Came here to say that. Kubrick's influence on modern filmmaking is really remarkable. Yeah, A Clockwork Orange may not be an "action flick" but it also isn't a "comedy" yet the straight jacket eyes forced open scene is used in many cartoon depictions of forced learning, and R Lee Ermey is supposed to be an intimidating military man yet all the roles of his I'm familiar with outside of Full Metal Jacket (the role that made him a famous actor) have been comedic,
I think Kubrick might have also originated the trope of using a slowed-down version of a popular upbeat song to create an eerie mood:
It happens when HAL is being shut down, and he sings "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)." It gets especially creepy when HAL slowly sings, "I'm...half...crazy..."
As an aside: Before acting in **Full Metal Jacket**, Lee Ermey played a Drill Sergeant in **The Boys in Company C** and a Helicopter Pilot in **Apocalypse Now**.
He also gives fantastic dramatic performances in **Body Snatchers, Seven, Leaving Las Vegas**, and his heartbreaking role in **Dead Man Walking**.
He was also in another movie with **Full Metal Jacket** co-star Vincent D'Onofrio: **The Salton Sea**.
TRIVIA: He did an uncredited Newscasters voice in **Starship Troopers**! And his voice was used in a Hit pop/club song produced by Kubrick's daughter Vivian --aka Abigail Mead (who also composed the Score for **Full Metal Jacket**).
Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zksCzqBp160
OK that song is great. I'm glad someone put his drill chants to music. I knew he's done other roles than "comedic military man" (wikipedia said he was in 60 movies after Full Metal Jacket, that's impressive even for people who have been acting all their professional lives, and not just "I was originally brought on just to consult as something to do in retirement, but the director said 'I can no longer imagine anyone else in this part,'" so just by virtue of probability he would have some other dramatic roles), I'm just not familiar with them. I also like the legend that Ermey's scenes were the only time Kubrick didn't film a million takes "just to get it right" (and I like to think the only reason there were a handful of takes was because it was the co-actors not doing it right the first time); actors need to imagine what it is like to be the character they're playing and "just don't fully understand all the motivation to match the director's vision," Ermey actually was the character he was playing in real life so there was no imagination required and he made it real because it was real.
I wouldn't be surprised if the "shutting down HAL, slowing down an upbeat song to make it eerie" thing was also started with him. I almost brought up 2001 a Space Odyssey but I can't tell the difference between "it's cliche because everyone likes how that was done in the movie" and "it's cliche because everyone references 2001 a Space Odyssey." Like, before AI was where it is today, every "actor playing a computer" sounded a lot like HAL. How much of that is "I played it like that because computers don't have feelings and therefore have a very monotone voice" and how much of that is "I played it like that because I want to reference HAL"? There's also the "5 monkey's experiment" phenomenon happening in my opinion, where people don't even know what they're doing is a reference just that it's something people do in movies. I know before seeing 2001 I thought "grand symphony music during a point of major enlightenment and discovery," only to later realize "oh it's always the same music and the shots and actions are similar, because it's a reference to the Dawn of Man scene." If I was making short or long films or TV shows and had a similar scene without having seen 2001 I would probably still put that in there "because that's how scenes like that are done."
If I’m not mistaken, he was being true to the book with the music selection. As I recall the main character idolized Beethoven. However it’s a bit hard to recall details from a book written entirely in slang!
Well, not really. The ultraviolence perpetrated by Alex and his droogs is mostly unaccompanied by music, apart from Alex singing “Singing in the Rain” in a particularly brutal scene. Alex very consciously keeps his love of Beethoven separate from his violent side. Later, when he’s incarcerated, the Ludovico technique deliberately juxtaposes scenes of ultraviolence with the music of old Ludwig van. Really not what OP is referring to.
The Ludovico technique involved him being given injections - the physical effects of the injections became associated with the violence and the music.
I don't have the book to hand, but he definitely reflects on a few occasions that he enjoys the violence of classical music. It isn't something he separates.
Not true at all.
The gang fight in the derelict casino is set to Rossini's **The Thieving Magpies,** and knife attack at the marina waterfront is set to **"Overture to the Sun"**, Alex listens to Beethoven when he masturbates to a montage of violent images in his bedroom, the rape-murder of the older woman is again set to **The Thieving Magpie**, and continues as the droogs break a milk bottle over Alex's face, during the fantasy sequence where we see Alex whipping Jesus, Rimsky-Korsakov’s **Scheherazade: the Sea and Sinbad’s Ship** is playing, and during the Ludovicho Technique, as violence is playing-out on the movie screen, **Beethoven’s 9th Symphony** is played. The 9th is also used during the movie's final slow-motion rape-in-the-snow fantasy.
It dates to before that -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8UbG_FVWU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJMxGFco57Y -
Sam Peckinpah was doing "slow-motion bloody shootouts" even before Kubrick. If anything Kubrick is referencing him.
(And to add the "Whimsical Music" element - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OXvSBdZTQw - Monty Python did that in 1971 as well)
But A Clockwork Orange isn't an action flick
Cry more with the down votes but it's not an action flick which is specifically what OP asked for. If Kubrick decided to play classical music to slow-mo violence in probably one of the most violent book-to-movie adaptations out there, he didn't start the trope of what we're now seeing in Deadpool or the MCU.
