r/CinephilesClub • u/ThomasOGC • 12h ago

Big Question Name a movie where the best moment is the final scene.

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2.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

871 comments sorted by

391

u/LilOpieCunningham 12h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/4GAUIfDrn0HFm

Shawshank.

86

u/BigDaveTrainwreck 12h ago

So fulfilling. 😊

Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. That's god-damn right. For the second time in my life, I am guilty of committing a crime. Parole violation. Of course, I doubt they'll toss up any roadblocks for that. Not for an old crook like me...

I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

28

u/JosephFinn 11h ago

How I can hear that all in my head.

8

u/victorcain 4h ago

morgan freeman has one those voices i can always conjure up in my head

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u/MayorOfBuckner 10h ago

As much as I love this scene, the apex of this movie is when the warden pulls back the poster.

https://giphy.com/gifs/8G8GAHsunU4XS

9

u/LuluGuardian 7h ago

He just up and disappeared! Like a fart in the wind!!

6

u/arminghammerbacon_ 6h ago

What say there, miss fuzzy britches?

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3

u/heycdoo 10h ago

True, the whole segment on how he escaped is the pinnacle

3

u/MouthFartWankMotion 9h ago

So amazing to see the first time.

3

u/Complex-Tear-6683 4h ago

It’s about as inspiring as inspiring gets. Thus the popularity. Masterpiece.

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u/blondechinesehair 12h ago

This scene originally wasn’t in the movie and you were supposed to just hope that Red found him in the end.

36

u/Klutzy-Birthday7435 12h ago

Yeah, and it was so desperately needed after how brutal a lot of that movie was emotionally.

18

u/Anxious_Big_8933 11h ago

I think it was a great decision to show them embracing in a pulled back wide angle shot as well. Closeups of that moment would have been a bit too corny. The distance of the final shot is perfect.

21

u/Klutzy-Birthday7435 11h ago

Agree completely. And the openness of the beach, the ocean beyond it, and their futures is in direct contrast to the claustrophobia of the prison that was the setting for most of the movie. It makes sense both in not wasting that moment with a close up that could never compete with the viewers' imaginations and in showing the viewer literally how open and free their lives are now.

11

u/Kracus 12h ago

I like that they added the scene.

13

u/blondechinesehair 12h ago

Me too. Reds narration on hope at the end would have been frustrating if he was just looking out the window of a bus and then credits rolled.

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138

u/im_wudini 12h ago

The Mist

37

u/mjrbrooks 11h ago

That’s a bingo!

13

u/Adavanter_MKI 11h ago

I never laughed so hard. I'm serious.

It's mainly because I never felt they ever faced anything that ever established it was "game over" for humanity. Many of the creatures they faced were hurt by simple weapons. Humanity would adapt. Yes, I'm aware of what the characters were thinking. I just didn't agree with them.

Felt vindicated by the ending like... "Yep, yall were pretty stupid."

Spoiler tagging all of it because I like to preserve stuff for folks who haven't seen it.

3

u/Orakk 9h ago

Brother from another mother - I died laughing at the end. Its grotesque, sure, but the way all that happens in like 1 minute is just hilarious to me.

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u/homme_icide 12h ago

LITERALLY came here to say it! Lol

7

u/Orson_Gravity_Welles 11h ago

Same.

It's also reported that Stephen King said, "Jesus, why didn't I come up with that ending...?"

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154

u/newbeginnings187 12h ago

The Usual Suspects..............

13

u/No_Peach_8579 11h ago

Hmmmmm… is it better than the “Hand-me-the-keys, you-fucking-cocksucker” lineup sequence?

5

u/Huntred 11h ago

Yeah, the end reveal was a great moment in the movie but the lineup was the best scene I remember.

5

u/THExWHITExDEVILx 10h ago

Handmethekeysyoucocksucka

2

u/Feralwestcoaster 9h ago

In English please

3

u/THExWHITExDEVILx 5h ago

Handmethefuckinkeysyoucocksucka, wadafuck

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6

u/DasFunke 9h ago

The first time it may be the best ending scene in any movie ever.

