red1138

I was re-watching True Detective Season 1 recently and there's the famous set piece in episode 4 with the one-take shot that lasts about 15 mins that is an absolute spectacle. I started thinking about movies and the ones that have that one scene/sequence that sort of elevates it for that period in the running time. I think this is usually an already good movie that happens to have that one amazing set piece, but I also think these are pretty rare.

Off the top of my head, I thought about Eyes Wide Shut (orgy scene), Apocalypse Now (helicopter attack), Carrie (prom scene) and Magnolia (frogs!)

I think these could also sometimes be sequences that feel "outside" of the rest of the movie.

Would love to hear any examples/recommendations you all may have!

RichC2

Children of Men's tracking shots are still benchmarks for tracking shots, and elevated the rest of an already solid movie.

mwbmis

The train station scene in the Untouchables.

Mabuse

Lot of DePalma here. How about the elevator scene in Dressed to Kill and everything proceeding it?

Hitchcock had hundreds. Two of my favorites are the robbery in Marnie and the diner scene in The Birds.

red1138

Great suggestions! DePalma and The Untouchables I definitely forgot about - The Untouchables is worth watching for that one scene alone...

And Children of Men, of course!

These scenes definitely have the quality/feel that the filmmaker made the movie just to be able to complete that single scene.

Another one I thought of recently is the stargate sequence in 2001 - this is a tough one for me because the whole movie has that "elevated" feel but it could be argued the stargate sequences stands above the rest.

Nick Danger

I guess I don't know what a set piece is.

Wikipedia talks about expensive and difficult scenes. That makes me think of the battlefield in Wings and the chariot race in Ben Hur.

TomOpus

Me neither. I was thinking of the set used in Alien when the crew of the Nostromo finds the ancient astronaut. I always thought that "set piece" was amazing.

Abob Teff

Alien was the first thing that popped Tom yo mind a small Ellis ... Thank you Apple. Fuck you Apple. Let's try that again ...

First thing that popped to my mind as well!

To me a setpiece is a specific set built for a movie, not the shot itself.

Crocker Jarmen

Over the years, I've heard/read "set-piece" as a fancy way of saying "really good scene".

Mabuse

It's a self contained sequence with its own unity of time, space, and events. It typically contains an essential moment or highest point of drama, action, comedy, etc depending upon the film.

Another great DePalma one: Stealing the list in Mission Impossible

davidh777

The heist scene from Heat is a famous one.

PhantomStranger

Set pieces are mostly relevant in big, FX-driven blockbusters. Michael Bay's formula is coming up with four or five set pieces first and then filling in a story around them. It's much easier learning why summer Hollywood blockbusters fail so often after understanding this process. The Transformers franchise is a classic case study.

Norm de Plume

The warehouse and hospital setpieces from Hard Boiled.

Troy Stiffler

All of The Abyss.

I'm also a sucker for action films where they get to blow up something for real (as-in a demolition deal). The hospital in The Dark Knight. That FL Keys bridge in True Lies. I'm sure there are more.

BobO'Link

The parting of the Red Sea in the The Ten Commandments (1956).

The Chariot Race in the Ben Hur (1959).

Indiana Jones taking the golden skull and escape from the trap in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The first 20 minutes of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

The Skeleton Battle in Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

Intolerance (1916) & Cleopatra (1963) - Too many to pick just one.

King Kong climbing the Empire State Building in King Kong (1933).

The runaway train sequence in Von Ryan's Express (1965).

rbrown498

NOT in a blockbuster action film, but the first thing that came to mind when I read the thread title was the sequence in Broadcast News when Tom does his first live cut-in for the network. The cinematography, editing, and sound work for that sequence is phenomenal.

Mabuse

Leathal Weapon 3.

I do like that. They don't do it enough anymore.

GoldenJCJ

^Also the mansion in Bad Boys II.

GoldenJCJ

I'll add the zero gravity hotel hallway fight in Inception.

And the sinking of the ship in Titanic.

Nick Danger

The locomotive plunging into the river in The General.

Deadman31

Jesse and Chester finally finding their car in Dude, where's my car?

mphtrilogy

Re

Rewatched this today, a terrific scene

Brack

The car chase scene from To Live and Die in L.A. is a great one.

I also love the opening for Drive. There's about three different setting changes there, but it the tone staying the same making it one set piece.

mwbmis

Another DePalma...rewatched Scarface over the weekend and while there are a few memorable sequences in that film, the hotel room scene following through to the aftermath on the street would qualify.

Why So Blu?

The way it's worded - "Amazing Set Pieces" makes me think of a nice pair of tits.


#amirite