Most films, however awful they may be, always contain at least one nugget of cinematic richness.

Below is our list of seven features (some of which are plain disappointments, while others are just plain bad) that all share a commonality in regards to the inclusion of one scene where that ticket purchase or time invested in home viewing was (almost) justifiable.

Richard Gere’s car crash in Intersection

Some of you may not be overly familiar with this film, and why would you? It’s a little-seen 1994 feature in which Gere stars alongside a post-Basic Instinct Sharon Stone in a familiar flashback-leaden Hollywood melodrama about a marriage on the rocks, which failed to make any dent at the box office and has since slipped into relative anonymity.

It does however (oddly) feature one of the greatest car crashes committed to film and happened towards the end, before Gere’s adulterous character is able to reach closure with his wife. The crash itself is a beautifully-constructed slow-mo sequence, where the incident is stretched out for a minute or so, allowing to see the full impact of a collision from all angles, and it’s also a device which lets you literally see Gere’s life slowly flash before his eyes.

It’s the kind of scene that someone could easily rip-off, frame-by-frame, and present as their own (which has probably happened anyway, to be honest).

Escaping the creatures in The Village

While nowhere near as awful of The Happening (but hardly up there with Unbreakable either) The Village rates merely as a “meh” on the cinematic scale, but you’ve got to hand it to Shyamalan with his ability in creating moments of genuine Spielbergian wonder (also see the kid’s party footage in Signs).

This occurs here when the village elders (spoiler alert) are dressed as the mythical creatures they’ve conjured up to ensure their children remain within the titular residence. People are fleeing left right and centre from the spiked hoard when a creature advances toward the blind, vulnerable heroine, Bryce Dallas Howard. Suddenly the music swells (an enchanting James Newton Howard score), and in slow-motion, her potential suitor (Joaquin Phoenix) reaches out and takes her hand, pulling her to safety inside.

This accomplished cinematic moment somehow feels cheapened when the contrived Twi(lite) Zone ending reveals itself.

The Lord of Darkness reveal in Legend

This Ridley Scott feature is a classic case of style over content, and no matter how many director’s cuts, soundtrack reinsertions and reappraisals from the film blogosphere you read, it’s not enough to disguise what is a wafer-thin story, populated by dull, lifeless characters (with one magnificent exception, of course).

It features one of the most stunningly-realised and striking-looking fantasy villains of all time, in the shape of the Lord of Darkness (played by an unrecognisable Tim Curry) who is intent on both destroying daylight (gasp!) and marrying Ferris Bueller’s missus.

We catch a fleeting glimpse of the evil one throughout, but he’s finally revealed in all his sinuous glory towards the end of the film when he strides out of a magical mirror, hoof-first, and we get our first clear look of his astonishing blood-red muscular body and terrifying devilish, pointy visage, with the biggest pair of horns you’ve ever seen, protruding out of his forehead. A truly awe-inspiring moment in an otherwise average film.

Campsite sing-a-long from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Of course it’s corny as hell (surprise, surprise – Spock doesn’t get it) but who can resist seeing old favourites Kirk, Spock and McCoy, who’ve been to hell and back together, or in Spock’s case, heaven (or whatever the Vulcan variant is), sat around an old-fashioned camp fire, decked in lumberjack attire and singing ‘Row Your Boat’?

Sadly, before it goes all Brokeback, the trio are summoned back to the Enterprise for a mission that ultimately finds them crossing paths with a deity of some form (maybe even our own!). Yep, it’s all downhill after their frolic in the wilderness.

For those non-Trekkies out there who are now converts, thanks to J.J Abram’s glorious reboot, skip the rest of the film if you like (apart from when Uhura does her hysterical sexy desert striptease act to distract some villains), but it would be most illogical of you to miss the beginning.

Achilles’ first fight in Troy

Achilles (Brad Pitt, subscribing to the smell the fart method of acting here) is awoken from his lazy slumber to take on a blood-thirsty mountain of a man, who he proceeds to cut down with the greatest of ease via one nifty, awesome-looking sideswipe from his sword. With this initial glorious victory, the audience is tricked into the promise of an exciting action/adventure to come.

