I was very excited to see the American Reunion movie. I saw American Pie just after college and remembered it was quite funny.
Jim, Michelle, Oz, Heather, Stifler reunite for their high school...
I'll jump into the Asian film pool with this insane and insanely long sequence in this dingy apartment building. This clip is barely half of it; it's easily a 15-20 min. setpiece.
Love that sequence Ratty, it's the reason I try and convince everyone to give that film a go. Just the use of motion and vertical space alone is enough to get it on the list.
I'm not a big fan of Yimou's later stuff, but I remember being blown away by the visceralness of the last twenty minutes of Curse of the Golden Flower. It's amazing, and brutal. Really excellent pick.
Thanks. Sword of Doom is an excellent choice as well. My brother found a used copy of the Criterion release for six dollars at a Hastings a few weeks ago, the lucky dog!
91. The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) - d. H. Miyazaki
Casino Getaway / Highway Chase & Rescue
Alarm bells. Lupin and Jigen, having just robbed a casino of wads of cash make their getaway in a nifty little yellow Euro car. After ditching the casino goons and dumping clouds of bills onto the highway behind them (conterfeit it seems) a slinky Japanese song pairs with the opening credits as all that fake cash flies away. As we watch snipets of the boys' meandering Euro road trip Miyazaki graces us with one of his quiet, pastoral pauses. Life on the road. All manner of vehicles (cars, boats, bikes, trains) glide across the frame. Water shimmers. Sun shines. Clouds drift. Tranquility.
The boys' lazy road trip through Cagliostro is halted by a flat tire. A quick game of rock-paper-scissors settles it: Jigen fixes the flat while Lupin reclines on the car. No hurry. Lupin hears a car approaching fast. Pretty Damsel In Distress wearing a wedding dress flies by with henchmen hot on her tail. Always willing to help a pretty face Lupin pulls a hidden level under the dashboard. The rear hatch flies open and ejects flame and smoke. The Little Yellow Car That Could blasts off. Xylophone plays, funky jazz horns blare and the chase is on. The next couple minutes are choreographed bliss.
The movie is animated. The physics are exaggerated. And never once do we fail to believe that these are real people and real objects behaving realistically in a real world. The little yellow car does impossible things. These images of ink and acetate have weight and momentum. The key to the sequence is we're blasted with an immediate short thrill followed by a nice slow repose before being rocketed forward, balls to the wall. It's a giant dose of funny-thrilling-cool.
Here's the Highway Chase section of the full sequence:
Love 'Castle of Cagliostro'. It takes me back to the days of playing CLIFF HANGER in the arcades...anyone else know what I'm talking about?
I do. Cliff Hanger's helicopter sewer chase was taken from The Secret of Mamo but everything else came from Cagliostro. Loved it more than Dragon's Lair.
92. 'Kid with the Golden Arm' - Golden Arm vs Hai To.
This is the big battle towards the end of the film: Golden Arm (the main bad guy) vs Hai To, a government agent who is also a drunken master. Golden Arm's kung fu is so good that he never uses any weapons other than his arms, and he's beaten everyone in the movie pretty handily.
In the clip below, the main battle that I'm submitting for the list starts at approximately 9:30, but the battle beforehand with the swordsman is pretty good too. Also, you'll recognize most of these actors from the Venom films. Indeed, Golden Arm is the TOAD and Hai To is the LIZARD from 'Five Deadly Venoms'.
90. Saving Private Ryan: The D Day section. 45 minutes of top notch cinematography and editing. Even though it's frantic, it's never confusing. Even though it's almost an hour, it never drags. There's never been a battle scene that feels like you are right there in the middle of it like the one in Private Ryan.
And on the other end of the spectrum.....
91. Raiders of the Lost Ark: Master Swordsman vs. Indiana Jones: Might be a controversial choice since it's more of a clever scene than an action scene but fuck it. There's a gun going off and a guy dies so it qualifies I think. I just love how the scene builds and builds to this epic East vs. West, Sword vs. Whip duel only to be resolved in a way that would make Alexander the Great proud. It just shows you don't need stuntmen, money, or lots of time to create a memorable action scene. Just a really funny, smart idea.
