MovieChat Forums > Atomic Blonde (2017) Discussion > Re: The fight on the stairs

Re: The fight on the stairs


It seems the fight scene is done in one shot from the top of the stairs all the way until the get halfway through the car ride. But it's total deception. There were at least 7 scene changes that I could count. I like scenes like this, but I hate the deception involved in making such scenes. Either do it truthfully, or let it go. They treat the audience like we're dumb or something.

I enjoyed to movie and the complexity of the story, but a woman whipping up on multiple trained thugs is just a little unbelievable.

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If the film makers don't advertise it's a single take, I don't see the big deal. Just appreciate the sequence and the effort that went into making it look like a single take.

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I counted 8. You missed one.

But, I don't recall any deception involved on the part of the movie. How is it that you feel they deceived you?

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Because they wanted to believe it was 1 continuous shot when it actually wasn't so. But I've read elsewhere that there was over 40 separate shots stitched together. A lot of work just to pull off an actually faked scene. But I did enjoy it.

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They admitted in interview that it isn't tehnicially one long shot and it has a couple of hidden cutes withun the scene.

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Just a little?

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Hmm. A bunch of films have a long scene that’s apparently executed in one shot, but you can always tell when the “deception” comes in. The filmmakers themselves haven’t made any effforts to “hide” the fact that it wasn’t technically all done in one take, so I don’t see what the problem is with them editing this impressive scene that way.

And Theron, a woman, can’t beat up all these trained men at once regardless of her training? Man... speaking for myself, i like that I have no difficulty appreciating the “ridiculousness” of action movies.

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I actually thought it was one long take and was impressed initially. I'm disappointed now but in all honesty it would be extremely difficult to have done so in one take. The king of long takes to me is still "oldboi" and "secret in their eyes".

PS: true detective

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Speed x mass = force. Bruce Lee weighed 140 pounds. While you are right that MOST women lack the upper-body strength of “built” men, speed AND precision, cf, Michelle Yeoh, will kick the living shit out of brute force any day.

To add: (1) amazing musical score, spot-on from the era, starting with Till Tuesday’s “Voices Carry” (and featuring my personal friend’s Robert lead guitar) to Bowie’s “Putting Out The Fire . . . With Gasoline” (from the remake of Cat People). (2) Therozon’s spectacular physical presence. She did Aeon Flux. She did a pseudo Mad Max movie, where she, not he, was the real Protagonist. She is arguably THE female action hero du jour, because she CAN ACT and she can deliver.

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Yes, but Bruce Lee used oriental martial arts which use the opponent's strength against him.

Theron was just thumping people.

And throwing heavy guys about.

I am all for female empowerment, but it just was not realistic.

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She did a pseudo Mad Max movie, where she, not he, was the real Protagonist


Fury Road was not a pseudo Mad Max movie, it was a real Mad max movie. Other than the original Mad Max, in "Road Warrior", "Beyond Thunderdome" and "Fury Road" Max comes in to the middle of something and helps.

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You do realize fight scenes in action movies are total deception, they are really not hitting each other. Oh and the blood is not real and no one was shot of stabbed. A woman cannot beat a dozen trained killers with guns and neither can a man. Sure it is not single continuous shot, so what, it was a great piece of fight choreography. By their very nature movies are deception for our viewing pleasure.

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