1:The fatal car journey from Rififi

Just when you thought it wasn’t possible to touch the dialogue free robbery scene Rififi throws up another gem. Desperately trying to make it back to safety with a young boy, our hero drives through the streets of France, which become more abstract as the blood seeps out of him and the boy plays about joyfully in the back seat.

2:Ben sings a song from Blue Velvet

You’ll never watch Quantum Leap in the same way after seeing Dean Stockwell’s fantastic performance in Blue Velvet. Lynch achieves a dream like wonder as we watch Ben mime along in suave elegance to Roy Orbison's In Dreams. Then to end the scene Lynch knocks us all out as he cuts and everybody suddenly disappears leaving us in an empty room, stunned.

3:The climactic ballet scene from The Red Shoes

Powell and Pressburger show their expertise of film fantasy with this scene. They manage to mesmerise with vivid art direction, editing, and the great moment when Moira Shearer jumps into the shoes and they lace themselves up.

4:A laughing Mifune from Yojimbo

One of Kurosawa’s lighter films and one my favourites. In this scene Mifune’s samurai has set up the rival gangs against each other and sits up on a tower looking down at the face off. What results though is not a great battle but instead a strange dance as each gang approaches and then retreats in expectation that the other will attack first. All the while Mifune watches from up on high laughing at their stupidity.

5:The car park scene from The Killing

In one of Kubrick's earlier films Timothy Carey gives an amazing performance as shown in this scene. After initially getting on with the black car park attendant he is forced to fake racism in order to get in position for his sniping duties next to the racetrack. Here Kubrick demonstrates his skill for the strangeness of human interactions.

6:Johnny Boy enters the bar from Mean Streets

A classic Scorsese moment – After entering the bar with two young ladies in tow De Niro walks towards Harvey Keitels Charlie. He approaches in beautiful slow-mo to the pulsating sound of the Rolling Stones Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

7:The beginning of the end from Don’t Look Now

In just a few minutes Nic Roeg perfectly sets up his supernatural thriller. In his typically natural way Roeg cross-cuts between Sutherland and Christie talking and their children playing outside. Here he hints at the horrors to come and creates a stunning match cut with the image of an ink stained slide and the daughter being pulled out of the water.

8:Biking through Neo-Tokyo from Akira

Straight from the opening in a seedy bar you can see Akira is a cut above most anime but it’s not until the young gang saddle up on there futuristic bikes and speed through the city that you get your mind blown. The detail of the visuals combined with the stunning score will stay with you.

9:The walk from Point Blank

A film that perfectly reflects the strength and focus of Lee Marvin’s character Walker. In this scene we are treated to a sublime build up to his confrontation with Angie Dickinson. As we see Marvin walking in his sharp grey suit and Dickinson in her home Boorman racks up the tension with the cold, hard, sound of Walkers footsteps.

10:The morning after the night before from Blue Collar

One of the great film debuts Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar is an underrated and under seen film and this is one of the many special scenes. After a night partying Harvey Kietel, Richard Pryor, and Yaphet Kotto sit slouched side-by-side and perfectly lay out the vicious circle they face as low paid car workers in Detroit. There is no eye-to-eye fake drama here, just utterly believable characters grippingly portrayed.

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