Broken bones, punctured lungs and sometimes even tragic fatalities - apart from the astronomical financial cost involved, this is often the price paid to capture those perfect, iconic photos. action shots, which regularly determine the fate of a film as a sensation or a flop.
Jumping from rooftops, cranes and windows of skyscrapers before miraculously landing unscathed on a moving car, to inexplicably and single-handedly battling a small army of armed insurgents, we've seen all sorts of riveting action sequences that make our hearts pound, and our mouths open.
The 2010s were a golden decade for the action movie; advances in CGI and special effects ensured that no stone was left unturned in the pursuit of cinematic perfection. Let's take a look at the best action sequences of the decade...
Skyfall - Motorcycle Pursuit
Skyfall was Sam Mendes' first outing as director of the James Bond franchise, and in this record-breaking blockbuster he delivers one of the most defining and breathtaking scenes in its decorated 60-year history. Against the backdrop of the market stalls and bustle of Istanbul, Bond (Daniel Craig) is involved in a motorcycle race of epic proportions.
In pursuit of a mercenary, the British Spy races through markets, dark alleys and rooftops before ending up on top of a moving train. These events should go down in history as not only some of the biggest in the franchise's ultra-competitive history, but also some of the most notable in terms of stunt work and production.
Baby Driver - Open escape scene
Baby driver is a film acclaimed for its impeccable soundtrack needle drops, from Harlem Shuffle and T-Rex's Deborahto the Commodores' Simple. They're all notable classics that pop up in the movie, but it's in the form of Bell bottoms through the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion that we truly get our most memorable soundtrack accompaniment.
The song blares during the film's first getaway chase as the driver, Baby (Ansel Elgort), and a trio of armed robbers evade the police in a series of breathtaking stunts and friction-defying maneuvers. Edgar Wright's film has its foot firmly on the accelerator and certainly grabs our surprise in this exciting opening segment.
Kingsman: The Secret Service - Church scene
“Manners maketh man,” Harry Hart (Colin Firth) exclaims to Eggsy (Taron Egerton), before slaughtering a right-wing religious cult in Kingsman: The Secret Service. Straight out of the James Bond-meets-Quentin Tarantino playbook, this slick, seamless all-out action sequence combines the brilliance of CGI with an impressive acrobatic stunt display.
Once upon a time in Hollywood - Home invasion scene
A home invasion by murderous hippies would be a terrifying experience at the best of times, let alone during the Manson era, and especially while tripping after smoking an acid-soaked cigarette.
In Once upon a time in Hollywood, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) must fend off armed intruders with the help of his dog, Brandy, and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), who takes the opportunity to use his deadly flamethrower in arguably one of the funniest, most mesmerizing and fascinating cinematic moments since the millennium. This scene embodies Quentin Tarantino's penchant for brutality, gore, guts, and comic-book action.
You were never really here - Hammer Fight scene
In one of the most low-key and unique action sequences of the decade, Lynne Ramsay's neo-noir crime drama, You were never really here. The film won two awards at Cannes and received phenomenal critical reception, and follows a war veteran haunted by PTSD, Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), who is recruited to track down a missing teenage girl.
CCTV footage shows Joe arriving at the trafficker's house, where Nina is presumably held only with a hammer. The action sequence unfolds in near silence, hearing only the muffled groans of those under attack, and the tinny, atmospheric backing track of Angel baby.
Dunkirk - Air Raid
Christopher Nolans Dunkirk simply does a remarkable job of portraying the terrifying nature of the largest wartime evacuation in living memory. Waiting like sitting ducks for some form of rescue, in what must have been an unimaginably horrific ordeal already, half a million Allied soldiers were left stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk as the German attack drew closer.
The palpable tension in Nolan's film about World War II builds in the first minutes through a triple perspective from land, sea and air, while the eerie, almost deadly silence on the beaches is shattered by the approaching German jet engines. With the unsettling peace finally shattered by frantically fleeing soldiers and the intrusive sound of bombs landing on the beach, Dunkirk illustration of the fear of the soldiers is almost palpable.
Parasite - The Birthday Massacre
Stealing the show at the 2020 Academy Awards, Bong Joon-ho's riveting thriller Parasite claimed four of the most prestigious awards in film. The surprise hit follows the impoverished Kim family, who live a parasitic double life, living off the Park family's wealth, though they fail to realize the deeper truths behind the family's artifice.
In one of the film's final scenes, the Park family is hosting a birthday party, when the previously imprisoned Geun-Sae (Park Myung-hoon) escapes from the underground bunker and then attacks the Kims with a kitchen knife. It's a truly seductive climax to an impeccable South Korean classic.
Get Out - The escape and revenge
Jordan Peele's self-aware social commentary, Outconsidered by many to be one of the best films of the 2010s. In the film, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) is trapped in the home of his horrible, psychotic in-laws before escaping.
In one of the most scintillating, suspenseful scenes of the 2010s, a traumatized Chris must overcome the entire Armitage family, one at a time using whatever means necessary, from deer horns to stilettos.
Inception - Spinning hallway
A second entry for Christopher Nolan, and it's clear that the Keepsake director does not cut corners during filmmaking. In this flawlessly constructed piece of scenography during Start, the corridor in which Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Arthur battles the guardians of Robert's dream, is essentially gravity-defying. Not only is the action scene captivating in nature, but the BAFTA-winning Guy Hendrix Dyas's avant-garde design is also a stroke of genius in its own right.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Of Mad Max: The Wasteland And Furiosa scheduled for release in 2023 and 2024 respectively, it will have been the best part of a decade since George Miller's previous barnstorming edition of the franchise with Mad Max: Fury Road. That's totally fine; it took Miller three decades to follow up on the case crazy max movies, and the result was seriously one of the best action movies of all time.
The post-apocalyptic action drama is home to a slew of sublimely executed set-plays, including the thrilling sandstorm scene, where Max is chained to the front of the truck in perhaps the most terrifying scene of the entire show.
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