Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Rob Doorack (R) on April 24, 2005 at 07:51:13

In Reply to: longest tracking shot ever? posted by HI FI BOB on April 23, 2005 at 06:34:18:

There's a stunning continuous scene in John Woo's last Hong Kong film Hard Boiled that's about three minutes long. The setup is a running gun battle in an evacuated hospital between two heroes and dozens of nameless gunsels. In this sequence Chow Yun - Fat and Tony Leung get into an elevator, reload their guns, get off on another floor, and fight their way down several hallways. What makes it remarkable is that there are dozens of gunshot and explosion effects and stunts that had to be done in real time. I read that Woo said that due to the number of effects he couldn't afford to shoot the scene twice so he had to get it right the first time. It's an amazing bravura display of directorial confidence. It's also exciting as hell to watch.