Top 50 Movie Fight Scenes

<< Fight scenes 30-21 this way!


20. MARTIN BLANK vs FELIX LA PUBELLE in GROSSE POINTE BLANK
Cusack never really seemed like the kind of guy who could handle himself in a fight, but he proved us wrong in Grosse Point Blank, playing Martin Blank, a hitman who hits up his high school reunion. To the sounds of 'Mirror In The Bathroom', Blank is ambushed by fellow hitman Felix La PuBelle (kickboxer Benny Urquidez) in the school corridor before fighting back and besting his rival with a series of brutal beatdowns. Give it up to Cusack!




19. JASON BOURNE vs DESH in
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Largely considered a 'Streisand' before his career-boosting performance as ex-government stooge Jason Bourne, Matt Damon upped the stakes for the third instalment of the series, taking the fight scenes to a breathtaking new high. Using little more than his fists and his surroundings as weapons, JB battles assassin Desh in a dusty old Moroccan house, slamming a hardback book into his opponent's throat before walloping it in his face and punching the hell out of it. Kids take note - books aren't just for losers.




18. NAMELESS vs SKY in HERO
Zhang Yimou is a man who makes violence beautiful, and it has never been prettier than in his epic, Hero. In one of many jaw-dropping fights, Jet Li's nameless protagonist takes on Donnie Yen's Sky in a rain-drenched courtyard. These cats are so evenly matched, half the fight takes place in their minds (thankfully we get to see the results, rather than watch Li and Yen with their eyes closed, looking constipated) but Li is the winner by default. A sumptuous battle that won't be forgotten quickly.




17. WONG FEI-HUNG vs JOHN in DRUNKEN MASTER II
Anyone who's witnessed a pub brawl in their time knows that adding alcohol into the equation doesn't exactly equal a better fight (although it is a guarantee of crying and vomit). However, that's the premise of Jackie Chan's Drunken Master movies, where Hong Kong's finest becomes a significantly better warrior when pissed. Chan tries adopting many different fighting stances - the tiger, the eagle, the punchbag - but soon finds booze is the key to success. It isn't long before a drooling Chan is drinking to victory.




16. NADA vs FRANK in THEY LIVE
South Park paid homage to this lengthy fight sequence in their infamous 'Cripple Fight' episode, but you can't beat the real thing. John Carpenter's alien invasion movie They Live is largely forgettable, aside from the six-minute scene in which wrestler 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and Keith David whale on each other, over the small matter of a pair of sunglasses. This fight goes on so long, you half forget you're watching a film and not a real alleyway scrap.




15. LUKE SKYWALKER vs DARTH VADER in STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Because no list of mine would be complete without an excess of Star Wars. Lightsabers might be an elegant weapon for a more civilise age, but the battles in the original trilogy weren't exactly thrilling, something more akin to people hitting each other with metal rods than sticks of pure light. However, when Luke and Vader square off in Cloud City, every man, woman and child were on the edge of their seat. Skywalker gets the bum deal - minus one hand, plus one evil overlord father - but hey, you know the rest.




14. TONY JAA vs AN ENTIRE BROTHEL in THE PROTECTOR
Now this is how you direct a fucking fight scene. Too many of today's directors insist on epilepsy-inducing editing, flashing from cut to cut in a millisecond, allowing the actors to have a ten minute breather between each blow. Not Tony Jaa. In The Protector's centrepiece, he storms a mafia brothel, takes down around a hundred guys, throws them off balconies, smashes them over the head with sinks and generally kicks insane amounts of ass, all in one take. Watch it and look for the join - it's not there.




13. BEATRIX KIDDO vs ELLE DRIVER in KILL BILL: VOL. 2
Quentin Tarantino famously claimed his inspiration for this dust-up was the Jackass movies, and it's not hard to see where he's coming from - Johnny Knoxville and friends would have been proud of a scene like this. The Bride and Elle Driver are the trailer-bound combatants who find out there's no room to swing a punch, taking chunks out of each other in the most confined of spaces. Top marks for Kiddo's courtesy flush, too.




12. JAMES BOND vs RED GRANT in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
"Red wine with fish? Well that should have told me something." Before he defeated his enemies with laser watches, invisible cars and CG surfing, 007 wasn't afraid to actually get his hands dirty, and this brawl in a train carriage is the most brutal of Bond's early clashes. Robert Shaw's Grant was a worthy foe, but two minutes of tussling with Britain's finest was all he could take. Strike one up to Blighty.




11. JIN vs LEO in HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
Another wuxia epic from Yimou, this one with the emotional heft to match its visual splendour. The climactic fight between Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau is more than just a matter of life and death, but love as well, both men's fates intertwined with that of sultry sexpot Ziyi Zhang. Most knife fights ain't pretty, but this is damn near beautiful - blood gushes like ink while both men fight to the finish, each blow connecting, cutting and slowly killing the other. The incredible final three-way stand-off is better than any Mexican could muster; a dagger in the heart indeed.



Fight scenes 10-1 this way! >>

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