20 Movies Moments That CAME OUT OF NOWHERE

Generally speaking, a great movie moment will be accompanied by other great movie moments, because it's rare for a filmmaker to strike gold in just a single sequence, all while the rest of the film is just sort of... there. But there are absolutely times where a movie stumbles upon a single nugget of cinematic gold among all the other detritus, and sure as hell wants you to know about it. You're watching WhatCulture, and here at Movie Moments, that came out of nowhere. Murphy gets taken apart. RoboCop 2014 2014's RoboCop remake was largely dismissed by critics and fans of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 masterpiece because it just felt like a toothless rehash that lacked the satirical bite of its predecessor while heavily toning down the violence, as per its restrictive PG-13 rating. And yeah, the fact this happened like twice in the space of a single year, with Verhoeven's Total Recall also getting the remake treatment is beyond me. But there is a single scene that actually builds on the existential terror of the original concept, when the newly rebuilt Alex Murphy, here played by Joel Kinnaman, wakes up in the lab of RoboCop creator Dr. Dennett Norton, played by Gary Oldman. Murphy's robotic chassis is promptly disassembled right in front of him, revealing that his only original body parts which survived the car bombing are his head, lungs, heart and hand. As you can probably understand, Murphy is incredibly disturbed by this revelation, and to make it even more unsettling for the audience to sit through, his organs are on full display throughout. Between all of this and Murphy's request for euthanasia being swiftly denied by Norton, the scene hammers home the viscerally The original film is a masterpiece, and 2014 just isn't, but it's a good scene. Karen opens the Joni Mitchell CD, Love Actually. Generally speaking, whatever adversity the characters in a Christmas movie go through, there's usually a heartwarming and uplifting ending. It is Christmas, after all. However, there are exceptions to the rule. The majority of Love Actually's intertwining stories have this kind of happy conclusion. But not all of them. Chiwetel Ejiofor's Peter has his wife and best friend fall in love behind his back, While Emma Thompson's Karen finds out that her husband, played by Alan Alan Rickman has been cheating on her. It is the latter that is the worst of these. As the movie shows the exact moment, she finds out the truth. Earlier, when Karen finds the expensive gold necklace Harry bought in his pocket, she naturally believes it's her Christmas present. When the big day comes and she opens her gift though, he has given her a Joni Mitchell CD. The incredibly expensive necklace obviously went to somebody else. As heartbreaking as that moment It's arguably outdone when Karen confronts her husband. The eel scene. A Cure for Wellness. Whenever a film is branded as a psychological horror, it tends to put an audience on their guard for a disturbing experience. A Cure for Wellness that and a little more to boot. The main character, Lockhart, is a young executive who is sent to a wellness center in the Swiss Alps to retrieve his company's CEO. There, he discovers that the center isn't quite what it seems and becomes entangled in the unpleasant machinations of Dr. Heinrich Vollmer. Although the movie's tone is suitably creepy throughout, it takes a sharp veer into disturbing territory where Lockhart discovers the true nature of the center, medical experiments regarding eels that live in the local aquifer. Jason Isaacs delivers a brilliant monologue as he straps Lockhart to a device which enables him to pump eels directly into the young man's body, an act which produces a life-giving essence that he uses to maintain an unnaturally long lifespan, and it's enough to make almost anyone recoil in horror. The split screen tracking shot. The Green Hornet. Remember when Hollywood tried to make the Green Hornet a thing again, but with Seth Rogen in the lead? I do, and yeah, let's just say that attempts were made. Despite the occasional highlight performance-wise, the film came and went in a flash and was swiftly forgotten, largely because it watered down the personality of the source material into a generically glossy early 2010s action film, which means lots of irreverent comedy and kind of Kick-ass adjacent malarkey. There is one scene, though, which is anything but generically glossy. And that's a mesmerising mid-film sequence where villain Benjamin Chudnovsky, a wasted Christoph Waltz, Instructs his network of goons to hunt down the Green Hornet. The scene begins as a tracking shot following one henchman talking to several associates, but as they walk their separate ways, the screen suddenly starts dividing into boxes as it continues tracking each character, and splits into further boxes as more and more goons are introduced. The seamlessness with which these tracking shots are split apart is absolutely mind-boggling from a technical perspective, And so it's little surprise that it proved