Watch: A Video Essay on Setpieces Throughout Film History

Screenwriter John August describes a setpiece as "a scene or sequence
with escalated stakes and production values, as appropriate to the
genre… Done right, set-pieces are moments you remember weeks after
seeing a movie." Proper setpieces should serve as spikes within the
plotline. In contemporary cinema, a setpiece can range from an edgy gag
in a romantic comedy, to a multi-million dollar CGI-infused battle
scene in an action film. Regardless, a setpiece always seems to be
"that scene" when discussing movies. Here is a look at some of the
biggest, priciest, and most recognizable setpieces in cinema.

List of Films (in order of appearance):

There Will be Blood

The Dark Knight Rises

Die Hard

Django Unchained

Inception

The Matrix

Swordfish

Apocalypse Now

North by Northwest

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Spider-Man 2

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Magnolia

The Dark Knight

The Lone Ranger

Guardians of the Galaxy

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Titanic

The Wolf of Wall Street

Flight

Children of Men

The Matrix Reloaded

Mission Impossible

Scarface (1983)

E.T.

Jurassic Park

Jaws

King Kong (2005)

Man of Steel

The Avengers

Inglourious Basterds

Gangs of New York

World War Z

True Lies

Batman Begins

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Stand by Me

Super 8

Godzilla (2014)

Star Wars

Twister

The Perfect Storm

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

300

The Shining

Psycho (1960)

Taxi Driver

The Shawshank Redemption

Gravity

Music: "Mind Heist" by Zack Hemsey

Jacob Swinney is an industrious film editor and filmmaker, as well as a recent graduate of Salisbury University.