What are your Favorite Cinematic Scenes in Movies, TV shows, Books, Games, ect...


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Awesome bizarre scene I saw in a movie (just to add to the thread):

So this cop arrests the main character and sticks him in an interrogation room and then steps out leaving a stern man behind in the room. The main character gets a call from someone who is SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, who tells him to just walk out and see if he can pick up his dead body along with him. Aside from the guy saying no, he says he can't because there's another cop in the room with him, guy on the phone says no there's not and tells him to look in the mirror. When the main character does he notices there's no reflection, the guy on the phone tells him the guy in the room isn't real, at least in the traditional sense.

-So he can't hurt me, right?

-Oh, I'm pretty sure he can.

He turns around only to start being choked by the guy. Main character punches him on the face and the guy's mustache starts peeling off, and starts fluttering away. It comes back and bites the main character. Main character pulls at the guy's arm and it comes off, he (main character) starts screaming until the arm curls around his neck and starts choking him. Yup, insanity aplenty....I'm going to use this as soon as I can :P


Kolokotroni wrote:
Backfromthedeadguy wrote:
So boxing, MMA and other types of fight matches should never last more than one round? A trained fighter knows how to take a blow as well as give one. And yes some people are tough enough to take grueling damage and still continue fighting. Jim Bowie is famous for knife dueling. in one fight called the Sand Bar fight, Bowie was shot in the hip, stabbed in the chest with a sword (he killed that guy with his knife), bashed over the head with the butt of a pistol, was shot (he cut off that guys arm) and stabbed again. This is the kind of thing that separates adventures from wimpy people like us.

If boxing, mma or other fighting sports resembled actual fighting, then yes they would last no more then a round.

All those sports have specific rules, and often equipment (even mma has gloves) that prevent crippling and disabling blows. It also is a set situation with an even start in which both opponents are both aware, warmed up and ready in every possible way.

Actual fights happen almost exclusively in moments of surprise when someone decides confrontation has changed to violence, or in actual ambush.

And obviously some people have taken blows or serious injuries and kept fighting, but they are by far the exception not the rule. And honestly given the nature of his legend, I would be skeptical of any acount of someone like Bowie. Even so, assuming its true, I dont know if you notices, but what you described was still likely over in seconds. There might have been some time between things, but the actual time it takes to get shot, stab soemone, get hit in the head, and then stab someone else is not very long at all.

Are there people who can take hits and keep coming? Ofcourse, but the majority of trained fighters in deadly combat dont hit in places you can take them. The make immediate disabling strikes followed by lethal ones. Think the guy from Taken more then Jason Bourne.

There's a difference between trying to assassinate someone and a fight between equals. A guy with any experience knows when a fight is about to break out and will be ready for it. Body language and the eyes are give aways to violent action. But sure, if your method of fighting is to sneak up on someone and stab them in the back, then yeah, fight's over.

And look up the Sand Bar fight, it's well documented.


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Kolokotroni wrote:
The problem is cinematic scenes like this are completely counter to concepts of realism and probability. As cool as they are, real combat doesnt work that way.

Well, this isn't actually a problem in RPGs if you don't want it to be one. If the GM and the players want to engage in swashbuckler duels, closer in style to a movie than to reality, they're allowed to do that.

I've thought about this topic over the past day, and here's what I've got...

The central problem is time. In this case, we are wanting our battles to last longer than, well, the ruleset and its six-seconds-per-round assumption lets them last. So, if we want to create film-like swashbuckling duels...

We just abstract the timeline. Throw out the six seconds per round assumption. Let a round of actions represent as long or as short of a time period as the GM and players wish.

To use the Princess Bride illustration...

GM: "Okay, Inigo, you've won initiative."
Inigo: "I ready my rapier, close the distance, and full-attack the Man in Black!" *rolls a d20* "26 to hit for..." *rolls a d6* "eleven damage."
GM: "Your blades clash audibly, the echoes of the rocky terrain drowning out the sound of the waves below. This man is obviously quite skilled. You've managed to force him on the defensive, and he has adopted what you recognize as Bonetti's Defense." *rolls 2d20 behind the screen* "If you are wearing him down, he is hiding this fact quite well." (as it turns out, Inigo's attack roll result was enough to beat the Man in Black's AC of 24. The GM has secretly determined, using the Man in Black's Bluff modifier and Inigo's Sense Motive modifier, that Inigo is not sure of whether he's dealt hit point damage to his opponent.)
Inigo: "You are using Bonetti's Defense against me, eh?"
GM: "I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain."
Inigo: "Naturally, you must expect me to attack with Capo Ferro! I'll take my iterative..." *rolls a d20* "18 to hit for..." *rolls a d6* "twelve damage."
GM: "Naturally, but I find that Thibault cancels out Capo Ferro, don't you? The Man in Black avoids your attack, leaping away from your reach."

