Scenes that make you "Hold Your Breath"
 

The title might seem a little vague, but what it means is what scenes in movies are really intense with drama/action/or whatever that just makes you glued to the screen and "hold your breath" until it's over.

For me one scene that comes to my mind is from the Abyss.

When ED HARRIS has to revive Mastrantonio. It's an intense scene and everytime I watch it, I'm breathless.

Another movie that makes me "hold my breath", and also cringe is from Requiem for a Dream, when Leto is shooting up in the car, his arm is all black and gross.....just thinking about it make me cringe.

Yours?

Literally the whole of Panic Room.

I liked Panic Room.

For me, the ending of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. When Steve Martin asks John Candy why he's still at the train station. I tear up everytime if I don't hold my breath.

The "Straighten out the rug" scene in Top Secret. For some reason everytime this scene is on everyone in the house has to watch it. Me included.

A couple of scenes in Crash did this. Namely the ones where someone is about to get shot.

I know exactlly what you're talking about I was like :eek: But oh so good.

Yeah, they hit you with one scene like that, release the tension and bring your heart rate back up again by following it right up with another scene of that nature.

Erm... certain parts of Predator

King Kong (2005) had more than a few. :yup:

The Piano - when Neill gets jiggy with an implement.

La Pianiste - the ending scene

Two that come to mind.

What if you're just standing next to a piano?
Can you breathe then?

Cary Grant driving the car in North by Northwest.

Jimmy Stewart waiting for the bad guy in Rear Window.

The adrenaline scene in Pulp Fiction.

The bath tub scene in Diabolique

The bar room scene at the end in Unforgiven

any scene when someone goes under water eg What Lies Beneath

Quit it smart arse :p

The scene where missiles are fired at Helen, Violet & Dash's jet in The Incredibles is astoundingly intense.

Requiem for a Dream - Shock treatment

Mulholland Drive - Final Scene

The Abyss - The scene that Usual mentioned, as well as the dark decent scene....

The bit in Cube where the trap is activated by sound and they have to cross it silently.

Ditto on the scenes from The Abyss and Rear Window… and no matter how many times I see it, the orphanage scene in Mighty Joe Young (1949)…

most breath taking scene i ever saw was in "saw", lol. when he goes so insane he starts to cut off his own leg, very graphic and gruesom all contributing to the very genious of the movie. i love saw and cube and all that **** bitch, wrekonize.

The opening scene in "Cliffhanger"

"SAW"--all of it.
"SAW II"--all of it.

The opening of Saving Private Ryan

The scene in Sophies Choice where Sophie has to choose which child to save.

soo many scenes! the shower scenc ein physco(origanal), lol the titanic scene right before that iceburg hits the ship and the lookouts and raying for it to turn, saw the whole movie and se7en the whole movie

i think end scene in thelma and louise where they drive there car into the grand canyon.

The "You're not gonna die" scene in Cliffhanger.

The bear eating the guy in The Edge.

Heath Ledger vs Jason Isaacs in The Patriot.

The velociraptors in the kitchen in Jurassic Park.

Uncas vs Magua in Last of the Mohicans.

Scar betraying Mufasa in The Lion King.

This scene http://sneakpeektv.com/sitebuilderco...ork-orange.jpg :eek:

Behind Enemy Lines and Enemy at the Gates..those chase scenes and sniper scenes respectively makes breathless..

Id have to say when Sonny Corleone was shot to death in his car while on his way to see his brother in law for beating up his sister

find a penny pick it up all day long you have a penny
 

the movie that made me hold my breathe a few times was Hotel Rwanda it's so true when people are being massacred with machetes i still cant watch it and not wince or breath

i agree when i saw that and afterwards i looked at my friend and i said ow

the climax in the descent
alot of mulholland drive
the life of david gale
se7en

"Your wrong. I will Never Join You. I am a Jedi, like my father before me." Return of the Jedi

"Striking one of the King's soldiers is the same as striking the King himself." Holds knife up to Maron's Neck, she takes one last look at the hills, looking for Wallace. Braveheart

The final scene in Chaplin's City Lights

more to come....

