By T.J. Dietsch in
Daily Lists, Movies
Monday, Nov. 16 2009 @ 8:02AM
5) Neo vs. Agent Smiths, The Matrix Reloaded
So far, the list has mostly been one-on-one match-ups, but this army of Agent Smiths squaring off against Neo in Matrix Reloaded puts them to shame for sheer scope. Sure there's a fair amount of CGI and wire work, which detracts from the overall awesomeness, but you can't deny that you weren't blown away the first time you saw this on the big screen. Story-wise, the Matrix sequels might not have lived up to the original, but the fights were still spot-on awesome. Bonus points for knocking the crap out of everyone with a giant pole.
4) Final Battle, Chinese Connection
Yes, Enter the Dragon is an amazing movie and the end fight scene between Bruce and the claw dude is pretty spectacular. But, it's not the end all and be all when it comes to crazy Bruce Lee ass kickings. In Chinese Connection, after he takes on a full dojo and his fair share of one-on-one kung fu fests, Lee's Chen Zhen fights his way through the evil dojo's best fighters, inclding a white guy in a suit and an old man with a sword. Other bonuses that put this fight over the edge include the sword-in-the-air kill, Lee using nunchucks and that simultaenous flying kick at the end sending the bad guy flying throw a paper wall and halfway out into the courtyard. That's a bad ass kick and not once are you worried that the awkward claw-hand is going to fall of the bad guy's hand (cause, you know, that's a different movie).
3) The Bride vs. O-Ren Ishii and Her Minions, Kill Bill Vol. 1
Quentin Tarantino had been pegged as one of the most savage filmmakers around, but he didn't really earn it until Kill Bill Volume 1. Yeah, the ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs was intense, but you don't actually see the ear getting cut off. And yes, the scene in Pulp Fiction where Marvin's head explodes is fairly graphic, but neither of those hold a candle to the epic, blood-splattered sword fight between The Bride and the Crazy 88 in Japan. Between taking on however many members of the Crazy 88 there actually were, fighting Gogo and her Duncan from hell and the final battle with O-Ren, this is one of the most intense fight scenes in movie history. There's even that rumor that Tarantino had to cut the color from one portion because it was just too bloody. Now that's savage.
2) Philo Beddoe vs. Jack Wilson, Any Which Way You Can
When it comes to epic fight scenes, you've got two basic kinds. The bareknuckle, one-and-one brawlers and the group fights (one or more people versus a bunch of others). They both have the potential for greatness and the ending fistfight between Philo Beddo and Jack Wilson (in this sequel to Every Which Way But Loose), is the absolute best of the best. Throughout the whole movie, we keep hearing about just how amazing a fight between these two brawlers would be. We even get to see them fight side by side. But it's only after all the heat dies down at the end of the movie and the spectators are heading home that Clint Eastwood and William Smith finally throw down. And boy, what a fight it is. Starting in a shed and moving through the whole town, you really see these two men beat the tar out of each other as an ever-growing crowd (including Clyde the ape) follow them around. It's like the fight from The Quiet Man if it was written by the guys who did Crank. To add to the sheer coolness of the scenario, they even stop to drink a beer in the middle of the nearly 11-minute fight.
1) Kham vs. Johnny's Goons, The Protector
They just couldn't leave his elephant alone. They just had to have it. Well, what happens when you get between a boy and his elephant? The boy comes to the city and beats the ever living hell out of you. Played by the raddest movie martial artist around, Tony Jaa's Kham absolutely annihiliates the bad guys at an illegal restaurant for nearly 10 minutes straight. He disables his attackers with kicks, punches and knees solely inteded to crush his attackers bones. Jaa works his way up the spiral shaped building, making mincemeat out of anyone who gets in his way. And the very best part? The reason it takes the number one spot? It's all one take. Notice how the camera never cuts away once. That means that every move was executed perfectly, all the stuntmen hit their marks (and mats after falling) and there were zero technical glitches. Pretty impressive no?
So far, the list has mostly been one-on-one match-ups, but this army of Agent Smiths squaring off against Neo in Matrix Reloaded puts them to shame for sheer scope. Sure there's a fair amount of CGI and wire work, which detracts from the overall awesomeness, but you can't deny that you weren't blown away the first time you saw this on the big screen. Story-wise, the Matrix sequels might not have lived up to the original, but the fights were still spot-on awesome. Bonus points for knocking the crap out of everyone with a giant pole.
