The long take might be my favorite shot in all of film. The blocking, timing, thought, and technical mastery that go into a successful one are astounding. So, when you take some of the best in history and bunch them all together, it's a film lover's dream.
Note: There are some violent images in the video above.
We all know a good movie can be an immersive experience, and perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than in a good long take. In fact, some films have been made to appear as if the entire thing is one long take ("Rope" and "Birdman" are some well-known examples). The video above highlights some of the best examples in cinema.
Just because the compilation doesn't show any of the long takes in their entirety for the sake of brevity, here are two of my favorites for you to enjoy in their full glory. "Goodfellas" is a movie worth watching all on its own if you haven't seen it (and worth rewatching if you have), but the long take at the Copacabana is particularly worthwhile and is a microcosm of the entire atmosphere of the first half of the movie.
"Touch of Evil" is another amazing long take and perhaps one of the best examples of tension-building I can think of in cinema.
Do you have any favorites? Share them in the comments!
Uhm yeah you totally missed this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_HuFuKiq8U
I love True Detective! This is an amazing sequence.
Not a film? Great shot though, the whole scene is super tense.
I've always been a fan of the one from Kill Bill Vol. 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfJx04mWMMY
I don't think anything can touch what was done in Russian Ark. Just watching it makes me anxious. The entire film is one long take. https://youtu.be/iv-AJ1pqE2Y
I can;t see the videos ... my works firewall is throwing up error messages as usual so not sure if these were included.
Aliens as Riddley walks down the hallway with the flamethrower.
Daredevil (the Netflix show not that 2003 abomination Ben Affleck played in ... urgh) with that brutal 5 or 6 minute long single take corridor fight scene.
Robert Carlyle in the Johnnie Walker ad.
OK, not from a film, but, I was impressed by it when I saw it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOaotCU6lJU
Oldboy (2003)
https://youtu.be/eRBwvIX7Sao?t=31
"Children of Men" has some long takes that are really impressive. Great coordination, perfect timing, fantastic actors. And all of this resulting in some truly tense scenes. At first, I didn't even notice they were one a take!
I also have to check "Victoria", a friend of mine was blown away by it (also done in a long take).
Uh... I scrolled through the video but I didn't see this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbqv1kbsNUY
Opening scene of James Bonds' Spectre...
Technically not 1 take (though it sure does look like it), but amazing nonetheless.
You might not know but there is a German movie called "Victoria" which is only one take at all ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp8wcV3GjW0
"Victoria" is awesome movie, fantastic work! the creators of it took three attempts, and it is only one take! awesome!