Actually that opening scene in "Cliffhanger" when the girl was hanging on to her dear life. Since i'm not a big fan of heights that one definitely made me hold my breath. Hoping she could just keep hangin' on. :eek:

That reminds me...the opening for Ace Ventura:When Nature Calls. lol

When Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan lock eyes in the entrance to the noodle shop during the rain in In the Mood For Love.

Men of Honor when they are actually holding their breath. I tried to do it along with them and failed horribly.

http://www.epilog.de/Film/Mc_Mh/_Bil...A_2000_B01.jpg

I do that. Whenever someone is holding their breath in a film I see if I can match it, and usually fail. Men of Hunour was such an awful premise for a film...

In a criminally underseen horror called Lighthouse, a man is hiding in a bathroom stall as a killer washes his hands. The killer turns to leave, walking down a set of steps. The man hiding in the stall knocks over a can and it begins to slowly roll towards the steps. If the killer reaches the door before the can reaches the steps the man hiding will survive. Incredibly suspenseful.

Same Here....I failed big time in Alien Ressurection

This reminds me, movies aside for a second. Tonight, I believe David Blaine is attempting for a world record of 9 minutes holding his breath in some kind of water bowl. I'm bettin' he does it too. :yup:

Well after finding out about his edited levitation stuff I wouldnt put too much stock into it. Oh I agree he has amazing talent, and in person he is unbeliveable, but he does use props.

Say what? :eek:

Where have you heard about this? What about the people on the street that are there in person? When he does his thing in front of them, he still can only trick them into seeing him rise only so high right. So is it that they make it appear even higher on the t.v.? Is this the edit job you mean, or are the street folks also in on it?

No what happened was he actually does the levitation trick by using a technique called Balducci levitation (click link for more info) which fooled the people on the street, but never the less is a great illusion because I have seen it done before. What happened on the street magic episode was that he did the trick first using this method. When the shooting was over he told the people there that he was going to demonstrate how other magicians did this trick via harnesses and pulleys. He edited the reactions from the first method which happens a lot more quickly than the harness method. In other words, sure it is a great illusion on the street, but on tv where you can pause and look closer it doesnt fly. I got my information from a close friend who practices street magic, and although you may think he is just jealous an dis making up, I assure you he is not. There are also many web sites with some info. I would not believe the sites in and of themselves, but along with my friends testimony I say yes Blaine is good, but he does use props....like the bitten off quarter (if you want to do it just send in $7.95), its a prop. Do not get me wrong I find most of his stuff great, but I do not like being lied too about no props or editing being done, yet it is.

Ok thanks for the explantion 7thson. Honestly I can believe it. Cause I could tell something did seem odd about the camera work being done as I watched it a couple times on the t.v. Just the different shots of the same people during the same trick. The flow seemed unnatural.


Ok and yeah, I always suspected that quater as a prop. That was one trick of his I was never a big fan of his for. Now making the card appear on the other side of the window was a good one. Or having them right down a word and it appears on the car driving by. Never could figure that one out. A couple of his card tricks I could though.


No, neither do I. Actually, I had no clue he was claiming that he wansnt using props.

In What lies beneath, *minor spoiler ahead*...it always bothered me when she was under the water all that time, and when she finally got to get a gasp of breath, it was so tiny and insignificant. Seemed so fake, so unrealistic.


I was gonna ask what movie this was from but it seems I found it from your link of the pic. Clockwork Orange huh. So what exactly is happening there anyways?


Another war film that comes to mind is the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan". Definitely held my breath for that entire sequence of nasty a$$ arm loosing, head exploding, stomach spilling events. :sick:

I performed the levitation act 3 years ago a couple times in my class. They were like Holy crap, then I showed them how I did it.

Funny thing is, those same people thinkn what Blaine did was real.

Where did you learn this from Suspect?

He is having behavior modification :eek:

A friend of mine knows all the tricks of the trade and showed me how to perform it. Most of the tricks, Blaine does himself. Card tricks and what-not.

I watched the last part of the "Drowned alive" show last night and even though he did not make it I was impressed. Endurance stunts to me are not magic though, at least not the ones he has done, it is more of a test of will and whatnot. I do not mean that as an insult, because some of the stuff is obviously tough to acheive. Even though he did not reach his goal certainly holding ones breath for over 7 minutes is not easy, and all this right after doing his week long underwater bit. Maybe if he had tried it without already being so exhausted he would have come closer. Oh well nice try I say.