4) Final Battle, Chinese Connection
Yes, Enter the Dragon is an amazing movie and the end fight scene between Bruce and the claw dude is pretty spectacular. But, it's not the end all and be all when it comes to crazy Bruce Lee ass kickings. In Chinese Connection, after he takes on a full dojo and his fair share of one-on-one kung fu fests, Lee's Chen Zhen fights his way through the evil dojo's best fighters, inclding a white guy in a suit and an old man with a sword. Other bonuses that put this fight over the edge include the sword-in-the-air kill, Lee using nunchucks and that simultaenous flying kick at the end sending the bad guy flying throw a paper wall and halfway out into the courtyard. That's a bad ass kick and not once are you worried that the awkward claw-hand is going to fall of the bad guy's hand (cause, you know, that's a different movie).
3) The Bride vs. O-Ren Ishii and Her Minions, Kill Bill Vol. 1
Quentin Tarantino had been pegged as one of the most savage filmmakers around, but he didn't really earn it until Kill Bill Volume 1. Yeah, the ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs was intense, but you don't actually see the ear getting cut off. And yes, the scene in Pulp Fiction where Marvin's head explodes is fairly graphic, but neither of those hold a candle to the epic, blood-splattered sword fight between The Bride and the Crazy 88 in Japan. Between taking on however many members of the Crazy 88 there actually were, fighting Gogo and her Duncan from hell and the final battle with O-Ren, this is one of the most intense fight scenes in movie history. There's even that rumor that Tarantino had to cut the color from one portion because it was just too bloody. Now that's savage.
2) Philo Beddoe vs. Jack Wilson, Any Which Way You Can
When it comes to epic fight scenes, you've got two basic kinds. The bareknuckle, one-and-one brawlers and the group fights (one or more people versus a bunch of others). They both have the potential for greatness and the ending fistfight between Philo Beddo and Jack Wilson (in this sequel to Every Which Way But Loose), is the absolute best of the best. Throughout the whole movie, we keep hearing about just how amazing a fight between these two brawlers would be. We even get to see them fight side by side. But it's only after all the heat dies down at the end of the movie and the spectators are heading home that Clint Eastwood and William Smith finally throw down. And boy, what a fight it is. Starting in a shed and moving through the whole town, you really see these two men beat the tar out of each other as an ever-growing crowd (including Clyde the ape) follow them around. It's like the fight from The Quiet Man if it was written by the guys who did Crank. To add to the sheer coolness of the scenario, they even stop to drink a beer in the middle of the nearly 11-minute fight.
1) Kham vs. Johnny's Goons, The Protector
They just couldn't leave his elephant alone. They just had to have it. Well, what happens when you get between a boy and his elephant? The boy comes to the city and beats the ever living hell out of you. Played by the raddest movie martial artist around, Tony Jaa's Kham absolutely annihiliates the bad guys at an illegal restaurant for nearly 10 minutes straight. He disables his attackers with kicks, punches and knees solely inteded to crush his attackers bones. Jaa works his way up the spiral shaped building, making mincemeat out of anyone who gets in his way. And the very best part? The reason it takes the number one spot? It's all one take. Notice how the camera never cuts away once. That means that every move was executed perfectly, all the stuntmen hit their marks (and mats after falling) and there were zero technical glitches. Pretty impressive no?
1 | 2
Tags: Bruce Lee, Horror, Jackie Chan, Kill Bill, Kung Fu, Martial Arts, The Matrix, They Live, Tony Jaa
128 comments
Comments
paul oh said:
HOW THE HELL DO YOU HAVE ROCKY VS APOLLO BUT NOT ROCKY VS IVAN DRAGO. omg. and you didnt have the fist of the legend fight, REDO
Stanley Ipkis replied to paul oh:
FIST OF LEGEND!!!!! ;D
CTrees said:
Ahem. Apparently you haven't seen Chocolate? Sure the premise is insane, but if you want long, AMAZING fight scenes, little Jeeja Yanin is hard to beat. The last fight scene is like twenty minutes, no CGI, no stunt doubles, no wires, and people winding up in the hospital for real (dedication!). Seriously Jeeja vs. a crapload of criminals being creatively killed is a fuckload more awesome than Keanu Reeves vs. several dozen crappy CGI Elronds.
