by leokef on Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:51 pm
This one just occurred to me. Now this is less about strict physical choreography and a bit more about well utilized vfx and sound effects, but I find it a touch more thrilling and beautiful than most hand-to-hand stuff. The evil harpists versus the good martial arts masters in Kung Fu Hustle:
It's the integration of music that really sells me about this scene. It's not just a soundtrack: the music is actually part of the scene. There's a point around four minutes in where the sound effects fade and all you hear is the Guqin playing. I also just love the novelty of musicians fighting by strumming their instrument--and yet playing music at the same time.
Worth noting that Stephen Chow didn't direct this scene, but rather Woo-ping Yuen. He's got a lot of good films under his belt, including some classic Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Also worked on The Matrix trilogy.