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They looked like disasters but they changed cinema forever. These 10 terrible movies were secretly groundbreaking.
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00:00It's hard to comprehend how much work goes into putting together a movie scene.
00:04The average movie shot rarely lasts more than a few seconds.
00:07That's why it's highly appreciated when a long, elaborate scene is executed in one take.
00:13Even though filmmakers know full well that they'll have to shoot everything again if something goes wrong,
00:18some are willing to take that chance.
00:21Here with incredible movie scenes shot in a single take.
00:24Any scene, rope.
00:26Alfred Hitchcock intended his 1948 crime thriller Rope to be his first single take film.
00:33This feat was impossible since camera reels during that era could only manage 10 minutes of footage.
00:38As such, the psycho director had the 80-minute movie composed of 10 scenes,
00:43with the shortest lasting nearly 6 minutes.
00:45Hitchcock did his best to disguise the transition from one reel to another,
00:49giving the illusion that the film takes place in a consistent take.
00:52The London-born filmmaker may have dismissed Rope as a stunt later in life,
00:56but there's no question its presentation is a startling achievement.
01:00Though several mistakes made it into the final cut,
01:03Hitchcock and his crew found ways around it to avoid reshoots.
01:06For example, when a cameraman's foot was crushed by a dolly,
01:09he was dragged off set to avoid ruining the scene.
01:12During a dinner sequence, an actress tried to place her glass on a table but missed.
01:16Luckily, a vigilant crew member grabbed the glass before it hit the ground,
01:19allowing the scene to continue.
01:21And on top of that, Hitchcock had the footage mildly sped up
01:25to ensure as much content occurred on each reel as possible.
01:29Rope's very existence may be a gimmick, but it doesn't make it any less impressive.
01:33Weekend. Traffic Jam.
01:35One of the first scenes in Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 dark comedy Weekend
01:40utilises a long take to guide the audience on its first steps into the film's absurd world.
01:44As the pair of leads embark on a weekend at her parents' home for her inheritance from her dying father,
01:50the two find their road trip punctuated by violent car crashes and surreal encounters along the way.
01:55This shot introduces the audience to the chaos,
01:57as the camera, mounted to 300 metres of dolly track,
02:01slowly pans along as their car moves past other vehicles of all shapes and sizes.
02:05The action of the sequence takes place on a crowded street,
02:08positioned against a barren landscape backdrop,
02:10further emphasising just how cramped all the drivers are.
02:13There's minimal dialogue, and instead it gives way to honking of every shape and form of the vehicles
02:18and their varied cargo.
02:20And all of this beautiful chaos is captured for the audience,
02:23while the leads are completely detached from reality and its consequences.
02:27They don't care about what's happening around them,
02:29all they care about is their destination.
02:32Car Chase. The Raid 2.
02:35At 20 seconds long, this clip is the shortest entry on this list by far.
02:39Nevertheless, this moment from The Raid 2 deserves recognition.
02:43While our hero takes part in a brawl inside a speeding car,
02:46the camera pans to the vehicle behind him.
02:49In one continuous shot, the camera moves into the car through the front left side
02:53before moving out to the back right side.
02:56In case you're wondering, this stunt was achieved with zero CGI.
02:59Like the best kind of magic trick, this feat leaves viewers thinking,
03:02how the heck did they do that?
03:04Well, the answer is impressive and surprisingly funny.
03:07The camera operator, who sits on an unseen vehicle,
03:10takes the camera from the first car and passes it to a crew member in the second one.
03:14But how does the crew member in the second car remain hidden?
03:17Well, that's simple.
03:18He's disguised as a car seat.
03:20He then passes the camera through the back window to another unseen cameraman,
03:25who's sitting horizontally on a rig attached to the car.
03:28The setup may sound unnecessarily complex,
03:30but that's what it takes to create movie magic.
03:33Hard Boiled Hospital Shootout
03:35Nowadays, John Woo is mostly known for releasing doves into the air,
03:39but back in the day, he was responsible for some of the greatest action films of all time.
