10 Movie Fight Scenes That Set The Bar For Slo-Mo
5. Ealias' Death - Platoon (1986)
The Scene
Sgt. Elias (Willem Defoe) appears from the jungle and, sadly, isn't dead yet. However with the others safely in the air, the realization of what is about to happen to their comrade makes for one of cinema's landmark moments.
How It Sets The Bar
It's not a choreographed 'fight' in the sense of most of the other entries -it's a firefight - but you cannot make this list without possibly the most watched Slow Motion shot of all time. Urgency is scaled up by the troops dragging their fallen and injured brothers onto the 'copter - the camera taking you close to the action.
The sound of Adagio for Strings by George Delerue rumbling in the background of the rescue. Only when Sgt. Elias appears from the thick green jungle with a herd of enemy soldiers, swarming behind him does the scene slip into GOAT status. The Slo-Mo begins and we see bombs and bullets slowly burst and pierce the ground. The music starts to engulf the gun fire that is hammering down on Elias. He falls to his knees and throws his arms up into the air and thus creating a visual we still laud today.
Slo-Mo can sometimes simply be used to drag out the tension and solidify the importance of what we've just seen.