And so on. What's important here is that we've decoupled a single action, Inigo's full-attack, from the six-second assumption. In Pathfinder, the durations of all effects, such as spells and special abilities, are measured in rounds, because one can easily convert minute-per-level spells into rounds. And since Pathfinder is an RPG and not real life, a round can last as long as the GM and the players want it to. By removing the six-second assumption and the assumption that all hit point damage causes visible wounds, we are several steps toward an environment where drawn-out, cinematic swashbuckler duels are possible.

-Matt


Great post, Matt, and thanks for bringing the topic back to Cinematic Scenes by using the duel in The Princess Bride as an example of how we can bring those scenes to RPGs.


I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I really, really wanted to play out something like the motorcycle chase in Mission Impossible: 2. In fact, most of that movie would make for an awesome D&D game, IMHO.


The hallway with the hammer in Oldboy.

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber
Quote:

Blade with whom I have lived,

blade with whom I now die,
serve right and justice one last time,
seek one last heart of evil,
still one last life of pain,
cut well old friend,
and then farewell.

Link.


Orthos wrote:
Kirth Gersen wrote:
The 8th Dwarf wrote:
Quigly was a s@*+ movie it made me want to punch Tom Selleck in the face and any movie that makes me hate Magnum PI is a travesty.
I loved QDU!
Same. It's one of my favorite westerns bar none.

Best not to say that out aloud in Australia it's a good way to start a fight. QDU is a prime example of Hollywoods racial stereotyping and two dimensional portrayal of other nationalities, it also smacks of patriarchal hypocrisy telling us how to deal with our racial problems while you don't have a very good history of your own.

Watch the Proposition if you want a good Australian Western.


Sad to say I was a pretty disappointed by The Proposition. I don't think I ever saw Quigley.


The last room in 4 rooms


Finkle IS Einhorn... Einhorn is a man!


Handsome Rob as voiced by Napster


Most of Shao Lin Soccer...
Neo knows kung fu... Show me.
Bruce Leroy Vs Sho Nuff
Any scene with Mads Mikkelsen in King Arthur
Riddick vs the alien at the end of Pitch Black


I liked The Proposition also. But, re: QDU, seriously, come on, mate. The Maltese Falcon is still my favorite movie of all time, despite the anti-gay sentiment you could potential wring out of it ("When you're slapped you'll take it and like it!"). Because sometimes you can overlook massive flaws in an otherwise very good movie.


cmastah wrote:

Awesome bizarre scene I saw in a movie (just to add to the thread):

So this cop arrests the main character and sticks him in an interrogation room and then steps out leaving a stern man behind in the room. The main character gets a call from someone who is SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD, who tells him to just walk out and see if he can pick up his dead body along with him. Aside from the guy saying no, he says he can't because there's another cop in the room with him, guy on the phone says no there's not and tells him to look in the mirror. When the main character does he notices there's no reflection, the guy on the phone tells him the guy in the room isn't real, at least in the traditional sense.

-So he can't hurt me, right?

-Oh, I'm pretty sure he can.

He turns around only to start being choked by the guy. Main character punches him on the face and the guy's mustache starts peeling off, and starts fluttering away. It comes back and bites the main character. Main character pulls at the guy's arm and it comes off, he (main character) starts screaming until the arm curls around his neck and starts choking him. Yup, insanity aplenty....I'm going to use this as soon as I can :P

John Dies at the End also an excellent book.


