The Raid (2011)
June 30, 2022 10:50 AM - Subscribe

Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the sixth floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission. Starring Indonesian martial arts sensation Iko Uwais. An Indonesian production, written, directed, and edited by Welsh filmmaker Gareth evans.

Released in the US as The Raid: Redemption, due to a rights issue with the title.

Rated 87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming on HBO Max and available for digital rental via multiple outlets.
posted by DirtyOldTown (12 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
this was.... an AMAZING movie. Watched it a few times for the whole story, then later a few times for the excellent fight scenes, and now I re-watch just to admire the choreography and camera moves. SO good!
posted by alchemist at 12:27 PM on June 30, 2022 [1 favorite]


Love this movie. You get less then five minutes of story set up and then it's balls out action all the way to the end. Amazing. Wasn't thrilled with the sequel - mainly because it didn't do what this film did - which was tell it's story mainly through action sequences. All the drama between it's set pieces didn"t give you the same roller coaster ride as this one. The Raid is martial arts at its best.
posted by hoodrich at 1:46 PM on June 30, 2022


Released in the US as The Raid: Redemption, due to a rights issue with the title.
Also remade in the US as Dredd, due to an issue with creativity. (winky sarcastic face)
posted by cardioid at 7:18 PM on June 30, 2022 [3 favorites]


I really liked this when it came out and then I really liked Dredd when it came out a year later. I realized that I must be a sucker for "guy kicks ass all the way up a building" movies, which makes sense because I also loved Donkey Kong on the ColecoVision.

I never saw the sequel , but it may be time for a double feature this weekend.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:00 PM on June 30, 2022 [4 favorites]


I saw this in the theater and I have six or seven “screen shots” on my old Blackberry of the extras who played the bad guys. Hood Drop Attacker #s 1-8. Carrying Bowo Fighter #s 1-18. This movie blew my mind.

The sequel I like more for the same reason I like John Wick 2 more—it’s the sprawling modernist novel after the first films’ perfect short stories. But as with John Wick the first, I can’t imagine anything being added or taken from this movie—it’s perfect.
posted by hototogisu at 10:16 PM on June 30, 2022


For all the guns and shooting in this movie, it's the knife-fighting that always makes me shudder and shout "Jesus Christ!" They don't just stab, and they don't just stab multiple times, they stab and then rrrrrip the freakin knife through the other dude's flesh. Brutal to the Max, Yo.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:24 PM on July 2, 2022


Thank you cardioid. I was trying to make that connection. Dredd was solid and lean.
posted by whuppy at 11:50 PM on July 2, 2022


I believe they were suggesting that particular adaptation of the pre-existing Dredd character chose its film plot by riffing on The Raid.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:10 PM on July 3, 2022


(I think the very Americanized first Judge Dredd movie holds much of the blame for convincing people that he's an American creation...)

I have a confession about The Raid: I thought it was kind of slow at the beginning. There's the raid, there's a shootout, things get all fucked, but there's not much action -- at least, not the martial arts kind I signed up for -- until nearly halfway through the movie where Iko Uwais starts kicking ass in the hallway.

And then it never stops. The second half of this movie is relentless, holy Christ.

Also I'd like to point out that Yayan Ruhian, aka "Mad Dog" shows up in The Force Awakens for about five seconds as a member of Han Solo's crew.

The Raid 2 has some good stunts but isn't as focused as the original. Hell, I don't even remember what the plot was.
posted by neckro23 at 9:36 AM on July 5, 2022


I saw a clip of the car chase from The Raid 2 on Bluesky a while back and was so impressed I picked up both movies on eBay and watched them back-to-back last night.

The first was insanely intense, and I loved it. The second suffered in spots from losing the relentless action of the first, but its gangster storyline was fine, and I did enjoy it, because when the action came it was even more intense than in the first. You could see Evans working through all the great moments he wanted to cram into an action movie, and on the whole he was doing them brilliantly. That car chase... man, it really is incredible.

I was glad I had them on Blu-ray for the extras— a 40-minute on-stage interview with Evans after The Raid and some behind-the-scenes pieces on The Raid 2. There's a great deleted scene on The Raid 2, too—you can see why it was cut, as it's a stand-alone that has little to do with the main story, but it's terrific.

Both films use music brilliantly, as well, building the tension inexorably throughout.

I've now ordered Evans's first Indonesian film, Merantau, partly to see how Iko Uwais did in his first outing (Evans discovered him while filming a documentary about silat, the Indonesian martial arts seen in these movies), and have cued up Evans's 2018 horror movie Apostle on Netflix to see how he handles a story without silat in it.

Not sure whether to try Evans's first feature Footsteps, as it doesn't rate highly on IMDB, but those who love it really seem to love it. (Just noticed that Evans's mini-bio on IMDB predates his filming of The Raid!) More recently he's had a hand in the Sky series Gangs of London.

He's definitely a director to watch. Very impressive how he's made a name for himself starting from Wales and then spending several years in Indonesia... more of these unusual influences in genre work, please!
posted by rory at 5:50 AM on January 12


I can report back on Merantau now—it's great too, well worth a watch if you like The Raid and its sequel. A bit slower to get started, but with lots of great silat scenes. The three could almost be a trilogy.
posted by rory at 12:56 PM on January 24 [1 favorite]


Rewatching this now and I have the same reaction everyone/anyone would have: Indonesian action goes hard.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:34 PM on January 25


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