This is a “kicking-back” week for me. I’m not on vacation, but I’m not really working either. It’s a kind of stress detox after the Christmas season. It’ll be time to watch a few movies and I thought some of you might enjoy a little movie moment discussion.
When I finally got home from church yesterday, my home-from-Cedarville daughter was watching the last 20 minutes or so of “A Few Good Men.” I made this statement, and surprisingly, she didn’t really disagree. “That may be the best 20 minutes of cinema ever!”
“I want the truth.”
“You can’t handle the truth.”
And this one:
Col. Jessep: Have you ever spent time in an infantry unit, son?
Kaffee: No sir.
Col. Jessep: Ever served in a forward area?
Kaffee: No sir.
Col. Jessep: Ever put your life in another man’s hands, ask him to put his life in yours?
Kaffee: No sir.
Col. Jessep: We follow orders, son. We follow orders or people die. It’s that simple. Are we clear?
Kaffee: Yes sir.
Col. Jessep: Are we clear?
Kaffee: Crystal.
The highlight is Col. Jessep’s monologue:
Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a (sorry, this is SBC Voices!) what you think you are entitled to.
Even though he’s a horrible jerk, I think he makes a reasonable point in that speech. It is easy for civilians to ignorantly question what those who defend our freedoms do. Of course, it is also easy for power to go to a man’s head as it clearly did in Colonel Jessup’s case.
So, I posted this on my Facebook wall and got some interesting responses from others. That led me to thinking about great movie moments – those brilliant moments that you want to watch over and over again.
So, as a discussion starter, I’m going to list a few of my favorite movie moments. I reserve the right to think of more later, edit my post and pretend I thought of that from the start! Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order.
1) A Few Good Men – the final courtroom scene. Already discussed that one. There’s a little too much Jack Nicholson dialogue to link to a scene!
2) The “O Captain, my Captain” scene from “Dead Poets Society” in which the boys defy the headmaster, stand on their desks and thank Robin William’s character as he leaves.
3) “Mr. Holland’s Opus” final scene in the school auditorium. He thought his life was wasted, misspent. Then the people whom he influenced, encouraged and motivated came back to pay him honor. I think that secretly every one of us in ministry wishes for a Mr. Holland’s Opus moment.
4) Three scenes from “Fiddler on the Roof.” (Do I lose my man-card for including a musical?) Both are moments of despair. First, when Tevye is sending his daughter off to Siberia at the lonely, cold train depot. Second, when he says to his last daughter, “On the other hand…no, there is no other hand.” He has softened his convictions but cannot completely give them up. Finally, of course, the leaving of Anatevka will tear your heart out and stomp on it.
5) “It’s a Wonderful Life” – last 15 minutes. Hokey. Melodramatic. Sentimental. Guilty. But its brilliant and wonderful as well.
6) The end of the fight scene in Rocky. Rocky loses the fight but wins at what really matters. Though I liked Rocky 2 and 3, they really should have stopped with the bloodied Rocky embracing Adrian in the ring. Honorable mention here goes to the training montage with Rocky drinking eggs and running up the steps.
“Ain’t gonna be no rematch.”
“Don’t want one.”
7) Slumdog Millionaire – hard to choose one moment in this consistently brilliant film. The kid climbing out of the honey pot covered in grossness to go see the movie star. The rescue of Latika. But the final question set against the sacrifice of the brother is a highlight.
8) Again, “O, Brother, Where Art Thou” has too many moments of glory. But the scene where the “Soggy Bottom Boys” sing “Man of Constant Sorrow” is as good as it gets.
9) Who’d have thought that the greatest love scene in movie history would be a 4 1/2 minute animated montage in a Disney film? But if you aren’t moved by the “Married Life” scene in “Up”, you probably have a heart of stone. This old fogey needed a tissue or two.
10) The Academy Awards committed a great injustice when they failed to reward the brilliance of Jack Black in Nacho Libre. The greatest moment in movie history.
“Chancho, when you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It’s for fun.”
Now, it’s your turn. Remember, if you mention one I wish I’d had on the list, I may claim it, change the post and pretend it was mine from the start. Hey, I’m the editor!!!
So, as we discuss this, the question is simple: Can you handle the truth?
Dave, You have hit the 10 ring at a thousand yards today. (at least in my book) A Few Good Men really was a slap in the face by liberal Hollywood types at the realities of life for men who made and keep this country free by standing watch in hard places and doing things of which nightmares are made. You are right when you state, “It is easy for civilians to ignorantly question what those who defend our freedoms do.” Here is one from the 1953 movie, Shane:”A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than… Read more »
More importantly, do you ever wear stretchy pants?
Dave,
I wear then when I comment on Baptist blogs…..The mask also.
