15 Films That Only Needed One Scene To Become Legendary

The Movie: This classic take on the reckless cop genre features a driven member of the force inspired by a real-life person: Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle. Gene Hackman's performance as a bad cop driven to catch a bad guy turns the film into an enthralling battle of egos that abandons all traditional measures of morality.

The Legendary Scene: Regularly considered the best chase scene committed to celluloid, a 1971 Pontiac LeMans races through the streets of New York, frantically chasing an elevated train. When it’s said and done, the scene is so much more than just a car chase, as it perfectly represents Doyle’s obsessive dedication to his job.

The sequence is entertaining and engaging, but above all there is tension and suspense beyond belief. This is heightened even more so when it’s revealed that many of the stunts in the sequence were real and not set up (such as when Doyle narrowly misses hitting a woman and her baby pram).