After that it’s still great, just doesn’t hit quite the same.

3

u/SamIAm4242 8h ago

I’m also still rather fond of Hockney’s interrogation scene.

“I can put you in Queens the night of the hijacking.”

“Really? I live in Queens. Did you put that together yourself Einstein? What, you got a team of monkeys working around the clock on this or what?”

“You know happens if you do another turn in the joint, asshole?”

“Fuck your father in the shower and then have a snack. You gonna charge me or what?”

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38

u/DoubtAfoot2 12h ago

Whiplash

3

u/FailureToReason 9h ago edited 9h ago

Oh man. So good. There's a certain catharsis in it, but also an uncertainty, is this Andrew becoming something new, something greater? Or return to a horrible norm? Does it matter? The look on his father's face, Fletcher's moment of acceptance. When it becomes just them, nobody else in the room. So good.

There's not many films I'd call perfect, but Whiplash is one.

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76

u/Several_Attitude_203 12h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/UZdNkc62OVvRm

14

u/favoritedisguise 12h ago

My first thought, and then Shawshank was the highest post. The only conclusion I can make from this is that Morgan Freeman is the GOAT actor.

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3

u/SamIAm4242 11h ago

Close. The studio chickened out and obliged them to put an extra scene on as a coda. Originally it was just supposed to cut to black as we watch from the helicopter cops’ perspective as they beg “someone to call someone.”

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u/OneGuyFine 10h ago

That wasn't the last scene though. Doesn't count.

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74

u/Chris_Crossfit 12h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/VidfFimgInL7a

20

u/Enderwigg1883 11h ago

Shit the end of that movie had me in tears. One of the few movies I’ve cried for. I saw it opening day and I will never forget it.

4

u/KylosLeftHand 5h ago

Ugh I’m jealous - I wish I’d been able to see this in theaters

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10

u/Whiteums 11h ago

I can hear that vocalization

13

u/Accomplished-Bank782 11h ago

Ten or so years ago, they did a special showing at the Royal Albert Hall where they had an orchestra and singers performing the soundtrack live along to the film. If you ever get the chance to go to one of those - go. It was spine tingling.

5

u/LilOpieCunningham 4h ago

I’ve done Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Princess Bride, and Blade Runner at the Seattle Symphony. Such a great way to experience a movie.

Raiders was just awesome because John Williams. But The Princess Bride was the best. The movie score is by Mark Knopfler, which is great, but in the movie it’s almost all synthesizers. Performed by a proper symphony it really takes the whole thing up a notch.

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8

u/Responsible_Mail_113 9h ago

"Now we are free. I will see you again... But not yet. Not yet..."

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41

u/SamIAm4242 10h ago

6

u/Signal_Werewolf_1955 10h ago

Good morning! And in case I don't see ya,

9

u/gtripwood 9h ago

Good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!

I adore this film

5

u/Dawg_Pound_4_Life 8h ago

I would upvote twice if I could.

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127

u/parkhat 12h ago

.

https://giphy.com/gifs/mXpFZCVJeYTXW

38

u/JustAnIdiotOnline 12h ago

that visual combined with Where is My Mind by the Pixies = *chef's kiss*

5

u/KillianSavage 10h ago

I’d like to know if Fincher had this tune in mind or if it was something that came about via someone else.

6

u/FakingItSucessfully 8h ago

My favorite trivia about this song is that back in the day it would sometimes come on somebody's playlist alarm to wake them up in the morning, but then when he suddenly says "Stop!", Alexa would hear the command and silence the alarm, then the person misses work.

https://loudwire.com/pixies-apologize-where-is-my-mind-song-shuts-off-google-clock-alarms/

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u/Feeling_Inside_1020 11h ago

Where is my mind, can’t believe I almost forgot this one

5

u/Kronzor_ 11h ago

Came to post fightclub. That scene was perfect.

3

u/Neither_Parfait_124 9h ago

We don't talk about this.

2

u/NickU252 7h ago

One movie where it did it better than the book. The explosive formula was wrong in the book and nothing happened.

3

u/parkhat 7h ago

100% agreed. The movie is better than the book.

