Compiling a list of the 100 Greatest Movie Moments may be the most difficult and divisive feature we've ever tackled here at IGN. Everyone has their personal favorites, with no two the same it would seem. We therefore labored long and hard over the hot 100, casting our net far and wide to craft a list that encompasses the very best that cinema has to offer.

You'll therefore find black-and-white classics rubbing shoulders with modern-day blockbusters, with shocking horror moments wedged between action sequences and song-and-dance numbers.

Nothing was too small or insignificant to make the list - what mattered was that it meant something to movie fans, each moment echoing through the celluloid ages.

At times picking the film was the easy part, with the real trouble coming when we tried to narrow it down to one sequence or scene. Certain moments choose themselves: Marilyn Monroe's dress swelling up in The Seven Year Itch and the Empire State Building attack from the original King Kong are prime examples. But just how do you choose The Godfather's finest hour? Or the best bit of Jaws? Or Casablanca?

We got there in the end however, so sit back, relax, grab a tub of popcorn and a large soda and enjoy what we here at IGN consider to be the definitive Top 100 Greatest Movie Moments of all time.

And of course, beware of spoilers ahead!

Movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Released 2015
100

One of the most appealing things about Disney’s new line of Star Wars sequels was the prospect of seeing old favorites like Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker again. From the moment Episode VII was announced, fans speculated how life treated these icons in the years after Return of the Jedi and how much, if at all, the new films would follow the example of the Expanded Universe.

As it turned out, though, The Force Awakens only offered a brief, tantalizing glimpse of aged Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. The film closed with Rey making a steep climb and presenting a silent Luke with his long-lost lightsaber. It was a very unusual, even somber note for a Star Wars movie to end on. But it was also an ending that started a whole new round of speculation.

This moment has only taken on new layers thanks to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which followed up on Luke and Rey’s first encounter in a most unexpected manner.

Did You Know?
  • This is the first Star Wars movie where Harrison Ford is credited first.
  • Composer John Williams received his 50th Academy Award nomination for this film.
  • The flags at Maz Kanata’s castle feature references to several Star Wars villains, including Boba Fett and Hondo Ohnaka.
Movie The Matrix
Released 1999
99

After years of explosion-heavy special effects, die-hard action fans were getting weary. And while slo-mo was nothing new, the way in which the Wachowski Brothers and choreographer Yuen Wo Ping utilised it for their philosophy-flirting sci-fi sparked an SFX revolution and placed the franchise on the movie map for good.

After a brief lesson in Reality 101, cyber-messiah Neo (Keanu Reeves) becomes aware that the world he inhabits is nothing more than an elaborate computer program - and one that can be exploited. With the rules of physics up for grabs, Neo and his rebellious group ricochet from one amazing action sequence to the next, but it was the culmination of a spectacularly freewheeling lobby attack that helped jaws hit the floor.

Perfectly paced, brilliantly timed and seamlessly executed, the rooftop gunfight blended the very best of Eastern and Western cinema to fan-pleasing effect and created stunt standards (such as the midair freeze and rotating camera) that continue to be aped to this day.

Did You Know?
  • Star Keanu Reeves lost 15 pounds in order to film the scene where Neo is freed from his Matrix pod.
  • Neo hides his illegal computer discs in a copy of Simulacra and Simulation, which was required reading for all actors in the film.
  • Both Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson were considered for the part of Morpheus.
Movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Released 2001
98

While Ian McKellen brought his usual Shakespearean gravitas to the role of Gandalf in the first part of Tolkien's fantastical literary adaptation, it took one grandiose moment to transform him from everyone's friendly neighbourhood wizard to bad-ass destroyer of worlds.

The odd scuffle aside, the travelling band of Hobbits had emerged relatively unscathed from the first leg of their epic mission to Mordor. So by the time they made it to the Bridge of Khazad-dum, the arrival of an ancient skyscraper-sized demon of fire and shadow known as the Balrog was more than a little imposing.

Gandalf defends a crumbling subterranean bridge, (sort of) dying to allow the others to escape, uttering four words with enough conviction, power and majesty to match the moment's breath-taking visuals in a scene as incredible as Tolkien's imagination deserved.

Did You Know?
  • Christopher Lee is the only member of the cast to ever actually have met author J.R.R. Tolkien.
  • The combined filming time for all three Lord of the Rings movies clocked in at 274 days.
  • Viggo Mortensen was cast as Aragorn four days into production, replacing actor Stuart Townsend.
Movie Ghost
Released 1990
97

Who knew throwing a pot could be so sexy and iconic? Frequently voted the most romantic moment of all-time, the pottery wheel scene in Ghost has been parodied so many times that it's easy to forget the power of the original moment itself. The scene effectively conveys the intimacy between Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore), making his murder all the more painful and heartbreaking.

