50 Greatest Movie Scenes Ever
14. Here's Johnny - The Shining
You know you’ve got a real winner on your hands when your movie is quoted endlessly out of context. And that counts doubly when the film is as non-mainstream as a horror movie fever dream made by Stanley Kubrick that was initially denounced by someone as powerful as Stephen King.
The “here’s Johnny” moment at the climax of The Shining is the cherry on the sundae of Jack Nicholson’s performance. For more than an hour, you watch him unravelling, boiled to furnace heat until he loses himself completely in a ballet of terrifying energy.
But it’s not just about Nicholson’s performance. We watch it from the perspective of poor Shelley Duvall (and not just her character because of the context of her performance), who had been tormented by her director to get the most authentic reaction to being terrorised by her on-screen husband.
It’s one of the single most horrifying, gripping sequences in modern film history and the strangest thing is how bloody rewatchable it is.
[SG]
13. Ending - Shawshank Redemption
Of all the movies to really grab tight ahold of your heartstrings and play them beautifully, Shawshank - despite being a prison movie involving gang fights, contraband and daily beatings - ends on one of the most lovely and uplifting notes in cinema history. Coming after main-man Andy Dufresne has broken out the titular compound and revealed his money-building masterplan, we then get a montage of his past efforts, and how they’ve improved the lives of everyone inside the prison.
The main event though, is Morgan Freeman’s Red trying to find Dufresne on a whim and a prayer, tracking down a buried tinderbox that then guides him to Zihuatanejo - a gorgeous, ethereally beautiful beach where as it happens, Andy is fixing a boat.
The movie ends with two people who’ve gone through hell hugging it out; cementing a genuine friendship from 19 years of incarceration. It's so oozing with positivity you can't help but shed a tear, and the final shot perfectly encapsulates their newfound peace, with just a dash of anticipation on what's to come.
[Scott Tailford]