The Greatest Walking Moments in the History of Cinema

March 17, 2015

by mhofmeyer

Hello all. Mark here.

I watched the Wild Bunch recently and it got me thinking about iconic walking scenes. Walking has been overshadowed by running for years and hasn’t been helped by widely spread videos of clumsy Stormtrooper walking.

Watch the guy on the right….

Whether people are talking about Tom Cruise’s running or making films about running (Most recently, Unbroken and McFarland USA) we can’t escape people moving quickly. We’ve been inundated with Forrest Gump running, or Chariots of Fire/Rocky montages for years and I want to change that.

I’ve decided to take on the herculean task (I’m sure he walked) of compiling the greatest cinematic moments featuring walking. The moments can be small scenes, introductions, or cumulative efforts. The one thing they have in common is that they use walking to full effect.

In order to keep this post from featuring hundreds of scenes I’ve cut the list down to 16. Because of the cuts great moments from City Lights, The Shining, Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind and Stars Wars (I could go on and on) had to be left out. I understand their importance in the pantheon of walking but they didn’t make the cut.

Sidenote: There will be no mention of people walking away from explosions or Lord of the Rings/Hobbit references.

Without further ado here are my favorite walking moments of cinema in no particular order!!!!

1. Bill Murray is the greatest cinematic walker on the planet.

I could talk all day about his walking. However, I will point you to the film Groundhog Day. He walks with so many differing emotions it is astounding. I call this walk below the “happy saunter.”

2. Mel Brooks teaches us how to “walk this way.”

Mel Brooks is my hero.

3. Popeye walks NYC

Popeye pounds more pavement than any other person in the history of cinema. His shoe salesman must love him because I bet he blows out his shoes twice a month whilst pursuing crime. He gets to do this too.

4. The incredibly fast walking of Jason Voorhees

This guy walks so fast you can’t outrun him……

5. The Fly Guy walking of I’m Gonna Git You Sucka

Never has a cool walk gone wrong so fast.

6. Jeff Goldblum’s walking in the end credits of Buckaroo Banzai and Life Aquatic

The dude nails end credit walking.

7. The walk off exits of The Searchers and The Third Man

Ethan (John Wayne) and Allida Valli (Anna Schmidt) show the world the walk off exit. The Searchers and The Third Man feature two of the greatest walking exits in cinema. They are equal parts amazing and gangster. Also, you gotta give it to Schmidt for walking so far.

8. The Walking and Talking of the Before trilogy

Celine and Jesse and the greatest walking and talking couple in the history of cinema. They traverse incredible amounts of ground and still manage to wax poetic.

9. The Catwomen of the Batman world

“Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.”

Well, the women playing Catwoman did everything Batman did except in skin tight leather outfits and high heels. It takes confidence to walk around knowing that fanboys will be making you a gif for years to come

Thank you fanboys for the gifs!

10. The opening credit walking of Shaft

Who is the man that can walk better than any other man? Shaft!

11. The Wild Bunch and walking into certain death with style

I love the Wild Bunch. This walking scene has been stolen countless times but can never be matched.

Tarantino borrowed it:

12. The introductory walking of Captain Jack Sparrow

The introduction of Captain Jack Sparrow is iconic on many levels. Depp fought for the character and result is more than $3,000,000,000 in world wide box office.

13. Travolta gets his swag on in Saturday Night Fever.

#SWAG. Dude could walk with style.

14. Goodfellas and the amazing steadicam club walking scene

The amount of walking whilst acting blows my mind. Perfection!

15. The aware walking of Lloyd Dobler

Lloyd Dobler is one of my favorite movie characters. Dude could kick people in the head and still be a really nice dude. I love the walking moment when Lloyd notices the glass in front of Diane Court and he kicks it out of the way. Pure Dobler magic!

The wistful/dreamlike walking in The New World

Terrence Malick is the king of wistful/dreamlike walking. The New World features some of the best wistful/dreamlike walking ever filmed. If you ever want to film yourself walking you need to watch a Malick film.