Fight Club (1999)
The Pixies kick the closing moments of Fight Club into goosebump-prompting life as Ed Norton’s beleaguered Jack assures Marla that “Everthing’s gonna be fine” and the city around them explodes and falls to pieces.
Dirty Harry (1971)
Clint Eastwood’s city-stalking cowboy stands his ground in a climactic shootout, daring his downed suspect to play the odds and make a grab for his shotgun with what’s become the defining line of his career. “Do you feel lucky?”
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The world’s introduction to Tarantino – sharp suits, foul mouth, and a whole lot of dick in the room.
QT’s low-key camera crawls around his coffee-slurping tough guys as they throw interrogate pop culture and explore the morality of the incidental. It’s like, Seinfeld, only with swearing and guns, and it changed everything forever.
Old Boy (2003)
In a film which, it’s fair to say, doesn’t have the happiest of endings, you lot have chosen to celebrate the positives.
Specifically, the moment in which the newly released Dae-su fights through a huge pack of guards at his former prison in one exhausted sprawling take. With a hammer.
True Romance (1993)
Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper combine with Quentin Tarantino’s words and Tony Scott’s canny crime-thriller direction to make one of the smartest head-to-heads in modern cinema.
It’s touching, too, with the Flower Duet from Léo Delibes opera Lakme underlining the epic acting duel and eeking out the sadness from Hopper’s final act of sacrifice for hero Clarence.
Star Wars A New Hope (1977)
Not really a moment so much as an idea, but so many of you voted for Star Wars’ civilised spacesticks that we could hardly leave them out. So we’ll go for Obi Wan passing Luke the silver handle, the blue beam fizzing into light, as the defining moment for one of cinema’s downright coolest inventions.
The Last Boy Scout (1991)
God bless you for finding something to celebrate in Tony Scott’s overwrought buddy explosion. And it comes courtesy of scriptwriting superstar Shane Black – a moment of brutal throwaway violence as Big Brucie’s hero asks an unlucky goon for a light.
Se7en (1995)
David Fincher’s dark ghost ride of a police procedural beheads itself in shattering moment of genre-defying surprise.
John Doe – the nameless, faceless, fingerprintless killer Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman have chased in every scene – delivers himself to them with a cry of calm, directed rage. “Detective!”
Back To The Future (1985)
The sequel-prepping kicker at the end of Back To The Future’s breathless race through time sees frantic prof Doc Brown pack Marty into the Delorean for another trip to the future, signing off with this outrageous crowd-pleaser .
Aliens (1986)
According to your votes this is Cameron at the very near the top of his game, and we’re inclined to agree. The iconic, genre-stretching setup (hardass female hero gets strapped to fight alien boss) is truly set alight by a shamelessly drum-beating insult. Stay away from her YOU BITCH!
