Ever sinceOrson Wellesrecharged the pulpy crime genre withTouch of Evilby opening the film on a ticking bomb and then letting his camera roam for almost three minutes, the long take has been a part of filmmaking lore. Directors likeMartin Scorsese,Robert Altman, andAlfonso Cuaron—along with their cinematographers—have all used the long take in varying ways to immerse their audiences into the worlds of their respective films.
The action genre thrives on immersion in particular. Nothing can put an audience on the edge of their seats more than making them feel like they are a part of the action. Long-takes (continuous shots that aren’t broken by any edits) are especially adept at getting action audiences to whiten their knuckles by giving them no reprieve from the tension on screen.Of all the action movies that have utilized the long take, none have done it better than these.
10The Subway Attack
‘Hanna’ (2011)
DirectorJoe Wrighthad already established his long-take credentials by his second film,Atonement, with the tracking shot across the war-torn beaches at Dunkirk. This follow-up long-take from his art-house action filmHannais decidedly smaller in scope, but is just as artfully executed. It followsEric Banaas he moves from street level to an underground subway system, all the while being tracked by government agents. The shot continues all the way through as Bana smoothly dispatches his would-be pursuers.
The camera is far more fluid and paced than the jittery shaky-cam style audiences had become accustomed to throughout the 2000s thanks to films like theBournetrilogy.The fight choreography matches that fluidity making for a fight sequence that is more poised than expected. It matches the aesthetic of the film overall, which is a unique combination of spy thriller and modern-day fairytale. That style alone is enough to makeHannaone ofSaoirse Ronan’s best films, and well worth checking out.
9The Opening Shootout
‘Breaking News’ (2004)
This crime thriller from cult Hong Kong filmmakerJohnnie Tohits the ground running with a gunfight that erupts between cops and robbers out in the street. It’s similar in tone and execution to the legendary heist shootout fromHeat, but with a camera that roams freely as the violence ensues. Action cinema from Hong Kong has always been several steps ahead of Hollywood, so it’s no surprise they were ahead of the curve on continuous long-take action sequences years before they started coming into fashion stateside.
This opening shootout may not be as polished or as explosive as some of its American cinema counterparts, butits rough-around-the-edges style makes the chaos feel all the more authenticin comparison. To is far from a journeyman director as well, and his staging of action scenes across his career has earned him a deserved following. He hasn’t enjoyed the kind of cross-over success that directors likeJohn WooorTsui Harkhave, but action fans would be remiss in ignoring his contributions to the genre.
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8The 12-Minute Chase
‘Extraction’ (2020)
Not all long takes are actually one complete shot. Many of the purported one-shots in modern movies that garner a great deal of press and attention are made up of many shots stitched together through the advent of digital effects. Using digital technology to create the effect of a long take in no way diminishes the shots themselves, as they still take an immense amount of work by the teams behind them to pull off. Case in point: the bonkers twelve-minute chase sequence inExtractionthat sawdirector Sam Hargrave strap himself and a camerato the roof of a car.
Extractionis the heir apparent to the explosive action franchises of the 80s. Its plot is simple, but the action is over-the-top in all the best ways. It should come as no surprise since Hargrave is a former stunt coordinator and fight choreographer who stepped behind the camera for this film. The long-take sequence for his directorial debut took over four months to complete and includes everything from brutal close-quarters fighting, shootouts, and some hard-hitting stunt falls. Everything is dialed up to eleven inExtraction. That includes its long take which revels in how long it can push the audience along through each successive set piece.Extraction 2features a twenty-one-minute-long take that is even more gonzo, but the original recipe is still the best. Who knows what they’ll cook up for the upcomingExtraction 3.
Extraction
7The Stairway Escape
‘Atomic Blonde’ (2017)
Hargrave had already had some experience with long-take action before directingExtraction, since he choreographed the long-take stairway fight inAtomic Blondefor fellow stunt coordinator-turned-directorDavid Leitch. The ten-minute one-shot here sees Charlize Theron, in one of her darkest, most badass action flick roles, as a spy facing off against multiple KGB baddies as she tries to make a getaway. What it lacks inExtraction’s bombastic action it makes up for in bone-crunching brutality.
Theron and the stunt team absolutely earn their paychecks here in one of the most exhausting-looking fights ever filmed. Therequisite cuts to give the sequence the appearance of a long take are all mostly done using old-school techniquessuch as hiding them through shadows and quick camera moves. It all amounts to a bloody effective action scene in one ofthe best R-rated action movies of the 2010s.
Atomic Blonde
6The HALO Jump
‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’ (2018)
TheMission: Impossiblefranchise has evolved from twisty spy thrillers intoTom Cruise’s personal fund for professionally cheating death. From driving a motorcycle over a cliff, to climbing the world’s tallest building, the man seemingly isn’t satisfied unless the insurance companies are sweating; and action cinema is better for it. His high-altitude low opening jump in the sixthMissioninstallment is as nerve-racking as it gets.
The shot is, naturally, enhanced with CGI, changing the open landing field below to the urban sprawl of Paris and combining three separate shots into the final one. None of that takes away from the fact thatTom Cruise threw himself out of an airplane, and then had to catch up to his equally fearless camera operatorall the while ensuring he stayed in focus, just to provide popcorn fodder for audiences. It tookCruise over one hundred takesto perfect this wild stunt, and it proves why he is cinema’s greatest showman. At this point, audiences are just enabling the man’s bad habits by continuing to pay to see whatever “absolutely bananas” stunt he has planned next.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ (2023)
Since the initial canicide that startedJohn Wickon a murderous rampage that has now spanned across four feature films,Keanu Reeves' mythological assassin has racked up a body count in the triple digits. He has an uncompromising style of killing all his own, and each successive film has been more lethal than the last. In the fourth installment of the franchise that changed action cinema, the baba yaga of hitmen finds himself cornered in an abandoned building by trained killers, armed with a fire-breathing shotgun.