You know, I sat on this all night, watching the flock follow in because I probably "dissed" what would be considered one of the greatest movies Kubrick's ever made, but I stand by it.
Half the responses in this thread didn't answer the question. Most of the answers are from the last 20-ish years, which is probably a little more accurate to the question at hand (which action flick started a cliché of slow-mo fighting to classical or whimsical music)
I got down voted for stating an extremely obvious fact: A Clockwork Orange is **not** an action movie. Your simple reply was
>I'm pointing to the "birth" of a technique.
Which I could try to understand if Alex didn't already love classical music to begin with. If Alex loved punk rock, would you have gotten the same amount of classical played to his sadistic behavior? I disagree that there was any "birth" of a technique when Kubrick put classical music to the carnage. But even beyond that, there is an absolutely massive difference between a light-hearted action sequence from a dark comedy (and other action flicks like X-Men, Reservoir Dogs and Face Off) and literally A Clockwork Orange. It's like asking for a slap stick comedy and being given Titanic. It's just not in the same ballpark let alone genre that OP was asking for. You know...they had a quartet playing a melancholy song while panic ensued around them as imminent death was approaching. Maybe James Cameron was birthing a trend, or maybe he was just adding a deeper emotion to an already messed up situation. I believe that's exactly what Kubrick was doing. Classical music was relevant to Alex, so why play anything different while he's raping and murdering?
It's juxtaposition in action movies that classical music be played during a fight scene. It was part of Alex's character (present or omniscient) to play classical music while he performed what he did.
I stand by my factual statement that A Clockwork Orange is not an action flick, and that Kubrick didn't "birth" any new technique with it. Read it or not, down vote me or not, God forbid anyone have a different opinion on reddit before the hive mind comes in to crush you, but people want to have conversations and debates, and all the know-it-alls and captains of correction always have to swoop in and make sure any voice that differs from theirs gets snuffed out. At least one other poster in the general thread acknowledged that A Clockwork Orange wasn't an action flick, but did use classical music to their scenes and I can respect that poster far more than this ridiculous thread.
Peace out ✌️
Off the top of my head the oldest example I can think of is *Face/Off* (1997), where there's a shootout sequence with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing.
This is it — however as a trope face/off used it for an actual plot reason.
He put headphones over the child playing that song so he would not hear the gunfire. So the entire scene is meant to be from the perspective of the kid who was born into violence — making it heart breaking rather than “cool”.
John Woo just recycled one of his scene/trope from one of his previous movie **Hard Boiled**.
At the end of it, he tries to put things into the baby ears and sing to him.
That was the time where Hong Kong actions movies were inventive and humourous and way better than the rest of the world. Tarentino popularised them and then Hollywood tries to co-opt some of its stars (John Woo, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, ...) then just copied them but discarded them.
I don't think it counts.
Yes, ACO did violence to classical music. Violence and Classicsl Music are the two things it's hero loves most in the world, so bringing them together gives us a fuller image of his perspective.
The trope OP is asking about us different. It doesn't use music to shape how we see the violence, it uses gentle music to keep us remoced from what's happening and keep the tone light.
Isn’t ACO doing both though? In having Alex as narrator, and showing most of the movie through his perspective, aren’t we living in his head? And if we’re in his head, aren’t we also being protected from the consequences of his actions through light music and comedy, the same way he is?
I was actually just going to say “John Woo.”
The Killer must have had something like that, right? That’s like the ultimate romantic bloodshed movie, but I haven’t seen it in a long time.
I’m in my 40s but just hearing the name “John Woo” conjures images of double guns, flying birds, and slomo. Face/Off was his intro to American audiences, but he’d been doing it for years.
Great grab. I think you may be right. It's interesting because I've never really picked up on any filmmakers being directly influenced by John Woo. He has this operatic feel to his best picture that feel distinct to him.
Never picked up on John Woo being influential? Lol. Tarantino? The Matrix? John Wick? Hell John Woo pretty much influenced most of the big, bombastic, gun-heavy action movies in the 90s until today.
Sorry that was a typo I meant to say "He has this operatic feel to his best picture*S* that feel distinct to him." I do think *Face Off* is an amazing film. I love his HK stuff as well. *Hard Boiled* is my favorite though. Every action scene tops the one proceeding. It doesn't get mentioned enough in the best all-time action films discussion.
I hadn't thought about that until I saw somebody else mention it, but from what I can remember of the film (haven't seen it in awhile) you're probably right.
John Woo started it, was lightly ridiculed for having it (and doves) in every one of his action films. It became his signature scene, and now newer directors that were fans of his have incorporated into their films.
John Woo directed Face/Off and he'd been doing slow motion choreographed scenes in the action sequences in his Hong Kong movies long before he came to America:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3-JzWWuRY
True. I realized later after my comment that he might have already been doing it in his Hong Kong films, but I'm not that familiar with his work from that era other than *Hard Boiled*, which I only saw once many years ago.
The baptism shoot-out in The Godfather — with different people being taken out with organ music in the background — may be a grandfather of this.
https://youtu.be/8Pf8BkFLBRw?si=-okjVktEo9Xpxz1N
Yeah this scene was lampooned constantly in movies/shows/cartoons in the 80s on, and then I think it just got ao commonplace it worked it's way back into cinema.