03:44Hard Boiled put him on the map as a great action filmmaker for Hollywood to pay attention to,
03:48and the scene that cemented this film in the action film Hall of Fame
03:51was a 2 minute and 42 second long tracking shot
03:55following two officers fighting their way through a hospital.
03:58Woo and cinematographer Wang Wing Heng
04:00follow the two officers through the various hospital corridors,
04:03masterfully utilising the setting as enemies pop out from all corners.
04:07A cascade of bullets, debris and bodies,
04:10this sequence is a hallmark of action cinema.
04:13Now, the smartest thing about this scene is that
04:15even with all the action, everything is still legible.
04:18Even when the camera draws in and pulls out all the time,
04:22every step has been thought about and it makes the scene drip with raw energy.
04:26Alone in the care home, help.
04:29Mark Munden's deeply underrated TV movie follows care worker Sarah,
04:33who struggles to look after residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
04:37While Sarah works a late shift alone,
04:39she finds one resident, Kenny, struggling to breathe.
04:42With limited resources and no staff to turn to,
04:44Sarah is forced to ask a dementia-riddled patient, Tony, to assist her.
04:49Sarah's desperation and panic is conveyed in real time,
04:52since the scene is shown in an unbroken 26-minute shot,
04:56which makes it far more heart-wrenching.
04:58According to star Jodie Comer,
05:00everything in the scene required meticulous planning,
05:03including the pace of her walk so she was in sync with the camera.
05:06Interestingly, this scene wasn't originally intended to be shot in a single take.
05:10Munden stated,
05:11From very early on in the rehearsals,
05:14Jodie was so real and raw and natural in that part
05:17that I realised we could just look at her for 30 minutes
05:19and it would be the drama.
05:21Although it's a powerful moment, it's also unbearable to watch,
05:24since the audience feels like they are in that room with Sarah,
05:27powerless to help the ailing residents.
05:29Children of Men, The Car Ambush.
05:32This is, simply put,
05:34a visceral portrayal of a society in the throes of death.
05:38It is such a hard watch, but all the more enthralling because of it.
05:42The scene suddenly switches from light-hearted and playful
05:44to terrifying and deeply distressing
05:46as various characters are attacked by an armed gang.
05:50What makes this truly stand out
05:51is that the scene is incredibly complicated
05:54and required a huge amount of coordination.
05:56For a start, there's the burning car that blocks their path,
05:59then there's the motorcycle chase,
06:01the bullet which strikes Julianne Moore's character,
06:03and the violent encounter with the police.
06:05Apparently there was talk that the director thought that the scene
06:07had been ruined by the blood that splatters on the screen,
06:10but it was thanks to the cinematographer demanding it be left in
06:13that we're left with this harrowing and amazing sequence.
06:16Bride Readies Herself, Kill Bill Vol. 1
06:19The first part of Quentin Tarantino's revenge duology
06:23concludes with The Bride challenging O-Ren Ishii,
06:26her underlings, and her elite fighters, the Crazy 88.
06:29This confrontation is so iconic,
06:31it's easy to forget about the stunning three-minute steadicam shot
06:35where our vengeful heroine preps herself for battle.
06:37While O-Ren's customers are enjoying the singing of the 5678s,
06:41the camera pans over to The Bride as she heads into the bathroom
06:44to change into her Bruce Lee-inspired outfit.
06:47In this tracking shot,
06:48the camera snakes under staircases through screen doors
06:51and far above the ceiling,
06:53allowing the audience to see the full layout of the set.
06:55Although the bird's eye shot could be accomplished today with a drone,
06:59no such technology existed when Kill Bill Vol. 1 was released in 2003.
07:04The seamless transition from regular shot to top view
07:06was achieved by removing a sidewall and rolling a crane in
07:10to allow the camera operator to continue filming from above.
07:13The crane then transported the operator over the wall
07:16and into another room where he continued filming.
