50 Greatest Movie Scenes Ever
38. Twist And Shout - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller (Bueller? Bueller?) is one of the greatest high-school movie characters ever created, thanks to the indelible combination of John Hughes' knack for crafting loveable, authentic teenagers and Matthew Broderick's endless cheeky charm, and while he has a number of memorable moments across his Day Off (the opening monologue runs this close), it's the parade scene where we get the purest expression of Ferris himself, and of this movie.
Jumping on one of the floats to sing and dance along to Danke Shoen and then Twist and Shout, it's a total showstopper of a sequence that gets the entire parade crowd on its feet, and quite possibly will make you do the same.
It sums up its titular character in one scene, from the sheer balls it takes to do it, to the fact he then manages to pull it off, and that he dedicates it to his friend Cameron, because he wants him to have seen something good that day. It's the freedom of ditching school and just being so yourself that we all dream of, but only Ferris had the confidence to actually see through.
[JH]
37. Jessie's Song - Toy Story 2
Toy Story stands as one of the finest trilogies ever made - and certainly the best animated trio - and while the imagination of the first and emotional impact of the ending in the third stand out as a whole, there's no sequence in the series quite like Jesse's song from the middle chapter.
Coming as part of a sun-drenched flashback to Jessie's happier times with her owner Emily, When She Loved Me is a beautifully sad encapsulation of so many of Toy Story's most prevalent themes, and gets right to the heart of what it feels like to be a toy who is then forgotten about and tossed out when the child outgrows them.
Sarah McLachlan gives a vocal performance to move you to tears, and it succeeds not only in fleshing out a key supporting character, but reflecting back upon Woody's own journey and resonating with so many viewers too. It may be about toys, but in this moment it felt very, very real.
[JH]
36. "O Captain, My Captain" - Dead Poets Society
People seem to think that Robin Williams arrived to play the Genie for Disney's Aladdin as a fully formed movie star, but his road to that sort of mega stardom didn't quite go that way. It was only with Good Morning, Vietnam and Dead Poets Society - two serious films that took advantage of his incredible ability to capture pathos - that Williams was really announced as a big screen star.
And for all of the humour and pantomime excess in his Genie, his work on Dead Poets Society, which would later echo once more in his performance in Good Will Hunting, is all about subtly and restraint. He's able to embody that intangible charm that every teacher who had a profound impact on your as a child and never strays into silliness in a story that needed him to be an emotional anchor.
In a tragic echo of real-life, his John Keating is a light in a dark world whose passion and influence on the children in his charge is misinterpreted not as him fostering dreams, but killing duty. It's tragic not just because of the suicide subplot in the film, but because Williams' impact on his fans - and on cinema in general - was similarly profound and seeing his children standing in unison to offer their support of him as he's fired for being a disruptive influence is enough to make your heart bleed for him.
[SG]