What follows is a fiery burst of ultra-violence made even more stylish by the camera that tracks the action in an overhead shot that might’ve reminded audiences of the video gameHotline Miami,though directorChad Stahelskicredits the equally bloodyThe Hong Kong Massacreas the inspiration behind the scene. The sequence, done in several smooth shots stitched together, is everything the series has come to be known for. It’s violent, stylish, and absolutely insane. This scene, and so many others like it, are what maketheaction inJohn Wick: Chapter 4the bestof the franchise.
John Wick: Chapter 4
4The Car Ambush
‘Children of Men’ (2006)
For all the long-take action sequences that have used CGI or camera tricks to hide their edits,none areas seamless or more visceral than the violent car ambushin Alfonso Cuaron’sChildren of Men. This dystopic, gritty sci-fi film, set in a world where women have become infertile, features several breathtaking long-takes throughout its runtime that put the audience right in the middle of the conflict. What begins as a playful scene of bonding in the backseat turns into an absolute maelstrom as the characters face off against a band of violent raiders. The camera, which required a special rig specifically designed to accomplish the shot, stays inside the car, capturing the panic and terror in real-time.
Both Cuaron and cinematographerEmmanuel Lubezkihave had careers defined by shots that combine complex technical achievement with pure adrenaline and emotion. The ambush sequenceis emblematic of both men’s careers for how successfully they have found new and innovative ways to challenge audiences.Children of Menis not only one of themost intense non-horror viewing experiencesone can have, it’s also an unsettling portrait of a world on the brink, one that with each passing year feels worryingly more relevant. All of that is perfectly exemplified in the most intense car ride ever put on film.
Children of Men
3The Multi-floor Assault
‘The Protector’ (2005)
Before John Wick ever lost his dog,Tony Jaa’s elephant was stolen inThe Protector. The Thai martial artist then fights (and knees) his way through the Australian underworld to get his trunked animal back. Jaa had exploded onto the scene with his breakout role in the martial arts filmOng Bak: The Thai Warrior, which introduced American audiences to his signature stunt work and redefined the martial arts genre.
The Protectorups the ante on action by giving audiences a four-minute long take of Jaa wrecking shop on several floors worth of bad guys. Not only is the long-take authentic in this fight scene, but the stunts are too, asJaa performs all his own along with a very committed team of stunt performerswho get thrown through and over just about every surface available. The martial artist was often thought to be the next big Hollywood action import, following in the footsteps of performers likeJet LiandJackie Chan. Unfortunately, the studios didn’t know how to utilize Jaa as a star, and ended up relegating him tosupporting roles in poor actioners likeExpendables 4.
The Protector
2The Hallway Fight
‘Oldboy’ (2003)
Hallway fights have become a staple of action cinema. The notion of pitting a hero against multiple adversaries in the claustrophobic confines of a single corridor has a simplicity to it that makes it ideal for an action sequence. It’s a trope that’s become as ubiquitous in action movies as the long-take has, and one film did them both together, and better, than any of the subsequent challengers to the throne.Park Chan-wook’sOldboyis a singular viewing experience. It combines elements of mystery and action with dark comedy and has one of the wildest twist endings that has to be seen to be believed.
The plot follows Oh Dae-Su, a businessman who is kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years and then inexplicably set free. He then goes on a dark journey of revenge against his mysterious captor. The centerpiece of the action findsOh Dae-Su facing off against a hallway filled with the guards of his former prison. In one unbroken long take, he endures a gauntlet of pain as he pummels his way through, gets knocked down, gets back up, and makes it out alive. The camera movement is much simpler than some of the more complex long-take sequences, as it simply tracks alongside the fight moves across the length of the corridor. The simplistic brilliance and brutality of the fight scene contributed to its iconic status and its influence on Hollywood action is still being felt today.
1The Destruction of Two Whole Hospital Floors
‘Hard Boiled’ (1992)
When it came to action directors in the 80s and 90s, there wasJohn Wooand then there was everyone else. Woo’s career out of Hong Kong was characterized by crime thrillers that combined a neo-noir aesthetic with character melodrama, all punctuated by action scenes that were a ballet of bullets and blood. This was a genre known as heroic bloodshed, andWoo was the undisputed king of it, thanks to classics likeThe KillerandHard Boiled.Hard Boiledwas Woo’s swan song to his work in Hong Kong, as he would then be beckoned to a career in Hollywood where he would deliver cult classics likeHard TargetandFace/Off.
All due respect to those films, their action pales in comparison toHard Boiled, which follows a fairly standard cops vs triads plot line that is essentially there to fill in the time between three massive gunfights. The first blows apart a tea house, the second a warehouse, and the finale riddles every square inch of a hospital with bullets. The apex of this iconic extended action scene followsChow Yun-fatandTony Leungas they blast their way through two separate floors of gun-toting goons while the camera follows forthree unbroken minutes of the most debris-filled action ever put on film. It’s virtuoso action filmmaking from the master of the genre, and that’s what makesHard Boiledone of thebest action movies of all time.