Gun Shy... Maybe he's got that sleeping disease... Narcosleepy?
Snatch: Bullet tooth tony discovers the enemy's gun is a 'replica'
Road trip: Making the video (heck. any scene with Amy Smart, Marisa Tomei, or Ali Larter in it... rawr)
Every fight scene in the 300 including 'this is SPARTA!!!!'
Eddie Izzards: Church of england. Cake or death.
This is my Boomstick
Last samurai's bokken training (shaming) and the slow motion 1 on 5(6?) near the end.
Jet Li's the one... Pretty much the end fight scene between Yu Law and Gabe Law
Galaxy quest: Any scene with Tony Shaloub's tech sergeant Chen
Master oogway's final scene in Kung Fu Panda
13th warrior: Ibn learns norwegian overnight, Tiny sword, Tiny horse, Dennis Storhøi's Herger vs the giant viking...
Most of Armageddon
Since I've already made a blanket statement about Marisa Tomei, I'll instead add My Cousin Vinny explaining his mariachi tuxedo to the judge
Goonies: Does Brandt wear braces? Mouth speaks spanish to rosalita. Truffle shuffle. Nevermind. Pretty much all of Goonies...
Any space cowboys scene with Tommy Lee Jones... Come to think of it any scene in any movie with Tommy Lee Jones
Brandt from goonies AS Tommy Lee Jones in MIB3
Exit wounds: Steve Seagal's anger management therapy.... This is my happy face. I'm a happy guy.
How to train your dragon... pretty much all of it.. Love stoic the vast.. Love toothless.
Sergeant Calhoun's scenes in Wreck it Ralph. Flashbacks, ass kickin, and new love story.
Kasumi Tendo and Ukyo Kuonji in most of Ranma (particularly the OVAs)
Sango loves Miroku
Every episode of Golden Boy
For some reason I really enjoyed the greco roman vs the main bad guy in Van Damme's 'Quest'

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Later buddy.

Grand Lodge

1. The final taxi conversation between Vincent and Max in 'Collateral'.

2. Spike Speigel's final run and gun against the syndicate dudes in the last episode of 'Bebop'.

3. The dwarves singing 'misty mountains' in The Hobbit (film).

4. Bourne vs Desh in The Bourne Ultimatum


TriOmegaZero wrote:
Quote:

Blade with whom I have lived,

blade with whom I now die,
serve right and justice one last time,
seek one last heart of evil,
still one last life of pain,
cut well old friend,
and then farewell.
Link.

+1

Flight of dragons really made me feel the spirit of fantasy :)

I would say when I think knight, cavalier or paladin, I think this guy :D

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Badass pre-battle speeches make me cry tears of solid joy.

Whether it's the St. Crispin's Day speech, Sir Orin's prayer, or just the defiant horns blowing in the Charge of the Rohirrim, there's something exhilirating about shouting courageous words followed by one word: CHARGE!


Quote:
The dwarves singing 'misty mountains' in The Hobbit (film).

I still want a full version of that in the dwarves' bass, rather than the pop-ified version that plays in the credits.


In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy "Boy that escalated quickly".

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Sci-fi oriented, it's hard to beat the Adama maneuver, the death of the Beast, (Hell, just watch Exodus pt II) and Lee's view of the destruction of the resurrection ship and the basestar from the Re-imaged BSG.

Most of the sword fights I'd recommend have already been mentioned. The fight between Thor, Sif and the Warrior's Three in Jotenheim was truly Mythic.

Oh and Arrow has some nicely chroeographed fights.


My all-time favorite movie gunfight is the climactic one in Appaloosa.
Viggo Mortensen: "That was fast!"
Ed Harris: "Everyone could shoot."

The first shootout in the bar, at the beginning, is also awesome:
"You pull on me -- either one of you -- and I'll kill you both."

In fact, most of that movie totally rocks. Ed Harris did a hell of a job as director.


For melee, I love it when Jackie Chan beats the hell out of the bad guys with a stepladder, in First Strike.


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Kung fu hustle. Most of it, really.

Mr Blonde goes ear.

Demise of the Crazy 88.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Kirito pulling an "I Am Not Left Handed" in Sword Art Online.


The entire second half of the original (Halicki, 1974) Gone in 60 Seconds. "Yeah, I saw that car! He was mowing down trees, he killed like 50 people... it was far out, man!"

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

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OK, this one is from Terry Pratchett, and is a little bit silly, but still exciting. In one of the recent Night Watch books, Commander Vimes (captain of the watch) has made a rule for himself to absolutely get home by a certain time in order to read a bedtime story to his son. So there is a scene where he commandeers a carriage, and he is racing down the street while his officers are blocking off side streets. He even has to make a jump at a drawbridge--which is completely over the top, but would fit right into a cinematic RPG chase.


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"THAT IS NOT MY COW"

That whole scene gets an echo later in the book as well that's no less epic.


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Oh yeah.

Pacific Rim. Like, every fight period.

I felt drained after watching that. Before that, I think the last time I felt exhausted by the action in a movie was Shinji enacting Third Impact.


