Gladiator (2000)

Here is a scene from Gladiator which I found to be well edited:

Gladiator The Battle with A Retired Gladiator 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTmlYKiLBHI

Something I found interesting about this scene was it shows completely difference characters doing the same movements, yet they are edited in such a way that it looks like they are all the same character.

Despite this being only a few seconds of this scene, this is what I found interesting about this scene, because the continuity between these characters works really well. There is a lot of cut to motion which helps the continuity to flow. Once the second shot has begun they are each framed in a similar way which helps this continuity to continue to flow seamlessly. There is a lot of sand in this scene which could be difficult to edit because the sand that is thrown into the air by the chain may not have the same shape during different takes, but in this scene the edit works.

I think one of the most important things about this scene is the amount of movement and energy which can be seen in the edit. This scene is quite nontraditional because it does not have music over the edit, only crowd noise. This means that the editor would not have music to match each cut to.

These three cuts in the scene happen very quickly, but it shows us how cutting to motion can signify action or an event.

One thing this scene does differently from most films is that it does not cut to many camera angles during sword fights, so we still see a lot of action and movement but only in one camera angle. I think this makes it easier for the viewer to see.

From these three shots above we can see how there is lots of motion in the scene, and how little the camera angles actually change in a scene with lots of action. I find that this edit is more entertaining because of how little the camera changes so we can see action without being distracted by too many cuts.