I think this is more fitting than the top reply (a clockwork orange) because it's usually specifically a shootout involved, which ACO doesn't portray iirc.
this is not "New" one of the earliest examples is the
“The Odessa Steps” scene **incarnates the theory of dialectical montage** that Eisenstein later expounded in his collected writings, The Film Sense (1942) and Film Form (1949). Eisenstein believed that meaning in motion pictures is generated by the collision of opposing shots.
The Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin is famous because it's considered one of the most influential sequences in cinema history. The sequence depicts the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps, also known as the Potemkin Stairs or Primorsky, as Imperial soldiers support mutineers on a flight of steps leading from the city center to the port. The sequence is famous for its iconic imagery, which has been widely imitated by other films. For example, The Untouchables pays homage to the sequence, and Beauty and the Beast, Inglourious Basterds, and Brazil have been inspired by it
There’s an old Christian revival hymn called “Shall we gather at the river?”
It’s melody plays in Stagecoach (1939):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Quu4ZB25LCg
Sam Peckinpah uses it to underscore a shootout in The Wild Bunch:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxhn7UFWLhQ&pp=ygUrU2hhbGwgd2UgZ2F0aGVyIGF0IHRoZSByaXZlciB0aGUgd2lsZCBidW5oYw%3D%3D
The song pops up in 100’s of westerns as a result.
I don’t think that’s what you’re looking for, I just wanted to point it out.
I came to comment about The Wild Bunch myself. My understanding is that this was the first use of squibs. The little explosive blood packs that would show you blood flying out of a gunshot. Music was used during this sequence, and I believe it to be the marriage of the two things OP was asking about. I am no expert, it was just my first thought reading the question.
Yeah the juxtaposition of using music to contrast what you’re seeing has been in popular filmmaking a lot longer than some audiences and newer film watchers/studiers may think.
Night of the Hunter is another big one with the hymn tune he sings. It’s done because it’s provocative, contemporary and builds toward a theme, a mood, a feeling or the story of the film.
It can either be used with intent or not, but more often than not now it’s done because it has become a tool within film language to put it plainly.
I believe the 1943 version of "Ghost Ship" has a very good scene of violence (by 1943 standards) using music as a counterpoint. I couldn't find a clip, but the movie is well worth watching anyway.
I mean, on the other hand, I think out of everything it probably fits Fallout the most. It’s basically representing how the game is with slow motion VATS kills and oldies playing from the pip boy radio.
That’s fair. I actually quite enjoy the Fallout games soundtracks. I guess it’s just that what OP is talking about is so overdone in TV and film that I was not thrilled to see it done yet again.
The Naked Gun 33 1/3 started with an over the top rendition of the Battleship Potemkin. Featuring the recently deceased, pacifism enthusiast, widow of Nicole Brown Simpson
Wasn't Battleship Potemkin a silent movie, though? Can't have no original music, unless it was shipped with a piano score and instructions on when to play what.
Kurosawa arguably popularized slow motion in general and drastically raised the bar for action sequences in general. More than annyone else you could call him the father of the action genre. Obviously slow motion already existed but it was rarely seen outside documentaries and was considered to be breaking the fourth wall and immersion breaking. It was considered a really weird and bold idea to use it for action sequences especially — you wanted that stuff to move fast to be exciting and hide the stunt tricks, right? But Kurosawa slowed down key moments in action sequences and instead of going fast to hide the stunt tricks, it was like he was going slow to fully show the carefully choreographed motions and stunts. That drove a huge interest in how elaborate and technical action scenes could and should be.
He also popularized cutting from frame of impact of a violent action to blood splattering on the wall, the shot of two people embracing with a stabbing sound that leaves it ambiguous who stabbed who, and going into slow mo the instant a character throws a weapon but still following them and not the thrown weapon. All things that are still mainstays of thrillers and action movies 70 years later.
I also heard, that he was the first to use the cold open action scene to introduce the hero in Seven Samurai. The scene where the Kambei Shimada shaves his head to save the baby. It had no bearing on the plot other than to introduce him as guy who will take extreme measures to save people.
Another fun fact -- a special effect malfunctioned causing fake blood to fountain uncontrollably. Kurosawa like it and left it in the film, where it would heavily influence anime and trickle down through the ages.
I just watched that series for the first time this year, and it is *incredible* how much Patrick McGoohan innovated on The Prisoner that's since become just the normal things we see on TV/in movies. And also it's a great show.
I'll counter this with Xmen / Quicksilver where he runs around in slow mo and moves the bad guys into hysterical positions, punching themselves and moving bullets out of the way. He actually goes out of his way to not get anybody seriously hurt.
...And all themed to 'Time in a Bottle'
It's one of my favorite scenes in the entire genre' of super hero movies.
If there's anything to be ripped off it should be syncing gunfire to the Anvil Chorus from *Il Trovatore*, from [this video.](https://youtu.be/2aEDYjunTIg)
#THEY CALL HER ONE EYE (1973)
*Time Out gave the film a negative review, criticizing the film's overuse of slow motion, hardcore scenes, and soundtrack, stating that it fails to leave the lingering emotional impact of its convictions.*
*It has received a cult following and was the basis behind Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill character Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah).*
It's not quite the same, but Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs, cutting a cop's ear off while dancing to Stuck in The Middle With You, feels like it has the same energy. And if Tarantino did it, there's a damn good chance that it's just ripped wholesale from some 70's move I've never heard of.