It's now difficult to imagine anyone else in the role of Sam, though apparently everyone from Tom Hanks to Kevin Bacon were considered for the part. But it's the rare chemistry between the impossibly-toned Swayze and the likeable Moore that really sells the scene. However, arguably the most memorable aspect of the moment is the inspired use of Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers. Such was the popularity of this scene, the song reappeared on the Billboard charts and hit #1 in the UK.

Did You Know?
  • Patrick Swayze regularly chewed ice cubes during filming so that he wouldn’t give off any visible breath.
  • Ghost was the highest-grossing movie of 1990, proving that romantic comedies can be big money-makers.
  • Bruce Willis was offered the role of Sam but turned it down, fearing it would be too difficult to play a ghost for an entire movie.
Movie The Shawshank Redemption
Released 1994
96

When the wrongfully-imprisoned Andy Dufresne emerges, sodden with excrement, from Shawshank penitentiary, you can't help but jubilantly share his liberation.

The Shawshank Redemption is a great but long film, and during its 142 minutes, Andy endures a lot - vicious beatings, a brutal rape, the promise of an acquittal being cruelly snatched away from him - so when he finally emerges, showered in rain and illumined by lightning, it's an ecstatic rebirth.

Apparently actor Tim Robbins originally refused to be immersed in the muddy water at the end of the pipe, after a chemist tested the water and described it as 'lethal'. But thankfully for the scene and our list, the actor tightly shut his mouth and dived into the toxic creek.

Did You Know?
  • In the novella, Red is an Irishman, and Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman were considered for the role.
  • The film was deemed a box office failure but eventually became one of the highest grossing home video releases of all time.
  • Tom Hanks was originally offered the role of Andy Dufresne, but had to turn it down to focus on Forrest Gump.
Movie The Dark Knight
Released 2008
95

There were more than a few sceptics when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker in The Dark Knight. The guy from A Knight's Tale? Really? But The Joker's ever-changing anecdote about how he received his facial scars - culminating in the terrifying inquiry 'Why so serious?' - was enough to convince everyone that Ledger had not only successfully brought The Joker to life but in doing so had created the definitive screen version of the character.

It's all in Ledger's Oscar-winning performance: the erratic tenor of his voice - violently fluctuating between a shrill giggle and a psychotic growl - and the disgusting way in which he slobbers onto his rouged lips. In this scene, the unhinged raconteur sticks a knife into the mouth of one of Gotham's meanest gangsters and executes him with glee, asserting his dominance as the preeminent criminal force within Gotham, and more than a formidable opponent for Christian Bale's Batman.

Did You Know?
  • The Dark Knight currently holds the record for the comic book film with the most Oscar nominations, at eight.
  • Thanks to his Scarecrow cameo, Cillian Murphy became the first actor to reprise the role of a Batman villain in a movie.
  • An earlier draft of the script revealed that Rachel is related to future Robin Dick Grayson.
Movie The Birds
Released 1963
94

Melanie (Tippi Hedren) sits down for a smoke on a bench outside a school. Unbeknownst to her, birds start to land on a climbing frame behind her. One bird lands, and begins to hop from bar to bar. Next time we cut back, there's four. Five. Eight. Eventually there is a legion of birds. To create an armada of birds a variety of effects were used. In some scenes Hitchcock used real footage of birds, while in others, he used trained birds and more than a few obedient papier-maché crows.

The scene is made even more unnerving by the absence of music. Hitchcock's long-time collaborator Bernard Herrmann served as 'sound consultant' to the film, but there is no screeching orchestral score to punctuate the reveal. Instead, it's simply accompanied by the sound of school children singing.

Did You Know?
  • Rod Taylor revealed that the seagulls were fed a concoction of wheat and whiskey in order to compel them to stand still in the frame.
  • According to Alfred Hitchcock, roughly 3200 birds were used during shooting.
  • Actress Tippi Hedren appears in The Birds II: Land’s End, but as a different character named Helen.
Movie Field of Dreams
Released 1989
93

If ever a movie moment was crafted to make a man cry, it's the game of catch at the end of Field of Dreams. Based on the novel Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, the film tells the tale of Ray Kinsella, an all-American good guy working an Iowan farm with his young family. One night he hears a voice whispering "If you build it, he will come" and so logically Ray builds a baseball diamond and awaits the arrival of seven of the 1919 Black Sox.