07:19It may have taken six hours of rehearsals and 17 takes,
07:22but this hard work and Tarantino's preparation
07:25allowed the crew to get the shot in one day.
07:28Old Boy, The Hallway Fight
07:30This particular scene from South Korean mystery thriller Old Boy
07:33is one of the most frantic action sequences ever recorded on film.
07:37The scene in question sees the lead overwhelmed
07:39by literally dozens of attackers brandishing sticks,
07:42fighting his way down a long corridor,
07:44wielding nothing but a hammer for defence.
07:46Though only a couple of minutes long,
07:48the violence and thrills of the scene are incredibly tangible,
07:51and the lack of cuts make the whole thing feel significantly more intense.
07:55The scene isn't as tightly choreographed as some other films that we'd show on this list,
08:00but that's actually part of its huge appeal.
08:02Seeing men fall over themselves, slip on the floor,
08:05and then get their ass handed to them
08:06makes a scene that could have felt over the top and cheesy
08:09remain as grounded as possible.
08:12It took three days to film, and it was worth every single second.
08:15Hunger, The 15-Minute Conversation
08:18Where the scene from Old Boy was short and massively complicated,
08:21this scene is basically the opposite.
08:24It's incredibly long, clocking in at over 15 minutes,
08:27and contains nothing more than two characters sitting at a table and talking.
08:31The characters in question are Hunger Striker Bobby Sands and Father Dom,
08:35discussing the purpose and inevitable outcome of Sand Strike.
08:39The camera lingers on the two for an incredible amount of time,
08:42not moving at all, merely just framing the actors.
08:45Supposedly, Liam Cunningham moved into Michael Fassbender's apartment
08:49in order to rehearse and perfect the exchange.
08:51It's believed that the two actors rehearsed the scene
08:53between 12 and 15 times per day over the course of several weeks,
08:57just so they could get it right.
08:59The Explosion, The Dark Knight
09:01Shooting a complex scene in one go isn't just stressful,
09:05but potentially terrifying.
09:06The smallest hiccup can botch the whole operation,
09:09forcing the crew to set up everything again, costing time and money.
09:13However, this is scarier when there's only one chance to get the shot.
09:16So, when Christopher Nolan decided to blow up a hospital for real in The Dark Knight,
09:21he was painfully aware that there wouldn't be a second take.
09:24In the scene, the Joker activates a detonator while exiting a hospital,
09:28causing the whole building to explode.
09:30Heath Ledger knew that the tiniest miscalculation could place him in serious danger,
09:35but he still managed to nail this 30-second sequence on his first and only try,
09:40despite being mere feet away from falling debris and spewing fireballs.
09:44Ledger was so flawless, it spawned a false rumor that the Oscar-winning actor
09:48improvised the moment where the Joker fiddles with the detonator
09:51after the major bomb seemingly fails to go off.
09:54Although the scene would have been easier to shoot with CGI or green screen
09:57or multiple composite shots, the final product wouldn't have turned out this well.
10:02Boogie Nights, The Opening Shot
10:04Paul Thomas Anderson is regarded as one of the finest filmmakers currently living,
10:08so it makes sense that his 1997 feature debut Boogie Nights would show off some incredible talent.
10:14The movie tells the story of a huge number of different characters
10:17expertly weaving their narratives together throughout the course of the film,
10:20kind of like Chaucer's tale If It Was On Coke.
10:23The film's opening shot goes from establishing the title of the film
10:26to setting the context and introducing many of the main characters.
10:30The shot follows these characters into an incredibly vibrant and popular nightclub,
10:34circling and tracking throughout the location.
10:36Once in the club, there are all kinds of framing, lighting and timing complications,
10:41and the introduction of even more characters.
10:43On paper, it would make so much more sense to cut between different shots,
10:46but this unbroken and unapologetically indulgent opening
10:50sets a greater tone than switching between angles could ever have done.
10:54Bear Attack, The Revenant
10:55The Revenant tells the gruelling true story of Hugh Glass,
10:59a fur trapper who was left for dead by his companions after being mauled by a grizzly.