quite the challenge for the If you somehow managed to remember literally anything else about the Green Hornet, well, give yourself and your tack-sharp memory a firm pat on the back. As something of a stark contrast to Love Actually, Would You Rather is a grim movie from start to finish. Shepard Lambric, a man with too much money and absolutely no regard for the lives of others, brings eight strangers to his house for a demented game of Would You Rather. Each player naturally had their own reasons for playing, even after the truly horrific nature of the game was established. One of the opening tasks, for example, saw a recovering alcoholic drink a bottle of scotch for $50,000. Such was the kind of money at stake. Brittany Snow's Iris played the game to earn money for her brother, Rally. More specifically, she played to earn money to cover his leukaemia treatment, and if she won, Lambric promised to use his influence to find a bone marrow donor. In spite of having to eat meat as a vegetarian, being submerged underwater for two minutes while the players around her died, Iris persevered with her brother in mind and ultimately won the game. Hooray! After shooting Lucas dead, she was the only survivor. However, when Iris got home at the The weight of her brother's condition, and the feeling of being a burden had gotten the better of him. He had committed suicide. Not only had Iris lost her brother, she had gone through an excruciatingly painful experience in which she had to kill people, and was essentially tortured all for nothing. Yikes. Giving birth, Bird Box. Bird Box is a brilliantly disturbing movie on its premise alone, where the world is overrun by unseen entities that cause anyone who looks at them to commit intensely violent acts towards themselves and others. From the opening scene, we see Mallory with two young children attempting to survive the apocalypse while navigating the outside world blindfolded. Most of the story is explained through flashbacks, and we soon learn that the children were born after the entities appeared, as the following scene depicts a pregnant Mallory being checked over by a doctor shortly before the entities appear. Mallory soon befriends a group of other survivors, and together they remain safe in a large house. She meets another pregnant woman, Olympia, and the two soon go into labor together. Upon hearing the cries of the two newborn children, one of the newer additions to their group reveals himself to be, well, completely insane and exposes the occupants of the house to the entity. For a sickening moment, it seems as though he will succeed in killing the infants. And it's only then that we realize just how abruptly this situation has developed and how upsetting it truly is. That line, you know the one. Spy Kids 2, The Island of Lost Dreams. Love it or hate it, and honestly I think you may need to question your life choices if you have the energy to hate Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2, The Island of Lost Dreams is hardly a movie anyone expects to get deep, even with that banger title. It is a Robert Rodriguez joint after all, and we love the guy, but he mainly just focuses on doing fun stuff than anything particularly thought-provoking. And yet, the spy comedy sequel comes swinging wildly out of left field with a brilliant cameo from Steve Buscemi as mad scientist Romero, who lets out a real noodle baker of a one-liner so poetic you'd probably assume it was paraphrasing one of history's great philosophers. Romero asks the kids, quote, do you think God stays in heaven because he too lives in fear of what he's created Here on earth, oh. It's just beautiful. A bafflingly thought-provoking line for a family-friendly action comedy, let alone Spy Kids of all things. Enough that viewers might spend the next few minutes of the movie thinking about it than the actual plot itself. Which, um, I can't remember, really, there's monsters? And there's evil Spy Kids? Who aren't evil, but they're kind of a rival? Also, hilariously, the quote often gets passed around online without any attribution, only for folks to be left completely shocked when they find out where it really came from. Cinema. Ray's death, the princess and the frog. The Princess and the Frog is one of the finest movies in Disney Animation's long history, with the music, the setting, and the characters all being outstanding, the latter even down to the tiniest Firefly. From the moment he enters the film, Ray is an utter joy. Ray's a welcoming, happy bug who just has a knack for putting smiles on faces. Even when Anika Noni Rose's Tiana snaps at him and tells him his beloved Evangeline is a star a million miles away, and not a Firefly for him to fall in love with, he forgives her instantly despite being hurt. It's easy to see then why his death was so damn upsetting. Firstly, Ray didn't deserve to die. He just wanted Tiana and Bruno Campos' Naveen to be happy together, even though he'd only known them for a short time, and trying to help them got him killed. Secondly, this is a Disney film, the good guys aren't