5. The foot chase (Brick) A masterful use of foley work here - as Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) runs from a goon, their footsteps are pushed right up in the mix. Then Brendan turns a corner and slips off his shoes, so his footfalls fall silent. With precision timing, he slides out, and spectacularly trips up his pursuer, sending them face first into a metal pole.

4. Olive's dance routine (Little Miss Sunshine) So wrong it has to be right - as little Olive (Abigail Breslin) launches into her clumsily choreographed and scarily sexualised routine, jaws drop and the whole child-beauty pageant madness is thrown hilariously into relief.

3. The Amsterdam hit (Munich) The scene in which Eric Bana's team assassinate Dutch lady assassin Marie-Josée Croze is arguably the most disturbing and chilling moment in all of Spielberg's movies, as her naked body is horrifically punctured by bullets from her killers' blowpipe guns.

2. Attack on the car (Children Of Men) When Clive Owen and Julianne Moore's car is suddenly attacked, director Alfonso Cuaron takes the bold step of shooting the entire sequence from the car's interior, seemingly in one take, making the furious action all the more intense.

1. Superman saves the plane (Superman Returns) Kal-El's not back on earth for two minutes when he has to save Lois and a bunch of journos from a plummeting jet. Heart-in-mouth stuff, and all the better for actually considering the laws of physics.