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Team Power Walk
aka: Power Walk

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Cue the Banana Peel.

Jeff: Can we stop walking in slo-mo now?
Abed: 20 more yards.
Pierce: You guys are walking in slo-mo?

The Team Power Walk is a wide shot of the main cast, shoulder to shoulder, suited up for battle and looking cool/determined/fierce as they walk towards the camera and often in slow motion. The Team Power Walk is mostly used in order to convey the unity of the group, as they walk in an orderly fashion in a single line. Traditionally the characters are ordered in their importance in the party, the most important in the middle and decreasing outwards.

It's typically shot from a slightly lower than normal angle to add stature to the characters in the shot. Slomo is often used to give the images additional weight. Extra power can be gained from a dramatic backdrop, especially flames or explosions. The walk often continues until the characters are out of frame, and is often followed by an Act Break. Alternatively, it can be preceded by a slow build-up of the group, with just the lead walking at first, then others noticing and hurrying to his/her side one by one.

Sometimes (especially when used in the opening credits) called a Hero Shot (although there can be other types of hero shots — e.g. a shot from a low angle to make a character look larger than life).

Can be combined with an Unflinching Walk for extra badassitude. If they're standing still, it's the V-Formation Team Shot. A similar walk, commonly performed by the Alpha Bitch and her Girl Posse, is Make Way for the Princess. Sometimes a key part of the Opening Credits Cast Party, in which you're not sure whether it's the actors or the characters who are gathered together so artificially.

Often used as a Modeling Pose if the product is meant to make one feel strong and confident.

Commonly used as an intro shot of an ensemble cast in TV dramas, e.g. procedurals. It's verging on being a Discredited Trope due to difficulty of actually getting a group of people to do this outside of a parade or a military exercise.

Because the characters are usually just walking somewhere, this is a subtrope of Mundane Made Awesome.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • One Piece: The Walk to Arlong Park has one pan shot of Zoro, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp marching to avenge Nami. The walk is so wide, it'd probably still require a pan if done in letterbox.
  • Parodied in the live-action movie of Cromartie High School. The pre-finale power walk is intercut with trucking shots of the actors simply walking in place. Taken to a ridiculous level in the opening of the anime, which has two groups of students walking right through, among other things, a tank.
  • In Aggretsuko, Washimi and Gori walk through work in a strut that Gori describes as the "baddest-bitch-in-the-room walk". Both Washimi and Gori also readily admits in private that it actually is murder on your back to walk like that, but they both have a public image to maintain.

    Arts 
  • The Night Watch: The Militia Company of District II is shown walking down the street carrying their weapons (and a big drum) in a way that is meant to convey "we are here to protect you, citizen". The two officials are at the center and in the painting's foreground.

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animation 
  • Monsters, Inc.: At the start of the workday, a group of tough monsters, with top scarer Sulley in front, slowly walk onto the Scare Floor with confident stride. To quote Needleman, "They're so awesome."
    • Parodied in the Hilarious Outtakes, in which Sulley trips and causes everyone else to fall over each other, all seen in slow-motion.
  • Turning Red: Mei's aunties are introduced walking into the Lee family temple side by side in unison while strongly backlit exuding confidence and looking cool.