supposed to die. It's impossible not to well up when Ray finally succumbs to injury thanks to Keith David's Dr. Facilier, but when But when he is reincarnated as a star and gets to spend eternity next to his beloved Evangeline, there's no stopping those tears, baby! What do you think's the saddest animation moment of all time? You let me know in the comment section down below. Baby in the Bathroom – Kingsman: The Secret Service Kingsman is a recent example of how action and comedy can go so perfectly hand in hand, and while it's a remarkably entertaining watch, no one was quite expecting for it to be as disturbing as it was. There are a number of moments that could have been the focus for this entry, such as the scene where Gazelle slices Lancelot in half. or the church massacre are particularly viable candidates, but possibly the most disturbing moment comes towards the film's climax, where Valentine's plan to turn the human race against one another begins to come to fruition. Realising the danger, Eggsy calls his mum to instruct her to lock her infant daughter in the bathroom and throw away the key. Confused, she does as he asks, and then the signal is triggered, which sends the entire human race into a violent rage. While Eggsy fights to save the world, we watch helplessly as his mother picks up a cleaver and starts to hack away Mickey Rourke's monologue, The Expendables When action hero team-up movie The Expendables was first announced, audiences quite understandably assumed it would be a gleefully silly, action-packed B-movie with virtually zero desire to be taken seriously. And while it is for the most part a watchable throwback romp that trains its focus firmly on the gory action, there is one scene that just It just kind of comes out of nowhere and sticks out like a very sore but still... mostly appreciated thumb at the end of the day. Midway through the movie, Expendables leader Barney Ross meets up with his good bud Tool to discuss an old mission they both undertook in Bosnia. Tool tells an absolutely haunting story where, during a massacre, he saw a woman on a bridge ...and knew she was about to jump, but did nothing to help her. Tool is clearly racked with guilt about this as he spills his guts to Barney. And Rourke, who was fresh off an Oscar nomination for The Wrestler, commits to the scene like he's gunning for another nod from the Academy. It's... Genuinely, really quite brilliant. It's an absolute masterclass from Rourke and the only scene in the movie with any dramatic meat on it whatsoever, enough that even predominantly negative reviews of The Expendables single it out as a clear highlight. To be clear, it does not fit the tone of the rest of the movie at all, but as a self-contained monologue about guilt and inaction, it's a home run. Shaun and Philip's Heart to Heart, Shaun of the Dead. Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy made up of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End earned its popularity for its comedy and wacky off-the-wall premises such as zombies, murderous cults trying to win a village contest and aliens taking over the world. However, all three movies are peppered with emotional moments too. One of the best being a conversation between Simon Pegg's Shaun and Bill Nighy's Philip Philip in Shaun of the Dead, both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the Throughout the film, Shaun moans about his mum's partner Philip a lot. He's never liked him, and he's constantly telling people that he is not his actual dad. After Philip gets bitten and Sean and co. are heading to the Winchester for safety, to the backdrop of Ed trying his best to hit as many zombies with the car as possible, Philip has a heart-to-heart with his stepson. It's genuinely emotional as he tells Sean that he has always loved him, and only ever wanted what was best for him, which was to grow up strong with someone to look up to. Brings a tear- He quietly passes away as Shaun cries for both Philip and the relationship they could have had, before soon attacking the rest of the people in the car, as the normality of the film's tone is quickly restored. The Boat Ride – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of the most well-loved children movies ever made. Seeing impoverished Charlie Bucket win the opportunity to see the inside of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, generations of us have watched in pure joy and wonder as the eccentric his candy land with its river of chocolate. And then comes the first mishap. Augustus Gloop, the obese German child, falls prey to his gluttony and is carried away by the chocolate river. Wonka takes them on a lovely boat ride along the river and through a tunnel. Then we were transfixed by the surreal acid trip scene that ensued. With Wonka reciting a poem in increasingly hysterical tones, flashes of worms crawling on an apparent corpse and a tarantula Eventually in the background, all set to a dizzying array of flashing lights, this This one totally came out of left field in more ways than one. Well, it's a perfectly