Hatori Gonzo said:
I would recommend the hallway fight from Oldboy. Not only is it a brutal 1 v. 15 fight done in a single tracking shot, it also sets up one of the best visual gags in the movie when the elevator at the end of the hall opens up with more guys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OzB-mop6AA
aak7268 replied to Hatori Gonzo:
Oh man - Oldboy had some insane fight scenes.
Granted, it was also INSANE - thankfully he was able to get the "eating a live octopus" scene done in one take. I can't imagine having to do multiple shots of that one.
Mr. Poopoopachu replied to Hatori Gonzo:
Agreed. Omitting Oldboy's hallway fight scene from this list is an epic FAIL. Not the way the shiny new Topless Robot should start out the week.
GCJ replied to Mr. Poopoopachu:
I second this. I was looking at the list to see where this would fall between 1 & 10. Too awesome.
RobP replied to Mr. Poopoopachu:
Thirded. Old Boy isn't my favorite of the "Sympathy for Vengence" trilogy, but that hallway fight scene is one of the most badass moments in cinema.
Browser Bowser said:
This list is definitely missing that one:
GreekGeek replied to Browser Bowser:
This technically doesn't qualify to be on the list. The russian being Skywalked at the end is not a result of TJ's awesomeness but rather a trip down the stairs......
MT3279 said:
I 2nd Old Boy being here.
I will also put in a small gripe that not having Jet Li even on this list pretty much damns it.
Oh, and Donnie Yen's 10 vs 1 in Ip Man was spectacular as well.
Portion of Foxes said:
where is the anakin skywalker obi wan fight, it was pretty cool and long as all hell
Paul replied to Portion of Foxes:
The Obi-wan Anakin fight was crap. They're jumping all over, they're fighting over hot lava, and then Obi-wan wins because he's two feet higher than Anakin? REALLY? What. The. Crap.
astrokender said:
I think I approve of all of these save for the Matrix one. It's just so hard to take anything in the Matrix series seriously after the first watch-through. Hollywood hasn't helped by reusing the slow-mo, mid-air shots in a thousand movies since then.
And I never saw Freddy vs Jason (I know, I know: what's wrong with me?) but this was the only one that seemed out of place with the others. You get serious props for including Any Which Way You Can and John Carpenter on this list, however.
The new site layout looks awesome, by the way.
J.H. said:
How can this list only have 1 Jackie Chan film?
Hell, the final 15 monites of Police Force are just absolutely amazing.
And this list invalid since there is no mention of Sonny Chiba as Terry Tsurugi in The Streetfighter!
Alkad said:
So I think we can safely sum up the reaction to this list as
WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS
Alkad replied to Alkad:
Huh, apparently size tags don't work. Who knew?
john replied to Alkad:
apparently grammar doesn't work either.
"WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS"
what does that mean? first of all, you didn't use the correct form when you said whose; you'd want to use who's, as in who is. secondly, you didn't even include the preposition, for, as in who's responsible for this?
good question though...
Izandra replied to john:
You must be new. "WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS" is an inside joke at this site.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/09/whose_responsible_this.php
pupo replied to john:
John, sorry but your attempt at correcting the most famous meme of the year so far was a stupid move.
Chris Ward replied to pupo:
Oh, didn't you guys know? Whose Responsible This was deemed "Not a Meme"
R3loy replied to john:
Ass.
Zach Oat said:
I smell a sequel list.
DJ Maniak said:
Sorry, but Frank and Nada's scene from They Live should have been #1, just based on principal.
giskards_revenge replied to DJ Maniak:
I agree with DJ Maniak on this one.
TrapJaw replied to DJ Maniak:
Word.
The Flash III replied to DJ Maniak:
I also agree. The motion passes.
Black Snow replied to DJ Maniak:
Agreed. As soon as I saw the list title I know that "They Live" had to be #1. That is a fact. There is no opinion involved when it comes to the awesomeness of that scene. So to see it outranked by Keanu vs. poorly done CGI is a travesty and a miscarriage of justice.
