No, not the film Judgement Day, but I was watching a Perry Mason episode the other night, adn I started pondering my favorite courtroom flicks. The Trial of Billy Jack figures in here somewhere, I suppose, but I am most partial to the Bruce Beresford flick Breaker Morant, with Edward Woodward popping up in the middle of testifying to claim "We caught them, and we killed them under Rule Three!-Oh!-Three!"
Beats the hell out of Jack Nicholson's proclamation to Tom Criuse, "You can't handle the truth."
IMO
Anybody else?
On the humerous end i always loved the courtroom scene in "my cousin vinnie" when they hear their first lawyer speak to the j-j- juuuu-j-j-j-juuurrr-j-j-jury
It's not in a courtROOM, but "12 Angry Men" is a classic- fantastic movie showing the jury deliberations in a murder trial.
Oh, hell, this ain't "off-topic" -- courtroom scenes! Bad courtroom scenes! Good ones, too!!
Okay, here's a fave: Woody Allen's "Bananas": The judge orders the defense lawyer (Allen) gagged & bound to his chair -- for those of you too young to remember, this was a reference to/parody of the real Trial of the Chicago 7, wherein Judge Julius Hoffman ordered various folk bound and gagged in court.
Anyway, back to Allen: You can't understand a word he says, and he's hopping around the court in his chair, but he still succeeds in tripping up a witness on the stand -- "Stop putting words in my mouth!". Meanwhile, the jury passes a joint, and one juror is seen drinking out of a goldfish bowl -- with live fish -- with a straw.
Priceless.
Atticus Finch, of course.
Witness for the Prosecution -- practically the whole film is a killer courtroom scene.
Loved Fred Gwynne in "Vinny" --
The part in Unfaithfully Yours where a lawyer leaps on a witness to strangle him and the judge says: "I'm going to allow it.".
peter johnson/denny crane
Wasn't pauly shore in a courtroom......uh...
Some of my favorites:
"The Caine Mutiny" Navy flick with Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred McMurray and Jose Ferrer. The courtroom sequence is relatively short near the end of the movie, but engaging, imo. Van Johnson is on trial for mutiny, and Jose Ferrer is his defense counsel. EG Marshall plays the prosecutor. Cool flick, if you like WWII Navy movies (I do).
"Presumed Innocent" My favorite part in the movie is when Sandy (Raul Julia) catches the pompous medical examiner incompentency. I have testified in court as an expert in my field many, many times, and I have had lawyers try to do this to me, to some extent. However, that guy broke rule number one, in my book: don't act like you think you are smarter than everyone else when you are on the stand! I love it. I also love the parts where Malto gets shown to be a boob.
I have to admit I enjoy "A Few Good Men" for a variety of reasons. One, which has nothing to do with this thread, is that is stars Tom Cruise and Demi Moore as two main characters, yet there is never a 'romance' between them (I know they go out on that one dinner 'date,' but nothing really blossoms). I hate when "Hollywood" mucks up every story with some dumb romantic side story/plot device. The courtroom stuff in AFGM is sometimes hokey, and sometimes laugable, but I find it an enjoyable film. Plus, we could call it "A Few Good Continuity Errors," which are always fun.
I also enjoyed "Twelve Angry Men," though I've only seen it all the way through one time (on AMC years ago).
Gotta say I also mostly like "A Time to Kill," except for the forced character Sandra Bullock plays. Her role ads very little, if anything, to the story, which was otherwise interesting.
Not court movies, but maybe worth mentioning: I HATED, HATED H-A-T-E-D the several courtroom drama episodes of Star Trek:TNG. Could they make more boring ST??