10 Movie Fight Scenes That Set The Bar For Slo-Mo
1. Jake La Motta Vs Sugar Ray Robinson - Raging Bull (1980)
The Scene
A boxing ring. Again. Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) is toe to toe with rival, Sugar Ray Robinson (Johnny Barnes).
How It Sets The Bar
A hard watch though this may be, but Martin Scorsese definitively mastered Slow Motion here. Robinson's look of despair as he realises La Motta is in no condition to fight back and La Motta's cry of 'come on!' composes an image of a man who should not be in that ring.
That's when time stands still. The world around us is rendered silent - La Motta and Robinson transfixed on each other. Robinson goes in for the kill and the subsequent bombardment is borderline unwatchable as La Motta is drilled into the ropes like he's being pounded by a machine gun. Blood trickles down his legs, it floods the near by audience in attendance and cameras flash. All the while, Scorsese is cutting between the real time of Robinson's vantage point and the fudged, smothering world that Jake is calling home.
Cinematically, each shot could be placed on a canvas for it's artistry, however, it's the story of a man fighting with his own pride - not to go down - that makes this use of slow motion devastating and effective in equal measure.