Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

While watching The Vast of Night (2019), I was knocked out by the long take used to build suspense. It was all done with hand held cameras, and was impressive in it's mastery. Written/directed by Andrew Patterson, DP: M.I. Littin-Menz.

https://youtu.be/04OgLSelegI


I got to looking around to find other long take examples, and there are scores of them. Here are a few that particularly impressed me. This, from Children of Men (2006), is stunning in its complexity. It's so good that the viewer takes awhile to realize that this is one long take. Writer/director: Alfonso Cuaron, DP: Emmanuel Lubezki.

https://youtu.be/YMM8XrZe1R8

This one is doubly impressive because in 1964 they didn't have CGI and all the technical equipment they do today. From I Am Cuba (1964), Director Mikhail Kalatozov, DP: Sergey Urusevskiy.
https://youtu.be/rjuLkJ4m-mc

And for a shoot-out scene, this one is the longest and most complicated I've seen. From Hard Boiled (1992), Writer/director John Woo, DP: Wang Win Hang.
https://youtu.be/bKoIQUgyFt0

Which long takes in films do you like?

Re: Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

https://youtu.be/EhmYY5ZMXOY

The "bomb in the trunk" from Touch of Evil is a winner. (I also liked Vast of Night a lot)

The opening to Robert Altman's The Player (1991), which starts with the slate being clapped. Not currently on YouTube. It is so meta it has characters discussing long opening shots, including Touch of Evil.

The simple and effective bank robbery from the back seat in Gun Crazy (1950).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28aPxWtdaGY

Re: Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

One of my favourites in recent times is from The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Davies.

Here's some of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYhWfgfEfzQ

Werckmeister Harmonies

Perhaps my favorite scene of all time from a film that made me a cinephile. Now that's some crazy-long mastershot! Obviously, the entire film is made up of nothing but mastershots. The final one and the hospital one are genius, too.

https://youtu.be/_d5X2t_s9g8

Damnation

Another epic master shot. Starts at 0:45. Ends at 6:54.

https://youtu.be/DTg7OiDSX5s

Inside/Out

Outstanding mastershot from a film directed by the cinematographer of Werckmeister Harmonies.

https://youtu.be/4YYXdeCgndY

The Passenger

A pretty obvious example of one of the best-known mastershots in history. Obviously, a great one.

https://youtu.be/ke2CFuLQ6t8

Breaking News

Johnnie To pulls off a mastershot, too. The wobbly camera makes it only better!

https://youtu.be/CJlCYNt2z9k

Plus many from Theo Angelopoulos and Miklos Jancso but hard to find on YT.

Obviously, you also have films like Russian Ark where the 90-minute-long film is just one mastershot.

Not 100% sure of this topic, but I guess there were long takes in Belá Tarr’s The Turin Horse. Sátántangó too.

Yep, they consist entirely of long takes.

Re: Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

I thought both long takes from Children of Men were impressive.

The climatic one in Carlito's Way is another one that left an impression in me.

Spring also has one, perhaps a bit "simpler" but still impressive, where two characters walk in a hurry through the streets of a small village.

Also, I don't know if it applies, but the simplicity of the 15-20 minute table talk scene in Hunger is worth noting.

Nice examples! In Werckmeister Harmonies, I like the long take where they're trashing the hospital. But what made it for me was the payoff when they showed the shamed and pitiful naked old man. Very touching.

Yeah, The Passenger is a classic. What a mood. I think the shot was accomplished with moveable bars on the window.

I'd never seen Breaking News. That's a great action long take.

I agree about "Children". The car chase scene was so impressive because of all the switches in action, in and out of the moving car, etc. Don't know how they did that, but I heard it took them 4 days of tries to finally get one.

I can't recall the long take in Carlito's Way. Was that the one in the subway station?

Here's another nice one from Magnolia (1999), Director: PTA, DP: Robert Elswit. Lots of timing in this one, even though it was only a 2' 15" take.
https://youtu.be/dDMdzg_QmxM

This is from The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) no subtitles

Don't watch the clip if you're in the HoF but haven't watched the movie yet

https://youtu.be/NvL0Bj9ZUPc

Yeah, when they're chasing him across the station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7hQzkAVFBE

Speaking of De Palma long takes, I've always LOVED the shot in Scarface where a handheld camera goes up to the window of the motel, then we go into this great crane shot where the camera goes all the way down from the 2nd floor, across the street, and then all the way back again in one single shot:

https://youtu.be/SMVyy1wVg-M

Re: Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

Speaking of De Palma, Snake Eyes starts and ends with a master shot:

https://youtu.be/p5Rz1ruuLEk

Since nobody has mentioned it yet, the Copa shot from GoodFellas

https://youtu.be/mcXBP-1fduY
https://youtu.be/JVDC95rprFs

Awesome movie.

Re: Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

Anything directed by Tarkovsky.

That's an amazing shot but half of it is computer generated I think. I'm not saying it doesn't count as it clearly does and it's a great film.

Re: Best "Long Take" shots in film
 

I liked the long interview take in 'Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always'. Simple, just based on the performances an dialogue. Same as the restaurant take in Mike Leigh's 'Secrets and Lies'.

Then you have the funeral take in 'Soy Cuba', which to my mind is one of the greatest takes in cinema (1m41s):

Video might not be playable in your country which is a great shame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFXv6bDIY8&t=1m41s