Monday, November 08, 2010

DEFENESTRATION NOW

This is it. My namesake and my legacy. I hope you like the sights and sounds of breaking glass as much as I do.



A special thanks to Mr. Deelite at The Immaculate Consumption for his invaluable assistance. Also thanks to fifty cent rentals and a lengthy period of unemployment without which this wouldn't have been possible.

UPDATE: I probably should have mentioned this is just the abridged version so it's not a complete history of film defenestration. The full version is over thirty minutes. Seriously.

49 comments:

  1. The Academy may never show this reel during a ceremony but it's easily the best tribute to candy glass there is.

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  2. I'm proud to say I watched the whole thing. It was way more rewarding than that hour long hippie video with the rainbow around the moon.

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  3. This is an inspiring montage. It's about breaking down barriers. The windows are a metaphor for what stands between us and our dreams.

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  4. How many Wilhelms per minute?

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  5. Is it still "defenestration" if you come *in* through the window?

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  6. I like the bit where the glass smashes.

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  7. The best window smashing compilation I've ever seen.

    Bravo.

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  8. That was very moving; it shattered my expectations, broke my glass heart, brought me pane, and made a dramatic exit!

    Horrible puns aside, nice work! Loved the EXTREME dude busting through the window on a snowboard ON FIRE.

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  9. Since glass is a form of a liquid, these guys are jumping into very slow flowing pools.

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  10. Missed the one in Friday the Thirteenth part III, where Jason throws a man through a front window, my personal favorite defenestration scene... or did that make it in there??

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  11. I hate glass, so I loved this.

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  12. not to nit pick but a lot of these people are jumping out of the window. defenestration is throwing someone out a window, the most famous being the Defenestrations of Prague, for which, i believe the term was coined. jumping out would be an "autodefenestration".

    this also reminds me of the John Zorn album Kristallnacht, that has one track that's about 6 minutes of nothing but breaking glass.

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  13. THERE IS A DOOR YOU KNOW!

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  14. I came for Blade Runner, left with so much more.

    Got a kick out of recognizing Jim Kelly without even seeing him.

    His presence is marked with an OOO-EEEE!, followed by an ass getting kicked.

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  15. Thank you for including Good Burger

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  16. I shed a tear for all those stunt men who go unrecognized in the great (and not-so-great) long-shot, slow-mo, defenestration falling scenes. Those are the most epic and credit given to where credit is due.

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  17. I liked the part where the guy went through the glass.

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  18. @Uncle Staple: It's true I used a more liberal definition when compiling this to include jumping and vehicles, etc. As long as something's breaking through a window, it's a defenestration to me. And you are correct about the Defenestration of Prague.

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  19. How dare you, Lazlo H.!!! The Hippie Endurance Test was more like 2 hours long, and I saw the whole thing four times!!! It was amazing!!!

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  20. I like how the woman near the end who broke the glass with what looked like a safe before going through was probably the only one who wasn't shredded to death in the entire video. At least someone was smart. xD

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  21. i love it so much when the guy jumps through one window, across an alleyway, and then through a second window

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  22. "I like how the woman near the end who broke the glass with what looked like a safe"

    oh man! oh god! oh man!

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  23. Like it, might I add...

    A) Max Shreck pushing Selina Kyle, Batman Returns

    B)A movie called "They Live", dude gets thrown out of a window, down a jagged cliff, and walks away in minor pain.

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  24. did i see rock n roll high school in there? i think i did...

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  25. @Anonymous asking about Friday the 13th part III... I think that's it at 2:54. I was looking for it too!

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  26. I loved watching a version of this while waiting for one of your live shows to start. Thanks for putting this up.

    (Also, defenestration of the Ferrari from Ferris Bueller's day off was a priceless addition!)

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  27. Amazing, truly spectacular. But I can't believe you left out the glass elevator scene from Wonka!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_3kUfD9m4

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  28. Only one missing was the "Firefly" moment where Mal goes flying through the bar's front window... only to discover that it's holographic.

    But I guess that wouldn't quite have fit the rest of the montage...

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  29. Glaring omission: Trinity jumping out of the high rise chased by agent.

    Or... did you think they had already played that scene too many times during the movie?

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  30. Also, Evil Ed nicely defenestrates himself in Fright Night (1985).

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  31. Did I see three Total Recall clips in that? I think I did. And thank you for appreciating the awkwardness of that Black Belt Jones train-window-breaking. What were they going for there? Thanks for a wonderful compilation!

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  32. WOAW! 1st place has either got to go to...

    1. Black guy floating magically across the room in slo mo into window (2:25)

    2. Tim Curry laughing maniacally then jumping out of window (6:08)

    3. Battlefield Earth (6:34)

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  33. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDfq_8on81A

    Like peugeots?

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  34. here's one for your collection: "Three on a Match" (1932) The defenestration comes at the end and is the ultimate in self-sacrifice! check it out!

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  35. I'm sorry but what is so special about this video? My mother did this every day on her way to run errands.

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  36. I'm with Anonymous: when one swings INTO a building through the window, wouldn't it be considered "REfenestration"? Possibly just "fenestration"?

    Or would you have to chemically rejoin the pieces of shattered glass back into a solid pane as you entered to truly "fenestrate"?

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  37. does anyone else feel like jumping trough a window right now?

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  38. I kept Waiting for "last man standing" with bruce willis, and "Watchmen" and neither came :)

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  39. clip from last man standing: (2:05 in)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ON3_CP3mC0

    clip from watchmen: (2:40 in)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx9bttHYZz8

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  40. Batman returns (1:50 in)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQnBElSrUU

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  41. This is amazing. But you forgot what is absolutely the greatest film defenestration OF ALL TIME. This is NO SMALL OMISSION.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR7DkYpOfAM

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  42. I hope the climax of The Game is there somewhere - it's my favorite defenestration.

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  43. What about this one from The Protector with Tony Jaa where he runs up a huge window and backflips over an ATV as it smashes through underneath him.

    It happens at 6:50

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzhjK3OfmcE

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  44. It was missing the defenestration from the first Fantastic Four movie - which was pretty unique.

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  45. I totally want to see the movie where Steven Segal stars opposite The Ugly and they spend 90 minutes throwing bad guys through windows together. Make it happen!

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  46. Thought you were going to end with this from Permanent Midnight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlMUswe8wY8

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  47. I would love to own a copy of your 30 minute version. This was unbelievably satisfying.

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  48. "The Man WHo Fell to Earth" -- if I remember correctly a couple of thugs try to throw Rip Torn through a window. He bounced off, mutters "sorry," and then when they try again he crashed through to his death.

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