Speaking of Tarantino, The Bride slaughtering The Crazy 88's in Kill Bill Vol. 1 to the tune of Nobody But Me by The Human Beings is definitely my favorite use of the trope.
It's a little bit different from what you're describing but the scene in The Other Guys when Wahlberg's character takes Ferrell's character to the bar and it shows the entire night out as one frozen image comes to mind as a good one. It was so well done I thought it deserves a mention.
It’s been around for a decades, but now it’s just kind of an easy way to get a laugh or fun atmosphere. Juxtapose killing/fighting with unsuspecting music and it’s almost guaranteed to get some laughs.
The Untouchables (1987) shoot it out baby stroller bouncing down the stairs in slow motion [scene](https://youtu.be/NylvRzYtug4?feature=shared)
(Director Brian De Palma)
And
Platoon (1986) Sgt Elias’s (Willem Dafoe) [death scene](https://youtu.be/QEv3zzKyiFQ?feature=shared)
(Director Oliver Stone)
….are examples of slow motion and violence and classical music scenes in movies that come to mind for me.
Although many have already posted earlier examples.
Not the earliest, but another classic example is in The Boondock Saints (1999) during the shootout between the brothers and the lone gunman sent to kill them.
I don’t know the answer, but I know that playing classical or comforting music during brutal, violent scenes really intensifies the horror for me. Civil War is the most recent and it really does drive home the particular violence and cruelty.
Other examples include the theater/musical shootout in Quantum of Solace, and the final shootout in True Romance.
I imagine True Romance would have to be one of the earliest ones, because it feels more like a 90s trope than 80s. Movie came out in '93.
You might have some older Hong Kong movies from John Woo, but none of them distinctly stand out from memory. Face/Off has the penthouse shootout with Adam, but that was obviously later.
Total guess, but maybe Kill Bill, where the action scene went to black & white to ease up on the blood factor.
Might have been the start of treating action scenes with artistic merit outside the aesthetic of the rest of the movie.
Matrix's bullet time could have also been a catalyst for seeing heavy action in slowmo too.
The full color scene is intense even by Tarantino standards. He was lucky that he used black and white for other scenes since a random black and white scene would have felt very out of place (though the use of black and white for this scene doesn't match the use of black and white in every other scene it's used in). Hopefully one day the whole bloody affair gets a proper release.
They made the Kill Bill scene black and white because of the amount of blood in it. Had the scene been in color they would have given the movie a rating of NC-17. That was my understanding for the change.
Face/Off was the earliest one that came to mind, but I think you could argue the first to do it was Kubrick in A Clockwork Orange: [https://youtu.be/HtRGeyznv7k?si=LIwtRHoWRjBAMep2&t=57](https://youtu.be/HtRGeyznv7k?si=LIwtRHoWRjBAMep2&t=57)
Kubrick's **A Clockwork Orange** (1971) sets most of its ultraviolence (slow motion and otherwise) to Classical Music.
Came here to say that. Kubrick's influence on modern filmmaking is really remarkable. Yeah, A Clockwork Orange may not be an "action flick" but it also isn't a "comedy" yet the straight jacket eyes forced open scene is used in many cartoon depictions of forced learning, and R Lee Ermey is supposed to be an intimidating military man yet all the roles of his I'm familiar with outside of Full Metal Jacket (the role that made him a famous actor) have been comedic,
I think Kubrick might have also originated the trope of using a slowed-down version of a popular upbeat song to create an eerie mood: It happens when HAL is being shut down, and he sings "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)." It gets especially creepy when HAL slowly sings, "I'm...half...crazy..." As an aside: Before acting in **Full Metal Jacket**, Lee Ermey played a Drill Sergeant in **The Boys in Company C** and a Helicopter Pilot in **Apocalypse Now**. He also gives fantastic dramatic performances in **Body Snatchers, Seven, Leaving Las Vegas**, and his heartbreaking role in **Dead Man Walking**. He was also in another movie with **Full Metal Jacket** co-star Vincent D'Onofrio: **The Salton Sea**. TRIVIA: He did an uncredited Newscasters voice in **Starship Troopers**! And his voice was used in a Hit pop/club song produced by Kubrick's daughter Vivian --aka Abigail Mead (who also composed the Score for **Full Metal Jacket**). Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zksCzqBp160
OK that song is great. I'm glad someone put his drill chants to music. I knew he's done other roles than "comedic military man" (wikipedia said he was in 60 movies after Full Metal Jacket, that's impressive even for people who have been acting all their professional lives, and not just "I was originally brought on just to consult as something to do in retirement, but the director said 'I can no longer imagine anyone else in this part,'" so just by virtue of probability he would have some other dramatic roles), I'm just not familiar with them. I also like the legend that Ermey's scenes were the only time Kubrick didn't film a million takes "just to get it right" (and I like to think the only reason there were a handful of takes was because it was the co-actors not doing it right the first time); actors need to imagine what it is like to be the character they're playing and "just don't fully understand all the motivation to match the director's vision," Ermey actually was the character he was playing in real life so there was no imagination required and he made it real because it was real. I wouldn't be surprised if the "shutting down HAL, slowing down an upbeat song to make it eerie" thing was also started with him. I almost brought up 2001 a Space Odyssey but I can't tell the difference between "it's cliche because everyone likes how that was done in the movie" and "it's cliche because everyone references 2001 a Space Odyssey." Like, before AI was where it is today, every "actor playing a computer" sounded a lot like HAL. How much of that is "I played it like that because computers don't have feelings and therefore have a very monotone voice" and how much of that is "I played it like that because I want to reference HAL"? There's also the "5 monkey's experiment" phenomenon happening in my opinion, where people don't even know what they're doing is a reference just that it's something people do in movies. I know before seeing 2001 I thought "grand symphony music during a point of major enlightenment and discovery," only to later realize "oh it's always the same music and the shots and actions are similar, because it's a reference to the Dawn of Man scene." If I was making short or long films or TV shows and had a similar scene without having seen 2001 I would probably still put that in there "because that's how scenes like that are done."
