Favorite Movie Scenes

Eff'ing brilliant movie scenes that more people should see.

Marathon Man :: It's somewhat surprising that I fell asleep on this movie since it's about a post-war Nazi torturing a young runner by conducting dental surgery on him. Very horrific dentist scenes that unfortunately I was asleep for. But I fell in love with an early scene where a driver in New York - elderly, Jewish, survivor of the Nazis - starts yelling at the driver in front of him, who yells back at him in a quintessentially New York way. The Jewish driver realizes that the guy in front of him was a Nazi and starts ramming his car into his, while both of them continue to scream out the window at each other. The Nazi is scared and tries to escape, but there's nowhere to go on the narrow New York side streets. The Jewish guy keeps chasing and ramming him. I was like "Yeah! Fight back! Hit his ass!" In the heat of the chase, they aren't able to avoid an oil truck that pulls out into their path, and both of them crash into the truck and die in the huge fire that erupts. It was a bummer that the Jewish guy died too, but I loved seeing him fight. What a great spirit, especially in the Nazi era.

The Warriors :: At the end of a very long night trying to fight their way back to Coney Island from the Bronx, with the cops and every other gang in the city out to get them, Warriors leader Swan and his new girl sit on the subway, exhausted, bedraggled, fierce. Four rich kids leaving the prom get on the subway and sit down across from them. They face each other across the subway aisle and there is so much said in their faces and body language that you just have to see it for yourself. Swan's girl (known only as "the girl") becomes embarrassed or ashamed and raises her hand to her face. Never dropping his eyes from the prom kids, Swan tenderly and defiantly moves her hand back down to her lap.

Also check out this great photo essay recreating the Warriors' trip backwards from Coney Island to the Bronx, complete with quotes and plot points from the movie.