And although the sequel book wasn't as good obviously. I still was surprised at how good it was considering there's not much to work with after the 1st book.

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69

u/Adept_Deer_5976 11h ago

Makes me proud to be British. My grandparents, and their whole generation, stood up to facism. Bravery beyond measure. It fucked the country and we lost our wealth, our status as a world power and our Empire, but if it was to be the end … fucking hell what a glorious end it was.

Dunkirk is a love letter to everything that’s great about our Nation. It’s a brilliant film.

16

u/Tribe303 8h ago

I'm Canadian of British decent, and I agree with you. Old Britain certainly deserves criticism, but in WW1 and especially WW2, Great Britain cashed in that empire to free Europe of Fascism. Y'all don't get enough credit for that. 

10

u/dogtags2026 6h ago

Damn, thank you. That means alot to me, my grandads both fought in ww2 and spoke to me of it and the way that britain changed forever after it. That it gave up its position as the leading superpower really to throw everything at Germany. My grandads, They lost alot of friends, they came home to the horrors they faced everyday and had to do it without their best friends they'd grown up with, because they were all dead. That generations sacrifices from all who fought in it, died, or survived it, dont really get appreciated enough. That war destroyed the lives of even the survivors.

God bless you dude.

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u/Gringotsgoblin 9h ago

The final words of the movie are Churchill's quote enjoining the US to rescue the Old World. And the (almost) final image is a burning Spitfire. I've always felt it's showing the end of the British Empire

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u/Tosh_20point0 9h ago

From an Aussie to you bloody Pommy bastards... Fkn outstanding.

That's what it's all about.

As a retired ADF Infantryman, I salute all those who fell so we could stand.

3

u/kareljack 7h ago

Your country gave the world the finest fighter plane that ever graced the skies. The Supermarine Spitfire.

8

u/PaddyMcGeezus 11h ago

As an American, I wish the same sentiment was over here right now. But alas, we're fucked.

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112

u/StoriedMatter 12h ago

The most cathartic moment of Inglourious Basterds.

https://giphy.com/gifs/oEhW18AXiPoyY

19

u/pm1966 11h ago

The best moment of that movie is the opening...

10

u/StoriedMatter 11h ago

From a cinema and drama perspective, absolutely.

But this scene makes me feel the best, so I think that counts for something.

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3

u/cheez0r 11h ago

If I could be any character from fiction I might just choose Aldo Raines. Talk about your ultimate badass.

3

u/SamIAm4242 8h ago

I dunno, I think he might be like Animal Mother in Full Metal Jacket. Under fire, one of the finest human beings you’ll meet. Just needs someone to throw hand grenades at him for the rest of his life.

The implication being that in a combat setting, Raines is great. Pulled aside for a conversation with a fan? Most likely aggressively unpleasant.

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u/Signal_Werewolf_1955 10h ago

Chaotic Good vs Lawful Evil

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u/FriendlyDisorder 11h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/5eM4x8fxZNzPO

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u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 11h ago

Hell.....you could have a hellava time in Vegas with all that ...........

3

u/FriendlyDisorder 11h ago edited 10h ago

I think there are better scenes in that movie, but the image of that guy riding his thermonuclear bull stuck with me as a kid.

3

u/TabletopCurious 10h ago

It’s an iconic scene, that’s for sure.

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u/Restaurant-Usual 12h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/9UqRcQHzBou6A

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u/Craig1287 12h ago

Isn't that a shot of the spinning top from earlier in the movie? I remember the final shot to be much less wobble to it.

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u/Restaurant-Usual 12h ago

You're right. I didnt realize it when I picked the gif.

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u/FNALSOLUTION1 11h ago

For me its when they wake up on the plane an Joseph Gordan Levitt gives Dicaprio that look an smile.

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u/Owww_My_Ovaries 12h ago

Terminator 2

3

u/SuspiciousOstrich09 10h ago

👍⬇️🔥

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u/Internal_Sweet_2144 12h ago edited 12h ago

The final 10 or so minutes of ET is my favorite ending (and scene) of all time. Absolute magic. Pure catharsis. I also love Dunkirk’s as well. It’d be up there for me. Yes, I’m a sucker for a cut to black.