Agreed. The fact that it inspired the "Cripple Fight!" episode of South Park just makes it that much more awesome.
Asat replied to DJ Maniak:
Chiming just to emphasize how correct DJ Maniak is about They Live. That's the scene that made me confess that not every fight scene is inevitably a ballet-like homoerotic wank for kung-fu fetishists.
Baltimoron said:
I find your lack of "Lone Wolf and Cub" disturbing.
Seriously though. The scene where Itto (with Daigoro in his arms) fights his way past scores of Yagyu henchmen and escapes by shamelessly abusing the hollyhock crest of Tokugawa is a classic.
Hatori Gonzo replied to Baltimoron:
I have all every volume of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga, and always wondered how the movie series holds up. I'm taking you'd recommend them?
WarpedElements replied to Hatori Gonzo:
The old movies are ok. But the newer (early 2000's) tv series is quite good. Not as gory though.
jam said:
its a good list, and i agree with aak7268, old boy should be in ther,the teeth pulling is realy full on,
just wanna say tho that octopuss scene was done 3 times, the guy ate 3 live octopusssys, crazy bastard,
if u havent seen it go watch right now
GTO'Neal said:
As pure nerd goodness, you can't go wrong with the fight between Good Ash and Bad Ash at the climax of Army of Darkness. And I also vote Oldboy.
tmaccurt79 said:
Nice to see The Quiet Man on the list. That's such a great movie.
bort replied to tmaccurt79:
Agreed! Quiet Man is great movie. The best part is where they stop fighting to have a pint at the pub, then resume brawling. Ah Ireland!
WadevsTheWorld said:
No Jet Li?
The 'Once upon a time in China' series had some of the longest and most epic wire based fight scenes ever.
Oh well...we could argue about this for ever without ever agreeing.
Izandra replied to WadevsTheWorld:
Totally second this. OUATIC fights were epic, and I'll take Jet Li over Jackie Chan any day (love both, though).
Anthony said:
And you have nothing from Kung Fu Hustle in here? For shame!
Amber replied to Anthony:
For shame indeed. *L*
Dhyani01 said:
And what about Karate Bearfighter??
He fights a bear, and then kills it by punching said bear in the eye...
Bill said:
I think that the Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul fight from The Phantom Menace should have been included here. It was long, people died, and it used light sabers! The light sabers make it a nerd fight...no question.
Monkey boy said:
Come on dude, oldboy had a one take fight scene involving one dude vs several other dudes armed with naught but a hammer. ONE take. No cuts! just one long hallway, a hammer, and a buncha dudes getting their shit rocked. As just about every poster above mentioned, this list fails for such an omission. But it can be said enough.
Drunken Fist said:
Nice list overall, but some glaring omissions. Total lack of Jet Li is unpardonable. No Gordon Liu, either? Sheesh.
RobP replied to Drunken Fist:
Technically, Gordon Liu is in the Kill Bill v.1 fight, isn't he?
Mike from Stumptown replied to RobP:
You're right, RobP. He was Johnny Mo, the bald guy with the staff that split into two swords.
Rattrap007 said:
They Live fight should have been #1 hands down. It is long, drawn out, and just silly that it is all over wearing sunglasses.
Matrix should never be on a list again. Maybe if this was back when Matrix first came out. But now they are lousy..
Ignacio Alcuri said:
Another vote for Oldboy.
Kevin said:
Very good list. Would have put They Live higher up, but that's just personal preference. And Optimus Prime vs. Megatron from Transformers: The Movie would have a been a cool addition, too.
TM2 Dinobot said:
You never saw the Quiet Man?!
Tom said:
First of all, I agree that Rocky and Quiet Man should be on the list. And I agree with DJ, They Live should have been first. But that Matrix fight is just lame. I found Neo's fight with The Merovingian's minions in his mansion far more visually stunning and fun to watch.
If I had to add a replacement, perhaps Jet Li's fight with the Japanese General in Fist of Legend?
8den said:
Rob dude.
The first definite cut in the Protector comes at the four minute mark (fat Dude eating a Scorpion), and there's loads of cuts after that.
