Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is better than most of the sequel trilogies, which is mostly thanks to Darth Vader's terrifying hallway sequence, and earlier this year, screenwriter Gary Whitta spoke about first seeing the scene. The writer explained that it was still epic with no sound and with the wires still visible, which is hardly surprising given that it's the most imposing Vader has ever been.
But the 2016 Star Wars movie was far from the first action movie to feature an incredible hallway fight scene. Whether it's done in one take, has the most bloodshed, or is the most technically innovative, it has become something of a competition between filmmakers to see who can make the most thrilling hallway sequence.
Kick-Ass (2010)
Schnauzersisters thinks that the 2010 superhero movie features the best hallway fight scene, noting, "my favorite would have to be Chloe Grace Moretz at the end of Kick-Ass." Moretz plays Hit-Girl, and what's so interesting about the character is that she's only 12 years old, but she's so desensitized to violence that she can murder a whole group of criminals without feeling an ounce of remorse.
That's exactly what happens in the hallway scene once she's infiltrated a mobster's penthouse apartment. The sequence is full of several headshots and throat stabs, and, at one point, Hit-Girl forces one mobster to shoot himself. There's a lot of shock value in Kick-Ass, and the hallway scene is the most shocking and entertaining part of the movie.
Inception (2010)
2010 was a great year for hallway fight scenes, as, along with Kick-Ass, Inception features a brilliantly well-crafted and immaculately choreographed hallway fight sequence. However, where Kick-Ass' scene was all about shock value, the scene in Inception was more of a visual spectacle and envelope-pushing with its practical effects.
RyLePoo notes, "Not only was it a badass scene with multiple dudes fighting, the hallway was twisting and turning as they fought." The hallway fight in question is in almost zero gravity and it's spinning, as it's all happening within a dream. It's a masterclass in action filmmaking, and the sequence is a big reason why Inception is considered the best science fiction movie of the 2010s.
The Raid (2011)
Qb1120 points to The Raid when it comes to the best hallway scene, as the movie is essentially one big hallway fight. The Raid has zero character development, as Rama is just the same at the end of the movie as he was at the beginning of the movie. But that's not the point of the 2011 martial arts film. The Raid is about a task force that infiltrates a high-rise building to take down a drug lord.
Each floor of the high-rise is like a video game level, as the fights get harder and the mobsters get tougher, but it makes for one of the greatest, slickest hallway fights ever. It's full of bloodshed and impeccable martial arts moves. The sequel is even better and features bigger brawls in much closer quarters than a hallway too. In The Raid 2, Rama massacres a whole gang of prison inmates within a tiny toilet cubicle.
The Batman (2022)
While the trailers for The Batman were all about the film's tone and didn't give much away, one part really teased how fearless this new Bruce Wayne is. The masked vigilante walks down a pitch-black hallway of the Iceberg Lounge and beats two henchmen with their own guns. Hereismytake27 thinks it's one of the most cinematic hallway fights, noting, "The Batman one was fun and the score in the background was great."
Director Matt Reeves thought about every aspect of the scene, whether it's the score, the cinematography, or the choreography. Not only does it sound epic, but the hallway is lit up by nothing but gunfire, and as audiences can't see everything that's going on, their imagination is left to fill in the blanks.
The Warriors (1979)
Ghost_writer666 takes liberties with the question at hand, as they bring up the 1979 camp classic The Warriors. The movie follows the titular gang trying to get from one side of New York to the other while being chased down by every other gang in the city.
The Redditor points to when scene when the gang is separated and half of them end up brawling with a rollerskating gang, The Punks. Instead of a hallway, the Redditor asks, "Does a subway bathroom count?" In fairness, the brawl is between eight or nine people and takes place within a tiny room, and knives and baseball bats are flying everywhere.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
There's an argument to be made that Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie of the Disney releases, and it might not have ended up that way, as the movie was improved by studio meddling. It isn't clear what scenes were added when Tony Gilroy took over as director for the reshoots, but it might be possible that a cut of the 2016 movie existed without that epic, terrifying hallway scene.
When considering what is the best hallway fight scene, Zster22 notes, "Rogue One was the most epic." Darth Vader has never seemed like more of a villain than in this scene, not even in The Empire Strikes Back, as he doesn't think twice about slicing rebel soldiers in half. And as his lightsaber lights the dark hallway red, it's a masterclass in suspense and horror.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Most hallway fight scenes are found in exciting modern action movies, whether they're superhero films or Star Wars releases. But RevolutionarySoup703 thinks outside the box and points to the 1976 Martin Scorsese-directed crime drama Taxi Driver. At the end of the movie, Travis attempts to save Iris, a child prostitute, from the criminal underworld she can't escape, and that means slaughtering a whole hallway full of pimps and gangsters.
The scene is an absolute bloodbath, and not in the exciting way that The Raid or any other aforementioned movie is. According to Slash Film, the movie is almost rated X because of this scene, and to avoid it, Scorsese had to desaturate the color to make it look less bloody.
Nobody (2021)
DayofSloths also takes liberties with the question at hand, but, in fairness, the narrow layout of a bus is more similar to a hallway than a bathroom. The Redditor comments, "I'm going to take a loose definition of 'hallway' and say the bus scene from Nobody." After the huge success of John Wick in 2014, so many other films copied the gun-fu martial arts fighting style, and Nobody is the biggest example of that.
The 2021 film is almost exactly the same as the 2014 movie both in narrative and style, but the bus scene rivals anything from any of the John Wick movies. It's the first hint audiences get of how much of a threat Hutch really is, as he beats the living daylights out of some thugs, jumping over seats and using handrails for momentum.
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Atomic Blonde is another John Wick clone, but that just means it's another movie full of impeccable fighting choreography that takes place in such confined areas. The movie is one of the best stylish spy movies, as it follows superspy Lorraine Broughton who works for MI6 and is sent on a gun-fu-filled mission to Berlin.
N4mel3ss thinks the movie has the best hallway fight scene, jokingly explaining, "I mean it involves some hallways, some stairs, a hot plate. It has it all!" When it comes to one-take fight scenes, Atomic Blonde beats its peers, as it features a 10-minute-long shot that follows Lorraine through a whole building. And like John Wick, Lorraine uses household items as unlikely lethal weapons, and in this case, it's a hot plate.
Tenet (2020)
Faxmammerie thinks Tenet has the best hallway fight scene, as it sees the Protagonist scuffling with a mysterious masked man in the freeport storage facility. The Redditor adds, "The second time was even better."
The user is referring to how the same scene happens later in the movie but from the perspective of the mystery man. Watching the same fight scene from two different perspectives adds a layer to the already visually stimulating scene, and while some viewers might have seen it coming, it's one of Nolan's cleverest reveals yet.