Favorite fight scenes

[Baradakas]

Yoda vs. Dooku, man can that little dude MOVE!!!





-B

[Fist and Faith]

MM, thanks for trying. That's ok, there will be some mentions from time to time.

[Zephalephelah]

There is a fight scene in the movie "They Live" that is astounding. Its not good its long and unintentionally funny. I can't do justice to it. It has to be experienced to be believed.

I hate quoting TOM C because he has that silly cat avatar & it just bugs me, but he really has something here. The major fight scene in "They Live" is simply brutal. They don't use karate or guns, it is a plain old fashion street brawl between two people who sort of know how to fight. It does last a long time, longer than most fight scenes in most any movie, and it does have a comedic value. The movie's nearly worth watching just for that scene.

BTW: The concepts of the movie are very intriguing and the score is good too, although not complex it is done by the director which is unique. The problem with John Carpenter films is that they never give him enough money for his special effects. He would be the undisputed king of Hollywood if they would just sport the guy a $100 million. But even so, at 3 1/2 stars, this movie cannot even compete with the excellence of "The Thing", a movie that still stands up with its special effects although it was made in 1982 and is just plain cruel.

[stonemaybe]

Not quite a fight scene, exactly, but certainly worth checking out by any Bruce Lee fans....

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9QHslHpK4-Q

[Fist and Faith]

I like it.

[lurch]

geez...i certainly liked Raging Bull's DiNero in the ring pounding. Terminator 2's bash out in the Steel Mill still is easily recalled.

[matrixman]

Damn! Gotta remember to rent Equilibrium!!

Just curious, but have you seen it yet? I happened to catch Equilibrium on the Space Channel a few months ago. It was good enough that I stuck around to the end, though I wouldn't say it was an extraordinary movie experience like The Matrix was - a movie whose style I'll assume strongly influenced Equilibrium. It certainly shared The Matrix's mantra of guns, guns and more guns, as well as the sweeping 360-degree camera shots -- minus the "bullet time" effect. But if anything, Equilibrium took its gun fetish to another level. Equilibrium might well surpass The Matrix on the list of films with the most bullets fired and/or most characters mowed down by gunfire. While that did make for some exciting sequences in Equilibrium, the film lacked the "visual density" of The Matrix - the amount of things that the Wachoswki brothers threw into their action scenes, both in the foreground and background. It may be that Equilibrium's more modest budget made it suffer in that area. It wasn't hard to see where the film was let down by its budget constraints. In fact, towards the end, it looked suspiciously like Equilibrium simply ran out of money. The film tried its best, but it was obvious that it did not operate on the same scale as The Matrix.

Another point lost to The Matrix - since I'm comparing the two to death - was in the area of cinematography. Bill Pope's imaginative lighting on The Matrix was one of the many things that set the movie apart from all others. Equilibrium had a generic look by comparison - bright, unsubtle lighting that doesn't create atmosphere, it destroys it.

What Equilibrium did have going for it was Christian Bale. He was the main reason I stayed for the whole movie. Equilibrium may have had him playing a "savior" character - once again shades of The Matrix - but Bale's intensity as an actor is off the charts, in comparison to Keanu Reeves's "blank slate" approach. Which is why Bale is perfect for Batman and Reeves isn't.

Back on the subject of fight scenes: having seen all the Jason Bourne films just last year, I would rank just about all the fights in them as among the best I have ever seen at the movies.

[Harbinger]

Happy Gilmore v. Bob Barker

"The price is wrong, bitch!"

[Mr. Broken]

My favorite fight scene is a catfight. Charlize Theron, and Terry Hatcher in 2 Days in the Valley. These girls are the very reason why most of us have to use a credit card to get a Hotel Room, and just when you think that these 2 are really starting to get it on, one of them pulls a gun. Its worth a look if you havent seen it.

[Montresor]

O-Dae Su vs about fifteen to twenty thugs in Old Boy (the Double Dragon inspired fight) is one of the most impressive fight scenes in a film ever.

