At number five is this six minute take from Children of Men, directed by Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón. This is an amazing piece of scifi realism and due partly to its successful use of long takes, of which this scene is its longest. Despite the effort that went into the scene (it took 14 days to shoot) it is easy to not notice the lack of cuts … you just wonder why it’s so exhausting to watch. The incredible fact that this take is a non-stop six minute action sequence, without a single cut, is astonishing in a film that doesn’t make a song and dance about the fact. So much so that it only occurred to me after the showing what an incredible feat this was. This scene conveys an incredible amount of realism making you feel very much part of the action. You can watch the clip below: