Punching and kicking its way into action movie history, The Raid: Redemption and its sequel, The Raid 2, quickly became two of the best action movies of the decade. These action-packed movies are a must-watch for every action fan. With their brutal choreography, intense physicality from the actors, and gorgeous cinematography, The Raid has cemented itself as being among the best action franchises.
The Raid delivered some incredible martial arts and introduced Western audiences to the Indonesian martial art form of Pencak Silat. This Indonesian martial art style is ferocious and brutal, focusing heavily on nasty elbow and knee strikes, similar to watching an ultra-fast UFC match. Host to some of the best scenes in the genre, The Raid quickly became a fan favorite, and it wasn’t long before its sequel The Raid 2 delivered a whole host of even more high-octane, intense action scenes. From car chases, to machete fights and multiple brutal two-on-ones, and a truly messy prison riot. Here are the best scenes in The Raid franchise.
8 The Drug Lab - The Raid Redemption
PT Merandau Films
This high-octane action scene is incredibly fast-paced, from start to finish. Rama (Iko Uwais) delivers insanely fast-paced and kinetic blows to the bad guys. This scene allows a few other major characters to demonstrate their prowess, with Rama’s police officer buddy, Daga, being a standout, defeating goon after goon, with punches to the throat and stomping on a henchmen’s groin before stomping on his face. Even Rama’s police Captain joins in the action; while he may be slow, he comes in useful when dispatching enemies with a steel chair. The music in the scene adds another layer of energy to this high-octane scene, but to top the scene off, Rama fights a henchman on a very long table, before breaking the goon’s back.
7 Car Chase - The Raid 2
Sony Pictures Classics
As possibly the most unique action scene in the franchise, the car chase scene is basically martial arts with cars. The scene starts with Eka deliberately slamming his car into another, which Rama is held captive in. The second Eka hits the car, Rama immediately, with zero hesitation, begins beating his captures to a pulp in a very impressive close-quarters fight. Even in a tight space, like the back of a car, for example. This scene perfectly mashes up everything we love about action scenes; we see people get hit by cars, exchange bullets, jaw-dropping stunts, and, of course, more impressive flurries of martial arts. This scene includes a very impressive shot, which saw the camera move through a car window and into another. This required a camera man to sit in the car disguised as a seat, and grab the camera from the other operator.
6 Hammer Girl and Bat-Man vs Rama - The Raid 2
Some of the best and most deadly characters in The Raid 2 are Hammer Girl and Bat-Man. Earlier in the film, we see Hammer Girl brutally demolish some guys in suits on a subway train with a hammer. Bat-Man is seen beating up his enemies with a baseball bat, before finally launching a baseball at a fleeing enemy, perfectly striking him on the head and knocking him out. This same move returns in this pretty unfair two-on-one, with Bat-Man launching a baseball at Rama, but being the super-fast martial artist he is, Rama dodges the flying ball.
What proceeds is a truly awesome fight scene; with all three characters being fairly evenly skilled, we are on the edge of our seats, cheering for Rama to win this deadly match. The choreography in this scene is impressive, as Rama dodges every hammer swing and bat swing from all directions, sometimes at the same time. Before using his enemies weapons against them, slicing Hammer Girl’s throat with her own hammer and finally, swinging Bat-Mans bat so hard, the bat lodges in his face, as we are left with a gruesomely awesome shot of both dead assassins.
5 Mad Dog vs Jaka - The Raid Redemption
PT Merantau Films
This scene might be one of the shortest fight scenes in the whole franchise, but this fight sure is sweet. The actors behind Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian) and Jaka (Joe Taslim) give it their all in this brutal death match. The physicality both actors bring to the scene is breathtaking, adding a sense of believability and tension to the scene.
The cinematography was beautiful, as the audience witnesses the two characters exchange punches, kicks, elbows, and a devastating knee to the face. May we add that Mad Dog propelled his knee from the wall into Jaka’s face. Jaka cemented himself as one of the best and most beloved characters in the first movie, which added to the tension of the scene, but made his death break our hearts. However, we did get to witness how unrelenting and brutal Mad Dog was as a fighter, for the very first time.
4 Mad Dog vs The Two Brothers - The Raid Redemption
Mad Dog makes a return in this breathtaking two-on-one battle. The scene was shot in an open room, which allowed the choreography to shine and allowed the action to breathe. The choreography was impeccable, and the actors only helped sell the action with their ferocious speed and impressive physicality. This is a fairly long action scene, but at no point does it feel boring; there is enough diversity in the action and enough brutal blows to keep us engaged and entertained the whole time.
The final cherry on top of this insane action scene, is the two brothers throwing Mad Dog into a light, breaking it, and leaving shards of glass lying on the floor. When Mad Dog is about to land the final blow on Rama’s brother, Rama intervenes and stabs Mad Dog in the throat with the glass. However, Mad Dog is still standing and proceeds to further carry on fighting the brothers, even with the glass in his neck that’s also pouring out pints of blood. But, finally the brothers get a hold of Mad Dog, and finish him by dragging the glass across his throat.
3 Rama vs The Machete Goons - The Raid Redemption
This awesome action scene cemented The Raid as one of the best action movies of the 2010s, and a definite contender to as one of the best action movies of all time. Iko Uwais wipes the floor with the machete-wielding bad guys; four of them to be exact. The actor shows the world his ferociously fast, and brutal physicality as an actor, which only adds to how cool and lovable his character is.
The choreography is blink and-you’ll-miss-it, with Rama rapidly dodging and evading every machete swing, as well as the using the machetes for some great swordplay. Plus, this scene is host to one of the best kills in the franchise. Rama jumps in the air, holding a bad guys head before slamming it into the sharp remnants of a broken door. To top it off, we see the body still moving and fidgeting, after being impaled by the door.
2 The Prison Riot - The Raid 2
This messy prison riot stands out for its perfect cinematography. Of course, this scene is amazingly choreographed, like every scene in these action-packed movies. But, with barely any cuts or edits, this scene makes for one of the best fight scenes in the whole franchise. This scene is a huge free-for-all, with prisoners and police officers all fighting each other, and it culminates in a sort of Battle Royale. A lot of weapons are utilized in the scene, from the wooden end of a brush, to prison shanks and batons. There are some awesome ways we see Rama dispatch his enemies.
The scale of this scene was gigantic, with the hundreds of extras and the huge open space of the prison courtyard. The whole scene is set in a giant sort of “mud bath”, which required the actors to work extra hard to pull off this iconic fight scene. There is so much happening in this scene, which only adds to the scale.
1 The Kitchen Showdown - The Raid 2
This scene is the pinnacle of the franchise, with the film’s director, Gareth Evans even claiming that this is his favorite scene from both movies. Of course, the choreography is rapid and brutal, with the character named only “The Assassin”, pulling out two Kerambit’s (an Indonesian curved blade) to kill Rama, alongside the jaw-dropping cinematography, allowing us to witness this epic, deadly one-on-one deathmatch. But, what makes this scene stand out is its immaculate set design, with its white, sterile walls, that soon get painted red with blood, as well as the metal tables, cooking pans and a wine cabinet that all get used in the scene. This deadly battle truly is a spectacle to behold.
