1. Dredd - The Balcony
Despite the films poor box office return I guarantee it has provided a scene so memorable and iconic that it will become movie legend alongside the bigger boat of Jaws and the Zeds dead of Pulp Fiction. The Peach Trees tower block has been locked down by criminal boss, Mama, because Judge Dredd has captured one of her gang members and if he cracks under interrogation then her reign will be over. So with the block in lockdown and hundreds of armed gang members, Dredd is in the sh*t. Or so Mama thought. In a totally mental scene, her lackeys pull up Gatlin guns, aim across the open court, and blast the hell out of the block where Dredd is hiding. Several moments and massacred innocents later, with the block in ruins and billowing smoke filling the building, she sends in her right hand man, Caleb, along with more goons, to check Dredds dead. We see what she sees - nothing but acrid smoke. We hear what she hear - gunshots. And then, through the smoke we see Caleb screaming, wide-eyed in terror, pushed forward by Dredd. Without hesitation, Dredd hurls him over the balcony to the floor several hundred metres below. When Mama finally manages to pick her jaw off the floor, we see the most kickass sight: Dredd disappearing back into the smoke. And that is when she realises: hes not locked in with them, theyre locked in with
him! Like I said, it encapsulates all the sensations of the previous 9 scenes: wonderment, disbelief, amazement, horror, joy and spine tingles as Dredd - without uttering a single word - provides the most startling badass image and characterisation ever committed to celluloid. Upon watching it, I knew Id seen something very special. I knew Id remember where I was the day I saw it. And you will too.