11:04Although this revenge western is exquisitely shot,
11:07it's the single-take sequence of Glass being attacked by the ferocious beast
11:11that leaves the biggest impact.
11:13Even though Stumpman Glenn Ennis was the physical stand-in for the bear,
11:17the creature is computer-generated throughout this scene.
11:20To minimise reshoots, the performers mapped out all of Glass's movements
11:23when the monstrous carnivore hurls him against a tree,
11:27flips him around, stomped on his head, sniffs his face, and rolls him over.
11:30Rather than relying on CGI for the shots where Glass is flung around the forest,
11:34these moments were achieved with good old-fashioned wire work.
11:37Now, performing a single-take shot with a CG character doesn't sound like a good idea on paper.
11:43If the movements or actions don't line up,
11:45the filmmakers mightn't be able to tell until the footage is finalised,
11:48and if a major mistake is made, it could compromise the entire shot.
11:52However, leaving the scene unbroken was the right decision,
11:55since it highlights the sheer terror Glass endured,
11:58offering a more palpable experience for the audience.
12:01Touch of Evil, The Car Bomb
12:03It's also no surprise to find an amazing scene shot in a single-take
12:07show up in one of Orson Welles' films,
12:09given that he's one of the greatest directors ever to have lived.
12:13Welles' 1958 film Touch of Evil is one of the last examples of film noir
12:17in the genre's classic era,
12:19and begins with an incredibly striking opening shot.
12:22The shot sees a bomb planted in a car by a mysterious man,
12:26only for the car to be entered by a man and woman,
12:28who drive out of the car park and into the city.
12:30The camera then attaches itself to a different couple,
12:33the film's main characters, played by Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh,
12:36who walk past the rigged car at various points on their journey,
12:39only to share a kiss right before it explodes.
12:42The shot is incredibly ambitious for the time,
12:44making use of a massive crane to sweep from sky to street level.
12:48And if that wasn't impressive enough,
12:49the time bomb was actually set to explode around three minutes,
12:52and it is timed so incredibly realistically,
12:55as the scene itself lasts just about three minutes.
12:58It must have been an absolute nightmare to coordinate,
13:00but the end result is a touch of genius.
13:03The Shootout John Wick Chapter 4
13:05As impressive as the action sequences are in the first three John Wick installments,
13:10the fourth chapter blows them out of the water.
13:13The Tokyo fight is phenomenal,
13:15the nightclub brawl is action in its purest form,
13:18the staircase fall is genuinely ridiculous.
13:21And of course, there's the final shootout.
13:23Armed with a shotgun with combustible shells,
13:26known as the Dragon's Breath,
13:28Mr Wick charges through a Parisian apartment,
13:30blasting any mercenary who stands in his way.
13:33To magnify the tension exponentially,
13:35a lot of the climax is portrayed in a top-view shot
13:38that goes uninterrupted for two minutes.
13:41Even though viewers have a bird's-eye view of the explosive action,
13:44it's still hard to catch everything.
13:46After all, the scene involves dozens of actors,
13:48countless guns, hundreds of props,
13:50and stuntmen on fire frantically dashing around.
13:53And if you think it's hard to process it all,
13:55imagine what it was like for the actors.
13:57Keanu Reeves had to memorise every performer's position,
14:00including the ones he couldn't see since he has to shoot through walls to hit them.
14:04Although CGI was utilised to accentuate the action,
14:08it doesn't dilute the staggering amount of work
14:10that was put into this eye-watering marvel.
14:12Paths of glory through the trenches.
14:15This particular scene may not be impressively long or complex,
14:18but it's an absolutely incredible example
14:20of how a single take can be used to set a certain tone
14:23and portray a certain message.
14:25The scene sees George McCready take a trip through the trenches
14:28during World War I as a general,
14:30speaking to various soldiers along the way
14:31and noting the various explosions taking place
14:34increasingly close to their location.