watchable and yet entirely forgettable action thriller that's actually rather light on the action for the most part. The bulk of the movie settles for brief bursts of violence while mostly focusing on its rather ho-hum conspiracy thriller plot, but then-director Tom Tykwer serves up an absolute banger of an action set piece at the end of the second act. The scene, a gloriously well-staged and chaotic shootout at New York's Guggenheim Museum, Makes the absolute most. It's such a bombastic and well-crafted sequence that it feels like the climax of the movie, but the story in fact carries on for another half hour or so, ending on a decidedly more More pared down and less memorable note. Considering how frustratingly mannered and middle-of-the-road the rest of the movie is, this insane action sequence feels totally at odds with the whole enterprise. But maybe it's worth checking out for it on its own. The scene is so good, in fact, that it just kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. I can't say I endorse watching the International, but for that one scene, hey. You might find it worth a rental. Bing Bong sacrifices himself inside out. Disney Pixar has, for almost 30 years, perfected a balance between family-friendly storytelling and the kind of emotional moments that could genuinely traumatize you. Neither the death of Arlo's father in The Good Dinosaur, WALL-E finally recognizing Eve, nor the opening minutes of Up would be out of place on this list. However, it's hard to look past one moment in particular from Inside Out. Oh, you know the one. The entire pre- The premise deals with different emotions and how it's okay to feel different things, but who could have seen something quite so soul-destroying coming? As Amy Poehler's Joy and Phyllis Smith's sadness were running around Riley's mind, trying to get back to HQ with her core memories, they ran into Richard Kind's Bing Bong, Riley's imaginary friend from when she was a kid. Of course, Bing Bong loved Riley, and wanted what was best for her, which in one instance in the movie meant his own sacrifice. Bing Bong and Joy were stuck where memories eventually fade, and And their song-powered rocket ship wasn't powerful enough to carry them both to safety. As they began to ascend out of the chasm, unbeknownst to Joy, Bing Bong jumped off to allow her to survive on her own. He knew he would be forgotten, but he made the sacrifice so that Joy could save Riley. Who knew that seeing an imaginary friend fade away into a forgotten memory could be so damn devastating? The Elevator Drive 2011's Drive is an unorthodox movie in many, many ways. For a start, its main character remains completely nameless, instead only referred to as Kid or Driver, even in the credits. Ryan Gosling is excellent in his portrayal of the Driver, suitably enigmatic and oozing charisma as he becomes entangled in a bungled heist and attempts to evade the Mafia. Drive is sleek and cool and for the most part, understated. Well, that is until the elevator scene. On the run from the mobsters who are after the stolen cash that he has found himself in possession of, the driver and his neighbor get inside an elevator only to discover that a hitman has been sent to kill them and is waiting inside. Drawing Irene closer, the driver engages her in a passionate kiss, then quickly disarms the man and stomps him to death. While Drive has already displayed its fair share of violent action, this scene is disturbing in its intimacy, its brutality, and its finality. One minute three people are just sharing an elevator, and the next, one of them is dead, with boot prints on the bloody pulp that was his skull just moments before. Taika Waititi introduced himself to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the universally beloved Thor Ragnarok. And though there were moments of quiet emotion and poignancy, Ragnarok was a comedy movie through and through. With Waititi's return for Thor Love and Thunder, the silliness factor was turned up more than a few notches, unfortunately to the movie's detriment. However, right out of the gate was a moment of pure sadness that brought forth floods of tears before the God of Thunder even showed his face. The main villain of the film was Gore the God Butcher. Played by Christian Bale, called so because he swore to kill every living god. This was because of how he was treated by the gods he found after his daughter had passed away, when Gore prayed for their help but was merely laughed at and mocked. The scene itself was truly heart-wrenching, as Gore and his daughter struggled through the desert with no shelter from the blistering heat of the sun. Unable to continue, the poor girl went to sleep curled up with her father and never woke up. The scene immediately cut to Gore hugging her grave in a moment that No one could have been ready for, even those who knew of the characters' origins from the comics. Farewell to Leslie, Bridge to Terabithia. Another family movie that threw in a scene possibly intended to scar children for life, Bridge to Terabithia is a fantasy drama about