The secrets of John Wick 3’s motorcycle chase is as crazy as the scene

The short, sharp and violent motorcycle swordfight scene in John Wick 3 is certainly spectacular... as was effort made to get it looking that slick!

John Wick 3

If you like your action films to be moody, blood thirsty and exuberant then we can’t recommend many better films than the John Wick trilogy, which is as stylish as it is unhinged.

Anyone who has watched the three films so far will also see how the success of the series has seen production budgets grow culminating in a riot of a ride in John Wick 3: Parabellum boasting slick fight upon slick fight throughout its running time.

However, it is the swordfight scene that takes place on an army of Yamaha MT-09s that captures our imagination for its delicious absurdity and its expert choreography. For those that haven’t seen it, here you go (apologies if the rights holders have pulled the video by the time you read this…)

It’s no surprise to see a motorcycle scene in a film starring Keanu Reeves, arguably Hollywood’s most convincing enthusiasts, so it’s also little surprise to see it done with meticulous precision.

Now a video posted to the Flashback FilmMaking YouTube channel reveals the behind the scenes secrets that went into creating a remarkably realistic CGI scene.

For a little background, both Reeves and director Chad Stahelski had been inspired by a chase scene in a Korean film named The Villainess and set about trying to pay homage to it. However, as they discover it wouldn’t be as easy as they had anticipated, leading to months of preparation for what is a fairly short scene but one they wanted to get just right.

This is a fascinating insight into the sheer mechanics of scenes such as these with intricate choreography and inch-perfect movements.

Just a warning though, it contains lots of skin-tight green screen unitards…