Long shots I have loved

A handful of directors recently seem to have rediscovered the joys of the long shot, particularly when deployed, coolly, in the heat of the action. Here are a few that have given me a thrill.

—the streaking jet in Robert Zemeckis's Flight
— the shot of the bridges detonating in The Dark Knight Rises
— the exploding building in Skyfall
— the explosion behind Downey's turned back in the first Iron Man

And some golden oldies:—

— the parking lot killing in Jackie Brown
— the night-time shot of the ship, tiny in the frame, in Titanic
— the car, the police shot, the horn, in Chinatown
— Mike Myers sitting up in Halloween
— Dustin Hoffman 'running in place' in The Graduate
— advancing Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia