favorite long take in movie history.

T

thematthewbone

Well-known member
i thought about this for some time last night and i cannot say a single take action sequence has ever been done quite as well as Children of Men did.

the timing and choreography was spot on. the camerawork was perfect and even clive owens performance was solid.

i also believe chopping that take up into coverage would have definately not felt the same as that single take did.

any other thoughts on great long takes in films?

ps. is this in the right forum?
 
Dude - I was totally going to say children of men. Whenever I mention that shot to non industry people they look at me like - what's the big deal - or I didn't notice.
 
Well getting the basics out of the way.... Goodfellas, Touch of Evil, Boogie Nights

One of my personal favorites, though not often thought of, is Indiana Jones where Indy gets home, gets permission to go after the ark, warned about it's danger, talks about the girl, and then ends on showing that he's taking a gun. I never noticed how long a take it was until I started making movies, but it's very impressive and not at all flashy.
 
Haha, I was counting to the posts before the Goodfellas came up.

I am going to have to get Indiana Jones out tonight and watch for this take.
 
Take a look at the indie movie 'The Circle', available from Netflix and at many video stores. The whole movie is a single continuous take. Fascinating!

(BTW, 'Russian Ark' has a runtime of 99mins -- 'The Circle' is 103mins. 'Russian Ark' is probably more impressive, but 'The Circle' would also have been a challenge.)
 
Last edited:
i thought Children of Men before I was done reading the title of the post. I also loved the speeding-van scene in War of the Worlds, although I don't think it was actually done in a single take.
 
Has got to be the long take from the top of the terrace that goes down to the swimming pool in Mikhail Kalatozov's Soy Cuba - and of course, the one from Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights that was inspired by it and went a step further by going underwater and re-emerging.
 
Another one: Tarantinos Dead Proof. The scene where the girls talking and the dolly is driven around the table.
 
thematthewbone said:
i thought about this for some time last night and i cannot say a single take action sequence has ever been done quite as well as Children of Men did.

the timing and choreography was spot on. the camerawork was perfect and even clive owens performance was solid.

i also believe chopping that take up into coverage would have definately not felt the same as that single take did.

any other thoughts on great long takes in films?

ps. is this in the right forum?
Click to expand...

I was just watching this again last night. My wife was getting annoyed about how much I was raving about the long takes. There are quite a few in there.

I love the shot when Clive Owen is making his way to the building to find the mother and baby near the end. The intensity and realism of the bullets flying, explosions, and long hand held shot makes you feel like you are right in the action...unforgettable.

Amazing camera work, and an amazing film overall. Probably my fav of last year.
 
Tom Plapper said:
Takes don't get much longer than Russian Ark.
Click to expand...

Russian Ark was an interesting concept for a movie and considering the time constraints they had to work under makes the movie all that more interesting.
Pretty hard to top that as a single take.
 
Hi all:

Children of Men, awesome!

I am Cuba, awesome!

Short Cuts, my favorite because the dialogue in the scene features two guys verbally wanking about how great the long shot was in "was it Touch of Evil" or some other classic film. Altman is kind of being cynical, saying, "yeah, this is a long, long shot of two characters talking about a long, long shot". Pretty damned funny and few people get it.

Dan
 
girlwithamoviecamera said:
Has got to be the long take from the top of the terrace that goes down to the swimming pool in Mikhail Kalatozov's Soy Cuba - and of course, the one from Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights that was inspired by it and went a step further by going underwater and re-emerging.
Click to expand...

I agree--I am Cuba is my all time favorite movie period. There are tons of amazing long takes in it. Actually, the shot you're talking about here did originally re-emerge from the water (aided by specially built lens wipers to get the droplets off) but Kalatozov decided it was too unbelievable so he cut the last part of the shot, which really pissed off the crew.
 
When cameras emerge from water, they typically are outfitted with a high pressure air mechanism which will 'blast' the water droplets off the lens at precise moment of emergence.
 
Mine would have to be Dunkirk Steadicam scene in Atonement. Absolutely fantastic. Each time I see it, I find something different in it.
 
I don't know about favorite and it's most definitely not from a piece of groundbreaking cinematic history but, So I Married an Axe Murderer has a great long shot in the opening actually two but the second one is very decent and they even float a giant cup of joe along for the ride.





.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top