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After six years and 10+ viewings, The Raid 2's final fight hasn't even come close to being topped.

Skel1ingt0n

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,890
(for me)

I absolutely adore this film. From beginning to end, it has me completely enthralled. And while I've followed the suggestions of countless posts and Youtube videos, I've yet to find a film with better "grounded" fight choreography since its release. Not from Netflix marvel shows, or John Wick, or Winter Soldier. Mad Max Fury Road, surprisingly, is what I find most close ... but obviously vehicles =/= people. And even working backwards with IP Man, Crouching Tiger, Kill Bill, Old Boy, etc... I still always come back to this as being "peak fight." While I truly love the story, the characters, the time skip, the music, and the pacing... I think I'll always come back to just how exceptional of a theater experience it was.

My best friend and I saw this on opening weekend, and were in a ~half full theater in the evening. And never in my life have I seen an entire audience more engaged. Literally - not the fake literal, but literal literally - almost every.single.person was standing up just absolutely freaking out at the final fight.

There were so many absolute "holy fuck" moments. Gasps. DAAAMNS. Everyone was just completely engrossed in it. It hits hard. It starts at this crazy high and somehow just keeps.upping.the.crazy. But yet, what makes it so brutal is the fact it feels real. These guys make mistakes. It's messy. It's very "John Wick 1" esque (which I do love), but just on a more punishing level and with more precise choreography.

This 2018 video hopped on my YT feed and it compelled me to make this thread:



I don't typically like "reaction videos," but I think this gives you a good idea while watching that your thoughts are shared by others. Like - I feel myself thinking just like these dudes even watching it tonight as they go through the clip.

If you haven't seen it - this is a pretty big spoiler. But at the same time, the movie offers SO much more than just this one fight.
 
Vincent Alexander

Vincent Alexander

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,842
I never go out of my way to watch reaction videos, but I'm just about never disappointed by the ones Era posts. Still watching, but loving this one too. I assume the jump-cuts are for copyright issues to stop their video from being taken down?

Damn, that fight is still amazing. I love all their "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" as the raid boss is going down at the end.
 
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darz1

darz1

Member
Dec 18, 2017
7,122
As much as I love the intensity of The Raid films, I always felt that Ong Bak 1 blew me away so much more with the fight scenes.
 
KrAzEd

KrAzEd

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,015
Brooklyn, NY
Incredible movie. That last scene was mind blowing. John wick 3 also had a pretty great end but nothing has topped the raid 2 yet.
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,844
The Muddy Prison yard fight was more impressive and memorable imo, and would have been a total bitch to film.
The Kitchen fight is great, but it also felt like a scenario I had seen many times (also bat guy and hammer girl are way too anime to take seriously).
 
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GhaleonQ

GhaleonQ

Member
Jan 14, 2018
139
I'm a hipster douche who really digs for his art, loves exploring non-English flicks, and prioritizes certain themes and presentations more than others.

That scene blows my mind (in a different way from the muddy prison yard), and the movie's in my top 10 of the decade on its back. I felt exhausted by it in the same way that many good horror or comedy movies exhaust me. Against my will, it wrenched emotions from me. What a classic.
 
Mr. Keith

Mr. Keith

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,944
I'm a nerd that likes the last fight from the first movie more.

Something about the Raid 2 last fights felt too much like a video game to me. It was like a boss rush.
 

Adventureracing

The Fallen
Nov 7, 2017
8,065
I don't mind the raid films but i don't love them like so many seem to. I kinda find the fight in the OP kinda nauseating. I can see the craft on display but i just don't like how it's shot.
 
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,266
Gangs of London is great but it was slightly disappointing that it only really has one hand to hand big fight like this.

Personally, the fight between Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger is a stand out to me in a different way, since it does a lot more work with characters and story. The 1 v 10 scene in Ip Man is another. Going backwards there are a lot of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Bruce Lee fight scenes that should be in contention for that claim.
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,844
Mr. Keith said:
Something about the Raid 2 last fights felt too much like a video game to me. It was like a boss rush.
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Its definitely more of a calculated cartoon fight at times, like characters killing people with perfect baseball launches. That's why the cold brutality of the yard fight was my favourite. John Wick 3 was also becoming more of a comedy to me compared to the other 2.
 

lemmykoopah

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
740
Yeah that fight is fantastic. The stance before they start, the music near the last part, the intensity. And so well shot.
 
Motorcycle Dork

Motorcycle Dork

Member
Jun 24, 2019
6,458
Though I liked the first movie more, the fight choreography is fantastic in both Raid movies. The kitchen fight is baller.
 
HouseDragon

HouseDragon

Member
Dec 4, 2017
551
Amazing fight and amazing movie, it deserved much more attention from everyone at its time of release. Hope we get a follow up someday, but sadly I'm not getting my hopes up...
 
Yōkai_0h-No

Yōkai_0h-No

Member
Nov 20, 2018
340
I would say the fight is great but it's missing an emotional aspect. Does the protagonist even know that the bad guy he's fighting is the one that killed his brother?
 
