And in case you're wondering, yes, this is really one shot. No hidden cuts here.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1722001/true-detective-long-take.jhtml

*promote

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, February 12th, 2014 4:20pm PST - promote requested by original submitter Sarzy.

No idea what's going on here, but I'm officially intrigued. Sold

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

Love this show - but can't watch this as I'm not up to this episode yet.

just saw this on Sunday night.. One of the best shows on TV, I'd say.. Looking forward to next week!

(Reminds me of this scene from Children of Men, also a single take.)

Having not seen the show yet, the clip was somewhat confusing. But what confuses me more is the tag; "greatest piece of film making you'll see this week, or next week, or the week after." A single take - of whatever length - does not constitute great film making. It is the content of the shot that makes it great. And, tbh, the scene was nothing we haven't seen before.

Yeah, saw this and was very, very impressed-Great finale to the episode and this is a very well-acted show with the chemistry between M and H-Have to watch it again now knowing and remembering why this scene was so tight...
Setting up that shot must have been incredible-

Another one that comes to mind was Snake Eyes (1998)
Director: Brian De Palma
Steadicam operator Larry McConkey's 12.5 minute opening steady-cam shot is pretty incredible-An otherwise mediocre film but one of my favorites-Watched the long shot again and and the set-ups pretty insane...
http://vimeo.com/3235512

http://www.tv.com/shows/true-detective/

Though I'm down with a little bit of lyrical grandstanding, I agree with the earlier sentiment that the length of a shot doesn't make it great, but the content does. If we're talking about long cuts, then the refugee camp scene from Children of Men takes every award. Though there are periodic cuts in that scene, it was shot in full a few times and spliced together. The emotion and gravity of that scene are matched with the action, the dialogue and the acting. The scene somehow shows the dreadful reality of that kind of situation without detracting from the story, and the amazing moment where the baby's crying stops everyone in their tracks momentarily for a common goal. This was good, but it's not even close to the greatest i'll see this week.

Children of Men:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twcKoAQ7HIg - though it's only the first part of it.
Some stuff missing, followed by:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5vmo_oUnJo

Hope someone can find a full video!

@dannym3141-=If you check-out that 12.5 min shot from Snake Eyes, the set-up as far as content not only had Cage talking a mile-a-minute, but the entire play-out of the meat of the plot is there, along with all the supporting characters that have to do with the crime being committed during the fight, it's all one cut with maybe one or two undetectable cheats....hard to find one though-It's a piece of work, and the rest of the flick kinna blows.

children of Men-Let me see, like-hate relationship with that film, while the subject matter was cool enough, the thing dragged-on darkly and left me kinna dulled-Have to check that shot you all are digging-on again and maybe it'll change my mind about it being watchable as a film I'd wanna see over and over....As I recall it was kind of an overall dud 4 me personally.

I'm not poo-poo'ing this because was a masterful direction, but there were three shots in this clip. One at the 3sec. mark, and the other at 5:57.
Yes, I know, semantics and all that. It's probably a waste of space to mention since we are all smart enough to recognize the awesomeness of this, but had to say it for literal reasons.
Also: No idea about the show. Looks cool.

You're right, a long take isn't anything special on its own. I think the framing, camera movement, intricate choreography, and overall complexity make this a noteworthy shot. Is it the greatest steadicam shot ever? No, which is why I didn't call this something hyperbolic like "the greatest shot you'll ever see" or even "the greatest shot you'll see this year." But it is a bravura piece of filmmaking and certainly worth watching. I'll admit that I have a soft spot for complex tracking shots, though.

Incredible cinematography.

Nicely shot and all, but there are several cuts in this. it absolutely is not a single shot.

There is a cut at around 2:50 mark, when the camera moves up to the helicopter, and then back down.

There is at least another one, very well disguised to be honest, at around the 4:25 mark when they move between the sheets hanging in the clothes line.

There could be more, but I noticed at least these two on a first viewing.

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/internet/true_detective/season_1.html

I'm pretty sure they mentioned in an interview that they deliberately included a few points where they could potentially cut in a different take, but the shot used in the show was, in fact, a single take.

*Cough*

Tags for this video have been changed from 'True Detective, Cary Fukunaga, Matthew McConaughey, awesome, HBO' to 'True Detective, Cary Fukunaga, Matthew McConaughey, awesome, HBO, tracking' - edited by lucky760

*related=http://videosift.com/video/True-Detective-Rusts-existential-musings-about-religion

True Detective: Rust's existential musings about religion has been added as a related post - related requested by Trancecoach.