The new Predators film is full of these... Sort of a mash up between seeing a Predator on Predator fight or the Sword duel with the Predator.
PhiMed said:
Very cool list, but...
The Protector (one-take fight): This is much more impressive to movie nerds than other people. Sometimes appreciating why a scene is SOOOO awesome requires at least a cursory understanding of the craft of movie making, but if appreciating that a scene is awesome forces you to be aware of the film-making process, most people aren't going to get it. This scene is slow-paced and plodding, even by 70's kung fu standards. Because of the way my brain has been trained by modern cinema, rather than thinking "holy crap, they're doing all this in one take", when they didn't cut as he went up the stairs, my first thought was "What the hell is going on? I can't see anything from this angle".
Try watching that as a film student, amateur director and a martial artist (who also studies Muay Thai (or Muy Thai as Bob spells it)) that scene has been put on my top ten for best ever scenes filmed... I watched that and I almost drooled. Takes more talent than people would realise to pull that off, not just having the camera in the perfect positions at the perfect time. No, the choreography, the timing of the actors had to be perfect in order to pull that off, not one goof, not one mistake... missing a move or anything... Had to be perfect and it was.
Though sadly, to my friends who aren't media savvy... They don't really see the big deal.