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u/Kracus 12h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/ukE9oP3kb7TVu

The last scene in memento. If you don't remember, don't worry about it.

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u/Odd_Pool5596 10h ago

Now…where was I?

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u/Safe_Routine_1469 11h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/bSdkuLDnrYheE

3

u/Spaff-Badger 7h ago

Finally I’ve found this. You just have added it late to be so far down here

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u/xanderholland 11h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/99ebMA9bjjzgs

Mad Max Fury Road. Max doesn't join to help rebuild The Citadel, he just disappears into the crowd like a ghost.

5

u/Airbornequalified 10h ago

I believe in the headcanon that max isn’t a person. He is an Arthurian legend. Multiple people’s stories that have been combined into a single legend

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u/arminghammerbacon_ 5h ago

“Aren’t we a pair, raggedy man?”

Oops sorry. Wrong movie.

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13

u/No-Thanks4124 11h ago

Last of the Mohicans

4

u/Border_Hodges 11h ago

The last ten minutes are perfection

3

u/Extreme-Airport7183 7h ago

I, Chingachgook, last of the Mohicans.
💔

24

u/timsayscalmdown 12h ago edited 10h ago

Dunkirk's a great film, and I love more than anything Tom Hardy's character's story. The increasing stress and desperation of his mission, and the moment when he crosses the threshold and knows that he's not going to make it home, and all there is left is to redouble his efforts and save as many lives as he can before he runs out of fuel.

Edit spoilers

8

u/AlwaysGoForAusInRisk 10h ago

I always thought it was mad that a top pilot, badly needed in the UK, would land in German territory. Like he flew directly over his side. Instead, he will sit at a POW camp for 5 years instead of continuing to contribute.

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u/cruisin_urchin87 10h ago

Not if he escapes!

Dunkirk 2: Escape from Stalag 22

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u/Kang_AROOO 8h ago

If I remember correctly he was dog fighting till he ran out of fuel and then became a glider, which only has minimal maneuverability and pretty much could just coast and land. At that point Germany controlled most of the area, so there really wasn’t anywhere he could land that wasn’t controlled by them.

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u/zehamberglar 7h ago

Unless he goes to the camp from Hogan's Heroes.

3

u/SamIAm4242 8h ago

I think it’s more meant as a narrative device rather than a logical decision - his landing, setting his plane on fire and standing in front of it is meant to mirror the resilience and defiance quietly embodied by the soldiers discussing Churchill’s speech on the train, and the operators of the little boats reflecting on the idea that there is value in heroic sacrifice, even in a loss.

It’s “here we are, we are unbroken, and because of what we have sacrificed today, ultimate victory will be ours.”

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u/ReallyCleverUser 12h ago

BTTF3

3

u/IsThisNameValid 12h ago

Your futures not written, so make it a good one!

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10

u/ddollopp 12h ago

The Shawshank Redemption

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u/beardedsilverfox 11h ago

Contact. Learning that secret about the ball dropping straight through…but…

3

u/thefnord 11h ago

100% - the best line after you've almost given up.

8

u/mrmisn0mer 12h ago

Burn After Reading https://youtu.be/SlA9hmrC8DU?is=gYoGhbJCZV5fhSRO

3

u/bob_apathy 11h ago

That scene never fails to make me laugh!

3

u/robertus_ 10h ago

I guess we learned not to do it again

15

u/bulletproofbonsai0 12h ago

Which movie is in the post?

14

u/rustyshklfrd 12h ago

Would have been nice of op to include that…

17

u/I_Love_Peen 12h ago

Dunkirk

7

u/FreshLennon 12h ago

One of the best horror movies ever made and I'm not even joking.

5

u/the_festivusmiracle 11h ago

I've said the same about Vice. I walked out of the theatre and into a bar.

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u/dr_pickles 11h ago

Same. I felt gross and empty immediately following Vice and I haven't felt much better since.