Before Casino Royale, David Belle sets the standard for Parkour running. A pity the rest of the film doesn't meet this opening. Still an entertaining film though.
91. Raiders of the Lost Ark: Master Swordsman vs. Indiana Jones: Might be a controversial choice since it's more of a clever scene than an action scene but fuck it. There's a gun going off and a guy dies so it qualifies I think. I just love how the scene builds and builds to this epic East vs. West, Sword vs. Whip duel only to be resolved in a way that would make Alexander the Great proud. It just shows you don't need stuntmen, money, or lots of time to create a memorable action scene. Just a really funny, smart idea.
For me the fight in Marion's bar is a superior action sequence because the staging of the fight is tighter and better choreographed. But I'll not look down on any suggestion that puts more Raiders on the list.
Really, you can literally include every action scene in Raiders on this list including the very first scene. I just like this one in particular because it upends and skews every action scene before or since. It was definitely an on the spot decision but that doesn't take away from how funny and unsportsmanlike the scene is and how it ties into Indiana Jones' character. I'm sure the whip vs. sword fight that was envisioned would have been epic but I doubt it would have topped what we got. It was a scene that I went back and forth on submitting and will be happy to abide by the council's decision if it's proved to not be worthy. Just thought it would be good fodder for debate.
I only comment because I'm with Swartz in that the Swordsman gag is a beat to a larger action sequence: the marketplace brawl. It's a fun romp but some of the extras work always pulls me out of it a bit; one of the risks of using untrained locals in a scene.
I mention the bar fight because there's only professionals involved so the action could be choreographed better. The use of shadows is great and the tone more menacing and not as lighthearted as the marketplace
I'm not lobbying for a revote but the whole sequence should probably be mentioned on the list.
"Unsportsmanlike." I like you're description of it. I'd never considered it that way.
93. "You Brought Two Too Many" - Once Upon A Time in the West (1968)
My all time favourite film and this introduction is one of the reasons why. Everything about the scene, the way the camera creeps up to the station, the way it lingers on clocks and on the faces of our would be assassins drips with a palpable tension. The introduction of Harmonica, and his amazing score, is made fantastic by the way people react to him. His delivery of the line and shake of his head not really a quip, but more a biblical declaration. It's amazing because we learn all we need to know about the character by how quickly the bravado of the three assassins falters, and as such the sequential display of Harmonica's skill almost comes across as an afterthought.
The foley work on Harmonica's thunderous gunshots alone is worth admission onto this list, but the entire scene (sadly truncuated below) just exemplifies everything I love about Leone.
I only comment because I'm with Swartz in that the Swordsman gag is a beat to a larger action sequence: the marketplace brawl. It's a fun romp but some of the extras work always pulls me out of it a bit; one of the risks of using untrained locals in a scene.
I mention the bar fight because there's only professionals involved so the action could be choreographed better. The use of shadows is great and the tone more menacing and not as lighthearted as the marketplace
I'm not lobbying for a revote but the whole sequence should probably be mentioned on the list.
"Unsportsmanlike." I like you're description of it. I'd never considered it that way.
I can go with that if that's okay with everyone. I just think that beat really elevates that whole sequence into something classic.
This gets points for originality. If I had super-strength and ninja skills and was hard to hurt, I'd learn WWF moves too. Just a damn cool fight, managing to make it just as memorable as Blade's last fight with Frost. Even better, Nomak may be a monster, but he's also a victim of his father's evil.
The inclusion of this scene would be a no brainer but what makes this achievement so staggering is that it was from the first (and so far only) action film by Quentin Tarantino. The geography is clear, the pacing is right, and the gore is plentiful. Here's the scene as it was shown in Japan although I'm partial to B&W when the carnage starts. It just looks better....
