TOP 10: Stanley Kubrick Scenes

10.) The Death of Bryan Patrick Lyndon
Kubrick's 1975 period epic has been called cold, but even an out-of-context viewing of this scene, from late in the film, proves otherwise. Lyndon has just plunged his family deeper into debt to fulfill a promise made to his only son that he could have a horse for his birthday. But the boy disobeys his parents and rides the beast unsupervised. Tragedy follows.

I could only find a French dub of the scene, but I think the images speak for themselves:

9.) Bird Is the Word
The look on this guy's face just after getting his first kill is precisely the look on mine when I watch this scene. Full Metal Jacket's most complex scene occurs later (the beginning of the climax when the team gets pinned down by the sniper), but this one is short, goofy (thanks to the off-kilter music choice), and unsurprisingly, a very impressive piece of staging:

8.) Precious Bodily Fluids
One of several Dr. Strangelove entries on the list. The way Sterling Hayden is framed always impressed me, and the idea to make this entire apocalyptic catastrophe based on one man's impotence is genius. Also noteworthy: President Merkin's delivery of this reason to his team of advisors. God, I love this movie:

7.) "Redrum!"
Because The Shining's success is predicated on slowly building a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere, singling out a scene isn't easy. But just hearing the word (Is it a word?) "Redrum" conjures up the image of little Danny Torrance walking around with a foot-long carving knife and sends chills up and down my spine:

6.) Trench Warfare
Noteworthy not just on technical merit but also because it's probably Kubrick's first great scene:

5.) The Orgy
It's the least titillating sex scene in history, and among the scariest. Something about masks, man. Something about the masks…

Also, no clip for this one, you pervs.


4.) A Very Important Call
"You'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company." = The best single line in all of Dr. Strangelove:

3.) Disconnecting HAL
Oh, HAL. You're just a red dot, and you're pretty damn evil, but your demise is a genuine tragedy:

2.) The War Room
From the big board to the war room fight (which, in case you didn't know, wasn't allowed), more memorable lines are uttered and moments take place in this room than perhaps any other in film history. The phone call from President Merkin to his Russian counterpart, however, is the pièce de résistance:

1.) Beyond the Infinite
It's easily the longest scene on this list, and maybe shouldn't be considered just one scene, but it's a reason (probably the biggest, actually) why 2001 is my favorite film ever (spoiler alert for this weekend's Kubrick master list). From the psychedelic colors that open the film's final chapter to the indescribable ending (below), it doesn't get much better than this: