Favorite Moment/Scene in Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novel/Movie

[Steerpike]

Back to the "Ladyhawke decades", here's a question: not many live filmmakers made good fantasy then. But was there much live SF that worked, if we factor out the existing Star Wars and Star Trek franchises? Does that still leave enough decent science fiction to make the case that Hollywood was more comfortable with it? (Or just thought the Star Wars craze applied to it better?)

I think you can find some good science fiction from the time period.

Alien
Aliens
Blade Runner
Scanners
Mad Max (I liked it, anyway)
Altered States
Terminator
Videodrome maybe. Weird one anyway.
Brazil
Remake of The Fly (liked it at the time, don't know how it held up)
Akira (not Hollywood, though)
I liked the first Total Recall, cheesy as it was.
The Thing

um...what else...

oh, freaking E.T.

There have to be more.

 

[wordwalker]

I think you can find some good science fiction from the time period.

Alien
Aliens
Blade Runner
Scanners
Mad Max (I liked it, anyway)
Altered States
Terminator
Videodrome maybe. Weird one anyway.
Brazil
Remake of The Fly (liked it at the time, don't know how it held up)
Akira (not Hollywood, though)
I liked the first Total Recall, cheesy as it was.
The Thing

um...what else...

oh, freaking E.T.

There have to be more.

That's about how I see it.

I was expecting those two Ridley Scotts and two James Camerons, but even if you add those to the growing stack of "exceptions to the rule" there are still clearly-SF-derived fun like Scanners and Total Recall, remakes and adaptations like the Fly and the Thing, oddities like Altered States that might not have gotten made in other forms, and then things like E.T. that we all know would have been about faeries or ghosts if Spielberg (or his audience) had grown up among different imagery.

Yup, Hollywood knew SF better than fantasy. In fact, Star Wars itself probably falls into the E.T. basket of a story that might have preferred to the fantasy but dressed itself up as SF for public consumption.

 

[Sorrow]

Spoiler: Spoiler for Malazan series (Deadhouse Gates)

The death of Coltaine in Malazan Empire series by Steven Erikson is definitely one of my favourites, so emotional!

 

[Jeff Xilon]

One of my favorite scenes in the Lord of the Rings was when Boromir tries to fight off all the orcs to save the hobbits and ends up doing his impression of a pincushion. It was the only scene that really stuck with me from the first time I tried reading the books (I gave up the first two times somewhere in The Two Towers). It's also one of my favorite scenes in fantasy film because it ended up looking exactly like I always imagined when I read it.

 

[Steerpike]

Sorrow, please use the "Spoiler" tags for such statements in the future, so that those who are reading the books and haven't reached that point can avoid it.

 

[Sorrow]

Sorry Steerpike, noted and I will ensure spoiler tags are used in future.

 

[CupofJoe]

I would like to put forward "Night of the Comet" [1984] for consideration and especially this scene...

Daddy would have gotten us uzis

I got a chance to see it again of the weekend... pure 80s...

 

[OGone]

Mine is probs in the first post but I'd also nominate every single scene of Pan's Labyrinth, the whole movie's fairly awesome.

 

[Steerpike]

Sorry Steerpike, noted and I will ensure spoiler tags are used in future.

No big deal. There are other spoilers scattered around the thread. Many of them are commonly known or minor. It's a bit subjective, but I think the Malazan one is a pretty big one. One of the most memorable moments in a great series

 

[Nightender]

For sci-fi movies, my favorite scene has to be from Inception where Yusuf (Dileep Rao) has flipped the van in Dream Level 1, which throws gravity off in the lower levels. This causes Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to fight projections while gravity keeps throwing him to the walls and the ceiling.

For fantasy, I love in Return of the King where the Riders of Rohan arrive for the Battle of Pelennor Fields. "Death!"

 

[claras]

My favourite scene: where Hiccup tries to touch Toothless but he growls, so Hiccup looks away and just puts up his hand, and Toothless moves a bit forward, then waits, then slowly nuzzles his nose into Hiccup's hand. I still get a knot in my throat when I watch this (which is often, having a three-year old in the house)!

