Long Takes & Tracking Shots

[SmilinJackRoss]

I saw The Protector a couple days ago, and it features a long, 4 minute continuous shot of Tony Jaa fighting his way up a staircase.  It's absolutely amazing, especially considering all the queues that all these guys had to hit perfectly.  The endurance of Tony Jaa is equally impressive.  Check it out:

So my question is, what are some other cool, long tracking shots that you guys can think of?  My favorite one has to be the foot massage conversation in Pulp Fiction. 

[kodiakthejuggler]

One of the first ones that comes to mind would be the decent of the ship in the beginning of Serenity. It's actually 2 shots made to look like one, but it goes on for a long time!

[gammer]

Check out the movie Four Rooms

The movie is broken down into 4 parts or rooms.
Each room is directed by a different director.

Allison Anders   (segment "The Missing Ingredient") 
Alexandre Rockwell   (segment "The Wrong Man") 
Robert Rodriguez   (segment "The Misbehavers") 
Quentin Tarantino   (segment "The Man from Hollywood") 
 
The one that Tarantino does has a real long shot at the start. I thnk its longer then the foot massage scene.

Also this was a common thing that they did in several X-Files episodes. I'll see if I can track a specific episode that had a good one...

[WouTar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM2tTfOPcd4

OldBoy's fight sequence is stunning. One of the best movies I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

If you want to watch the movie one day I suggest not looking in message boards and such. The movie has a terrific twist at the end and it would be a shame to have it ruined.

[BathTub]

Of course there is Children of Men

[BEERxTaco]

Also this was a common thing that they did in several X-Files episodes. I'll see if I can track a specific episode that had a good one...

Yeah I remember one X-Files ep that had a long long shot, that went up and down an elevator a couple of times in the FBI building, following Scully around... eventually out to the garage and into the car...

[SmilinJackRoss]

Of course there is Children of Men

Yeah, I have to say that CoM has some of the best steadicam work ever, because I was so engrossed in what was going on, and the camera-work was so engaging, I completely forgot I was watching a stedicam shot at all.

[Rude]

...

Alfred Hitchcock's film Rope is just one long continuous shot with no cuts at all. I mean, except for when they ran out of film in the camera... and even those are covered up by panning across someone's back or something~

A new film called Russian Ark did the same thing a few years back. Although it's a strange sort of artsy foreign film that's cool to look at, it's not nearly as entertaining as Rope. I guess because there's not really a plot, it's more of an abstract trip through Russian history~

Also, Orson Welles movie Touch Of Evil has an amazing opening shot that tracks it's subjects all over town, as they walk and drive... even across the Mexican border. Really cool shot that used cranes and every trick in the book. Definately check this movie out if you've never seen it!

-Rude

[Wiseblood]

One of my favorites, from Hard Boiled (unfortunately the sound is a little out of sync here):

[Bob]

The scene in "Goodfellas" when they were entering the club was pretty amazing.

The opening scene in "City of God" is one of the best ever.

[mrbasehart]

The Player, directed by Altman has a very long tracking shot, while the characters in the movie discuss the really long tracking shot in Touch of Evil.   

I've seen Russian Ark, and it is extremely impressive.  They called the whole one take thing "in one breath", which I found quite a nice (if slightly poncy) turn of phrase.

[BEERxTaco]

The Player, directed by Altman

One of my all-time favorite films!

[Grillslinger]

The opening shot form The Birdcage was very impressive, as was the opening for Snake Eyes.

[SmilinJackRoss]

There's a few in Contact.  One when she first hears the signal, and runs from her car, inside and up some strairs.  Another at a formal when she's dancing with McConaughey.  Robert Zemeckis has made some pretty awesome movies.

[mrbasehart]

Of course, The Shining has quite a lot of them.