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I work in Film. I live in Martial Arts. I thrive in Imagination.

WHY I LIKE THIS VIDEO: Kurosawa was a master filmmaker, relying on image to convey his emotions. How he captures emotions with this imagery is conceptually brilliant. I could watch this video a hundred times and always learn more.

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The Raid

The Raid: Redemption

November 02, 20231 min read

A S.W.A.T. team — including an officer (Iko Uwais) with a personal stake in the mission — must capture a drug kingpin who lives an apartment tower’s penthouse suite in Jakarta. Each floor in the building, however, is filled with henchmen ready to pick off the cops one by one. Gareth Evans’ instant action classic uses a videogame’s boss-level concept as an excuse to throw every type of imaginable option at his heroes imaginable. Gun play? Hand-to-hand combat (including the brutal Indonesian fighting style known as Penkat Silat)? Machetes, axes and knives, oh my? It’s all here, with each impeccable set piece delivered at a frantic, kinetic pace designed to leave you shellshocked. The Raid‘s bigger-faster-more methodology was such a gamechanger that it’s now become the go-to template for choreographing fight sequences, from those John Wick/Atomic Blonde carnage-fests to Evans’ own, just-as-great-the-second-time-around 2014 Raid sequel.

The Raid

The Raid
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Michael Mandaville

Michael is a writer, filmmaker and dedicated World War II historian who studies martial arts, action films and is learning more about VFX every single darn day. Oh and a Scholar Warrior

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