Slow Motion is one of the oldest (and best!) tricks in the filmmaker’s playbook. Showing the action at half speed can add gravitas, drama, or old-fashioned epic-ness to any shot. Here are some of our favorites. Subscribe: http://goo.gl/9AGRm
What do you think of the list? Do you have a personal favorite slow-mo shot we left off? Or think one of our picks is overrated? Which bit of slow motion do YOU think is the greatest ever? What other filmmaking topics would you like to see us cover in future editions of CineFix Movie Lists?
Let us know in the comments!
THE LIST
The Matrix (1999)
Directors: Wachowski Siblings
Bullet Time is pretty much the granddaddy of all slow-mo effects. We probably wouldn’t be doing a list like this if it weren’t for the artistry-meets-inventiveness of the Wachowski’s seminal film.
Dredd (2012)
Director: Pete Travis
Slow-Mo and drug trips go hand-in-hand in film. So, fittingly enough, the drug called SLO-MO in Dredd gave us one of the greatest Slow-Mo sequences ever.
Watchmen (2009)
Director: Zack Snyder
Snyder slow-mo-ed his way into prominence with his slow-to-fast speed ramps in 300, but it was the opening title sequence of Watchmen that really sold us on the whole world of the film.
Zombieland (2009)
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Speaking of opening sequences, Zombieland uses slow-mo destruction to immense effect to take over-the-top… well, over-the-top.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Okay, everyone loves a good slow-mo “Character(s) walk toward the camera” shot. Half speed makes even walking look pretty darned epic. But it’s the down-and-dirty workarounds Tarantino employed in one of his earliest works that makes this sequence one to remember.
Hard-Boiled (1992)
Director: John Woo
Hong Kong Action Film master John Woo invented what came to be known as “Gun-Fu” a “martial arts” style that wouldn’t be the same without the judicious use of slow-mo… and a few well-timed doves.
The Shining (1980)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
The slow-motion blood gushing from the hotel elevator may be subject for debate as to what it means. But what’s not up for debate is how memorable and impressive the sequence is.
Olympia (1938)
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Riefenstahl’s films of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin was the origin of a lot of the techniques we discussed in this list. It’s one of the first and greatest sports films, though it was as much a work of Nazi Propaganda as cinematic art.
Drive (2011)
Director: Nicholas Winding Refn
Violence is a popular subject for slow-motion cinematography. In Drive, slow motion serves not to glorify or beautify violence, but to highlight its terrible effects.
Hurt Locker (2008)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Where in other movies, slow-mo is used to draw out the majesty of an explosion, in this movie about munitions disposal technicians brutally highlights the raw, terrifying effects of a bomb going off.