How Kingsman Pulled Off One Of The CRAZIEST Fight Scenes In History

[Music] [Applause] this is the church brawl from kingsman the secret service and much like kingsman's main character harry hart here it kicks all of the ass kingsman the secret service is matthew vaughn's ultra-violent and stylized take on classy british espionage that is heavily influenced by the james bond films of the 70s and 80s it's fast it's slick and it's oddly charming all of the elements that make those classic spy films great are amplified to create an almost perfect caricature of the genre told from a modern perspective while the film is filled with some really amazing moments this hyper violent church brawl stands out as the most impressive and memorable sequence of the film it's four and a half minutes of delicately choreographed but absolutely brutal chaos that took seven days to shoot and required over 100 performers and even more crew members to pull off it's often the first thing people talk about when discussing the kingsman in four and a half minutes of the film harry hart kills over 40 members of some pretty intense albeit entertaining ways the way in which matthew vaughn was able to pull off one of the most captivating fight sequences of the 2010s is an example of the right elements coming together at the right time the music the editing the acting the choreography and the pacing all come together in this beautifully grotesque symphony of violence set to leonard skynyrd's freebird kingsman the secret service was based on a comic book titled the secret service which was written by mark miller and for those of you who don't know who mark miller is he's a comic book author known for bringing a sense of conventionalized action to his work he's responsible for bringing his properties like wanted and kick-ass which also had an adaptation directed by matthew vaughn miller also wrote the civil war series for marvel comics the secret service was illustrated by dave gibbons who is one of the most prolific artists in comic book history he's known primarily for his work on alan moore's watchmen but has a body of work that spans marvel and dc comics as well the point is these comic book guys are known for creating stories with not just big moments but enormous moments you can show a lot more in a panel of a comic book than you can show in a frame of a film creators are only limited to the amount of ink they have on hand this type of freedom yields some pretty fantastic world building and over the last 20 to 30 years filmmakers have been trying to capture the sheer grandiosity of the comic book stories and bring them to the big screen sometimes when adapting comics for the big screen adjustments are made for a variety of reasons sometimes they're cost saving methods sometimes they're done just because studios are afraid that something might look ridiculous on screen for example in fantastic four rise of the silver surfer galactus was changed to a gigantic cloud over fears that a gigantic dude in a purple suit would look ridiculous on screen in the case of the kingsman this church fight was actually added into the story by the filmmakers it doesn't exist in the comics in the comic the character that would be harry hard his name is jack london in the comics is actually just shot in a hotel room for sleeping with another guy's wife there's no grand unveiling of a master plan or anything like that so why the change sometimes in adaptation a director can offer an alternative take on a sequence that could be perceived as a stronger choice than what the original creator intended depending on how you look at it a good example of this is in the horribly tragic ending of frank darabon's the mist stephen king himself came forward and said that he wishes that was the ending that he created for the original short story you know you've done something right when the original creator envies the way you changed their story which should be added that kingsman creator mark miller did in fact do despite the limitations of film vs comics and novels sometimes film can do things that pulp fiction cannot because film is it's alive setting up the church fight was a very complicated process like we said earlier the sequence required over 100 performers that includes 20 stuntmen and of course colin firth so needless to say there was a lot of choreography here choreography that has little room for error given the close quarters location and there's so much to coordinate here gunshots special effects window breaks everything is coming at you so fast it's hard to keep up just as a viewer with all these elements flying at you so quickly there's one thing serving as the glue that holds all of this madness together editing the original cut of the church fight from kingsman was over seven minutes long and did not feature any cutaways whatsoever it was just pure unbridled violence for a very long time after showing the first cut to some of the people working on the film it was decided that seven minutes of stabbing people with podiums and shooting old racist ladies point blank in the face without reprieve might be a little much for an audience to handle the decision was made to cut away to some reaction shots from the film's supporting cast and this does a couple of things first it gives the viewers a chance to catch their breath from the intensity of the events transpiring in front of them it also serves a secondary function of contextualization i mean we're watching the protagonists of the film do something absolutely atrocious and having these reaction cutaways really drives the point home the editing is also masterful in the way that they hide cuts to make this sequence feel like it's all happening in one take kingsman editor eddie hamilton is no stranger to what makes an action sequence captivating he's cut together some vaughn films like x-men first class as well as both kick-asses in the fight sequences he cleverly utilizes the bodies of people getting thrown across the screen as a way to blend clips together to make this fight sequence feel like one fluid shot it really makes us feel like we're inside the church right along with harry immersing ourselves completely in the action of the scene another little touch from the editing department is this kind of constant vibration of the frame that goes on throughout the entire sequence see how the screen is almost shaking the entire time this is just another subtle element that makes the scene pulse with energy and excitement it gives the scene a feeling of being completely out of control and provides us with the sense of unease as we watch it this shaky cam as editors might call it can sometimes feel like it's a little too much to handle there are some sequences in the born ultimatum that can feel at times like matt damon is fighting in the middle of an earthquake but kingsman seems to implement this effect to the viewer's benefit it feels really exciting to watch another element that makes this scene so gripping is the fight choreography itself this whole sequence seems like a stuntman's fever dream and that might be largely due to the fact that the fight sequence was choreographed by a former stunt person by the name of guillermo grispo the choices he makes in this sequence are wildly interesting and at times almost disturbing and that's part of what makes this sequence so interesting to watch crispo is a master at using the environment itself as a proverbial toy box with limitless possibilities the methods that harry hart uses to dispatch the patrons of this church are wildly unorthodox and create an almost fun way of surprising us not only does this fight seem dazzle us with the use of some of harry's high-tech gadgets but there's also a thematic element of using pieces of church to dispatch some of the assailants crispas choreography really shows harry using every part of the buffalo at one point in time harry takes apart his gun after running out of ammunition and uses the pieces to stab the guy in the neck it's unusual but it's also a much needed departure from your run-of-the-mill brawl scene it keeps things interesting because the fight choreography is so unique the church fight in kingsman the secret service is a sequence that employs the right music the right editor the right actor the right fight choreographer the right camera operator and the right director to an immense benefit to the viewer this sequence takes all of the aspects of great filmmaking and blends them together to create a finished product that is really unique the levels of each element are incredibly balanced too it's like the baby bears porridge of fight scenes it isn't too hot it's not too cold the fight scene is just right the finished product isn't just something you're watching and admiring from afar either the filmmakers created something that you can feel and it's a reminder that a sequence that feels almost out of control can actually require the highest levels of control to pull it off and what do you know that's it for today's episode press the like button if you liked the episode and as always hit the subscribe button if you haven't done that you may notice a couple more links to videos on the screen right now so go ahead and click those if you'd like to stick around and as always we hope to see you for the next video [Music]

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 949,326

Keywords: The Kingsman, The Kingsman Secret Service, The Kingsman Golden Circle, The Kingsman Movie, The Kingsman Graphic Novel, The Kingsman Church Fight, The Kingsman Prequel, The Kingsman Collin Firth, The Kings Man, The Kings Man Trailer, Secret Service Graphic Novel, Secret Service Comics, Mark Millar Kick Ass, Mark Millar Wanted, Mark Millar Netflix, Mark Millar Comics, Mark Millar Kingsman, Kick Ass, Wanted, John Wick, Corridor Crew, New Rockstars, Nerdist, IGN, Nerdstalgic

Id: Jj_vwb_x470

Length: 8min 39sec (519 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 03 2021