Movie Climaxes, 2nd Edition

Heart-stopping climaxes are a freak occurrence in today's movies. So many of them have become generic and lack a sense of specificity. When and where this climax should occur is sometimes puzzling as well. For a film like "Cliffhanger" (1995: Carolco Pictures Inc., Cliffhanger Productions, Le Studio Canal+, Pioneer, and RCS Video; directed by Renny Harli), it's never too early to voluminously let go of it all. For other films like the recently released "Crash" (2004: Bull's Eye Entertainment, Paul Haggis Productions, Stratus Film Co., DEJ Productions, ApolloProScreen GmbH Co. Filmproduktion KG, Blackfriars Bridge, Bob Yari Productions, Harris Company, Mambo Inc.; directed by Paul Haggis), resting, at any point, would be as unusual as snow falling in the middle of Los Angeles. For the law of averages, climaxes commonly come at the film's conclusion. These following 10 films deliver that overwhelming pleasure in this time of expectation.

Arlington Road (1999: Arlington Road Productions Corporation, Gorai/Samuelson, Lakeshore Entertainment, Screen Gems Inc.; written by Ehren Kruger).

Braveheart (1995: 20th Century Fox, B.H Finance C.V, Icon Entertainment International, Paramount Pictures, The Ladd Company; written by Randall Wallace).

Carlitos Way (1993: Epic Productions, Universal Pictures; adapted for the screen by David Koepp from a novel by Edwin Torres).

The Crying Game (1992: British Screen Productions, Channel Four Films, Eurotrustees, Nippon Film Development and Finance Inc.; written by Neil Jordan).

La Bamba (1987: Columbia Pictures Corporation, New Visions Pictures; written by Luis Valdez).

The Life of David Gale (2003: Universal Pictures, Intermedia Films, Dirty Hands Productions, Mikona Productions GmbH & Co. KG, Saturn Films; written by Charles Randolph).

Seven (1995: New Line Cinema; written by Andrew Kevin Walker).

The Shape of Things (2003: Mepris Films, Pretty Pictures, Studio Canal, USA Films, Working Title Films; written by Neil Labute).