10 Best Movie Fights
Spoiler alert: I give away details of some of the movies listed below, so if there's one that you haven't yet seen, read only the underlined part, and then go rent it. Once you've seen it, come back and finish reading the rest of the commentary. You're welcome.
10- Nada vs. Frank alley brawl in They Live (1988): Nada (Roddy Piper) asks Frank (Keith David) to put on a pair of glasses that enables the wearer to see hidden messages and aliens disguised as humans, and Frank refuses. Punches are thrown, there's a wrestling style "suplex", and all the while Nada is telling Frank to "Put on the glasses!" At one point, Nada is on his back on the receiving end of five consecutive knees to the groin. Nada starts swinging a two-by-four, but soon apologizes for doing so when he breaks a car window and realizes it's too dangerous a weapon for a fistfight. At the end, Nada gets the job done with a body slam, and finally puts the glasses on Frank, who sees the light. The South Park "cripple fight" was based scene for scene on this one.
9- Cort vs. Spotted Horse in The Quick and the Dead (1995): "Spotted Horse…cannot be killed…by a bullet!" Thus begins the fight scene, as Spotted Horse (Jonothon Gill) says his favorite line and applies a finger of war paint to his face. It's a good old fashioned gun duel, and Cort (Russell Crowe) gets off the first shot, putting down his opponent. The undertaker takes one look and declares "The man's dead", but no sooner does he say the words than the crowd pulls back with a gasp as Spotted Horse, true to his word, staggers to his feet and promptly starts shooting at Cort. It's a tension filled scene, as Cort had been given only one bullet for the fight, and begs the crowd for another. He gets it, and puts one right between the eyes of his foe. This puts Spotted Horse to rest…or does it? With one final gasp, he raises his arm for a second, and then, finally, succumbs to his injuries.
8- King Arthur vs. the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): King Arthur comes up to a knight who refuses to let him pass, and a hilarious sword fight ensues. The knight's arm is cut off but he fights on, refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of the injury with the claim "'tis but a scratch. I've 'ad worse." He then loses his other arm, calling it a "flesh wound", one leg, and then the other, each time brushing off the injury. Finally he's an armless, legless stump on the ground, at which point he says: "Alright…we'll call it a draw."
7-William Munny vs. saloon full of bad guys in Unforgiven (1992): Thunder rolls in the background as William Munny (Eastwood) walks into a saloon full of bad guys frozen in fear from knowing his reputation and promptly shoots the owner for displaying the corpse of his dead partner. He is then about to shoot the movie's villain, Little Bill (Gene Hackman) when his gun misfires and a gunfight ensues between Munny and Bill and his gang. Munny gets them all, and after pouring himself a couple of drinks, points his gun at Bill who's lying on the floor, helpless. Little Bill says "I don't deserve this...to die like this..." to which Munny responds "Deserve's got nothing to do with it" and kills him. He then makes his way out of town with the threat of killing not only anyone who tries to stop him, but their wives and friends, and then burn their houses down. His unscathed survival of the incident shows that a gunfighter wins through intimidation and luck as much as through skill.
6- Fight at the House of Blue Leaves in Kill Bill 1 (2003): The fight begins as Kiddo (Uma Thurman) takes on a half dozen sword wielding body guards in black suits and masks with her Hattori Hanzo sword. She quickly dispatches them, and is met by Gogo, a young but vicious assassin in a schoolgirl outfit with a spike and razor covered steel ball on the end of a chain. When she's done with her, in come more bodyguards (called the Crazy 88's, 'cause, there's 88 of them) and thus begins an ultra violent fight scene. Blood gushes all over as bodies and body parts go flying. In the end, what's left is a blood soaked room full of the dead and dying, to whom Kiddo tells: "Those of you lucky enough to still have your lives, take them with you! But leave the limbs you have lost; they belong to me now." Awesome.
5- Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed in Rocky (1976): Rocky the aging underdog gets to face the World Champion in this inspirational boxing match. Anyone who watches this fight and says they weren't cheering for Rocky to win is either a liar or thinking of one of the other Rocky movies. Even though it ends in a draw, the point is made: never give up on your dreams.
4- Ripley vs. the Queen Alien in Aliens (1986): It starts with Ripley hiding in an elevator from the much larger and stronger Alien Queen. When she comes out though, she's strapped into a walking forklift that can even the odds. She sees the alien going after Newt, the little girl, delivers the best fight-starting line in movie history: "Get away from her you BITCH!" The alien, that caused everyone so much misery since the start of the movie, finally gets the beating she deserves, and is eventually thrown out the airlock.
3- The Incredibles vs. the Omnidroid in The Incredibles (2004): Mr. Incredible, his wife Elastigirl, their two kids Dash and Violet, along with some help from Frozone, battle a giant indestructible sphere with legs and claws bent on destroying the city of Municiberg. The action is fast and furious, with each hero in turn attacking and being repelled by the robot. Mr. Incredible uses his strength, Elastigirl trips the robot with her elasticity, Dash uses his speed to get away, Violet makes use of her invisibility and her force field to evade the robot's attacks and Frozone lays down layers of ice to slow its progress. When they find the remote that controls it, they pass it back and forth as the robot tries to take possession of it, and eventually use its own claw to destroy it. Despite being an animated film, this is one exciting fight scene that you never get tired of watching.
2- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn vs. Darth Maul light saber duel in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999): Darth Maul fights off the two Jedis with his double sided light saber. At one point, a series of force fields traps Obi-Wan, leaving Qui-Gon on his own, and he is eventually struck down by Darth Maul. An angered Obi-Wan then beats Darth Maul by cutting him in half…literally. The actor playing Darth Maul is fantastic, as he is a real martial arts expert who did his own fighting; the other two were stuntmen with the actors' faces digitally superimposed. Nevertheless, this is the best choreographed swordfight I've ever seen.
1- Spiderman vs. Doctor Octopus on the subway in Spiderman 2 (2004): If you ever wondered what a superhero and a super villain fight would look like, this is it. It's a fast moving fight that takes place on a rolling subway train, where many punches, kicks, and even people are thrown (who Spiderman manages to save with his webbing). Spiderman loses in the end, but not before saving the runaway train, and being defended by all those aboard (not that they did any good, but it was touching just the same) against the multi-armed villain. You just want to watch it over and over…
