My List of the Top Five Movie Montages of All Time!

The word montage comes from the French word monter which means "to mount", according to Merriam's its primary definition is "the production of a rapid succession of images in a motion picture to illustrate an association of ideas". To me, the montage is an art form... Yes, it is also a device by which clever film makers, or the lazy, may cause time to pass or may illustrate change in anything from seasons, to success, to individual character development, but a well done montage will stay in a viewers memory longer than any movie quote! We may be loathe to admit it, but most of us have at least ONE movie montage from our youth (or even our adult life) that we'd secretly watch over and over again till the tape on the VHS wore thin and warped the image. Or, those of us with an imagination may remember making montages in our head, perhaps of ourselves, usually with the headphones on, pumping some rad 80's music. Being the first day of the new year, I am going to take a well-deserved break from my doomsaying and post something light hearted, here is my list of the top 5 movie montages of all time (with links!).

#5 The Karate Kid III - This one is a classic! Although Karate Kid III was probably the worst movie in the series, as a kid I still remember getting all emotional and pissed off when they threw Mr. Miyagi's bonsai tree down the cliff and it got all covered in salt water and nearly died! I wanted those bastards to get what was coming to them. This montage takes place right after those Cobra Kai douchebags taunt Miyagi and he kicks their ass. The amazing thing about the Karate Kid franchise is that every movie is comprised of the same exact story... Mr. Miyagi doesn't want Daniel-san to fight but eventually concedes when trouble arises and he is the only one who can stop it... at a Karate tournament.


#4 Kickboxer - What's not to love about the Muscles from Brussels, Jean Claude Van Damme in the 1989 feel good action movie "Kickboxer"? In this movie you have a nice American boy (with an odd accent) who travels to Thailand to train under a kickboxing master for the best possible reason... Revenge! The villainous Ton Po crippled his brother, who was strangely enough the actual Kickboxer in the movie. This is a good montage for several reasons, it splices serious training with a little humor and it has "ethnic music" so it sounds important. Music, is essential to any good montage, but more on that later!   


#3 Team America: World Police - If it weren't for the fact that montage #2 and #1 are so kick ass, this one would be at the top of my list... Why? Because it's a montage parodying montages! As usual, Matt Stone and Trey Parker prove their genius is way above "lowest common denominator" while being zestfully so! These two are among the most underrated social commentators of our time, and if people were able to get over the swearing and cartoony look of South Park they might see that. Though Team America may not be remembered by many as a great film, I thought it was great. Not as good as this montage, but it would be hard to be...   


#2 Scarface - Choosing between this montage and my #1 was a difficult choice, like deciding which of your children you love more, it is something you avoid but can only put off for so long... This montage has everything; a nice timeline, flashy stuff going on, The 80's hotness of sequined big haired women, and the song "Push it to the Limit" which is probably one of the most inspirational songs, because it urges you to push it to your limit! In this masterful montage we see the character of Tony Montana truly transform from Cuban Mariellito thug, into... well... rich Cuban Mariellito thug... But he's got a tiger, and that's something isn't it? Those of you from Miami may well get a nostalgic feeling looking at this video, especially the parts when he carries all that cash into the bank! Ah, AML, why did you ever come along and screw everything up?


(Sorry folks, no embed on this one... link only)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8g__x6ExM8





#1 Rocky IV - Hands down, this is the most bad-ass-awe-inspiring-kick-red-commie-ass-spectacular of a film montage. And honestly, after watching this, if you don't want to go out and shoot a Russian in the memory of Apollo Creed, then you should check yourself for a pulse... In the beginning, a cold Siberian morning, peasants and government spies, ice, sunrise, synthesizers, then that blazing distorted guitar comes in and absolutely tears your ass apart with it's sheer awesomeness. We are then treated to a solid 4 minutes of why America is the most powerful nation on earth (well it was true back then...) as we watch Rocky climb snowy mountains with a log on his back, as he pulls a sled with a fat guy on it, as he saws wood! As he freaking runs across snowy riverbanks and even picks up a god damned horse! Meanwhile, the evil Drago is shooting steroids into his butt cheeks and doing repetitive movements on complicated Russian equipment surrounded by scientists! This movie is great, because it actually has TWO separate training montages! But the other one, featuring the "hit" song "Hearts on Fire" is lame in comparison to this testosterone-laden feast of sheer  greatness. I think that if we all woke up to this every morning while we shaved/showered/dressed we'd all be more productive.