Unfortunately what you get is a film bathed in a Timotei ad aesthetic, a truly excruciating performance by Borlando Gloom, a limp Eric Bana (who seems to have lost his Chopper) and one unimaginative CGI-heavy battle after another. Even the Trojan horse scene (a pivotal and truly iconic moment in Greek mythology) seems like an afterthought and is relegated to the last ten minutes or so.

To top it off, Pitt is killed by an innocuous arrow wound to the ankle!*

Darth Maul has a surprise (or two) in store in The Phantom Menace

An obvious choice perhaps, and while not enough to salvage what turned out to be (arguably) the most disappointing film in the history of cinema, the uncloaked appearance of the tattooed Sith Lord and his advanced lightsaber which he wields with the utmost ease and deadly grace during the subsequent three-hander fight scene, almost comes close to achieving some of that ole’ Star Wars magic.

If you haven’t seen this for a while, it’s worth checking out again. Just don’t forget to close your eyes when Lucas cuts to the other narrative strands, where a horrible CGI day-glo hillside battle with giant sparkling marbles is taking place, and an annoying little Junior Jedi ‘hilariously’ inadvertently destroys an imperial stronghold and saves the day.

Ape gets in a right (Empire) State in King Kong

Let’s face it, for all Peter Jackson’s supposed reverence to the 1933 original and his claims of how it first captured his interest in the world of cinema (in much the same way Star Wars would do for a later generation of filmmakers), the director didn’t really achieve a fitting homage with this rather bloated remake.

Some of it looks fantastic (Kong in particular, is a WETA wonder), but as much of the action is studio-set (and pre-Avatar) the very noticeably unnatural-looking, green screen segments continually threaten our emotional engagement with the characters, both ape and human.

Jackson is only really able to ramp it up during Kong’s last stand atop of the Empire State Building, where each successive blast from the bi-plane’s machine guns gradually get the better of the him, and his life slowly ebbs away until he has nothing left to give and slumps off the top. It’s an incredibly moving scene and a welcome respite to the overblown spectacle of a film which has come before it.

*Yes, we know.

So, the news doing the rounds today includes this little gem – Zachary Quinto, known around the globe as the second incarnation of Spock, is to play George Gershwin, the famed Broadway composer and pianist in a biopic project for Dreamworks.

Potentially bigger news is orbiting this story as the director’s chair is currently vacant, with Steven Spielberg rumoured to eyeing this as his next project. It makes sense, as the needless Harvey remake hitting the skids and the long rumoured Lincoln project still in the stalls, a biopic of an American legend may just be the next turn in the road for the acclaimed director.

The news broke over on Deadline Hollywood, who claim that this is one of three projects Spielberg is looking to take on. Doug Wright wrote the script, and Marc Platt is on production duties with singer/pianist Michael Feinstein.

With Quinto on board, complete with dialogue and accent coaches signed up, the story of Gershwin is sure to centre on the composer’s extraordinary creative collaboration with his brother Ira, and his tragic early death at the age of 38.

And by Spock I mean Leonard Nimoy, not Zachary Quinto – there’s no chance J. J. Abrams would leave out the logical half of the dynamic duo, but word comes from MovieWeb that Nimoy may not be in the expected sequel.

He told MovieWeb:

If J.J. asked me to come back, I would consider it. But I don’t think it is necessary, nor do I think that is part of J.J.’s plan.

It’s a gracious touch from such an iconic character, particularly as it was his presence in Abram’s fast paced blockbuster that gave it the necessary sense of legacy and gravitas. While it is a shame to think of Star Trek without Nimoy the new cast need to forge a path for themselves, so it makes sense.

Also when chatting with Bruce Greenwood MovieWeb asked him about Captain Pike’s role in the second film:

“I know they’re writing the film right now, but I’m not sure if we’ll see Pike or not,”

Clearly Abrams has big plans for the future of Star Trek, and after watching the exhilarating first film on Blu-ray yesterday the cast Abrams has assembled to portray the original roles look hungry to establish themselves as the definitive Enterprise crew.