8 Incredible Movie Scenes Shot In A Single Take

7. Oldboy €“- The Hallway Fight

Oldboy Long Take
Show East

This particular scene from South Korean mystery thriller Oldboy is one of the most frantic action sequences ever recorded on film. Oldboy was released in 2003 and is part of the Vengeance Trilogy, which contains Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and Sympathy For Lady Vengeance, all of which are directed by Park Chan-wook.

The scene in question sees businessman Oh Dae-su overwhelmed by literally dozens of attackers brandishing sticks, fighting his way down a long corridor wielding nothing but a hammer for defence.

Though only a couple minutes long, the scene is incredibly tangible, and the lack of cuts makes the whole thing significantly more tense. An incredible amount of preparation went into perfecting this scene, with seventeen practices taking place over a staggering three days. In the end, though, they managed to nail the long take, and cinematic history was made.

Contributor
Contributor

Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.