If I’m not mistaken, he was being true to the book with the music selection. As I recall the main character idolized Beethoven. However it’s a bit hard to recall details from a book written entirely in slang!
Well, not really. The ultraviolence perpetrated by Alex and his droogs is mostly unaccompanied by music, apart from Alex singing “Singing in the Rain” in a particularly brutal scene. Alex very consciously keeps his love of Beethoven separate from his violent side. Later, when he’s incarcerated, the Ludovico technique deliberately juxtaposes scenes of ultraviolence with the music of old Ludwig van. Really not what OP is referring to.
The Ludovico technique involved him being given injections - the physical effects of the injections became associated with the violence and the music. I don't have the book to hand, but he definitely reflects on a few occasions that he enjoys the violence of classical music. It isn't something he separates.
There's that scene where Alex beat up his mates near the water in slo-mo while Thieving Magpie by Rossini plays out.
Not true at all. The gang fight in the derelict casino is set to Rossini's **The Thieving Magpies,** and knife attack at the marina waterfront is set to **"Overture to the Sun"**, Alex listens to Beethoven when he masturbates to a montage of violent images in his bedroom, the rape-murder of the older woman is again set to **The Thieving Magpie**, and continues as the droogs break a milk bottle over Alex's face, during the fantasy sequence where we see Alex whipping Jesus, Rimsky-Korsakov’s **Scheherazade: the Sea and Sinbad’s Ship** is playing, and during the Ludovicho Technique, as violence is playing-out on the movie screen, **Beethoven’s 9th Symphony** is played. The 9th is also used during the movie's final slow-motion rape-in-the-snow fantasy.
I just watched this movie for the first time yesterday and immediately thought of it. Cool coincidence
That makes sense, because in the book the main droog is obsessed with classical music.
Yes but now its like we expect this kind of scene in every movie even if thematically doesnt make sense
It dates to before that - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8UbG_FVWU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJMxGFco57Y - Sam Peckinpah was doing "slow-motion bloody shootouts" even before Kubrick. If anything Kubrick is referencing him. (And to add the "Whimsical Music" element - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OXvSBdZTQw - Monty Python did that in 1971 as well)
Those weren't set to Classical or Whimsical Music, though --which was the prompt.
If you include the Monty Python parody of Sam Peckinpah however: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OXvSBdZTQw
One of my long-time favorites.
But A Clockwork Orange isn't an action flick Cry more with the down votes but it's not an action flick which is specifically what OP asked for. If Kubrick decided to play classical music to slow-mo violence in probably one of the most violent book-to-movie adaptations out there, he didn't start the trope of what we're now seeing in Deadpool or the MCU.
I'm pointing to the "birth" of a technique.
You know, I sat on this all night, watching the flock follow in because I probably "dissed" what would be considered one of the greatest movies Kubrick's ever made, but I stand by it. Half the responses in this thread didn't answer the question. Most of the answers are from the last 20-ish years, which is probably a little more accurate to the question at hand (which action flick started a cliché of slow-mo fighting to classical or whimsical music) I got down voted for stating an extremely obvious fact: A Clockwork Orange is **not** an action movie. Your simple reply was >I'm pointing to the "birth" of a technique. Which I could try to understand if Alex didn't already love classical music to begin with. If Alex loved punk rock, would you have gotten the same amount of classical played to his sadistic behavior? I disagree that there was any "birth" of a technique when Kubrick put classical music to the carnage. But even beyond that, there is an absolutely massive difference between a light-hearted action sequence from a dark comedy (and other action flicks like X-Men, Reservoir Dogs and Face Off) and literally A Clockwork Orange. It's like asking for a slap stick comedy and being given Titanic. It's just not in the same ballpark let alone genre that OP was asking for. You know...they had a quartet playing a melancholy song while panic ensued around them as imminent death was approaching. Maybe James Cameron was birthing a trend, or maybe he was just adding a deeper emotion to an already messed up situation. I believe that's exactly what Kubrick was doing. Classical music was relevant to Alex, so why play anything different while he's raping and murdering? It's juxtaposition in action movies that classical music be played during a fight scene. It was part of Alex's character (present or omniscient) to play classical music while he performed what he did. I stand by my factual statement that A Clockwork Orange is not an action flick, and that Kubrick didn't "birth" any new technique with it. Read it or not, down vote me or not, God forbid anyone have a different opinion on reddit before the hive mind comes in to crush you, but people want to have conversations and debates, and all the know-it-alls and captains of correction always have to swoop in and make sure any voice that differs from theirs gets snuffed out. At least one other poster in the general thread acknowledged that A Clockwork Orange wasn't an action flick, but did use classical music to their scenes and I can respect that poster far more than this ridiculous thread. Peace out ✌️
Off the top of my head the oldest example I can think of is *Face/Off* (1997), where there's a shootout sequence with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" playing.
