The coolest scene ever?
June 25, 2010 - 6:23PM
Neither Jerry Bruckheimer nor Disney are renowned for their modesty. Fair enough really, both have substantial back catalogues to back up their confident airs. Still, it takes a whole lot of chutzpah for a recent media release to claim that the pair’s latest collaboration The Sorcerer’s Apprentice contains…
...THE COOLEST SCENE EVER.
Yes indeed. Not the biggest, most expensive or most technical. The coolest! That's a big call.
Here’s their rationale:
“Heard of a little film called Fantasia...? Perhaps you remember the little fella who played “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in that film - Mickey Mouse. Ring any bells?
“Let’s look at the result when you take that inspiring scene in Fantasia and mix it up with a nerdy kid from Manhattan who discovers he’s a Sorcerer. Here we have, The Coolest Scene Ever.”
You can see the video evidence as well as Bruckheimer and Jon Turteltaub making their 'cool' case in the video above.
Personally, while I rate Fantasia as a great film, I’m not convinced about this supreme claim to fame for Disney's latest, though I should disclose, I haven't seen the film yet. That said, surely many people will have their doubts when they read one of the rationales for their claim is the filmmaker's pedigree, specifically:
“Walt Disney Studios, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub, the creators of the National Treasure franchise.”
Now surely that franchise is in fact a huge defecit on their collective cool cred account?
Still, the claim is out there, and it of course prompts the question, what is the reigning coolest scene ever?
Here’s my suggestion for the top five, in no particular order:
Casablanca – The Final Scene
Just how many of the greatest cinema lines in history can you squeeze into one scene?
“The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans”
“We’ll always have Paris”
“Here’s looking at you kid”
And that great final line as they walk into the mist “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”.
Here is proof that good dialogue can achieve more than any big action budget. Interestingly, “Here’s looking at you kid” was an improvised line, and in joke between Bogart and Bergman.
Quotes aside, Bogart personifies cool here as Mr Rick. Owner of a gin joint, making the noble sacrifice, placing honour over personal desire, outsmarting the police and the Germans and then topping it off by being quicker on the draw than a nazi. Mr Rick is too cool.
So much so that this is arguably not only the coolest scene, but possibly the best scene in any film ever as well.
Oh and just for good measure, it has one another quote, one that leads us neatly into the next nomination – “Round up the usual suspects”.
The Usual Suspects – The reveal
Without going into spoiler territory, the Kobayashi reveal in The Usual Suspects, and Kevin Spacey’s performance as he and our understanding of the plot transform are just cool.
Initially, I had contemplated nominating the Oceans Eleven reveal. One scene undoing the audience's understanding of the entire film they thought they were watching.
As soon as that thought arrived though, so did The Usual Suspects.
Never has a coffee mug been so pivotal to a film.
Cool mug. Very cool limp. Very cool scene.
Raiders of the Lost Ark – Bringing a gun to a knife fight
Indiana Jones, on the run, arrives in a crowded sandy town square.
The milling crowd parts. There stands the black clad swordsman. Just to intimidate Indy a little more, he gives a demonstration of just how proficient he is with a sword by swinging it in mystical patterns.
Indy pauses… then pulls out his pistol and shoots him dead.
Urban folklore suggests this too was improvised. An exhausted Harrison Ford suggesting it in response to yet another take in the torrid sweltering Egyptian conditions. Indy was meant to run around the square in a long chase. Harrison suggested the change to Steven Spielberg on the spot. History was made.
Cool move by Indy. Cool suggestion by Ford. Very cool scene.
Children of Men – the uprising
There are many great single shot scenes in film history – from Robert Altman’s opening shot in The Player to the entire single shot film Russian Ark – but the one that always springs to mind is Children of Men. Several scenes in this film qualify on that front, the chase scene in the Fiat is amazing. But this near eight minute tracking shot through the rubble of a desolate future-England urban ghetto, as our refugees stumble through a violent uprising is amazing.
A classic case of a great scene becoming even greater when you realise afterwards it was all one shot, one take, and one suspects, one big nightmare to film.
This is a cool scene for the perfect blend of sheer technical genius and big action entertainment.
Fight Club – Beating the boss
“I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise”
And so begins the best ‘stand up to your boss’ scene ever. Edward Norton’s Jack engages in possibly the coolest fight in a very cool film, when he beats up… himself.
There’s even a clue to the twist in the film as Jack pauses to utter “for some reason I thought of my first fight with Tyler”
For a film chock full of surprises and ultimate cool, in many ways this scene out did them all.
“We now had corporate sponsorship”
I am Jack’s very cool scene.
There you go. Five ultra-cool scenes that set the benchmark very high for Bruckheimer, Turteltaub and Disney. But are they the coolest? What are your coolest scenes ever?
Link here:
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainm ... /20100625-z9dm.html
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Last edited by atomic3d at 25-6-2010 17:48 ]
