I love movies. There’s a power in being shown something I’ve never seen before. In my life, I’ve had many times when I’ve been able to say, “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” However, I worry that that’s becoming an extremely rare thing to say.

When was the last time you said that? I remember exactly when I did. Before I reveal my most-recent occurrence, I’d like to share some of the previous times I’ve had the chance to say those words. I’ll present them in the order in which I saw them, rather than the films’ chronological order.

These are movie scenes that left me so stunned, there were no other words except, “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Luke Counters Laser Blasts in Return of the Jedi

Return of the Jedi was my first foray into epicness. Of course I loved Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, but my earliest memory of being entirely enthralled by a movie was when I saw the third film in the trilogy. That movie had the Emperor, the most evil villain I’d ever seen, who even Darth Vader feared. And it had Speeder Bikes.

That whole chase sequence blew my mind, but the ending is what really made me want to stand up and cheer. As soon as Luke turned on his lightsaber, I knew I was about to see something special. And it didn’t disappoint. Modern audiences might think that blocking laser blasts is nothing out of the ordinary, but that was the first time I’d seen such a thing in a Star Wars movie. And then when Luke cut off the front end of the Stormtrooper’s Speeder Bike, making him go out of control and explode, I was ecstatic.

The Lightcycle Scene in Tron

I could put many scenes from Tron here, but I must say that the lightcycle scene left me breathless the first time I saw it. It’s a standout showstopper in a film packed with visual spectacle.

Superman Lifts the San Andreas Fault in Superman: The Movie

Superman: The Movie is one of my all-time favorite films. It has many scenes that pack an emotional punch, but the one that made me watch in utter astonishment comes when Superman picks up the Earth’s crust and restores the San Andreas Fault to its proper place. I had never seen anything like that before, and I’m still impressed by how good it looks.

The Piano Scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit

I didn’t appreciate the legal tightrope the makers of Who Framed Roger Rabbit walked to create that film. All my child mind understood was that my two favorite duck characters were actually sharing the screen for once. The piano duel between Donald Duck and Daffy Duck is truly stunning.

The Truck Chase in Licence to Kill

James Bond movies have impressed me for decades. The stunts are always incredible. The truck chase at the climax of Licence to Kill somehow manages to edge out every other action sequence in the series by feeling so dangerous and awesome. I’ve never seen anything else like this. The tank chase in Goldeneye comes close, but this remains my favorite.

The Train Crash in The Fugitive

The Fugitive was the first PG-13 film I was allowed to see by my parents. The ones I watched before it were unauthorized and thus don’t count. Anyway, I knew I was watching something special as soon as a train crashed into a prison bus. Everything about that scene had me spellbound, especially since it wasn’t a miniature or CGI. The filmmakers did that for real.

The Prison-Bars Scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is as close to a perfect movie as it gets. And a big part of that is the groundbreaking special effects that brought the T-1000 to life. The motorcycle chase, elevator scene, and fistfight with the T-800 in the steelworks are standouts. But the moment that really stands out to me is when the T-1000 walks right through prison bars. That shows how unstoppable he is in a way I had never seen before. It’s both beautiful and frightening at the same time.

The Alien Attack in Independence Day

Seeing the destruction of New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. was a game-changer in Independence Day. That movie did something beyond belief in 1996. The buildup to that scene is incredible, and the payoff is well worth the wait. No other movie has managed to portray planet-wide destruction on such a visceral level.

The Ending of The Sixth Sense

Twist endings are nothing new. The Twilight Zone mastered them in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But The Sixth Sense delighted me by giving me something wholly unexpected at its conclusion. Whenever I think of this movie, I can’t help celebrating how surprising it managed to be. What a clever twist.

The Lobby Shootout in The Matrix

Pretty much everything in The Matrix is mind-blowing, so it’s hard to narrow it down to just one scene. But if push came to shove, I’d have to go with the lobby shootout. Watching Neo and Trinity do cartwheels around enemies, kick guns out of soldiers’ hands, and shoot a seemingly endless stream of bullets is a wonder to behold.

The Mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I remember sitting in the theater watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring unfold before me. When the film reached the Mines of Moria, I almost said out loud, “This feels so familiar. I know this.” Even though I hadn’t read the book at that point in my life, everything about that scene felt like a distant memory. I can’t quite explain it, but I feel like that scene tapped into some forgotten part of my mind, and it left me stunned.

The Train Scene in Spider-Man 2

I don’t think that any Spider-Man movie will ever be able to top the train scene in Spider-Man 2. Up to that point in the film, Peter Parker has suffered so many injustices and failures. Which makes it unbelievably satisfying when he successfully saves the train and gets saved by the passengers in return. I knew I was seeing the pinnacle of what comic-book movies could achieve at that moment.

The Bat Pod in The Dark Knight

Leave it to Christopher Nolan to prove me wrong. Another comic-book movie came along a few years later and blew my expectations out of the water. I had seen ads for The Dark Knight, so I knew that Batman would ride some kind of motorcycle in the film. However, I was unsure how it would happen. When the Bat Pod showed up about halfway through the film, it felt both totally natural and unexpected in the best way. And then when Batman uses it to perform a crazy cool maneuver to instantly turn around against a building, I was absolutely floored. So incredible.

The Most-Recent Time

We’ve gone through quite a few moments that were the coolest things I’ve ever seen. And now I’d like to present the most-recent time I’ve had an opportunity to say that.

Vision Wields Thor’s Hammer in Avengers: Age of Ultron

When Vision picked up Thor’s hammer in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was more than just a cool moment. It was mind-boggling. The first Thor movie had really hammered home the fact that Mjölnir is hard to pick up. Someone has to be of noble character to wield such a weapon. It’s the ultimate test of one’s mettle. Earlier in Age of Ultron, none of the other heroes had been able to pick it up, though Captain America had come close. Only Thor could hold it, and that meant something.

So when Vision casually lifted Mjölnir and handed it to Thor, my jaw figuratively dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. And yet there it was as clear as day. I instantly loved Vision, and I knew I was witnessing the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

How About You?

That was 2015. It’s now been a decade since then, and it hasn’t been topped. There have been plenty of good movies since then, but none that made me say, “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” How about you? Have you seen something truly stunning for one reason or another? I’d love to hear about it.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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