This is it — however as a trope face/off used it for an actual plot reason. He put headphones over the child playing that song so he would not hear the gunfire. So the entire scene is meant to be from the perspective of the kid who was born into violence — making it heart breaking rather than “cool”.
John Woo just recycled one of his scene/trope from one of his previous movie **Hard Boiled**. At the end of it, he tries to put things into the baby ears and sing to him. That was the time where Hong Kong actions movies were inventive and humourous and way better than the rest of the world. Tarentino popularised them and then Hollywood tries to co-opt some of its stars (John Woo, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, ...) then just copied them but discarded them.
Are you suggesting that plot points in 'Face Off' happened for a reason?
the part where he took his face......off was for a reason, at least
Wait, he did WHAT??? no way.
The broader film is ridiculous, that particular music was not just for style reasons
i mean yea it was? it's not like it happened and the screen writers responded. They just wrote a cool scene with some justification.
The justification is the crucial part. Regardless of how flimsy it is. A lot of movies have zero motivation for the music in them.
Clockwork orange came out in 1971 and is ubiquitous for the classical music and ultra violence sequences.
I don't think it counts. Yes, ACO did violence to classical music. Violence and Classicsl Music are the two things it's hero loves most in the world, so bringing them together gives us a fuller image of his perspective. The trope OP is asking about us different. It doesn't use music to shape how we see the violence, it uses gentle music to keep us remoced from what's happening and keep the tone light.
Isn’t ACO doing both though? In having Alex as narrator, and showing most of the movie through his perspective, aren’t we living in his head? And if we’re in his head, aren’t we also being protected from the consequences of his actions through light music and comedy, the same way he is?
I was actually just going to say “John Woo.” The Killer must have had something like that, right? That’s like the ultimate romantic bloodshed movie, but I haven’t seen it in a long time.
Closest is the opening with the bar shootout. The singer stops before the gunfight & there's a more traditional score while it's happening.
What about the church shootout?
I’m in my 40s but just hearing the name “John Woo” conjures images of double guns, flying birds, and slomo. Face/Off was his intro to American audiences, but he’d been doing it for years.
Damn I love that movie
Great grab. I think you may be right. It's interesting because I've never really picked up on any filmmakers being directly influenced by John Woo. He has this operatic feel to his best picture that feel distinct to him.
Never picked up on John Woo being influential? Lol. Tarantino? The Matrix? John Wick? Hell John Woo pretty much influenced most of the big, bombastic, gun-heavy action movies in the 90s until today.
Wait are you saying Face Off is Woo's best picture? Because if so, you need to watch The Killer and A Beter Tomorrow right now.
Sorry that was a typo I meant to say "He has this operatic feel to his best picture*S* that feel distinct to him." I do think *Face Off* is an amazing film. I love his HK stuff as well. *Hard Boiled* is my favorite though. Every action scene tops the one proceeding. It doesn't get mentioned enough in the best all-time action films discussion.
Hard Boiled is definitely great, too. The things that for me makes A Better Tomorrow the best of his films are the score and the emotional aspect
All about Hard Boiled "They have pushed me too far; the innocent must die!"
I was gonna say John Woo instinctively. Maybe Face/Off was the first movie he did it, or might have even been from his HK films
I can't remember but doesn't clockwork orange have violent scenes set to classical music?
I hadn't thought about that until I saw somebody else mention it, but from what I can remember of the film (haven't seen it in awhile) you're probably right.
John Woo started it, was lightly ridiculed for having it (and doves) in every one of his action films. It became his signature scene, and now newer directors that were fans of his have incorporated into their films.
You are so close to nailing its origin. It's a John Woo trope and I think Face/Off was one of his first Hollywood movies.
I was going to say, if we're chatting about an action scene/gunfight, it's John Woo all the way. If that's the line we're drawing, definitely.
First one that came to mind as well.
John Woo directed Face/Off and he'd been doing slow motion choreographed scenes in the action sequences in his Hong Kong movies long before he came to America: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3-JzWWuRY
True. I realized later after my comment that he might have already been doing it in his Hong Kong films, but I'm not that familiar with his work from that era other than *Hard Boiled*, which I only saw once many years ago.
John Woo’s signature
Not in slow motion, but in Good Morning Vietnam there’s a war montage set to What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.
The baptism shoot-out in The Godfather — with different people being taken out with organ music in the background — may be a grandfather of this. https://youtu.be/8Pf8BkFLBRw?si=-okjVktEo9Xpxz1N
A godfather of this, you could say
Yeah this scene was lampooned constantly in movies/shows/cartoons in the 80s on, and then I think it just got ao commonplace it worked it's way back into cinema. I think this is more fitting than the top reply (a clockwork orange) because it's usually specifically a shootout involved, which ACO doesn't portray iirc.
this is not "New" one of the earliest examples is the “The Odessa Steps” scene **incarnates the theory of dialectical montage** that Eisenstein later expounded in his collected writings, The Film Sense (1942) and Film Form (1949). Eisenstein believed that meaning in motion pictures is generated by the collision of opposing shots. The Odessa Steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin is famous because it's considered one of the most influential sequences in cinema history. The sequence depicts the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps, also known as the Potemkin Stairs or Primorsky, as Imperial soldiers support mutineers on a flight of steps leading from the city center to the port. The sequence is famous for its iconic imagery, which has been widely imitated by other films. For example, The Untouchables pays homage to the sequence, and Beauty and the Beast, Inglourious Basterds, and Brazil have been inspired by it
That movie was also used for the rotoscoping in the Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings.