The Steadicam shot is sweet, but it's not necessarily all one take. It's possible to morph two takes, by reracking the picture, motion effecting each side of the shot, and adding a quick morph. It's really easy to do when a camera does a whip pan to say a piece of the action. Or when the camera spins up to Kham hiding above the doorway.
Not saying it's not a brilliant fight, it's just not all one shot.
Please note that T.J. Dietsch wrote the list, not me, despite what the subhed says. I'm not throwing TJ under the bus — I back-up his choices — but I shouldn't get credit for his work. I need to figure out a way to change the author on these things. Hmm.
Mike replied to 8den:
Dude,this film was shot in a thrid world country; in other words none of your fancy whipcracks, morph-o-whatevers... just baddass stuntmen and martial arts mayhem.
JPyke replied to 8den:
I thought this too, but rewatching the scene I don't think they did. The continuous shot is only the first 4 minutes of that six minute clip, so it'd probably actually be easier to do the four minute shot than try and motion-match it all.
I also need to second the nominations for Fist of Legend and Oldboy.
orehitna replied to 8den:
Up until the definite cut you talked about, there aren't any in that scene. Clocking in at over 4 minutes, it was billed as the longest no-cut fight sequence 'of all time' when the movie originally came out, though it's now just considered to be 'one of the longest ever'.
Friginator said:
Oh, come on! No V-Rex fight from King Kong? That went on forever but was still awesome.
demoncat said:
Can see how hard it was to make the list . but surely Freddy Vs Jason deserved to be in the top five. and also rocky vs drago should have been on the list also otherwise good choices. a hard list to make down to ten.
BuncheB said:
I'm guessing you've never seen any of the LONE WOLF AND CUB FILMS. All of them feature truckloads of ultra-gory swordfights — which heavily influenced KILL BILL VOL. 1's fight at the House of Blue Leaves — but the one that definitely should be on this list can be found at the climax of BABY CART TO HADES (aka LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH), in which Lone Wolf (the completely awesome Tomisaburo Wakayama) singlehandedly takes on and decimates an entire army, and the army is armed with rifles and arrows. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtI_Jau3674&translated=1 to see what I'm talking about. And I second J.H.: where the fuck is Terry Tsurugi? I'm wondering if you've seen THE STREET FIGHTER, and if not, why not??? Do yourself the favor!!!
Bingo said:
When I read the tittle a though in Kill bill and Matrix, I'm glad these great fights are in the list.
Paul C said:
Fun list, but if I had to pick an awesome scene from Matrix Reloaded, I'd have to go with the highway scene over the Neo scene. I agree that the movie paled in comparison to the original, but that scene alone justifies the purchase of HD Vid playback
Greg said:
Your #1 fight prompts another "10 best" threads.... the 10 best continuous camera shots.
Slamhammer replied to Greg:
If we can suggest some stuff for longest single takes, I recommend the final battle in Children of Men and the opening to Scent of Evil. Also, the Boogie Nights opening was pretty damn sweet.
TomeMinder said:
Ummm...you're missing Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. That movie had some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring fight scenes of all time. I also feel that Oldboy was heinously left out of this list. A rare miss Rob, a rare miss.
TrapJaw said:
You put the Burly Brawl from The Matrix Reloaded on the list? Really?
I thought the fight between Neo and Agent Smith from the first movie was far better than Reloaded's CG-heavy eyesore that was supposed to be an exciting fist fight and was instead a fake looking CG Keanu Reeves beating up scores of horribly unskilled things that looked they might be intended to resemble Hugo Weaving.
ROB RESPONSIBLE THIS!
Nicnac replied to TrapJaw:
i'm with you... I wasn't impressed by the plastic faces on all the Agents Smith, and the worse plastic Neo on the first viewing.
DoctorSmashy said:
Lone Wolf and Cub should be on here.
And Tarantino had to go black-and-white with the Crazy 88 scene in some parts of America, I think, but here in sunny England we can watch it in all its over the top glory.
RobP replied to DoctorSmashy:
Sometimes I really want to see the non-black&white version in Kill Bill v.1, but I love how Tarantino incorporated the change and made it a moment of character development. Right before the scene turns to B&W, there's a tight (super tight) close-up on The Bride's eyes. She blinks. The music changes and the color snaps to B&W. At that moment, something clicks in the Bride and she becomes the killing machine that we see in the movie, like something has to register in her before she focuses (sees everything in black and white, as it were). I dig the hell out of that choice.
