10 Greatest Traditional Film References In The John Wick Franchise

From Enter the Dragon to Lawrence of Arabia, the John Wick franchise is jam-packed with references to traditional motion pictures. John Wick was conceived as a mishmash of the visible type of neo-noir, the combat choreography of martial arts motion pictures, and the operatic violence of spaghetti westerns, so it is smart that the franchise has drawn from a deep effectively of cinematic influences. From a nightclub named after a French heist movie to a prison underworld radio station named after a kung fu subgenre, the John Wick sequence has extra film homages and inside jokes than a Quentin Tarantino movie.

A number of the John Wick franchise’s references are apparent, like a climactic gun duel borrowed from The Good, the Dangerous, and the Ugly, whereas others are extra refined, like a background avenue efficiency borrowed from Rocky. The flicks have even homaged the cinematic legacy of their very own star, Keanu Reeves, with nods to The Matrix. It’s clear that the filmmakers behind this franchise have a deep love and appreciation for cinema historical past. From a music cue taken from Die Laborious to a lethal staircase taken from The Exorcist, the John Wick motion pictures have referenced every kind of traditional motion pictures.

10 Die Laborious (1988)

“Ode to Pleasure” on the church organ in John Wick

Within the first John Wick film, when John finds out about an enormous stash of money that Viggo has hidden in a church, he heads to the church to burn all of it. As he enters the church, the church organist may be heard enjoying “Ode to Pleasure” from the fourth and closing motion of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. John Wick isn’t the primary motion film to characteristic “Ode to Pleasure” on its soundtrack; it was additionally utilized in Die Laborious.

Die Laborious makes use of “Ode to Pleasure” because the theme tune for Hans Gruber and his nefarious cronies. It performs throughout their introduction and it comes again when Theo manages to get the vault open. John Wick’s use of “Ode to Pleasure” is probably going a nod to the tune’s inclusion within the earlier motion film traditional.

9 The Warriors (1979)

The WUXIA radio DJ in John Wick: Chapter 4

When John is making his method throughout Paris to face the Marquis in a duel in John Wick: Chapter 4, audiences are launched to WUXIA, an unique radio station inside the prison underworld named after a subgenre of martial arts motion pictures. All through John’s Parisian misadventures, the WUXIA DJ – performed by Marie Pierra Kakoma – scores the motion with diegetic songs on the John Wick: Chapter 4 soundtrack, like “Marie Douceur, Marie Colère” by Manon Hollander, a canopy of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.”

The closeup shot of the DJ’s lips talking into the microphone is a direct homage to the same shot from The Warriors. This shot was additionally homaged in Pulp Fiction when Mia Wallace speaks to Vincent Vega through her intercom system. The scene additional references The Warriors when the DJ performs Lola Colette’s cowl of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Nowhere to Run.” The Warriors used a distinct cowl of “Nowhere to Run” carried out by Arnold McCuller.

8 Enter The Dragon (1973)

The corridor of mirrors combat in John Wick: Chapter 2

The John Wick movies have been closely influenced by martial arts motion pictures, so it was applicable for certainly one of them to incorporate a nod to arguably the best martial arts film ever made: Bruce Lee’s crowning cinematic achievement, Enter the Dragon. In each Enter the Dragon and John Wick: Chapter 2, the climactic showdown takes place in a corridor of mirrors. The heroes of each motion pictures are surrounded by dangerous guys and their reflections.

Though it ended up being remembered as one of many film’s greatest scenes – and one of the vital iconic achievements of Lee’s profession – Lee initially objected to Enter the Dragon’s mirror scene. Lee was nervous that the various mirrors featured on-screen would make it troublesome for viewers to make out what was occurring. When he noticed the set, he was satisfied that the disorientation would add to the depth of the ultimate combat.

7 The Story Of Zatoichi (1962)

Donnie Yen’s Caine in John Wick: Chapter 4

Donnie Yen’s position as blind martial arts grasp Caine in John Wick: Chapter 4 has been in comparison with Yen’s earlier efficiency as “Guardian of the Whills” Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However the character was really impressed by a a lot earlier movie: the traditional samurai film The Story of Zatoichi. The Story of Zatoichi revolves round a blind masseur who additionally occurs to be a grasp swordsman. Caine isn’t a masseur, however he’s a grasp swordsman.

The similarities between the 2 characters lengthen past their visible impairment. In The Story of Zatoichi, Zatoichi stumbles into the crossfire of a battle between vengeful geisha and rival yakuza gangs. In John Wick: Chapter 4, Caine stumbles into the crossfire of a battle between Wick’s backup on the Osaka Continental and the forces of the Excessive Desk.