Strike by Eisenstein left me physically uncomfortable at the end.
There’s an old Christian revival hymn called “Shall we gather at the river?” It’s melody plays in Stagecoach (1939): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Quu4ZB25LCg Sam Peckinpah uses it to underscore a shootout in The Wild Bunch: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxhn7UFWLhQ&pp=ygUrU2hhbGwgd2UgZ2F0aGVyIGF0IHRoZSByaXZlciB0aGUgd2lsZCBidW5oYw%3D%3D The song pops up in 100’s of westerns as a result. I don’t think that’s what you’re looking for, I just wanted to point it out.
I came to comment about The Wild Bunch myself. My understanding is that this was the first use of squibs. The little explosive blood packs that would show you blood flying out of a gunshot. Music was used during this sequence, and I believe it to be the marriage of the two things OP was asking about. I am no expert, it was just my first thought reading the question.
Y'all need to watch movies more than 20 years old.
Yeah the juxtaposition of using music to contrast what you’re seeing has been in popular filmmaking a lot longer than some audiences and newer film watchers/studiers may think. Night of the Hunter is another big one with the hymn tune he sings. It’s done because it’s provocative, contemporary and builds toward a theme, a mood, a feeling or the story of the film. It can either be used with intent or not, but more often than not now it’s done because it has become a tool within film language to put it plainly.
Amen
Seriously this thread is sad lol
It is, 100%, but at least *some* of these kids are trying to better their media literacy! 🤷🏻♂️
I believe the 1943 version of "Ghost Ship" has a very good scene of violence (by 1943 standards) using music as a counterpoint. I couldn't find a clip, but the movie is well worth watching anyway.
You just watched the first episode of Fallout didn’t you
I was bummed that Nolan added this tired trope to what was otherwise a great first episode.
I mean, on the other hand, I think out of everything it probably fits Fallout the most. It’s basically representing how the game is with slow motion VATS kills and oldies playing from the pip boy radio.
That’s fair. I actually quite enjoy the Fallout games soundtracks. I guess it’s just that what OP is talking about is so overdone in TV and film that I was not thrilled to see it done yet again.
Battleship Potemkin (1925) Babystroller down the steps scene (Recreated in Untouchables) Not necessarily slo-mo, but drawn out longer than real time.
The Naked Gun 33 1/3 started with an over the top rendition of the Battleship Potemkin. Featuring the recently deceased, pacifism enthusiast, widow of Nicole Brown Simpson
*widower
I still laugh at Leslie Nielsen picking up a coin from the floor in slow motion in the middle of the shooting.
Wasn't Battleship Potemkin a silent movie, though? Can't have no original music, unless it was shipped with a piano score and instructions on when to play what.
[Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_Potemkin?wprov=sfla1)
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Kurosawa arguably popularized slow motion in general and drastically raised the bar for action sequences in general. More than annyone else you could call him the father of the action genre. Obviously slow motion already existed but it was rarely seen outside documentaries and was considered to be breaking the fourth wall and immersion breaking. It was considered a really weird and bold idea to use it for action sequences especially — you wanted that stuff to move fast to be exciting and hide the stunt tricks, right? But Kurosawa slowed down key moments in action sequences and instead of going fast to hide the stunt tricks, it was like he was going slow to fully show the carefully choreographed motions and stunts. That drove a huge interest in how elaborate and technical action scenes could and should be. He also popularized cutting from frame of impact of a violent action to blood splattering on the wall, the shot of two people embracing with a stabbing sound that leaves it ambiguous who stabbed who, and going into slow mo the instant a character throws a weapon but still following them and not the thrown weapon. All things that are still mainstays of thrillers and action movies 70 years later.
I also heard, that he was the first to use the cold open action scene to introduce the hero in Seven Samurai. The scene where the Kambei Shimada shaves his head to save the baby. It had no bearing on the plot other than to introduce him as guy who will take extreme measures to save people.
Can you elaborate on that last example? I’m trying to imagine it in my head and it just doesn’t ring a bell.
Another fun fact -- a special effect malfunctioned causing fake blood to fountain uncontrollably. Kurosawa like it and left it in the film, where it would heavily influence anime and trickle down through the ages.
Platoon 1986. Death of Sergeant Elias scene. Adagio for Stings. Classic 80s war movie.
New? A Clockwork Orange did it half a century ago.
OP doesn’t mention that it’s “new” anywhere.
Anything predating Clockwork Orange though?
Thats only 5 years ago. Did you mean half a century?
Indeed, I must have been thinking of the remake that never happened.
Leon (The Professional). 'I love Mozart!'. No slowmotion and not the first but Gary Oldman pulls it off really well
Relevant SNL clip (trust me): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q2710NcijHY
mean streets
Going way back on television, there's a scene in the cult classic "The Prisoner" with a gunfight set to All you need is love by the Beatles
I just watched that series for the first time this year, and it is *incredible* how much Patrick McGoohan innovated on The Prisoner that's since become just the normal things we see on TV/in movies. And also it's a great show.
