15 Most Paused & Rewatched Movie Scenes Of All Time

When it comes to how we consume media, the old saying is true: the more things change, the more they stay the same.

For example, have you ever wondered why online movie clip compilation videos and “top 10” lists are so popular? Simple: they channel our collective love to watch and rewatch certain movie scenes again and again.

Of course, some scenes get rewatched more than others. In fact, we paused and rewound on some of these scenes so bad back in the day that it nearly broke our VCR! For your viewing pleasure, here are the most paused and rewatched movie scenes of all time.

Star Wars: A New Hope

When it comes to movie mistakes, filmmakers can either get defensive or get in on the joke. And George Lucas definitely decided to get in on the joke!

In the original Star Wars, we can see a Stormtrooper accidentally bang his head while trying to enter a room. Fans loved pointing out how this flub was left in the film, and on a later release of the movie’s Special Edition, Lucas added a funny sound effect. If that’s not enough, he also added an homage to this moment in Attack of the Clones when Jango Fett bumped his own head while entering his starship. 

Pulp Fiction

Reservoir Dogs was great, but it’s fair to say that Pulp Fiction is the movie that really put Quentin Tarantino on the map. The movie is filled with sumptuous visuals, but one scene in particular always makes us pause and rewatch it.

And that’s the scene where John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson get shot at. Every bullet miraculously misses the two, which is reason enough to rewatch the scene. But after enough repeat viewings, you may notice that a few of the bullet holes were already there before the gun began to fire.

She’s the Man

She’s the Man is a movie loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night. And the plot involves Amanda Bynes posing as a boy so can play on a soccer team.

Towards the end of the movie, she reveals her real identity by revealing her breasts. Needless to say, this has caused countless people to reach for the pause button over the years!

The Wizard of Oz

Movie-based urban legends have been around since the dawn of film. And one of the more sinister legends centers on The Wizard of Oz.

In one scene, there is a spooky shadow that many people claimed was actually the hanging body of an extra who had killed himself. The reality is that the shadow came from a large bird, but that hasn’t stopped audiences from pausing and rewinding to determine the truth for themselves.

Psycho

It’s a bit of a slow burn by modern horror standards, but the original Psycho really stood the test of time. One reason for this may be the subtly creepy bits that always catch audiences by surprise.

One bit that is easy to miss occurs near the end. When the murderous Norman Bates looks at the camera, you can briefly see a creepy white skull merged with Bates’ face. You probably missed it the first time, but it’s definitely worth rewatching this scene for the scare factor.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Sometimes, the reason we pause a scene is quite simple: there is just too much going on for us to notice right away!

That is certainly the case with Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In one notable scene, we can see cameos from three famous Disney characters: Belle from Beauty and the Beast, the Magic Carpet from Aladdin, and Pumbaa the warthog from The Lion King.

Grease

Grease is one of those movies that is basically archetypal. And that’s just a fancy way of saying it created ideas that tons of other movies would later riff on.

At the top of the list is the “badass makeover” scene. Olivia Newton John’s wholesome character Sandy is completely different after her makeover near the end of the movie. Just like the onscreen characters, audiences couldn’t believe what they were seeing and had to keep pausing and rewatching! 

Dirty Dancing

There are a lot of great things to love about Dirty Dancing. But fans mostly love to talk about one thing: the show-stopping ending where Patrick Swayze lifts Jennifer Gray up and we try not to cry while “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” plays.

This scene gets paused and rewatched by just about everyone. To this day, dancers religiously watch this scene in the hopes of recreating it. And the rest of us watch this scene because it’s the perfect combination of heat and romance.

Spider-Man

Despite all the great Spider-Man movies out there, many still insist the first Sam Raimi film is the best. And that has a lot to do with the scene where an upside-down Spider-Man kisses Mary Jane Watson for the first time.

Some love to pause and rewatch this scene because of the high romantic stakes: Spidey saves MJ from attackers, the music swells, and these star-crossed loves finally lock lips. Less romantic audiences, however, love to rewatch this scene to see Kirsten Dunst in a rain-soaked dress!

The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin In the Woods is famous for being one of those “meta” horror movies. Which is a nice way of saying you may not really appreciate the movie unless you have watched the dozens of other films it is riffing on.

Perhaps the most paused and rewatched scene of the movie, though, involves a whiteboard with different monster names written on it. In the context of the movie, these are all monsters that our plucky protagonist could accidentally activate. By pausing and rewatching, you can make a game of finding the names of monsters that we see later in the movie. It’s also fun to note the weird humor at work (like how “witches” and “sexy witches” are different types of creatures).

Total Recall

Some of the scenes on this list have many different reasons that people pause and rewatch. Depending on how you’re counting, this scene from Total Recall has either one reason or three of them.

We’re talking, of course, about the famous scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character gets flashed by an alien woman with three breasts. If you ask the fans who keep watching this scene what the woman’s face looked like, though, they may have trouble totally recalling it.

Thor: The Dark World

Let’s get real: the first Thor sequel was pretty bad. Like, “one of the worst movies in the MCU” bad. But it did give us a scene that we love to pause!

In this scene, Dr. Selwig is trying to explain some of the strange goings-on with a good, old-fashioned chalkboard. If you pause, there are plenty of fun Easter eggs to discover. These range from actual math equations to references to the “616 universe.” In today’s world of crowded multiverses, it’s important to know that the 616 universe is the reality of the Marvel comics that we all grew up reading.

Titanic

Titanic is an amazing and influential movie. And if we’re being honest, this entire list could have been paused and rewatched scenes, especially when it comes to Jack and Rose.

But no scene in the movie gets paused and rewatched quite as much as the scene where Jack tries Rose wearing nothing but her necklace. And these two characters are each giving the other looks so hot we’re amazed that it wasn’t enough to melt the faithful iceberg.

Basic Instinct

This list is full of scenes that people love to pause and rewatch. In the case of Basic Instinct, this is a scene that basically defined the entire movie!

In the infamous scene, Sharon Stone’s character is being interrogated. She crosses her leg and smiles, which disorients the officer. And considering that she wasn’t wearing any underwear, audiences were pretty disoriented as well!

The Wolf of Wall Street

Sometimes, it’s no mystery why a scene gets paused and rewatched. For example, the most rewatched scene in The Wolf of Wall Street features two key ingredients: hot actors and a little bit of kink!

The scene in question would already have been memorable because it features Margot Robbie in a hot pink dress talking to Leonardo DiCaprio. Eventually, she riles him up by calling him “daddy” and promising to walk around the house wearing nothing but short skirts and no panties. When Leo tries to make a move, though, she puts an immaculate heel in his face and tells him “but no touching.”

If you need a cold shower after watching, we don’t blame you!