    Films — Live Action 
  • As the crew of Apollo 13 are walking down the gangway into the spacecraft, the music swells and the film speed slows.
  • Bubba Ho Tep: Once Elvis and Jack (as in JFK) decide to challenge the titular soul-sucking monster, they do a power walk of sorts through the corridor of their rest home. Kinda. Elvis needs a walker, and Jack rides a powered wheelchair. But it's still badass.
  • Done twice in Expend4bles. First when the team boards their plane before infiltrating Rahmat's ship, and later during the final battle when Christmas leads the team in launching an attack on Rahmat and his men.
  • Gangs of New York opens with a mob of Dead Rabbits strolling toward the front door to the Old Brewery, psyching themselves up for their street battle against the Nativists in Paradise Square. Throw in some tribal greasepaint, fetishistic bondage gear, weapons straight out of a medieval torture den, a rabbit impaled on a pike, a crucifix, and the surreal march tune "Shimmy She Wobble", and you've got one of the most menacing Power Walks imaginable.
  • Ghostbusters (1984): When the Ghostbusters face Gozer, they stand shoulder-to-shoulder, marching towards her as they ready their particle throwers.
    Peter: Grab your stick.
    (they draw their particle throwers)
    Everybody: Holdin'!
    Peter: Heat 'em up!
    (they switch them on)
    Everybody: Smokin'!
    Peter: Make 'em hard!
    Everybody: Ready!
  • Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker has a nineteen-man Power Walk at the beginning of the climatic battle featuring nearly every Kamen Rider hero at that point (the Double Riders and Kamen Rider V3 led the power walking on their bikes to Decade and Diend who were already getting their asses whooped on the battlefield, Kamen Rider Kuuga was Brainwashed and Crazy when the battle began, and Kamen Rider Double and Kamen Rider J had their separate moments at the end).
  • Kelly's Heroes: In classic Western-showdown form, Kelly, Big Joe, and Oddball step out into the street one by one, adjust their guns, and approach the German tank. But they're not there to fight, they want to make a deal.
  • Kill Bill, Vol 1 (2003): O-Ren Ishii and members of the Crazy 88 Power Walk in the House of Blue Leaves to the song Battle Without Honor or Humanity.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • In The Avengers, we get a great shot of Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow walking with purpose just before the final battle.
    • Parodied in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), as the team walks down a corridor in slow motion, and since they're just walking down a corridor, are bored. Rocket even yawns and scratches himself.
    • In Avengers: Endgame, the surviving Avengers walk towards the Quantum Tunnel with their Quantum Tunnel suits on.
    • Done twice in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. First a parody during the opening credits as they walking with Nebula carrying a passed out Quill to bed, and later played straight during the final battle, with Rocket leading the Guardians (and a reluctant Gamora) into battle with the High Evolutionary's forces.
  • Before the USA/Soviet Union match in Miracle, depicting the 1980 Olympic "Miracle on Ice", the underdog US team leaves their locker room and heads to the ice, where they will face off the greatest hockey team on Earth.
  • The title sequence of Reservoir Dogs, as the criminals all walk out to their cars to begin the heist, with "Little Green Bag" playing on the soundtrack.
  • Parodied in Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th: while the main characters dramatically Power Walk, background extras move through the frame at a normal pace.
  • Tombstone (1993): The Earps and Doc Holliday walk towards the O.K. Corral to confront the cowboys. The image of Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Kurt Russell, and Bill Paxton in Badass Longcoats has been used in posters and video covers for the film. It even replays a more badass version of the walk during the end credits. Since the Earp crew really did walk halfway across town to confront the Clanton crew, every movie featuring the O.K. Corral includes such a scene.
  • In the climax of Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!, the ten Ultramen start marching their way up towards Etelgar's fortress for a final showdown with the camera helpfully panning through each and every one of them before zooming out to an epic shot of all ten Ultras together, ready to kick ass.
  • The Wild Bunch (1969) "Let's go!" features the aging outlaws deciding to rescue their comrade, walking through a Mexican village they will shortly massacre. Fun fact: It wasn't in the script at all, Sam Peckinpah just decided he wanted to do it.
  • The Hazing: In a parody of Reservoir Dogs, the five pledges leave the frat house on their mission dressed in Halloween costumes, doing a slo-mo strut to "Little Blue Dog" rather than "Little Green Bag".