two young neighbors and their budding friendship. Both outcasts in their own respects, Jesse and Leslie create their own magical hideaway in the woods, a kingdom named Terabithia. There they spend their time exploring and imagining their adventures, and each of them learns how to deal with the difficulties they face in real life. One day, Jesse gets a phone call from his teacher, who offers him a one-on-one museum trip. Perhaps a little suspect, but... But that's not the disturbing part, and Jesse gladly accepts, despite having plans to play with Leslie. He returns, and is told that Leslie drowned in a creek in the woods. What ensues is an absolutely heartbreaking emotional journey of a young boy as he attempts to deal with the grief of losing his only friend, and his guilt for not having been there. It's hard to watch, and even harder to understand who thought that this would be a good story to tell children. Caretaker's murder, the longest yard. Recent years have seen Adam Sandler show off his acting chops with the likes of Hustle and Uncut Gems, in a way far removed from his typical comedic styling. However, this was something he already did way back in 2005 with The Longest Yard, in which he played Paul Crew, an incarcerated former NFL quarterback forced to put together a team of convicts to play the prison guards in a pre-season warm-up game. It's a fun movie, and Sandler puts in a a strong performance, but undoubtedly the heart and soul of both the film and the team Crew put together was Chris Rock's Caretaker. No one particularly liked poor Paul Crewe, thanks to his history of cheating in the NFL, and so the likability factor came solely down to Caretaker. He was universally loved, which is why his death was such a hard pill to swallow. It was Crew himself who was targeted by an inmate spy of the wardens, but it was Caretaker who wandered into the wrong cell at the wrong time and was killed by a radio rigged with explosives. Not only did his murder come out of nowhere, it couldn't have happened to someone less deserving. The Bug Scene, King Kong The story of King Kong is one that everyone is familiar with, at least the part where the giant ape climbs the Empire State Building and swats around at the aircraft. 2005's King Kong was an excellent retelling of that old classic, with an impressive cast and a well-written story. After reaching Skull Island, the expedition soon encounter the native tribe, who plan on sacrificing leading lady Anne to Kong. Then they encounter several dinosaurs, and finally, after falling into a ravine, a ton of insects. He says, But these aren't just your average mosquitoes, though. These are huge dog-sized grasshopper-type beasts, intent on swarming the humans. While the crew do their best to fight off the horde of giant bugs, colossal leeches appear and begin eating crew members whole, and then, just to top the scene off, an enormous claw appears from a crack in the cliff and snatches a grown man away into the dark. While the Skull Island scenes of King Kong mostly played out like a horror movie, this scene arrived without warning and had our skin crawling before we even knew what was going on It is grim. Dominic's body is found, The Banshees of Inisherin. The Banshees of Inisherin was one of the most well-received movies of 2022, and rightly received four Oscar nominations in the acting categories. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon were all outstanding for Martin McDonagh, but it was Barry Keoghan who gave arguably the best performance of his entire career. Even in a film as bleak as this one, his Dominic was a truly tragic character. He was beaten by his father. He was let down by Padraig, the closest thing he had to a strong male role model, and he was knocked back by Siobhan when he professed his love for her. This scene itself was tough to watch. Though she let him down as gently as she could, Dominic saw his dreams dashed, and this was the last that was seen of him on screen alive. All that was mentioned of him after was in Padraig's letter to his sister, in which he says they found the young man's body in the lake. It is a big ol' gut punch, only made worse by the realisation that Padraig's assumption that he slipped and fell Well, is it as likely as him jumping in the fallout? Jojo Rabbit it as a story about a German woman, Scarlett Johansson's Rosie Betzler, risking her life to give a Jewish girl sanctuary in Nazi Germany, it becomes a lot more serious. There is a good balance between these two tones throughout, but that doesn't stop one of the most harrowing images in recent cinematic memory from coming completely out of the blue, as Jojo is innocently walking through the town square, distracted by a butterfly. He suddenly and without any warning whatsoever comes across his mother hanging, the image Image of her shoes dangling at his head. head height, with her child tying her laces as she had shown him, and grasping at his mother's legs, is seared into the mind of anyone who has seen it. It was some properly devastating stuff this and I am still not over it.