- guardian.co.uk,
- Sunday August 22 1999 22:00 BST
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
When Omar Sharif rides in from the desert. We just don't get that in movies any more. It had the luxury of time, the space to make it work.
Apocalypse Now (Francis Coppola, 1979)
When the girls fly in by helicopter to that crazy place on the river, Coppola encapsulated the sheer madness of war - particularly Vietnam.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg,1981)
Harrison Ford comes up against the huge, sabre-swinging bad guy in the market and he just reluctantly pulls out his gun and shoots him. It accepted that film audiences were more sophisticated.
Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994)
Robert Downey Junior's performance when he realises he's not complicit with Mickey and Mallory, but that he is about to become another of their victims. He's a phenomenal actor. By doing so little he actually does a lot.
Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
The opening 15 minutes are just an absolutely seminal piece of film-making and cinematography. You are so close and immersed in the whole scene, literally dodging bullets with the soldiers.
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