14:36The climax of the scene sees the general reach
14:38one particular soldier who is completely incoherent,
14:41failing to engage with the questions the general asks
14:43and confessing to be a coward.
14:45The general is told that the soldier is experiencing shell shock,
14:48which the general staunchly refutes,
14:50causing him to beat the soldier in question.
14:52As mentioned, this take isn't an example of technical prowess,
14:55but it completely captures the spirit of the movie,
14:58which Kubrick meant as a great anti-war statement.
15:01The general's inability to understand the plight of his soldiers,
15:04then coupled with the deep, chaotic view of life in the trenches,
15:07achieves this aim perfectly,
15:09culminating in the general's violent display of absolute ignorance.
15:13The entire movie, boiling point.
15:16Philip Barantini's British drama follows head chef Andy Jones
15:19working in his restaurant on the busiest day of the year.
15:23After his business loses its five-star rating for health and safety,
15:26Andy does everything he can to get things back on track.
15:29Due to workers butting heads, difficult customers,
15:31and Andy's drug addiction,
15:33everything quickly descends into chaos.
15:35Although Birdman was praised for simulating a one-take movie,
15:38boiling point pulls it off for real.
15:41The 92-minute film was shot four times,
15:43with the third take being used for the final product.
15:46Not only is this a towering feat in its own right,
15:49it's incredible how this was achieved in such a cramped set.
15:52Camera and sound operator Kif McManus explained in an interview
15:55how it was a nightmare to hide the boom operator and assistants,
15:59knowing their visibility would ruin the take,
16:01forcing everything to be reset.
16:03Amazingly, the single-take style never feels like a gimmick.
16:06Since viewers don't get a moment to rest,
16:08it feels like they're going on this journey alongside Andy and his employees,
16:12making it feel more relatable the entire movie, Victoria.
16:17Like boiling point, crime thriller Victoria occurs in real time from beginning to end.
16:22Unlike boiling point, Victoria doesn't take place in a single building.
16:26Instead, it involves multiple sets and complex scenarios,
16:29including breakdancing, piano playing, shootouts, on-foot chases, and a fistfight,
16:35each of which must have been a nightmare to pull off on the first take.
16:38There's also a moment where lead actress Laya Costa stands on the back of a bicycle one-handed
16:42while another actor cycles it for 90 seconds.
16:45If anything went wrong or Costa fell off, it could have ruined the take.
16:49Speaking of which, the director encouraged the actors to improvise as much as possible
16:53to cover up potential mistakes.
16:55In a way, this decision saved the movie.
16:58While driving, the titular character takes a wrong turn,
17:00causing the rest of the characters to freak out.
17:03However, this wasn't scripted.
17:04Laya Costa took a wrong turn for real, compelling the actors to genuinely flip out,
17:09assuming that she'd screwed up the shot.
17:12Fortunately, they stayed in character and improvised a scene of them getting lost,
17:15which works in the story's favour.
17:17Victoria may not be the only single take movie,
17:20but it might very well be the most ambitious.
17:23Russian arc, the whole movie.
17:25Yes, Russian arc, the 2002 historical drama directed by Alexander Sukharov,
17:30was shot in a single take.
17:32The whole movie, in one take.
17:34The film sees a 19th century French aristocrat exploring the Russian state hermitage museum,
17:40encountering various historical figures from the last few centuries.
17:43It is absolutely mad, but it is nonetheless astonishing in what it accomplishes.
17:49The film clocks in at 96 minutes,
17:52and displays an amazing 33 rooms of the museum,
17:55containing over 2,000 actors and three orchestras.
17:59The shooting of this film is so elaborate,
18:01that an entire documentary was made about its creation called In One Breath.
18:06Supposedly, four attempts were needed to film this movie.
18:09Eventually, the filmmakers were left with just enough battery power on the camera,
18:12yes, because of course there was only one camera,
18:14that they could attempt it a final time.
18:16Of course, it goes without saying that timing, tracking and everything else was maddeningly intricate.
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