Anonymous replied to RobP:
Sounds cool. It's just that the colour combination of the Bride's yellow, the 88's black and the red of the blood really kicks ass. Hehe. Little less metaphorical hidden depth to my logic, I guess.
sammon1013 said:
To the whiners: fight scenes will always be great in the eye of the beholder. I love the whole Vengeance Trilogy (Old Boy, Sympathy, etc..) but the hammer fight was only kind of ok to me. I would've loved to have seen the hanging fight from Once Upon a Time in China 2 (I believe I'm right on the title, I'll look when i get home), but you can't always get every sweet martial arts fight scene. They Live should've been #1 (cmon South Park remade it shot for shot with handicapables) and the Protector arm break fight should be number two. I might've added Ong Bak's mine scene if only for the two person saw fight (Seriously what the fuck is wrong with Asians? How do you come up with this stuff?).
JBurton said:
It seems if you mention the word awesome that cancels the word longest from the list. It sorta makes sense really...
DE12 said:
You know in They Live. The Bubblegum line wasn't carpenter. It was Piper. When they cast him for the role, Piper went up to carpenter with a book full one liners. Roddy Piper created Chew Bubblegum.
TM said:
Great list. Tough to limit it. I'd probably take out the Matrix and put Daniel LaRusso vs. Johny Lawrence in there.
Aberrant said:
I have to step up and defend TR a little here. I understand adding the Matrix. Yes we all know the CGI sucked. Pretty much everything that happened after that fight sucked and a fair share of things before it. But the scope of the fight was absolutely epic. Hopefully in a few years someone will take the same Idea and make it something even better, but even if they do you're gonna know they got the idea from the Burly Brawl.
Des replied to Aberrant:
I'm glad someone stood up for the Burly Brawl, I'm probably going to be the only dork to say it was my favourite part of the movie (followed by the fight at the Marovingian's mansion).
I do agree that with some of the others that said "Kung-Fu Hustle", "Equilibrium" and "Fist of Legends" should have been on here though.
Great list none the less.
TED-209 said:
What about the final fight between Dalton and Jimmy in Road House? He tears the dude's throat out for fuck's sake.
lou-bert vs. q-bert said:
Good list, the order in which they're listed is questionable though. I'd have put the They Live fight up way higher. And I'm also very pleased you included The Quiet Man fight.
terebi-kun said:
My two cents:
Jackie Chan VS. Benny "The Jet" Urquidez in "Wheels on Meals"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVD3y7iiiZI&feature=related
Check the real punch that Jackie lands on Benny at 3:43, and sorry about the crappy spanish sub.
Col Michael J Rossi said:
You forgot Ripley vs the Alien Queen in Aliens.
And for the Obscure category, almost all of the film 2DLK could've been nominated.
Hmmm... said:
Rob, how dare you. The Matrix Reloaded? That scene is one of the worst parts of a dismal movie. I did nothing but grit my teeth during the damn fight scene. What a CG shit-fest.
nack nack nack nack nack said:
What about Ryu Seung-wan's city of violence?
the baddie bungalow finale smack down is complete rinse out, even the earlier 'build up brawl' could make this list..
Two guys rocking black turtlenecks under there immaculately ironed dinner shirts? That's a seriously strong look.. couple that with some yoyo toting babes, break dancing bad boys a gang of baseball fury's and about 500 chefs you have your self an ass kicking extravaganza of awesomeness ........
Robaato said:
In the Japanese release of Kill Bill, Pt. 1 (both theatrical and DVD), Tarantino was able to leave the color in the Crazy 88 fight scene.
Adam said:
>There's even that rumor that Tarantino had to cut the color from one portion because it was just too bloody. Now that's savage.
You can watch the color version of the fight from the Japanese release here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u96fB_aoVdk
Shane86 said:
BOOO!
neo vs multi-smith sucks
it's such a lame, entirely cg fight scene.
the wire fighting of the original was hundreds of times better.
