Top 5 Action Sequences in Film

Tuesdays from this day forward will be known as Top 5 Tuesdays. I may not post a Top 5 List every week, but when I do, it'll be on Tuesday. (If you just read that last sentence out loud, and in the voice of the "most interesting man in the world", like I just did, score one extra point just for you!)

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Everybody loves a good action movie. Well, almost everybody. Any why not? We love watching our hero being thrown into one of several seemingly implausible and improbable situations where guns are blazing and complete property destruction is the end result. But what about the action sequence? Where it's just a series of quickly-paced sequences that follow our hero -- or a character that we haven't even been introduced to yet -- to complete an impossible objective. Maybe it's an unknown and unstoppable intruder inside the White House. Maybe it's a cat and mouse car chase through the streets of San Francisco. Or maybe it's a bank robbery that goes from good, to bad, to worse. Either way, what makes a good action sequence great, is when it can reproduce that visceral -- almost primal -- response in the viewer every time they watch it.

Below are my Top 5 Action Sequences in Film.



5. Nightcrawler's Attack on the White House | X2: X-Men United (2003)
Brian Singer's second (and final) entry in the X-Men franchise starts off with a bang. First-time viewers and fans alike expect to be impressed by an unprecedented set of action sequences in most any superhero movie.

While I'd love for you to watch the opening sequence for a refresher course on how to pump your audience full of adrenaline 2 1/2 minutes into your film, unfortunately it's no longer available online.

4. Madagascar/Construction Site Chase | Casino Royale (2006)
Most James Bond films start off with a bang before the opening title sequence and then settle down to slow-paced story development for upwards of 30 minutes. Director Martin Campbell turns the traditional format on its head when Bond literally chases down a lead on an international bomb-maker through Madagascar from a construction site all the way to an embassy.

The entire chase sequence can be seen here, as Campbell uses to his advantage the physical discipline of Parkour, where participants move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing, and jumping around obstacles.

3. Indy Takes Back the Ark | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Hardly anything ever goes right for Indiana Jones, but he never lets that get in his way of retrieving a rare artifact because "it belongs in a museum." Directed by Steven Spielberg, who became a seasoned master of the chase with his directorial debut of Duel, took over five weeks to film a sequence that resulted in just over six minutes of screen time.

The footage of Jones underneath the truck -- as well as him being dragged behind -- was shot at 20 frames-per-second (rather than the standard 24). When the footage was sped up, it gave viewers the impression that it was moving faster than the speed in which it was actually filmed. The end result is still a nail-biter to this day.

2. Chase Through the Streets of San Francisco | Bullitt (1968)

Widely regarded as the greatest car chase ever put on film, Bullitt still holds its audience captive due to its suspense and precise film editing. Steve McQueen, an avid race car enthusiast, did a fair amount (but not all) of stunt driving for this sequence. Peter Yates was hand-picked by McQueen to direct the film due to his realistic depiction of a car chase the previous year in the film Robbery.

Shot throughout the city of San Francisco, the geographic continuity of the entire chase is completely inaccurate in order to convey fluidity in its final edit. My father introduced me to this car chase when I was a young boy, wearing out the VHS tape where it had been recorded off of broadcast television; 20 years passed before I finally saw the film in its entirety. You can see the entire car chase sequence here.

1. Bank Heist / Shootout | Heat (1995)

Thought to have inspired numerous bank robberies since its release, Heat broke the mold on how to enthrall its audience with a realistic bank robbery and shootout scenario that takes place in downtown Los Angeles. Michael Mann's film was later used by the United States Marine Corp to show recruits as an example of the proper way to retreat while under fire. 

Due to the grand scale representation of Los Angeles, it was later studied at length by Christopher Nolan, using it his model for Gotham City in The Dark Knight. You can watch the entire bank heist sequence here.

What's your favorite action sequence on film?