So many to choose from, here are some of my favorites:
- Indianapolis scene in Jaws - such a great way of telling us about Quint's character.
- The attack on the cave of the Eaters of the Dead in 13th Warrior - such a great example of a D&D style dungeon assault to attempt to stop the BBEG, with an exciting escape
- Final duel in Highlander - I love the choice of setting and the camera work in this and of course the awesome window explosion when Connor takes Kurgan's head and quickening.
- Speeder Bike chase in Return of the Jedi - fast paced and illustrates how speed changes an environment
- Most any chase from any Bond film - there are so many that are fun and feature interesting settings and vehicles - ski chase in For Your Eyes Only, boat chase in Moonraker, car chase in Vegas in Diamonds are Forever, etc.
- Indiana Jones shooting the swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark - classic comedy moment to break up the action.
- The the ending of the Wild Bunch - have more bullets been fired in any movie scene?
- Police station scene in Terminator - classic example of mismatched firepower/technology and with a great one liner too
- Dutch vs. Predator at the end of Predator - good use of traps
- Independence Day alien attack - you know it's coming but it's still cool to watch it happen.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Oh, forgot about comics. Secret Six. Gods, Secret Six.

The 'teaching' of the gang bangers about how to use a gun in a hold up, and the store security by Floyd.

The subsequent 'heroics' of Thomas.

Bane going off the wagon to save the woman he's 'adopted'

Jeanette owning Wonder Woman.

Floyd's 'duel' with Yannin on the Suicide squad. "Lady, when you have the shot, you take it."

From X-Factor recently, the united Jamies brandishing swords and charging into combat.

For that matter the first (to the reader) time Wolverine pops his bone claws. That panel still sends chills down my spine. "I! Am Still! The Best! At! What! I! Do!" *schulck*


Speaking of comic books...

Probably the single most awesome cinematic scene I remember from reading comics as a kid was when the Avengers were fighting some group of super villains which included some sort of giant killer whale dude. The giant was kicking butt and finally smashed Thor himself into the ground.

Which just pissed Thor off. Getting up and dusting himself off he made some sort of pre-climactic speech along the lines of "I am through with pulling my punches foolish mortal!" At this point a giant thunderstorm rises up in the background. Then Thor launches himself into the air. "You face the power of a GOD, for I am THOR!" And he then unleashes his full power and cold-cocks the giant in one punch.

The rest of the fight was pretty much everybody pulling their jaws off the ground.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32

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Great thread! I've got a lot of love for the swashbuckling Savage Isles, known in America as Nate and Hayes. The whole movie's great, but the opening scene's a sure fire hit with all the Skulls and Shackles fans. Plus you get to see Tommy Lee Jones doing a cheap Harrison Ford stand-in (who knew a time existed when he was young and dashing rather than the craggy face of weary authority we're more familiar with today).

Someone else mentioned Sorcerer; still one hell of a tense movie a few decades on. Plus it's great that anyone unfamiliar with it will imagine some sword and sorcery Hollywood schlock, but when they go and check it out will discover something quite different (and way cooler).

For those who can handle some subtitles I highly recommend for The Good, The Bad and The Weird ; the best Korean Western (well let's face it, the only) you've ever seen. Cracking action throughout, especially the train hijack and various frontier town brawls near the beginning. On a similar foreign film bent, anyone unfamiliar with the French Brotherhood of the Wolf should certainly check it out, crammed full of great ideas to steal for your RPG campaign.


Among the most serious Con checks I have been through in seeing a movie was the latter half of the island in King kong.


The last scene in Unforgiven is always good. Hell, most of that movie is really good.

Shadow Lodge

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Lo there do I see my father. Lo there do I see my mother, and my sisters and my brothers. Lo there, do I see the line of my people back to the beginning, lo, they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave, may live forever.

Also the Adama manuver, and my all time favorite Doctor who companion charging a frickin Dalek with a baseball bat.

Silver Crusade

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Favorite scene in a book? Easy. Harry Dresden riding an undead T-Rex down the streets of Chicago while Butters (one of the Dresden Files characters) plays polka music to keep it animated. THAT is badass.

Movie: Well one of my favorites is the quick draw duel toward the end of Quigley Down Under. Just the line "I said I didn't like to use pistols, never said I didn't know how." is just epicly cool.

T.V. Show: There is one scene that immediately comes to mind. The fight between Marcus and Nehroon when Delenn is about to become Ranger One in Babylon 5. Marcus get his jaw handed to him, but he does put on a hell of a fight.


Oh yes. Magnificent scene.


How could I forget Kirk Douglas' death scene in The Vikings? Greatest one in the history of cinema! Not even Tony "The Jersey Viking" Curtis could ruin it.

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