Kay said:
I was getting a little worried that you weren't going to mention Tony Jaa, but you made my sweet little heart melt at the end there. Well done, Rob :)
Yas said:
If mentioning Benny Urquidez - we cannot miss out the brief yet excellenet mixed-martial-arts on display between him and John Cusack in 'Grosse Pointe Blank'!!!!
Also -
- Phantom Menace fight (Darth Maul is a friend of mine and would appreciate the call).
- District 13 - casino fight.
- Drive - The motel fight sequence - sooo silky.
- Snatch - for the adrenaline the shots and music build.
- Road House finale - RIP PS.
- Peter Griffin vs. Chicken - nuff said....
Corvin said:
For historical value, Bruce Lee's insane final flying kick has another honorable mention: the 'bad guy' he's kicking through the screen is played by an up-an-coming stuntman who would later be known as Jackie Chan! (Source: "I am Jackie Chan" autobiography)
EVula said:
I'm fine with the wire-work in the Matrix fight. But once it shifts to CGI... I lost interest. I thought the entire thing was grossly overrated, personally (talking specifically about that particular fight, but the statement is applicable to the second and third films as well).
PeterJR1961 said:
Yes the Quiet Man, My mother, GBHS, never missed this movie when it played on St. Patty's day. One of the best old time movie fights ever. Loved the old man getting off his death bed to see the fight.
Punch Yourself said:
I knew a guy who was an assistant editor on "They Live" and said the first cut of the Nada vs. Frank scene was in the neighborhood of 15 minutes. I can only imagine what possibly could have happened in the 9 minutes they cut out of that fight.
Brok Lee said:
I'm seconding the WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS? the Matrix? Really? If you're gonna put in fake CGI fights you might as well throw in some crap from the new G.I. Joe abortion.
You could take any fighting scene from Fight Club and swap out the Matrix before anyone else reads your list and you might not get more hate mail...
Stanley Ipkis said:
How can you not even mention Jet Li's Fist of Legend, which possible beats all these movies (besides Drunken Master II) fights in their butthole!!! Any fight scene from that movie. Period!!!!
Manwards said:
I don't think I've ever seen any list, on any site, that didn't have "you forgot X, you fucking idiot" take up 70% of the comments.
Punch Yourself said:
You (insert series of expletives) tool! How could you forget (insert fight scene from a movie you think is better than any or all scenes listed) or (repeat last step). You (more expletives) fail. Maybe if you (completely redo your list to my liking) before there are (random number) comments, nobody will notice how much you suck (insert rare and disgusting animal's sexual part). Now perform seppuku and hand over the immense amount of non-existent internet dollars/Euros/Yen to someone more deserving. (Insert your name).
Is it possible for people to come up with a list without commentary? No. Is it possible to come off as a bigger douche by playing Monday morning quarterback? Absolutely. Stop hating. Sharing more awesome fights though, totally acceptable. Especially, since we are all so bored and underemployed, we can spend our Monday actually watching this stuff.
pumpkinguts said:
I would like to mention the biker brawl from Canniball Run I, where else can you see a fight with Dean Martin, Burt Reynolds, Jackie Chan, and Burt Convy!
mike said:
I never,ever did buy the fact that William Smith would have lost a fight to Clint Eastwood.
jedieb replied to mike:
I can. Because one guy is named William Smith and the other is Clint Fucking Eastwood. Clint could have kicked his ass just by squinting at him.
Bushrat replied to jedieb:
Whilst I love Every Which Way You Can you should look up William Smith's biography. The guy was a machine. He held a world required for curling (or something), worked as a real spy, and did a whole other list of real life badass stuff.
The dude was a real life action hero.
spazweez said:
Well, mostly you get an amiable "Hey, what about X?" and it sparks a discussion, which is cool. I'll take that over 50 repeats of "Sweet list, dude!" :-)
The peril of being late to the comments (but also the joy) is to see that several shout outs have already been given for Oldboy, Kung Fu Hustle, Crouching Tiger, the Anakin-Obi Wan duel, and the awesomeness of Wheels on Meals.
But may I humbly suggest the entire finale of Equilibrium? Which is basically one giant fight that goes from dozens of guys to maybe six-to-eight guys to one guy...and then one other guy. Plus it mixes swords and guns and a dude getting his FACE cut off.