97. The Final Assault -Seven Samurai (1954) d. Akira Kurosawa
I'm not sure how to break this down. Whether to include the entire third act, with its sporadic violence, or just focus on the rain drenched final thirty minutes. There's a primal feel to the final action sequence, the elements sloshing down as Toshiro Mifune's Kikuchiyo goes mental with his long-sword, but it's balanced by Kurosawa's calm, focused direction. This it the finale of a three hour film, the fate of our eight (now seven) central characters hanging in the balance. But we don't just care about them, we care about the village and what they're hoping to protect. One of the things that often gets missed from adaptation of Seven Samurai is the symbiotic relationship between the Samurai and the village, with the Samurai as beholden to the villagers as the villagers are indebted to the samurai. All the Samurai have motivations beyond simple payment and they all play out in those bloody, muddy, final moments.
It's a common arguement that Kurosawa invented modern action cinema, and in a way this is the film that took elements from existing directors such as Lang and Ford and shaped them into a cohesive template whilst adding Kurosawa's own embellishments. The real testament to the finale of Seven Samurai is that watching it nearly sixty years later is in no way an academic excercise, it's as vigorous and entertaining and engaging now as it was then. Because it's lean (despite its runtime) and character focused.
97. The Final Assault -Seven Samurai (1954) d. Akira Kurosawa
Since around pick #10, I'd tried & failed several times to find the words that would articulate how great & important this sequence is. You nailed it, dude.
I had to do it after Seven Samurai was mentioned. Miike doing his best Kurosawa impersonation, and it's immense. I cannot stress how important it is to watch this movie if you love Seven Samurai. It's the closest thing to Seven Samurai while still being unique and just downright awesome.
Yeah, this choice is silly compared to most of the movies on this list, but Jonathan Winters is basically a one man wrecking crew in this scene. I had to include it.
Things don't really get started until the two minute mark.
There are more ambitious fights, but I love how rough and tumble this one is, and even better that it's set inside a lovely little house on a quiet street in the suburbs. The very fact that The Bride brutally murders her with her 4 year old daughter in the house shows you that The Bride and Tarantino mean business. Gets the whole bloody saga on a great start.
Kill Bill is chock full of all timers but that was a good one. Also the fight between Daryl Hannah's character in the mobile home was a fun one to watch. QT really needs to direct more action movies.
You watch this and you wonder, "No stunt doubles? How did he do all this without killing himself?" and the answer is, he came really effing close more than once. I can't imagine even Jackie Chan (who idolized Keaton) pulling off that flying downhill somersault.
How is the 100 Mile Dash that segues into the family fighting together for the first time in The Incredibles not on here? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!
Since around pick #10, I'd tried & failed several times to find the words that would articulate how great & important this sequence is. You nailed it, dude.
~Is there any possibility of finding a large scale picture of above to put on a t-shirt?
after reading Devin's response to them here got me thinking about our list. Has any one tallied how many of these "Greatest Action Sequences" incorporate the technique (or lack thereof) that he's talking about? What percentage came from the last ten years? And, this question is important to me, did any Tony Scott sequences make the cut?
It's late and I am tired but I will compile the full list tomorrow if no one beats me to it.
I'm pretty sure that there was an entry from The Bourne Ultimatum within the 100. At the moment, that's about all I can think of that is blatantly chaotic. But in my mind, Greengrass' use of 'chaos' is well utilized.
The overall point of the video is sound, but boy does Mr. Serious Voice not do the legwork to be so dismissive. And manages to sound like an utter snot in the process. Fucking hate that it's getting touted all over the internet the last few days.
I think the works he cited are valid (with the definite exception of Blackhawk Down and the possible exception of Bourne) but he errs by overgeneralizing. There is plenty of non-chaotic action in the last 11 years. And Mr. Serious Voice sounds like he just graduated with a Bachelor's in film.
For the record, I love the Bourne movies and think the camerawork was a valid stylistic choice though not a thematic choice.