So how does that trick work when he makes the card appear on the other side of the window. And please dont tell me you've been sworn to silence on this matter. Pleeeeeease dont say it. :(


Yeah I just watched the video online actually. Or the ending anyways, where they pull him up. I believe his doctor says he got liver damage attempting this. But yeah, I really admire his will power to do these stunts. Like in that frozen block for 60+ hours or on top of that pole for 30+ hours balancing himself there.

7 minutes is still amazing! I did actually expect him to make it though, probably just because he's completed so many amazing stunts before :p

Anyway here's two scenes that took my breath away;

• When Kevin Spacey's character gets murdered in American Beauty. Yeah i know by fading into each shot and playing emotional music I was manipulated into holding my breath, but i don't care I love feeling something in a movie.
• The second would have to be during Crash. When the little girl jumps into the father's arms and the gun goes off. My heart was slamming like there was no tomorrow. All the people I was watching it with were awe-struck too. The soft wilting music made it all the more intense. The silent scream of the father pushed me over the edge though. woah that was an intense scene. Great directing too :D

Feel the same way Strummer, I think the first time I watched the movie just about any scene that had any dramatic climax took forever to get through.

Scenes from The Shawshank Redemption linger with me.

The ending to The Usual Suspects.

Any thriller movie like Saw or Hostel doesn't really make me "hold my breath" just look away in disgust.

A movie that makes me hold my breath? Well, the first one that popped into my head was from Lorenzo's Oil, when Nick Nolte has a nervos breakdown sliding down the stairs and screaming tears, I can't breath when he does that.

Yeah that was pretty intense. I was like "oh no he shot her" :eek:
Then i'm like "huh" and then i'm like "ahh ok". :D

Literally speaking, I hold my breath when the characters in the movie are. Say, a drowning scene, or escaping a poisonous gas. I can't help but hold my breath with them!

The duel at the end of Barry Lyndon.

Oh yeah, and most Hitchcock films.

There was that scene in mi3 when his girl gets shot...that scene in National Treasure where he tries to sneak out with the declaration...the end of fight club...

Might wanna spoiler tag that first one....just saying.:)

I always hated heights, especially when somebody is hangin' on to their dear life. Sweaty palms for sure as I watched that scene.

Not saying it is a great movie, but there was a lot of "Hold your breath" scenes in Vertical Limit.

http://citypaper.net/articles/120700...ticallimit.jpg

Yeah that wasnt bad. But your pic of it is 7th. ;D

Dammit I tried. :p

sorry for double post:

Oh yeah I think my pic is so good it will be my new avatar so neener neener escape.....;) :D

In the Abyss when he has to breathe in that "fluid", i hate drowning.

Yeah and the thing is, there really is liquid like that. You enhale it in your lungs and it keeps you alive underwater. Just the natural reaction first of seeminly drowning is the freaky part. Just like in the movie.

Yesterday's Poisedon movie that I saw, it had allot of holding breath underwater. One part near the end was very intense and breathtaking.

What Lies Beneath, the water scene. that was creapy

The Edge

Saw

what about Sliver

Not movies in general Moviefilms, but scenes, what scenes in Saw, what scenes in The Edge, what scenes in Sliver, etc... Share your thoughts.

The scene in "Dark Water" (the Original, didn't see the remake), where the mother and her daughter try to escape from the "dead girl" and stand in the elevator that doesn't close its doors while they are watching the apartment door, just to see that there's the *daughter* coming out and not the dead girl http://ceno.krankikom.de/goth/goth_eek_ani.gif

ceno

M. Knight Shyamalan's films tend to make you hold your breath. Not from action or how will he survive. But from simple suspense.
The ending of the Sixth Sense left me breathless I really didn't see it coming.

I would say Hostel but it didnt live up to its reputation of being extremely gory, in fact, I think that when Private Joker (Full Metal Jacket) came face to face with the sniper was more intense, I was actually holding my breath thinking that he would be shot as she unloaded the Ak-47 clip into the pillar.