I think it is partially the soundtrack. It is phenomenal, the whole scene's soundtrack is just so beautiful and... RIGHT. I think this specific scene also touches the hearts of animal lovers with Toothless's very cat-like mannerisms.

 

[Lancelot]

Ironically, I just used this same segment for a different post, but SPOILER ALERT FOR FOUNDATION SERIES

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IN the Foundation Series (Isaac Asimov) book, "Foundation and Earth" they finally find Earth long after Asimov's Robot Series time (which would be our far future). So long in fact, that Earth is thought to be a myth. Anyway, they find Earth and there is someone waiting for them on the moon, I won't say here just to not reveal it. ANyway, when I read that I started smiling and couldn't stop smiling and thinking about how amazing that person was. I literally had to stop reading the book and reflect on the person and the situation for a full 20 minutes or so, smiling the whole time. IF finally went back and reread the preceding paragraphs so I could get the reveal again and again. It was my single favorite reading related thing of my entire life. I would suggest everyone read the Robot series and then the Foundation series to experience this as well. I was blown away.

 

[Lancelot]

For me, I don't think anything will ever beat...


"No. I am your father."

Funny story. One of my friend's was curious about this so he showed the Star Wars movies in the publised order to his friend's kid. So he was about 9 and watched SW, ESB, and then RoTJ. They were basically watching the kid while he watched the movie. During ESB when Vader did that reveal., they asked him. "So what do you think about that!?" and the kid responded "He's lying."

Which, when you think about it, is a very rational response. Your mentor, whom you trust, tells you one thing about something very important (your lineage), then you fight with this evil empire and this super evil henchman for a while. Finally you are facing him and he claims to be your dad. That guys is more likely lying for some reason than he is to be telling you the truth AND in the position where history worked out that way that he is actually your dad.


LIke if a guy robbed your house and when you caught him, he said "Wait, I'm actually your dad. Not that guy upstairs." You would definitely think he's lying. You wouldn't go all whiny Luke on him.

 

[MongrelChuck]

Did I just miss the mention of this scene?

Blade Runner - TEARS IN RAIN [Hi-Res Video] - YouTube

 

[SeverinR]

Greatest scene ever.



Man..all these youngsters here. I was 5 when A New Hope debuted and 8 for The Empire Strikes Back...I remember both as clearly as if I saw them yesterday. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried when Vader said that.

All you young whipper snappers! I watched it in the movies, then watched it again on my beta-max, which we had to crank by hand, if you weren't tired from cranking the ice cream maker, or holding the brick like cell phones. Oh, did I mention the theater had an outhouse?

As long as we're on Buffy/Angel, I just about choked when Wesley's dad grabbed Fred and sucked a breath to start threatening to kill her- and Wes just calmly popped him.

One of the Indiana Jones movies- some bad guy is making a huge, intimidating show of martial arts prowess while getting ready to engage Indy- and Indy just pulls out a gun and calmly pops him.

.

Forgot the sequel, 2nd time, he faced a large sword swinger, he does the same thing, but he lost his gun just minutes before, so he had to run.

"Snakes! Why'd it have to be snakes!"

 

[Steerpike]

 

[ecdavis]

Mine would have to come from LOTR, but that is a hard choice. If I had to pick, it would either be when Gandalf slammed his staff down and told the Balrog "You SHALL NOT pass!" or when he appears with the horsemen with the sun behind them and they ride down the hill to the rescue like Christ returning. I still get chills when I see either scene.

 

[Nobby]

The Goonies.

This is my dream, my wish.

Nuff said.

 

[Reaver]

IS THERE NO ONE OUT THERE WHO THINKS THIS SCENE IS HILARIOUS?

 

[CupofJoe]

IS THERE NO ONE OUT THERE WHO THINKS THIS SCENE IS HILARIOUS?

Me... Seen the original... don't see why the Muppet is funny...

Other great scenes - almost anyone from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Personally I think the film is a mess, but each scene is nearly perfect...