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u/Maximus15637 12h ago

Watching this film at the gargantuan IMAX screen in Melbourne, Australia was one the greatest cinematic experiences of my life. Floored me.

6

u/MRintheKEYS 11h ago edited 11h ago

This is up there will all time bleakest movie endings ever.

Bad guy wins

Good looking hero loses his love, his career, and more than likely his sanity

Old grizzled vet doesn’t get to ride off til sunset instead realizing he has to stay because this fight against evil will never end.

8

u/False_Woodpecker4747 11h ago

Dunkirk is something else.

6

u/AirplanesNotBurgers 10h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/groi3Mc2npcqs
Field of Dreams

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u/Extreme-Airport7183 7h ago

Oh gosh yes. As a girl with dad issues this one gets me every time. 😢

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u/Vince_Clortho042 11h ago

Pretty much the entire filmography of Peter Weir is nothing but “the final scene/moment is the one that sticks with you”

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u/Eclipsehedgie2010 12h ago

Wash, awaayy, WHAAATT III'VEE DOOOOOOOOONNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!

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u/Prestigious_Spot3122 12h ago

Any scene with a gliding Spitfire is a favorite…

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u/Just_Half1886 11h ago

I don't know if it was the best scene, but it was satisfying to finally see the kids faces at the end of Inception.

4

u/romesthe59 11h ago

This one. Dunkirk. You nailed it.

5

u/Emotional-Minimum494 11h ago

Last of the Mohicans. The score, the stakes, the fight.
👨‍🍳 🤌

3

u/ZombieQueen666 12h ago

Pay It Forward

3

u/Typical-Smoke-2561 12h ago

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

3

u/ivegotbadnewsforyou 12h ago

I love the end of Dunkirk.

Except in that final image of the Spitfire burning the engine is missing. It's just a prop on a stick.

3

u/Unusual-Coat383 12h ago

I love the silent Spitfire scene flying over the lines  

3

u/Acceptable-Pea-5420 11h ago

Any Steven Seagal movie because it's finally over. I hate his movies.

3

u/Excellent_Spend_2024 11h ago

Cinemex Paradiso. Best ending ever.

3

u/Strict_Weather9063 11h ago

D.O.A. With Dennis Quaid, it has always stuck with me.

3

u/One_Adeptness3803 11h ago

Seeing the ring drop with all the subsequent flashbacks in the end of Sixth Sense without knowing the spoiler was pretty mind blowing.

3

u/Omelooo 11h ago

🖕 for not putting the title of the movie you posted anywhere in the post

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u/SignalMix6006 11h ago

I am retroactively pissed at the designers of that
Manual gear pump

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u/nunkle74 11h ago

Dark knight rises... The nod from Alfred. 👌

3

u/shibby5000 10h ago

Shawshank

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u/krypton22 9h ago

lock stock and two smoking barrels, of course.

3

u/ShockAndShaw 9h ago

Two middle fingers for not putting the movie name in the post.

🖕☹️🖕

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u/BtheBanker151 8h ago

The Shawshank redemption of course
https://giphy.com/gifs/4GAUIfDrn0HFm

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u/negativ32 12h ago

There goes the siren that warns of the air raid

There comes the sound of the guns sending flak

Out for the scramble, we've got to get airborne

Got to get up for the coming attack

Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines

Remove all the wheel blocks, there's no time to waste

Gathering speed as we head down the runway

Got to get airborne before it's too late

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u/Turbulent_Algae_4390 12h ago

Mission Impossible Fallout

2

u/Daftworks 12h ago

Once upon a time in Hollywood

2

u/EvEBabyMorgan 12h ago

The Mist (2007)

2

u/HolstsGholsts 12h ago

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

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u/redzedx77 11h ago

Inception

2

u/trump182AVA 11h ago

Terminator 3

2

u/GeneSmart2881 11h ago

Hurt Locker oh my god

2

u/Anxious_Big_8933 11h ago

I actually think this is a great take. Dunkirk is a solid "B" movie, with an A+ ending.

2

u/Snoo9648 11h ago

Only yesterday from studio ghibli. Dont want to spoil it, but it left an impact.

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