Crossing Eden

Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,572
fd07c3e2cbb3dacccbb6d3ffb07580db.gif
 

Deleted member 68874

Account closed at user request
Banned
May 10, 2020
10,441
The final 30 minutes of the film is every action fan's dream.

I still think it's the best action movie ever made.
 
Lee Morris

Lee Morris

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,724
Every time see a fight scene in a film or TV show, I always think back to the end of the raid 2 and wonder why I can be as good as that scene.

The best
 
Feep

Feep

Lead Designer, Iridium Studios
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
4,624
Timbuktu said:
Gangs of London is great but it was slightly disappointing that it only really has one hand to hand big fight like this.

Personally, the fight between Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger is a stand out to me in a different way, since it does a lot more work with characters and story. The 1 v 10 scene in Ip Man is another. Going backwards there are a lot of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen and Bruce Lee fight scenes that should be in contention for that claim.
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The Ziyi/Yeoh fight is my favorite cinematic combat scene of all time. Though, that said, the Raid 2 scene is a much different flavor. It serves at the brutal payoff at the end of a film where the violence doesn't feel *good*, it just underscores how awful and brutal the protagonist's journey is.
 
Zampano

Zampano

The Fallen
Dec 3, 2017
2,242
It is awesome. I do think the moment to moment fighting in the Raid flicks is a tad overrated - the hand waving and the camera movement carries a lot of water for them but their mid fight gags/key moments are excellent. The way this fight builds and the sense of desperation is unbelievable.
 
jsnepo

jsnepo

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,648
The thing that I don't like about the fight scenes here is how people keep flailing their arms. I can't unsee them.
 

DeltaRed

Member
Apr 27, 2018
5,746
I don't really recall the final fight in Raid 2 but I do remember the Mad Dog fight in the first one.
 
Graefellsom

Graefellsom

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
1,659
It's a great fight but I prefer the final fight from the first Raid. It feels more kinetic or something. Can't think of the word I want to use at the moment.

The first movie is just perfect to me. The second movie although I like it almost has too much going on. I like all the parts individually, the movie just doesn't hang together as well for me.
 
Qvoth

Qvoth

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,967
Raid 1 is much more compact and easy to digest
2 is much more beautifully shot and choreographed, but it's also more exhausting
 

Deleted member 15227

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
1,819
It's a decent fight but it never really clicked with me.

Prefer Yeoh vs Ziyi in CTHD.

Or the final fight in SPL2 between Jaa + Jing vs Zhang. Or Jing vs Yen fight in SPL.
 
Zampano

Zampano

The Fallen
Dec 3, 2017
2,242
Tence said:
He'd be dead :P But tbf, most people would coz the raid guys are actual pencak silat martial artists. And really good ones at that.
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Also, they are absolutely tiny. There's a shot in John Wick where Keanu is on his knees fighting them and he's pretty much head height.
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,844
Laughing Banana said:
It's so obvious that in John Wick 3 the raid guys tune down their movement and athleticism so far below in order to match Keanu, haha.
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People were becoming magical smoke ninjas and shit in John Wick 3. The Raid guys vs Keanu was certainly a little clunky thanks to John Wick being played by someone who can't keep up yeah.

tbqh the last fight in Raid 2 has a bit of that Revenge of the Sith feel (im sorry) where it goes on so long and they barely slow down so it looks like a videogame.
It would be fine if it wasn't already in a movie with a bunch of extensive fights, including some right before this one with no time to breathe. Relentless to a fault imo. I'd sooner believe Jackie Chan getting wasted on fuel at the end of Drunken Master 2.
 
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Deleted member 16609

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
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Harlem, NYC
OP never seen a Corey Yuen film from the 80s. The fights in Flashpoint, SPL 1&2, Special ID, The GrandMaster(Chinese Cut)The Wrath Of Vajra, Kung Fu-Killer and Shaolin(2011) are better. Scene is aight to me and the Night Comes For Us has an amazing brutal choreograph fight in the end which I like better than Raid 2.
 

Deleted member 15227

User requested account closure
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Actually, as much as I loathe the guy these days, Jackie Chan in wheels on meals, drunken master 1 and 2 are still unparalleled.
 
SoundLad

SoundLad

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,263
The kitchen fight is amazing for sure - insane choreography. Oldboy's corridor fight still takes the cake for me though.

 
thesoapster

thesoapster

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,919
MD, USA
My favorite action movie(s).

SoundLad said:
The kitchen fight is amazing for sure - insane choreography. Oldboy's corridor fight still takes the cake for me though.

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Oldboy's scene is impressive for different reasons. It's one take, which is hella cool, but it's nowhere near the same level of polish. It really isn't supposed to be. If you watch it carefully, you'll see lots of little dumb mistakes. To some degree, that maybe adds a feeling of realism in that these are just run-of-the-mill goons he's plowing through, and they're frantic and undisciplined.

If only it had been at this level! šŸ¤£
 
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