SCENES THAT KICK ASS #4
It’s time for a new entry into the pantheon of scenes that KICK ASS. The theory behind this post is this…
Some movies have a scene in them that is so awesome it can make the whole film worth watching. A scene that can make a bad film good and a great film better. A scene so good that it KICKS ASS… hence the title of the post. This week, we are featuring a clip from the movie:
Now, I have to apologize for the quality of this video but this is the only scene I could think of that could follow Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. It’s a widescreen version with some Warner Brothers stamps on it and has a Soulja Boy ad at the end but it’s a necessary evil, I’m afraid. So, that all said, I present you with one of my favorite scenes of all time:
That’s it for now, Smokers, Jokers & Midnight Tokers. Feel free to comment below. I never edit any of the comments. Remember, this was meant to be an interactive site, as much as I love the sound of my own voice.
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Check back Saturday as that is when new posts go up. Have a great week and remember… The Dark Knight is not the film where Martin Lawrence travels back to Mid-evil times!!!
THE LIST 
May 26, 2010 at 5:55 am
This was the one thing I wouldn’t shut up about after I walked out of the theater. Arguably the best villain intro ever.
May 26, 2010 at 6:41 pm
You set the standard, Aiden… it’s all I could think of to top Baldwin!
May 26, 2010 at 5:55 am
It’s the best magic trick I’ve ever seen. 🙂
May 26, 2010 at 6:43 pm
I know a good one where I pull my empty pockets inside out and allow the spectator to kiss a bunny… WAIT! I think it involves a top hat…. actually I don’t know any magic tricks!
May 26, 2010 at 5:55 am
Awesome scene dude, ’tis great when he has all the grenades hooked up to a single string… Ledger for the whole film was fantastic. Watching him lick and slurp around his lips gives me the willies… well, the frights anyway.
May 26, 2010 at 6:44 pm
He does lick his lips an aweful lot… that began to bug me a bit towards the end but I forgive him because I LOVE HIM! 🙂
May 26, 2010 at 7:34 am
Christ…out of the entire bounty that is THE DARK KNIGHT, you want to whittle it down to one scene?
Love this one – a lot – but if you put a gun to my head and made me pick just one moment from this opus, I’d have to go with the interrogation scene, if only for the line:
“Their morals – their code – it’s a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these… these civilized people…they’ll eat each other.”
May 26, 2010 at 6:45 pm
WOW… Really? I thought this was a stand out scene in the (unbelievably awesome) film… however, I believe the interrogation scene has some of the best dialogue by far!
May 28, 2010 at 12:33 pm
I would have to agree with Hatter here. The interrogation room was my favorite part of TDK, though the magic trick was right up there with it.
May 26, 2010 at 8:28 am
This was a great moment both for the character and the film. It always seemed to me that Nolan was riffing on one of the central themes of The Prestige: as with Borden’s (Bale) The Transported Man, there is so little showmanship to this quite precise moment that the audience isn’t quite sure what they have just seen. I saw this twice at the cinema and twice on DVD with people who had not seen it before and on all four occasions there was a silence whilst the moment was processed and then laughter, shock and a ‘did he just…?’. A clever way of telling the audience that they will not be able to keep up with this guy.
May 26, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Nice comparison… The Prestige is liked by all who see it and yet, in my opinion, highly underrated!
May 29, 2010 at 3:48 am
Yep. I think there’s a case to be made that The Prestige is Nolan’s masterpiece. I think it speaks more to his art and his views on what he does than any of the rest of his (quite intimidating) filmography.
May 26, 2010 at 9:28 am
That scene is really cool the first time you see it because it is completely unexpected. By the second time, most of it’s “magic” is gone.
May 26, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Are you a communist? 🙂
May 27, 2010 at 10:49 pm
No… It;s the reality of it l)
May 26, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I quote this more than I should, I love it so.
May 27, 2010 at 6:24 am
I’m with Aiden R. on this — best introduction to a villain (comic book or otherwise) I remember seeing in my life. It gives us insight into his nonsensical character and a preview of things to come, not to mention extremely dark humor.
Kai, you mentioned the lip-licking thing: It bugged me at first, and then I kind of got what he was trying to do. Doesn’t Heath remind you more than a little of a serpent, or some other predator sort of “testing the air” to determine his best strike method? Maybe I read too much into it, but it’s “The Dark Knight.” It’s supposed to be deep. 🙂
May 28, 2010 at 8:04 am
I guess it didn’t bug me, I just noticed he does it a lot more at the end of the film. I like your theory. I went a different way with it. I thought it might be a tick someone who’s mouth had been sliced might develop. During the healing process, you most likely couldn’t use your mouth much, which could lead to dry lips and chapping (if you’ve ever seen someone in a hospital who doesn’t eat or talk for a while this happens a lot)… hence the licking… that’s what I got from it!
Your’s actually makes more sense but, either way, Dude was on it!
May 29, 2010 at 3:52 am
As a piece of trivia, it was actually Heath’s reaction to the makeup used to create the scars, but he liked it and kept it for the character.
I like the notion that he’s actually stretching the skin and the scars and hurting himself every time he licks it – kinda reminding himself of the pain (whether he actually gave the scars to himself or someone else did is a matter for discussion).
May 29, 2010 at 8:35 am
So, I’m kind of right… thanks for that, Darren… I love stuff like that!
June 22, 2010 at 7:23 pm
I know that Nolan wanted a PG-13 rating, but how can you make a pencil disappear without any blood.
June 23, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Yeah… I didn’t even notice that upon first viewing but this film should be far bloodier based on what happens!