[AjK]

Does two fight scenes in one movie count? From Jet Li's movie Fist of Legend:

1. Chen Zhen's fight with Fuimo Funakoshi - Somewhat cliche but the dialogue made it great for me (especially Funakoshi's final admission of defeat.)

2. Chen Zhen's fight with General Fujita - Loved the belt. And I don't mean "black belt".

[Fist and Faith]

Sorry, MM, I hadn't seen your most recent post. Yeah, I saw Equalibrium. Not a bad movie. No, not close the The Matrix in any way I can think of, but it was certainly fun.

[matrixman]

Having just recently watched all three Bourne films again, I maintain that the action sequences of these films (covering all the fights and general stunt work) are among the best ever. What I like about Bourne's fights is how precise, brutal and efficient they are. They aren't overly long brawls, they aren't over the top in goriness, and they don't try to impress with pretty gymnastics moves (not that there's anything wrong with that style). Instead, Bourne is all about fierce and sudden violence, and implied violence around every dark corner.

[AjK]

Great point, MM. The fights in the Bourne movies show that realistic effficient fighting can be just as entertaining (even more so for me) as flash or wire work. IMO those fights really portrayed someone truly fighting for his life.

[Renard]

Having just recently watched all three Bourne films again, I maintain that the action sequences of these films (covering all the fights and general stunt work) are among the best ever. What I like about Bourne's fights is how precise, brutal and efficient they are. They aren't overly long brawls, they aren't over the top in goriness, and they don't try to impress with pretty gymnastics moves (not that there's anything wrong with that style). Instead, Bourne is all about fierce and sudden violence, and implied violence around every dark corner.

all true, but I have a real problem with the editing in the last two (greengrass) films. The first film did it better.

[Rigel]

I just watched Blade, and my wife and I both made the same comment afterwards:

It's a Vampire Matrix movie!

The fights weren't as good as the Matrix, of course, but still quite enjoyable

[Zahir]

There are numerous fights in the movie The Duellists. Not that each fight was particularly good as a fight in and of itself, but as part of the story they were nothing less than superb.

Same director--the climactic fight in Blade Runner (my nominee for "Best Science Fiction Movie of All Time").

And the last two James Bond flicks have had genuinely awesome combat scenes.

[matrixman]

I caught The Duellists on TV a couple of years ago. It was gorgeous looking (as all Ridley Scott movies are). I only vaguely recall the fight scenes, but the tragic nature of the story stuck in my mind. The lesson of this movie: never pick a fight with Harvey Keitel!

I just watched Blade, and my wife and I both made the same comment afterwards:

It's a Vampire Matrix movie!

The fights weren't as good as the Matrix, of course, but still quite enjoyable

Yes, a friend had recommended it to me because of its supposed similarity to the Matrix. But Blade and the Matrix are such different experiences for me that I have to wonder just what people mean when they equate the two. Don't mean to put you on the spot, of course. "Vampire Matrix" sounds like a movie that might interest me, but I'm afraid Blade wasn't that movie.

I did enjoy Blade for what it was, but it certainly didn't excite my imagination the way the Matrix did. Blade's fights were interesting enough to watch, but they weren't extraordinary to me.

[Rigel]

Most of the similarity is due to a particular fight that's similar to the Lobby scene in the Matrix. Ie, a bunch of soldiers line up in a room, Blade walks in and kills them all

It was interesting that the better fights were in the beginning of the movie, while the later fights kind of sucked (and the special effects when the vampires exploded was just laughable).

Still, it was enjoyable for one viewing.

[finn]

I think top of the list would be the fight scene in First Blood where Rambo breaks out of the jail. Simple stuff but effective.

Next I'd go with the final dogfight sequence in Top Gun

Then the dogfight sequence between the F14s and Mitsubishi Zeros in The Final Countdown.

Fourth has to be John Candy in the mud wrestling scene in Stripes

Fifth the street scen in An Officer and a Gentleman

Sixth has to be James Coburn (and the Japanese guy in Seven Samurai - same scene really) in the Magnificent Seven

Lastly the fight between Rutger Hauer and Harrison Ford at the end of Blade Runner.