Extraction 2's One-Shot Fight Scene Is Long, But It's Not The Longest One Ever
This article contains spoilers for "Extraction 2"
"Extraction 2" is full of action that has the viewers on the edge of their seats. From the literally explosive finale to the dizzying skyscraper glass rooftop battle between Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) and Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani), it's hard to deny that fans of adrenaline-heavy action scenes are eating well when it comes to this particular film.
Still, as glorious as the movie's big action beats invariably are, the crown jewel of "Extraction 2" is easy to point out. The prison rescue scene that kicks off the movie's mayhem is a one-shot sequence that forces Tyler and his allies to run through a lethal gamut that includes (but is not limited to) a fight against an entire prison and a dangerous train roof showdown between Tyler and Zurab's attack helicopters.
The seemingly endless scene gets wilder with each passing second, and it's easy to start wondering whether "Extraction 2" has actually managed to give us the longest action oner in history. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Then again, it's very hard to top something like Yuji Shimomura's samurai action movie "Kyô Samurai Musashi," aka "Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1," which has a fight scene that lasts no less than 77 minutes.
Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 is exactly what the title implies
"Extraction 2's" one-shot action scene is 21 minutes long, which is almost twice the length of the 12-minute oner in the first "Extraction," but its length is still not all that impressive in the grand scheme of things. It's hard to find a longer combat sequence than the one in "Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1," if only because the movie essentially is a massive one-shot fight scene. Starring Tak Sakaguchi as legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, "Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1" tells the story of the samurai's greatest battle, where he takes on the entire forces of the Yoshioka dojo in one continuous sword fight.
Being a samurai movie, the lengthy action scene offers less variation than "Extraction 2's" take on the single-shot theme, and critics weren't exactly enamored by the movie. Still, it's an impressive feat of filmmaking ... as well as a true testament to Sakaguchi's endurance.
If we move away from action scenes, the longest one-shot scene in history is even more impressive. Sebastian Schipper's German 2015 crime thriller "Victoria" shows a daring heist unfolding in real-time — all in an ambitious, 138-minute one-shot scene.
"Extraction 2" is available for viewing on Netflix.