don Vito
The Moment: Robert De Niro's young Vito Corleone introduces himself as a major player, following Don Fanucci into his apartment before shooting him dead, recovering his partner's cash and beating a hasty retreat.
Why It's Great: The scene shows the audience just how ruthless Vito was, even from an early age. Lest we forget, he's just earned Fanucci's trust and affection before he murders him in cold blood.
Jackanory
The Moment: Jack Nicholson's Frank Costello gives the audience a brief history of the Boston crime scene during the opening reel of The Departed . "Noone gives it to ya," he growls, "you gotta take it."
Why It's Great: Jack's monologue sets the scene beautifully, and the kick-in of Gimme Shelter by the Stones is perfectly timed. Cool as you like.
Bible Studies
The Moment: Vincent and Jules get into character, scaring the shit out of Brett and his assorted cronies, before filling him full of lead, accompanied by Jules's monstrous recital of Ezekiel 25:17.
Why It's Great: Prior to this scene, we've just seen Jules and Vincent as a pair of knockabout guys, involved in some shady business for sure, but essentially good natured buddies. Suddenly the picture changes, and we see them for the violent gangsters they really are. Plus, Sam Jackson has never been more badass...
Say Hello
The Moment: Scarface comes to its bloody and inevitable climax, as Tony Montana buries his face in a mountain of coke, grabs hold of an assault rifle (with grenade-launcher attachment no less) and mounts one final stand against the invading forces of his enemy.
Why It's Great: It may be one of the most over-quoted catchphrases in movie history, but when a wild-eyed, coked up Montana snarls the words, "Say hello to my leedle friend," you know he means business.
Rooftop Showdown
The Moment: Chan backs Lau into an elevator during Infernal Affairs ' rooftop climax, only to take a bullet in the side of the head from the unseen Inspector B, who is in turn shot by Chan. By this point audience minds will officially have been blown.
Why It's Great: Infernal Affairs ' twisty-turny double-crossing narrative comes to a glorious climax here, as all the various double-crosses are finally laid out in the open. The unexpected shootings come from absolutely nowhere!
Baptism Of Fire
The Moment: As Michael's baby son is baptised, Coppola cuts to show the various hits the new don has commissioned on his family's rivals. The sins of the father, and all that…
Why It's Great: The sequence is expertly cut together, with Michael publicly renouncing Satan, while privately having various troublemakers brutally murdered. An extremely disturbing scene, particularly as the baby's cries can be heard as the carnage begins.
I Don't Tip
The Moment: Before the heist begins and things start to go bad, our posse of assorted wiseguys share a simple breakfast in a local diner, shooting the shit about dreams, Madonna and the tipping system.
Why It's Great: Quentin Tarantino shows off his flair for knockabout, pop-savvy dialogue for the very first time as Steve Buscemi enlightens the rest of the group on his particular code of restaurant etiquette. And lo, QT announced himself, and crime films were forever changed.
In The Club
The Moment: Across a glorious two-minute tracking shot, Scorsese's camera follows Henry as he takes Karen through the back door of the Copacabana nightclub, across the kitchen, down some corridors and finally up to the best table in the house, greeting various kowtowing flunkies as he goes.
Why It's Great: Taking the technical excellence of the sequence aside, has there ever been a more persuasive argument for the glamour of the life of a wiseguy? Karen is duly impressed, and rightly so!
What's A Mook?
The Moment: Charlie, Johnny Boy and co head down to a local pool hall to pick up a payment. However, the portly proprietor takes exception, pointing out that "we don't pay mooks". After querying what exactly a "mook" is, the boys kick off, and one hell of a brawl erupts.
Why It's Great: The whole "mook" exchange is great, and made even funnier by the fact that the insult is aimed not at the shit-talking Johnny Boy, but his vastly more placid pal!
Heartbreaker
The Moment: Michael Corleone reaches his lowest ebb, clutching his brother Fredo close to him. "I knew it was you, Fredo," he spits. "You broke my heart. You broke my heart." And of course, we know what happens next to poor old Fredo…
Why It's Great: If the Godfather films chart the rise and fall of Michael Corleone, this is the tipping point into his steady decline. It doesn't get much bleaker than sentencing your brother to death, which is effectively what's happening here...
Vocation
The Moment: Goodfellas begins with the trunk of a car being warily opened by Ray Liotta, his face illuminated in the red glow of the vehicle's brake lights, before Joe Pesci begins manically stabbing the bloody body within. "As far back as I can remember," begins Liotta's voiceover, "I always wanted to be a gangster."
Why It's Great: As movie openings go, this one is as raw, visceral and immediately gripping as they come. The horn-led kick-in of Tony Bennett's Rags To Riches is the icing on the cake.
Cherry Popping
The Moment: Michael Corleone crosses over to the dark side for the very first time in Part 1, excusing himself from a dinner with Sollozzo and McCluskey to go to the bathroom, retrieve the gun secreted there, and take both men out.
Why It's Great: This one is all about the time Michael spends in the bathroom as, racked with nerves, he desperately tries to locate the hidden gun and compose himself. As the sweat beads on his brow and the noise of a passing train grows steadily louder, the tension becomes almost unbearable!