One of my boys is an entertainment writer. When he reviewed that movie, he sent me a pair of those “stretchy pants” dedicated to his favorite “super hero.” He got a kick out of it. He’s a Methodist.
sounds like a Methodist! lol
David
“It is easy for civilians to ignorantly question what those who defend our freedoms do.”
I don’t disagree, and we need to be careful about this. But it is also a mistake for civilians to never question what goes on in our military. It is good to remember that all our military forces are led, ultimately, by a civilian.
The Princess Bride contains a lot of great move moments.
Inconceivable!
Have fun storming the castle!
Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die!
Stop that, I mean it. Anybody want a peanut?
Bill Mac,
I understand what you are saying. I really do. And I know it is a thin line to be walked at times and easier than most realize to cross and the return back is often all but impossible. But freedom is costly and it seems that blood has always been the cost.
BTW, back when I was a Methodist, they wouldnt let anyone wear stretchy pants, or tutu’s, and do creative dance, or anything else like that. They were very formal, high brow, and boring.
So, CB, are you saying that now they’re doing things in stretchy pants???
David 🙂
Vol,
I don’t know if they are or not. I just wear them when I blog. I am going to ask my son to send you and Dave Miller a pair and a mask also.
Okay, Dave and I will take it on the road….we’ll be the tag team champions of the world….we’ll be called “The Bruise Brothers.”
DAvid
I would SO wear those!
This one gets my vote . . . from ‘The Guardian’, the ending. My boy is up in Kodiak’s USCG base for the holidays . . . he was on the ‘committee’ of twenty first-class and chiefs planned and cooked a big Christmas dinner for the whole cutter crew . . . I know they ate well. God bless them, and all the ‘Guardians’ who serve. . . (note to C.B. . . . sometimes, not always, ‘Hollywood’ gets it right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0iyh3aoqA0
The final few minutes of “On The Beach” … the 50’s version with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner … in which the remaining people dwindle ever downward, ending with the scene of the Salvation Army Band, with only the tattered banner remaining .. saying “THERE IS STILL TIME, BROTHER”.
There was also an unforgettable scene taken from the submarine, showing San Francisco, with no people, no cars, nothing moving at all.
CB Scott:
Excellent reference to Shane!
Louis,
I loved Shane. Like Joey, I wish he would “Come back Shane, Come Back”
Here is another great few lines from Shane. I think about it when the New York Yankees win a baseball game.
“Shane: So you’re Jack Wilson.
Jack Wilson: What’s that mean to you, Shane?
Shane: I’ve heard about you.
Jack Wilson: What have you heard, Shane?
Shane: I’ve heard that you’re a low-down Yankee liar.
Jack Wilson: Prove it.”
I loved the part where Shane told that feller, “I’ve heard that you’re a low down, Yankee liar.”
David
CB, we both posted this at the same time! It kind of makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
David 🙂
Let’s share this moment with Job. I think he needs some pals.
lol
Here is one from “The Grapes of Wrath” starring Henry Fonda
“Ma Joad: Well, Pa, a woman can change better’n a man. A man lives sorta – well, in jerks. Baby’s born or somebody dies, and that’s a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that’s a jerk. With a woman, it’s all in one flow, like a stream – little eddies and waterfalls – but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way.”
I think Ma Joad understood the difference between men and women better than any philosopher I have ever read.
Here are a couple of great movie moments: The Searchers – at the end when John Wayne carries his niece, who has been held captive by Indians for several years, to the threshold of a farmhouse door, stands framed by the door, and then turns around and walks away. To Kill a Mockingbird – when Scout is introduced to Mr. Arthur “Boo” Radley, who has just saved her from being killed by a drunken redneck. To show you how small the world is, my mother went to high school with the woman who played Mae Ella Ewell (sp?), who claims… Read more »
My favorite is from “Hamburger Hill” about Viet Nam when the soldiers come down from the hill and are met by reporters hoping for a response to the statements that the men couldn’t take the hill. The Sgt tell them that he had more repect for the “little people” at the top of the hill because “they take sides, you just take pictures”. I’d post it from youtube but the language is graphic and continuous.
Tom Bryant,
That was a serious and reflective scene to say the least.
No one has mentioned “Field of Dreams.” OK, it’s hokey in places, and Baptists could easily get upset over the “ghost” implications, but it meant a lot to me, for a couple of reasons. One, it reinforced my conviction that we have to have dreams which don’t have to make sense to the world. Two, it came out in a low point in my life. My wife was going through a terrible bout of clinical depression, which was exasperated by my serving dysfunctional churches, complicated by her obsessive-complusive tendencies, and an MD who was as big a fruitcake as anyone… Read more »
I’ve been to the Field of Dreams a couple of times. Cool place. About an hour or so from my former home in Cedar Rapids.
Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.
“Fredo, you’re nothing to me now. You’re not a brother; you’re not a friend. I don’t want to know you or what you do.” – Michael Corleone, Godfather II
That’s a good one, too. Problem with the Godfather (I and II) is that there are too many good moments.