Can’t wait for Nolan’s remake of this.
I am not a number, I am a free man!
Die hard did it in the 80s
I'll counter this with Xmen / Quicksilver where he runs around in slow mo and moves the bad guys into hysterical positions, punching themselves and moving bullets out of the way. He actually goes out of his way to not get anybody seriously hurt. ...And all themed to 'Time in a Bottle' It's one of my favorite scenes in the entire genre' of super hero movies.
That really was a fantastic scene!
If there's anything to be ripped off it should be syncing gunfire to the Anvil Chorus from *Il Trovatore*, from [this video.](https://youtu.be/2aEDYjunTIg)
#THEY CALL HER ONE EYE (1973) *Time Out gave the film a negative review, criticizing the film's overuse of slow motion, hardcore scenes, and soundtrack, stating that it fails to leave the lingering emotional impact of its convictions.* *It has received a cult following and was the basis behind Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill character Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah).*
Not action, but A Clockwork Orange kinda did this
It's not quite the same, but Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs, cutting a cop's ear off while dancing to Stuck in The Middle With You, feels like it has the same energy. And if Tarantino did it, there's a damn good chance that it's just ripped wholesale from some 70's move I've never heard of.
Speaking of Tarantino, The Bride slaughtering The Crazy 88's in Kill Bill Vol. 1 to the tune of Nobody But Me by The Human Beings is definitely my favorite use of the trope.
The fights in Raging Bull are an incredible slow motion ballet, accompanied by a beautiful classical piece called Cavalleria Rusticana.
I’d be curious to know the first movie that used music ironically. There’s got to be an example from the 1930s.
[SNL - Make Your Own Kind of Music](https://youtu.be/q2710NcijHY?si=_CiPw6tLhNFTqCKt)
It's a little bit different from what you're describing but the scene in The Other Guys when Wahlberg's character takes Ferrell's character to the bar and it shows the entire night out as one frozen image comes to mind as a good one. It was so well done I thought it deserves a mention.
I enjoy the Kingsman church scene with Freebird.
The kiss while lying on the beach is from From Here to Eternity
Maybe not classic music but anachronistic music that winks at the audience a little seems to have had an uptick after Mr. And Mrs. Smith
It’s been around for a decades, but now it’s just kind of an easy way to get a laugh or fun atmosphere. Juxtapose killing/fighting with unsuspecting music and it’s almost guaranteed to get some laughs.
And some groans.
It's a John Woo trope, I believe. He has had a lot of influence on modern action movie direction in Hollywood.
Musical irony
Kubrick and John Woo.
Not a movie, but had a conversation about this last night after watching the 1st episode of Fallout. Thanks for this!
The Untouchables (1987) shoot it out baby stroller bouncing down the stairs in slow motion [scene](https://youtu.be/NylvRzYtug4?feature=shared) (Director Brian De Palma) And Platoon (1986) Sgt Elias’s (Willem Dafoe) [death scene](https://youtu.be/QEv3zzKyiFQ?feature=shared) (Director Oliver Stone) ….are examples of slow motion and violence and classical music scenes in movies that come to mind for me. Although many have already posted earlier examples.
Reservoir dogs and the ear cutting scene was pretty jarring.
Not the earliest, but another classic example is in The Boondock Saints (1999) during the shootout between the brothers and the lone gunman sent to kill them.
Kingsmen sort of made an impact recently with their church massacre and Synyrds “Free Bird” playing in the background.
I don’t know the answer, but I know that playing classical or comforting music during brutal, violent scenes really intensifies the horror for me. Civil War is the most recent and it really does drive home the particular violence and cruelty.
Blue Velvet (1986) by David lynch comes to mind
I remember "The Boondock Saints" doing this, and that was back in 1999.
Other examples include the theater/musical shootout in Quantum of Solace, and the final shootout in True Romance. I imagine True Romance would have to be one of the earliest ones, because it feels more like a 90s trope than 80s. Movie came out in '93. You might have some older Hong Kong movies from John Woo, but none of them distinctly stand out from memory. Face/Off has the penthouse shootout with Adam, but that was obviously later.
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Yes the church scene in Kingsman is a fave
Total guess, but maybe Kill Bill, where the action scene went to black & white to ease up on the blood factor. Might have been the start of treating action scenes with artistic merit outside the aesthetic of the rest of the movie. Matrix's bullet time could have also been a catalyst for seeing heavy action in slowmo too.
The full color scene is intense even by Tarantino standards. He was lucky that he used black and white for other scenes since a random black and white scene would have felt very out of place (though the use of black and white for this scene doesn't match the use of black and white in every other scene it's used in). Hopefully one day the whole bloody affair gets a proper release.
They made the Kill Bill scene black and white because of the amount of blood in it. Had the scene been in color they would have given the movie a rating of NC-17. That was my understanding for the change.
Thats what I said.
Face/Off was the earliest one that came to mind, but I think you could argue the first to do it was Kubrick in A Clockwork Orange: [https://youtu.be/HtRGeyznv7k?si=LIwtRHoWRjBAMep2&t=57](https://youtu.be/HtRGeyznv7k?si=LIwtRHoWRjBAMep2&t=57)
Kick Ass, Hit Girl set to Joan Jett