6 The Matrix (1999)

The “Weapons, plenty of weapons” line in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

The John Wick sequence doesn’t simply homage motion motion pictures that the filmmakers admire; it additionally references one of many motion pictures that they really labored on. John Wick director Chad Stahelski first labored with Reeves on the stunts for The Matrix, and the John Wick motion pictures have a few nods to their earlier motion masterpiece. The sequels reunited Reeves along with his Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne within the position of the Bowery King.

The third film, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, borrows an iconic line from the primary Matrix movie. When John and Charon are on the point of defend the New York Continental from the Excessive Desk’s goons, John says they’ll want “weapons, plenty of weapons.” This is similar factor that Neo stated when he was preparing for the foyer shootout in The Matrix.

5 The Exorcist (1973)

The lethal staircase in John Wick: Chapter 4

The climactic sequence in John Wick: Chapter 4 sees John making his method up the large staircase to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica for his closing duel with the Marquis. On his method up the steps, John kills a bunch of fellow assassins, and when he lastly will get to the highest, he’s kicked all the way in which again all the way down to the underside, so he has to repeat the Herculean battle of getting again to the highest. It’s an excellent slapstick sequence that introduced the home down.

Nevertheless it was additionally a sly reference to one of many best horror motion pictures ever made. There’s a equally tall and lethal set of stairs outdoors Chris and Regan MacNeil’s condo in William Friedkin’s groundbreaking horror opus The Exorcist. Burke Dennings and later Father Karras each die from falling down these stairs, just like the many individuals killed by John on his method to the Basilica.

4 Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

The Crimson Circle nightclub in John Wick

The stoic, cold-blooded antihero of the John Wick franchise was largely impressed by Alain Delon’s stoic, cold-blooded hitman character Jef Costello in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï. However the first film features a direct homage to a distinct Melville-directed crime movie: Le Cercle Rouge. The English translation of the movie’s title is The Crimson Circle, and the nightclub the place John tracks down Iosef in John Wick is known as after this English-language title.

Le Cercle Rouge is a chilling crime thriller about an unlikely trio of crooks teaming as much as plan an elaborate heist. The movie is famend for its tense climactic heist sequence, which options nearly no dialogue and chronicles the nail-biting occasions of the theft via completely visible storytelling. The film as a complete exemplifies the gritty motion and minimalist characterization that made John Wick so nice.

3 Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The desert scenes in John Wick: Chapter 4

Initially of John Wick: Chapter 4, there’s a stark reduce from John getting again into combating form on the Bowery King’s hideout to John chasing down the Excessive Desk’s goons on horseback within the desert. That is an homage to the same transition to the desert in David Lean’s dazzling Technicolor epic Lawrence of Arabia. The opening of Lean’s film cuts from T.E. Lawrence’s funeral in 1935 to his journey throughout the desert throughout the First World Battle.

The breathtaking vast pictures of the desert are a direct reference to Freddie A. Younger’s iconic cinematography from Lawrence of Arabia. Specifically, the blazing dawn within the background – which might’ve been a nightmare to shoot round – recreates certainly one of Lawrence of Arabia’s most memorable photos. The horseback chase, nevertheless, owes extra to the western style than it does to Lean’s epic.

2 Rocky (1976)

The road efficiency of “Take You Again” in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

When John arrives on the library in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, a gaggle of avenue performers may be seen outdoors singing “Take You Again.” This is similar tune sung by Sylvester Stallone’s brother, Frank Stallone, within the first Rocky film. He wrote the tune for the film and it marked his on-screen singing debut.

Stallone would go on to contribute songs to the soundtracks of quite a lot of his brother’s motion pictures. He sang “Angel Voice / Please Be Somebody To Me” for Paradise Alley, “Na Na Ninni / Two Sorts of Love” for Rocky II, “Pushin’” for Rocky III, “Removed from Over” for Staying Alive, “Peace in Our Life” for Rambo: First Blood Half II, “Dangerous Nite” for Over the Prime, and “You Don’t Need to Struggle with Me” for The Expendables 2. However “Take You Again” stays essentially the most iconic.

1 The Good, The Dangerous, And The Ugly (1966)

The climactic duel in John Wick: Chapter 4

The operatic violence of spaghetti westerns was an enormous affect on the type of the John Wick motion pictures, and the climactic sequence of John Wick: Chapter 4 homaged arguably the best-directed scene in all the style. The fourquel’s closing duel is an extravagant nod to the ultimate duel from Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Dangerous, and the Ugly. When Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Title lastly finds the graveyard the place the Accomplice gold is stashed, he will get into an armed standoff with the opposite two characters.

Simply as “The Good” will get into an armed standoff with “The Dangerous” and “The Ugly,” John will get into an armed standoff with Caine and the Marquis. Stahelski replicated Leone’s charming mix of intense closeups and faraway vast pictures, edited along with razor-sharp precision. Very like The Good, the Dangerous, and the Ugly’s duel marked a becoming conclusion to the {Dollars} trilogy, this sequence marked a becoming conclusion to the John Wick saga.