    Live-Action TV 
  • In the opening to Breakout Kings, the power walk starts with the five leads walking together, but then prison doors slam shut in front of the three Boxed Crooks.
  • In the Community episode "Basic Rocket Science", Abed has the entire group do one in slow motion walking towards a space simulator. (Except for Pierce, who doesn't realise that the others are walking in slomo.) They end up being very late because Abed keeps making them redo it until it's sufficiently dramatic.
  • An episode of the BBC's Coupling parodied the Power Walk, with the leading men strutting slowly down the sidewalk in dark suits, narrow ties, and sunglasses... because they're going to a funeral. It's only when Sally tells them to hurry up that we see they're actually walking in slow motion, at which point Susan tells them to "stop playing Reservoir Dogs!"
  • Kamen Rider Build: The heroic riders get a dramatic shot of them walking toward the tower that they are going to enter in order to defeat the Big Bad in the final battle.
  • Law & Order features the main detectives and prosecutors walking through some kind of hallway or chamber in the opening credits. It's quite an interesting glimpse at how the series evolved beyond the frequent cast changes; in the very early years, a group of rather schlubby guys are ambling through a slightly grubby corridor bickering amongst themselves about something the audience isn't privy to. Over the years, the cast gets more attractive, the locales they're walking through get more glamourous and impressive and the power-walks get more determined and focused.
  • In the Legends of Tomorrow episode The Magnificent Eight, the team arrives in the old West, and does an epic Slow Motion walk into the town.
  • This visual idiom is also put to repeated use on Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy shows, including parodies:
    • In one episode of Angel, "Smile Time", the doors to Angel's office open and Wesley, Gunn, and Fred walking out in slow-mo... and then the camera pans downward, revealing Angel as a puppet walking in front of them.
    • In "Disharmony", Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn power walk with deadly seriousness on their way to confront a vampire cult leader. The camera starts with a group shot, then focuses on each of their intense expressions in turn, suddenly revealing Cordelia's ditzy friend-cum-vampire Harmony skipping along beside them.
    • In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Fool for Love". After Spike kills the Chinese slayer, we get several shots of him, Angel, Drusilla and Darla walking, tall and hard, with lots of fire in the background (presumably caused not by them but by the Boxer Rebellion). Spike even skips over a random piece of debris, adding a sadistic child-like glee to his triumph.
  • In Pretty Little Liars, the four main characters commonly walk in a row sometimes known as a "Liar Wall". Most notably when arriving at Wilden's funeral. If one girl is not in line with the others it pertains to the plot as to why.
  • Red Dwarf: Parodied in "Back in the Red Part 2", when the gang perform an homage to Reservoir Dogs dressed up as the Dibleys; buck teeth and literal mop-tops included, a moment the DVD chapters dubs "Reservoir Dorks".
  • Smallville: In the episode "Justice", the proto-Justice League of Clark Kent, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Cyborg and Bart Allen do the power walk away from one of Lex Luthor's secret bases. Complete with the slo-mo, the explosions in the background, dramatic music and a dramatic double close-up — starting off with a shot of all 5, zooming in to show the middle 3 (with a sound effect cue), then repeating to zoom in on Clark alone.
  • In True Blood season four episode "Burning Down the House" the episode ends with a four-vampire power walk in '80s clothes. With a rocket launcher.

    Music 

    Puppet Shows 
  • Parodied in The Muppets (2015) episode "Got Silk?", in which Pache the brand guru buys Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe new suits, and they're shown walking into the studio in slow motion, complete with "Little Green Bag" on the soundtrack ... and then Chip walks past normally.

    Video Games 
  • The end of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's chapter one has Venom Snake, Miller, Eli, Quiet, Huey, and your best Diamond Dogs soldiers dramatically walking alongside each other on a Mother Base platform.
  • Team Fortress 2's Mann Vs Machine Trailer has Red's Heavy, Scout and Engineer and Blu's Demoman, Soldier and Medic doing a heroic power walk when they are about to fight Grey Mann's army of robot Mercenaries. It starts with the Heavy, who gets the Scout to join in, then the Engineer comes with two shotguns and gives one the Heavy. They catch the Demoman and Soldier playing cards and offer one of the shotguns to them, a sign of peace. While the five power walk, the Medic comes in. In short, the entire video is one long power walk.

    Western Animation 
  • Parodied in American Dad! with that group of cheating housewives walking into the supermarket. They really do walk that slow and a child on a tricycle is faster than them.
  • In Central Park, Season 1 finale "A Fish Called Snakehead", when Owen, Elwood, and Fran are ready to catch the snakehead in the lake, they walk while carrying their fishing rod in slow motion while triumphant music plays in the background. It gets cut short when Owen notices Elwood and Fran's fishing line somehow got tangled together and they try to untangle it while they're both panicking about seeing a snakehead.
  • The intro for Justice League starts with the team's silhouettes slowly yet dramatically walking towards the camera in unison.
  • Ninjago: In "Seabound", the ninja perform a slow-motion power-walk when boarding the Ocean Bounty. Jay then manages to ruin the moment by accidentally setting off a laser harpoon.
  • Parodied in The Penguins of Madagascar episode "Launchtime." The penguins power-walk on the way to their rocket ship with dramatic music playing. Then Skipper says: "Well, we'll never get to the moon at this rate. Let's pick up the pace." They, and the music, speed up.
  • Total Drama: Parodied in "2008: A Space Owen". The five remaining contestants stand side by side in front of the gate of a studio. As it opens and daylight pours in, they begin walking in slow-motion while the camera goes from behind them to their feet, to a low sideways view, to a panning frontal shot. At this point, Chris hastily walks past them and tells them to get a move on.


 
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Alternative Title(s): Power Walk

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Slow-Mo Team Walk

Gordon sees Terra, Volcana, and Tefé doing a cool, slow-motion group walk towards the screen, not realizing they're in slow-mo because he accidentally activated the slow-mo machine.

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