Awesome / Old Yeller

• One scene where Travis can't get their cow to stand still for milking. He brings in Ol' Yeller (who had subdued the cow when Travis had to bring her back to the farm), who sits there looking at the cow, who instantly settles down. Enhanced in the movie by the cow's "Oh, Crap!" expression.
• As brutal a Tear Jerker as it is, Travis's decision to Shoot the Dog himself is his own Crowning Moment. Ma is about to shoot Yeller, and Travis stops her, saying, "He was my dog. I'll do it." He's already accepted the responsibility, and he's ready to get it over with. As his Pa says later, it was about as rough as anyone could imagine, but Travis did what he had to do, and he did it like a man.
• An incredibly underrated moment, but the incident that led to Old Yeller getting infected is this: he got bitten by a rabid wolf he was fighting back to protect his family.
• The sequel may be far less iconic, but in terms of action and suspense, it probably has Old Yeller beat.
  • A Comanche warrior who's been shot in the leg spends several miles running alongside his horse despite that serious wound.
  • Later, every member of the rescue party takes a turn doing the same thing when they don't have a spare horse for Travis. Travis himself even takes a turn despite being in bad shape from his captivity.
  • Burn Sanderson (Uncle Beck in the movie)'s attempted Big Damn Heroes moment when the three kids are first captured, pursuing them on horseback and firing after them until his horse gets shot from under him.
  • All three of Savage Sam's fights with the bobcat are pretty well-choreographed.
  • All of Arliss's attempts to escape or fight back against his kidnappers are quite bold and spirited (even if some of them are Played for Laughs), to the point that it earns him quite a bit of Villain Respect.
  • The gunfight on horseback when the rescuers find the Native American camp has aged impressively well since the movie's release. It concludes with Bud Searcey (in the film, anyway) sniping the worst of the raiders from an impressive distance as he tries to flee with Lisbeth.

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