A proposed Ben Simmons Ranked the Ensemble category would rank actors in ensemble films; This Is the End is the example, with McBride suggested first, while Primal Fear is considered unsuitable.
There was only one rewatchable scene in the first 45 minutes because of character development; the reply jokes that the movie was 30 minutes too short and Will's morning routine should have run 40 minutes. — Bill Simmons
The spaceship arriving is listed first, with a complaint that people are never scared enough of a giant ship over their city. — Bill Simmons
Goldblum explaining to the president that the aliens are using the satellites to coordinate is listed next. — Bill Simmons
The welcome wagon being demolished follows; a question is raised about how few Black characters are in the movie, and nobody questions the orders they are given. — Bill Simmons
"Times up": everything starts blowing up, yet Vivica Fox's dog Boomer is sure to survive. — Bill Simmons
The aborted Air Force attack: Will Smith is on fire, Harry Connick Jr. dies, the parachute move, and the "Welcome to Earth" punch; whether aliens can be concussed gets the ruling yes, if Will Smith punches you. — Bill Simmons
Every best scene leans toward Will Smith; seen at 15 or 16 it was the coolest thing ever, a fighter pilot talking trash to the aliens with two one-liners. — Shea Serrano
Dragging the alien across the desert is where Will Smith becomes Will Smith, capped by the "what the hell is that smell" rant. — Shea Serrano
Trae Young is the current NBA star who could pull off the sequence; definitely not Ben Simmons. — Bill Simmons
The Area 51 descent into a secret facility, Adam Baldwin, and opening the alien's head with a slightly Total Recall second alien that is not friendly and the bulletproof-glass moment are listed. — Bill Simmons
The speech is a vote for most rewatchable, quoted through "We will not go quietly into the night" and "Today, we celebrate our Independence Day." — Bill Simmons
The speech had not received final edits and ran longer when filmed, per the account from Pullman; much of the first take is in the movie, and the onlookers' reactions were genuine awe. — Bill Simmons
The only change from the rough draft, per Devlin, was adding "today we celebrate our Independence Day" because the studio was starting to change the title to Doomsday; title plus release date in the movie is called a trifecta. — Bill Simmons
Three more: Will taking off backward with Goldblum and the "oops" exchange, the comeback landing, and the walk back with cigars as the women run to them, with Goldblum tall enough to match Smith; Top Gun did that return best. — Bill Simmons
A side Mount Rushmore of good guys returning to be greeted lands on Armageddon, Independence Day and Top Gun; Captain Phillips is floated for a fourth and rejected.
The pick is the Will Smith sequence, the air fight and desert drag, best watched as a stitched-together YouTube clip; the speech needs its lead-up like the Knives Out reveal, and the first destruction of the White House, Capitol, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty felt real at 15 or 16. — Shea Serrano
Recognizing the L.A. tunnel where Vivica, Boomer and Dylan hide, the rewatchable scene is still the speech, set up by the president deciding he will fly too; it makes one want to go pick up litter. — Chris Ryan
Emmerich's signature is showing a thing and then exploding it, as in Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012; a joke imagines him wanting to blow up the Phoenix arena during the Clipper-Sun series. — Bill Simmons
The lister calls this possibly the longest aged-best list ever.
The Beverly Wilshire Hotel: it offers a Pretty Woman package, feels like the most important hotel in LA, still has the OG feel, and NBA teams stay there. — Bill Simmons
The necklace-case scene: he snaps the case on her finger and her laugh was improvised and genuine, and they left it in. — Bill Simmons
The soundtrack: King of Wishful Thinking, Real Wild Child, Fame 90, Wild Women Do, Must Have Been Love, Show Me Your Soul and Fallen; it was huge when soundtracks were not yet a thing and each song is tied to a scene. — Bill Simmons
The film has a music-video movement from the last vestiges of the MTV era, and montages recall Beverly Hills, 90210. — Bill Simmons
Beverly Hills as a pop-culture character for years: Beverly Hills Cop and its sequel, 90210, "True Beverly Hills," Clueless, and Down and Out in Beverly Hills; the real place is that absurd, though with fewer pedestrians on weekdays. — Bill Simmons
The escargot scene: one participant makes the Pretty Woman reference whenever someone orders escargot; the speaker's son, Ben Simmons, double-orders it.
Polo: getting dressed up and replacing divots; Craig is asked if it made him want to go and says not really. — Bill Simmons
Edward's "because it's the best" philosophy; he plays a tasteful rich guy and the rules of being rich have not changed since 1990.
Aside on Gere versus Harrison Ford in Working Girl: Ford wins for charisma and fun, though Gere wins if marrying for money; Mallory called Ford in Witness the most attractive man in movies last week. — Amanda Dobbins
The couple's fights, such as "I've never treated you like a prostitute" / "You just did," engage uncomfortable aspects of the setup more than the movie gets credit for. — Bill Simmons
Kit in the hotel, the "sphincter police" and "for 75 the wife can watch" lines. — Bill Simmons
Edward telling the old man "I find it hard to say this without sounding condescending, but I'm proud of you," a male line used in sports columns. — Bill Simmons
"It must be difficult to let go of something so beautiful" with the necklace parallels Edward letting her go; Hector Elizondo is praised.
The rom-com chase mechanism is efficient here; an unpopular opinion calls the ending rushed.
The final list item: the movie paved the way for The Bachelor, with over-the-top dates, the limo exit to Must Have Been Love, and one-on-one shopping dates; Mike Fleiss is said to have ripped it off. — Bill Simmons
Given the list, she gives escargot an honorable mention and picks the necklace scene with the Julia Roberts reaction. — Amanda Dobbins
Another participant goes with the necklace scene as well, calling it the money shot of the movie.
Another participant picks Beverly Hills: contention for the best LA movie, maybe the best Beverly Hills movie, setting the tone for 90s opulence. — Juliet Litman