Goose replied to spazweez:
I second that. I had completely forgotten about Equilibrium but now that you mention it, the final fight scene is pretty feckin good.
Korbl said:
I second the Punisher Frank vrs. Russian fight scene, and the Family Guy Peter vrs. Chicken fight scene.
But I must also ask:
What about the Inigo vrs. Dread Pirate scene from Princess Bride?
spazweez replied to Korbl:
Good call. And Inigo vs. Count Rugen wasn't too shabby either.
But thinking about both of them reminds me of their direct inspiration and the granddaddy of all cinematic sword fights -- Errol Flynn vs. Basil Rathbone in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
KB_SBI said:
I can't believe that The Fight from "Drunken Master" is placed after that "Matrix CGI-Fest".
It looked good in the trailers but after that even back then it didn't realy look good on screen. Way to many moments where it was to obvious on the CGI & wires.
Little lies said:
I don't care about the rest, but the fact that the matrix has a place here ruins it for me. White people can fight, Roadhouse proved that, but they can NOT do kung-fu.
HHL replied to Little lies:
Hey a white guy teaches me kung fu :)
midcard madness. replied to Little lies:
Chuck Norris?
I'll be watching oldboy(which I heard about last year), They live, and Chocolate this following week. Thank you Itunes.
thelordofhell said:
Rob Roy
Marjorie said:
I had a feeling The Protector would take #1. Well done.
drunkenhopfrog said:
Donnie Yen and Collin Chou at the end of FLASHPOINT (2007). Donnie Yen (again) against 10 men in IP MAN (2009). Eastwood at the end of UNFORGIVEN (1992).
Ubiq said:
I was always fond of the final battle in The Young Masters.
A quick glance at Youtube doesn't reveal the full fight, which would have to be broken up into two parts since it's at least fifteen minutes long, but here's ten minutes of it:
Ted said:
Thanks for including Kill Bill - that movie is just epic and the final fight in the snow is beautifully shot.
sweetestsadist said:
No Ong-Bak? Didn't care much for the movie but that long (I think it was like 12 min.) fight scene done in a single take deserves some recognition, especially on a list with this title.
pupo said:
FRANK DUX VS CHONG LI / Bloodsport.
Enough said.
Monkey said:
Blade 2
Tori Partridge said:
I wish Seagal could be included, but I think I'm right in saying that the longest fight he ever had was against Tommy Lee Jones of all people, and that one wasn't very long. He must've just been too good..
CaptainXenu said:
I can't take the list serious when you say that the immortal "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum." line is written by John Carpenter. That is 100% out of Piper's notebook of stupid lines to say for Piper's Pit.
Just like "Don't throw stones at a man with a machine gun."
PatrickZ said:
Wait, why is the final fight sequence from Kill Bill Vol. 1 not here? That seems essential.
spazweez replied to PatrickZ:
Did the Bride pluck your eyes out or something? It's #3. :-)
spazweez said:
Man, I can't stay away from this thread...
Any of Jackie Chan's Drunken Master stuff is pretty sweet and Jackie vs. Benny is top drawer, too. But even though the film isn't great, the rooftop fight from "Who Am I?" is worthy of any list. (FF to about 1:29 to set the mood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMUpc3WmNhE&NR=1)
Cornfed.Ninja said:
Agree with the posts for Oldboy's hall fight and that They Live should have been higher.
Several of my favorite fight scenes come from Brotherhood of the Wolf, especially de Fronsac's rage filled slaughter after Mani is killed.
JimmyZappa said:
I love you dude. The first thing that came to mind was the staircase scene in the Protector. I didn't think you were even gonna consider it but here it is, #1.
Dave, just Dave said:
Good choices on the list, some better ones in the comments, but two different scenes in Brotherhood of the Wolf have a place in my heart. The first fight scene against the Beast and Fronsac's revenge on the Brotherhood. Fast-paced, artistic, and savage. Helluva combo.
matt said:
oldboy? i see people falling down that are never even hit...they live is number 1
buster said:
Best one-on-one street fight between humans: Chaney vs. Street from "Hard Times", 1975. Charles Bronson at his best, and he did all his own stunts.
Anonymous said:
DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD the third season of deadwood has one of the greatest fights of all time. episode: "The Two-Headed Beast" DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD DEADWOOD