Never seen any of the Godfather movies.
I second Louis’ Casablanca nomination. This Dave Miller guy’s list is incomplete if “Play it again, Sam” “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” or “We’ll always have Paris” isn’t present… Also the moment where Theoden leads the forces of Rohan to aid the failing forces of Gondor, Aragorn leading the undead traitors of the black ships and Aragorn, Gandalf, and those handful of soldiers knocking on the Black Gate and getting surrounded, and definitely Gandalf coming over the hill at Helms deep. Robin Williams and Matt Damon at the end of Good Will Hunting… “It’s not your fault…”… Read more »
Dear Chip, two points:
1) I can see your email.
2) I have pictures of you that I WILL publish if provoked.
From Tombstone:
“Wyatt Earp: How are you?
Doc Holliday: I’m dying, how are you?
Also from Tombstone….Doc Holliday: “I’ll be your Huckleberry.”
Then they had some pizza.
Just saw this film again, following a post by Trevin Wax on ‘fellow lepers’ . . . there is a scene around 3:33 that is . . . special.
Damien goes to free some people from the control of a bully, and a leper in his final stages of the disease is brought out to meet Damien.
The encounter is a lesson in humility for Christian people who may fear contagion but have the wish to serve those who are desperately ill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfHWO-1s_ho&feature=related
I cannot believe what a bunch of sissified tripe I am reading here! Only a few have come close……You must leave it to a woman…..to offer these great scenes (wink)…. Great scene in “The Longest Day” when the German pill box commander finally sees through the ocean mist in the wee hours of the morning….. thousands of huge ships on their way to shore in Normandy. Another great scene in “A Bridge Too Far” at the end when the British soldiers who have been almost totally wiped out are singing “Abide with me”. This is AFTER Col Frost could no… Read more »
Hello Lydia,
You should have been here earlier.
Here is one from Jaws.
Chief Brody: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
He he. I like that Robert Shaw. He played the Nazi Panzer commander in Battle of the Bulge.
Anyone here ever see Dambusters? Great scene when British bombers are making the run to take our Ruhr valley dams in WW2. That low of flying in mountains was unheard of back then.
great scene, LYDIA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzdleJarI0&feature=related
Thanks for finding that clip! That is a GREAT movie with an unbelievable cast. Thankfully it has subtitles for the German/French parts.
John Wayne in the Searchers often saying, “That’ll be the day.”
Of course, most of yall probably know, but this saying of John Wayne led to the inspiration of the song by Buddy Holly, “That’ll be the day.”
DAvid
Here’s my favorite scene in the Princess Bride. Absolutely tears me up every time I see it.
http://youtu.be/Sbqv3MwwVd8
David
Forgive me for breaking into the fun, but I would ask all of you to get on your knees and pray for Harrison McKinion. He is a ten year old little boy and the son of Steve McKinion who is a colleague of Nathan Finn’s and others such as Alvin Reid. Harrison was diagnosed with Leukemia two weeks ago. Steve tweeted today, “I think my son is dying, Oh God NO!” Nathan has written: “Please pray for Harrison McKinion, 10 year old son of my Southeastern Seminary colleague Steve McKinion. Harrison had a stroke this evening and has five bleeding… Read more »
Thank you Debbie for the call to prayer.
Let’s all pray for this child right now. Pray for him, for his mother and his father.
We will pray for him.
Father, bless the McKinion’s with overflowing grace and comfort. And, Father, will You please heal this little boy. In the name of Jesus we pray…
David
Correction: The exact tweet from Steve is: “I am so afraid my son is dying right now. Dear God, no//”
Thank you guys so much. This is the beauty of being a Christian.
Debbie, I’m calling on some good people to pray for him also. They will pray through the night, taking turns. He won’t be left awithout someone praying for him during the night.
Thank you Christiane. Latest status update from Alvin Reid 50 minutes ago.
“Leaving the hospital. Going to be a long night for the McKinions. James 5:16”
Alan was with the McKinions at the hospital.
Excuse me I mean Alvin. Sorry this is hard.
It is hard, Debbie. I am glad you asked for prayers for the chlld and his family. We will pray for Alvin, and for you, too.
In all things, trust Our Lord.
Now, I love movies, so I have to contribute one of many best lines in a movie. From the greatest classic movie of all time, “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein”. Wilbur”s (Costello) response to Larry Talbot’s(Lon Chaney Jr.) admission to turning into a beast at midnight. “You and 100 other guys”. 🙂
From Seabiscuit:
Tom Smith: You know, you don’t throw a whole life away just ’cause he’s banged up a little.
A-Men BH,
That was a great movie and that was a great line with “Sermon Illustration” written all over it.
I took my girls to see a horse movie that you might like: “Warhorse.”
That is a great movie. It gave me a good opportunity to share some things with my girls on the way home and afterward.