But Field of Dreams isn't a film about disgraced baseball players getting another opportunity to play ball, nor is it one about a madman destroying his farming livelihood for the sake of the voices in his head. Rather, it's a film about a son getting to play catch with his long-dead father one last time, the film's finale turning the toughest lumps of testosterone into whimpering wrecks.

Did You Know?
  • Future movie stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are among the thousands of extras included in the Fenway Park scene.
  • Actor Ray Liotta batted right-handed and threw left-handed in the film, the opposite of the real Shoeless Joe Jackson.
  • The grass sod used for the baseball field died in the summer heat, forcing the crew to regularly paint it green.
Movie Mad Max: Fury Road
Released 2015
92

Fans might not have realized it coming into the movie, but Mad Max: Fury Road is really the story of Imperator Furiosa, not Max Rockatansky. Charlize Theron's rugged heroione is the beating heart and soul of the film, while Max is basically just along for the ride.

With that in mind, the true emotional climax of the film comes as Furiosa, Max and their companions finally arrive at what they think will be an idyllic paradise, untouched by the post-apocalyptic hell that's consumed the rest of the planet. Instead, Furiosa discovers that there is no "Green Place," and that she risked life and (remaining) limb on a fool's errand.

Given everything Furiosa and her comrades had suffered up to that point, the viewer can't help but feel for the character as she falls to her knees and lets out a dramatic scream. Sometimes life just isn't fair, especially in a future wasteland.

Did You Know?
  • Editor Margaret Sixel won the Academy Award for Best Editing despite never having edited an action movie before.
  • Immortan Joe actor Hugh Keays-Byrne previously played a villain in the original Mad Max.
  • Plans for the film first began in 2003, and at the time George Miller intended for Mel Gibson to reprise the role of Max again.
Movie Platoon
Released 1986
91

Inspired by the director's own tour of duty in Vietnam, Oliver Stone's 1986 war classic brings the barbaric nature of the guerilla conflict - and its morality-skewing mental effect on the American soldiers - to life in unsettling, disturbing style, including one death scene that's visually and contextually iconic.

Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) had been one of the few good men in the battalion, defending Taylor (Charlie Sheen) when he's being bulled, and clobbering Sergeant Barnes for his immoral approach to Vietnamese interrogation. As their rivalry escalates, Barnes secretly guns him down in cold blood before callously walking away and declaring him dead.

As the platoon helicopters out, they turn to see a sole, lonely figure running into the clearing, flanked by countless Vietcong soldiers. In a scene that tragically echoes a legendary military photograph, and to the heartbreaking score of Adagio for Strings, Elias falls, forsaken for both an internal and external conflict that's futile at every turn.

Did You Know?
  • The iconic movie poster and final scene featuring Elias is based on an actual wartime photograph taken by Art Greenspon.
  • Oliver Stone wrote the original draft in 1971 with the hope that The Doors frontman Jim Morrison would star.
  • Stone became the first Vietnam veteran to direct a major motion picture about the Vietnam War.
Movie Se7en
Released 1995
90

The closing four minutes of Se7en are an unbearable symphony of suspense. Information is carefully managed. Somerset (Morgan Freeman) opens the blood-damp box, but we don't get to see what it contains. We see only his horrified reaction. The audience learns that it contains the severed head of Tracey (Gwyneth Paltrow) at the same time as her husband, Mills (Brad Pitt).

If that wasn't shocking enough, now comes the dilemma. John Doe (Kevin Spacey) baits Mills, inciting him to take vengeance, to become wrath. But if Mills executes Doe, he unwittingly completes his twisted series of slayings. When Doe reveals to David that she was pregnant, there's no turning back.

Understandably, the studio felt uneasy with the ending, and several rewrites were proposed but never shot. One alternate version had the soon-to-retire Somerset killing Doe, preventing him from winning. Eventually, to placate the studio, Fincher tagged on a forgettable quote from Ernest Hemingway. But it's the revelation of what's in that box that everyone remembers.

Did You Know?
  • Denzel Washington was originally offered the part of Detective Mills, and has admitted he regrets turning it down.
  • Approximately two months of work and $15,000 were devoted to creating authentic, fully realized journals for John Doe’s apartment.
  • The actors playing the SWAT officers weren’t told that Sloth was played by a live actor, thus heightening their scared reactions.