One Half Slides Slowly Down the Other
October 1, 2017 6:49 AM Subscribe
A heroine or hero armed with a great big sword executes a clever move on an opponent that seems to have no effect. There is a pause, then slowly one half of the opponents body slides down the other half. I first saw this in Underworld and since then in Kill Bill (kind of), Equilibrium, Kingsman and one or two others I can't remember. Does anyone know what the first cinematic or televisual version of this move is? There has to be a blow, a pause, a slow slide and a surprised expression.
I've had a look in TVTropes but it doesn't give much of a chronology and I'm really interested in the way an image like this passes from filmmaker to filmmaker. (I thought it was really neat in Underworld and I'm disappointed it seems to be so common.)
I've had a look in TVTropes but it doesn't give much of a chronology and I'm really interested in the way an image like this passes from filmmaker to filmmaker. (I thought it was really neat in Underworld and I'm disappointed it seems to be so common.)
I think it's a trope called a 'Cut/Slide' - that's a frankly nsfw link to a supercut.
posted by srednivashtar at 7:03 AM on October 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by srednivashtar at 7:03 AM on October 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
How much does it matter that it's a hero attacking with a sword? The body-split-in-half-while-the-victim-looks-surprised is a trope I'm more familiar with from horror movies, and I remember this scene from the movie Thir13en Ghosts (2001). The victim is VERY surprised and the sound effect is amazing and gross.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 7:04 AM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by pretentious illiterate at 7:04 AM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Highlander is the oldest I can think of offhand.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:06 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:06 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
The first time I can remember this (offhand) in any medium is from the story version of Johnny Mnemonic from 81 or so.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:11 AM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:11 AM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Best answer: TV Tropes: Clean Cut; Razor Floss; You Are Already Dead.
From which I found the title of the story I first remember seeing this: Poul Anderson's "Thin Edge" published in 1963.
posted by Mitheral at 7:27 AM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
From which I found the title of the story I first remember seeing this: Poul Anderson's "Thin Edge" published in 1963.
posted by Mitheral at 7:27 AM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I had a bunch of great examples, but they’re all in the video srednivashtar linked. So I’ll mention something that doesn’t quite match the trope, 1989’s Blind Fury, starring Rutger Hauer as a blind ninja. Hauer’s character manages to slash the villain, who falls back out of a window and off a cliff. We see the villain’s silhouette as it falls, shrinking... and then splitting in half at the waist.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:36 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 7:36 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
There is a cut/slide in Piranha 3D (2010). I am ashamed of myself for knowing this.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:58 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:58 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This TVTropes page on Diagonal Cut suggests Zatoichi was the first, but it doesn't cite a specific film/scene
posted by zingiberene at 8:15 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by zingiberene at 8:15 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
The 1980s anime Fist Of The North Star gives the 'You Are Already Dead' trope its name. Fights often conclude with the hero, Kenshiro, striking a series of Pressure Points on his opponents' bodies with a flurry of light blows. He then says, "You're already dead," and starts walking away. They laugh at him and tell him that his attacks lack any force, and that they're gonna beat him up real bad. Then they look momentarily puzzled, and then their heads explode.
It seems kind of lame the first time you see it, but after a few repetitions of exactly the same thing, it becomes clear that it's one of the most magnificent devices in the history of all media. Anyway, it's not quite the same thing as the slide--there's a blow, a pause, a surprised expression, and then an explodey head. But it's near enough that you might enjoy it.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:38 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
It seems kind of lame the first time you see it, but after a few repetitions of exactly the same thing, it becomes clear that it's one of the most magnificent devices in the history of all media. Anyway, it's not quite the same thing as the slide--there's a blow, a pause, a surprised expression, and then an explodey head. But it's near enough that you might enjoy it.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 8:38 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Oh my. Well this is a gruesome Sunday afternoon's watching - proper job. Thanks all, I'll mark best answer when I can work out which was probably the first. The earliest Zatoichi was 1963 but I don't know if that move was in it? (But these are all great answers so thanks again.)
posted by glasseyes at 9:03 AM on October 1, 2017
posted by glasseyes at 9:03 AM on October 1, 2017
Response by poster: I am ashamed of myself for knowing this.
Yes.
posted by glasseyes at 9:18 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes.
posted by glasseyes at 9:18 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Apologies if this is a complete tangent, but I wonder if the cinematic precursor of this is the trick where the hero cuts through a burning candle and it looks like he missed, but then the candle falls over? That's in The Mark of Zorro from 1940 (candle cutting is within the first minute of this clip).
posted by merriment at 9:44 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by merriment at 9:44 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want to say this appeared in a Bugs Bunny or Road Runner cartoon at some point.
posted by rhizome at 10:45 AM on October 1, 2017
posted by rhizome at 10:45 AM on October 1, 2017
This happened to Wile E. Coyote, except he was cut to ribbons instead of in half.
posted by praemunire at 12:16 PM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 12:16 PM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Best answer: I haven't watched every single Zatoichi, but he usually did this move with things like candles or dice to intimidate bad guys. I personally doubt it's the first movie/series to do that though, as the less gruesome "tag you're dead" style of samurai movie fighting almost always had a skilled guy kill somebody who would only fall over after a pause.
posted by mattamatic at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by mattamatic at 12:58 PM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: After another quick look at You're Already Dead, I guess Darth Maul is one of the examples I'd forgotten. It's all quite modern though. (I hate the version in Ghost Ship, all raspberry jam and pieces of liver.)
At the moment it's looking like: cartoons (plenty of Time Delayed Death in Tom and Jerry) -> Novels? I would have to know a bit about Thin Edge -> anime (where it's no longer a comedic device) -> Live Action film, and there's a few candidates dating from the early 80's but there just might be some Japanese films from earlier.
posted by glasseyes at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2017
At the moment it's looking like: cartoons (plenty of Time Delayed Death in Tom and Jerry) -> Novels? I would have to know a bit about Thin Edge -> anime (where it's no longer a comedic device) -> Live Action film, and there's a few candidates dating from the early 80's but there just might be some Japanese films from earlier.
posted by glasseyes at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2017
Not quite the same thing but the year before Kill Bill or Underworld there was the 'laser box' scene in Resident Evil.
This scene was a ripoff of the cold open of the movie Cube, which came out in 1998, four years prior. But they both owe a debt to a similar occurrence in Monty Python and the Meaning of Life in 1983. (It happens 20 seconds before the end of this video.)
posted by ejs at 3:16 PM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
This scene was a ripoff of the cold open of the movie Cube, which came out in 1998, four years prior. But they both owe a debt to a similar occurrence in Monty Python and the Meaning of Life in 1983. (It happens 20 seconds before the end of this video.)
posted by ejs at 3:16 PM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Highlander (1986) has this during the climactic battle (although it is a decapitation rather than a bisection).
posted by Paladin1138 at 7:13 AM on October 2, 2017
posted by Paladin1138 at 7:13 AM on October 2, 2017
Response by poster: Best answers for indications of earliness. I'm not going to mark this resolved because the chronology isn't clear at all and neither is the first instance. It's all foggy, but thanks everyone for your answers.
posted by glasseyes at 9:03 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by glasseyes at 9:03 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I can't recall seeing something quite like it earlier.
posted by mce at 7:01 AM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]