These are ten of the coolest scenes of violence in movies. This is obviously a very subjective list, but you are all welcome to make your own contributions in the comments (be sure to include youtube links). From time to time I will do another list of ten great scenes covering a variety of topics. I have not included scenes that have been recently included in other lists. WARNING: Spoilers and graphic violence.

10. Gladiator In the Ring

Maximus is a powerful Roman general, loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Before his death, the Emperor chooses Maximus to be his heir over his own son, Commodus, and a power struggle leaves Maximus and his family condemned to death. The powerful general is unable to save his family, and his loss of will allows him to get captured and put into the Gladiator games until he dies. The only desire that fuels him now is the chance to rise to the top so that he will be able to look into the eyes of the man who will feel his revenge. In this scene, Maximus takes on centurions and man-eating tigers.

9. The Departed The Elevator Scene

Two just-graduated officers from Massachusetts State Police Academy follow opposite sides of the law: William Costigan is assigned to work undercover with the Irish mobster Frank Costello to get evidences to arrest him. His true identity is only known by his superiors Dignam and Oliver Queenan. The protégée of Costello, Colin Sullivan, is promoted in the Massachusetts State Police and is the informer of Costello. Each police officer gives his best effort trying to disclose the identity of the other “rat”. In this scene, the two “rats” share an elevator ride you will never forget.

8. Pulp Fiction Poor Marvin

Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are two hitmen who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace. Wallace has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia out a few days later when Wallace himself will be out of town. Butch Coolidge is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight. The lives of these seemingly unrelated people are woven together comprising of a series of funny, bizarre and uncalled-for incidents. In this scene, Jules and Vincent are taking Marvin back to see the boss. It’s brief – but cool.

7. Fight Club Parking Garage

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground “fight clubs” forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion. Here we see our two main characters duking it out in a parking garage.

6. Natural Born Killers Mallory Dances

The misadventures of Mickey and Mallory: outcasts, lovers, and serial killers. They travel across Route 666 conducting psychadelic mass-slaughters not for money, not for revenge, just for kicks. Glorified by the media, the pair become legendary folk heroes; their story told by the single person they leave alive at the scene of each of their slaughters. Here we see Mallory dancing to a jukebox when a guy decides to join her… big mistake.

Just paying the bills...



5. American Psycho Huey Lewis

Patrick Bateman is handsome, well educated and intelligent. He is twenty-seven and living his own American dream. He works by day on Wall Street, earning a fortune to complement the one he was born with. At night he descends into madness, as he experiments with fear and violence. In this scene, Patrick explains the nuances of Huey Lewis to Paul Allen. We also get to hear Christian Bale doing a great American accent too (he is Welsh).

4. Kill Bill The Bride versus the Crazy 88

“The Bride” was once part of a group of world class female assassins, until the group leader, “Bill” and the other assassins turn against her. Four years later “The Bride” awakens from the coma the assassins left her in and heads out to seek bloody revenge. Unlike conventional movies, Kill Bill is told in chapter format making the narrative flow more like a book than a film. In this scene, The Bride takes on the gang of the Crazy 88 in spectacular fashion.

3. Alien The famous one

When commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, heading back to Earth, intercepts an SoS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship’s computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not know the danger they are in until it is too late. This is probably the most famous scene from Alien – it needs no further introduction.

2. Clockwork Orange Billy’s Gang

In a futuristic Britain, a gang of teenagers go on the rampage every night, beating and raping helpless victims. After one of the boys quells an uprising in the gang, they knock him out and leave him for the police to find. He agrees to try “aversion therapy” to shorten his jail sentence. When he is eventually let out, he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members are still after him. In this scene, Alex and his droogs meet up with Billy’s gang.

1. Psycho Shower Scene

Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam’s California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother. This is one of the most famous scenes from any horror movie in history.

Sources: IMDB

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