The Ten Greatest Movie Fights

I love martial arts and I love movies. Put the two together and you have a perfect formula for entertainment that movie makers have been using for years. I'm not one of the die hard Kung Fu film historians who can point out and name the extras in virtually every martial arts film, but I have seen my fair share of movies, especially those with fighting in them. I have compiled a list of what are, in my personal opinion, the greatest fights in cinema. This is by no means a definitive list and it is very much based on my own personal likes and dislikes. Here we go!

10. Rocky vs. Apollo Creed from "Rocky"
This is what's called "the icing on the cake", the ultimate payoff for a movie that is not actually about fighting. The original Rocky film is a love story and excellent drama that happens to be about a fighter. The film is concerned first and foremost with telling a story and it brings that story to a climax with one of the best fights in cinema history. Based on the bout between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, this fight is ridiculously inspirational. Rocky is a southpaw who uses a trench fighting or brawling style of fighting. He is slower than the lightening quick Creed who picks him apart with combinations early in the first round. When Creed gets too cocky, Rocky nails him with a left hook that temporarily puts Creed on the mat and gets the fight on its way. Both men give their absolute best and fight their hearts out for the tittle, neither willing to give up, which is what the entire film is about. The most inspirational scene is the moment when Creed puts Rocky on his back with an uppercut that seems as if it will end the fight right there, just as Adrian choose to walk in. But despite being cut, bloodied, broken, and swollen beyond what most fighters would endure, Rocky stagers to his feet, turns to Apollo and says "Come on!". Then Rocky beats the crap out of Apollo for the remaining three minutes of the fight. It's an excellent fight scene where both actors put on as convincing a performance as an actor pretending to be a fighter can. Unless you are a trained professional, you would think they were real boxers.

9. Rambo vs. the police from "First Blood"
Surely you expected to see Stallone on this list more than once! Only this time, instead of being a warm hearted boxer, he's a psychotic ex Green Beret. A particularly dangerous ex Green Beret named Rambo, who doesn't like forced dry shavings because they remind him of being tortured in Viet Nam. This occurs after a short series of police abuses and Rambo has had enough. He loses control and proceeds to whip everyone in the police station using a very accurate portrayal of seventies elite military martial arts. He escapes a baton choke hold with backwards head butts, kicks an advancing opponent in the groin and nearly gouges the ugliest officer's eyes out. As bad as this seems, if you watch the film you have no remorse for the police as the receive this beating because they deserved it. The scariest part is that the actors portraying the police had doubts a real Green Beret could take on all four of them. Stallone had the fight supervisor, who was a Green Beret, try it out with the actors. The conclusion was that a Green Beret can in fact take out three untrained men very easily. This fight is great because of the accuracy of it's period martial arts portrayal and because Stallone is in such great shape that we never question his ability for a second. Besides, we already knew the guy could fight after watching Rocky. Truthfully, I'd rather fight Rocky!

8. Martin Riggs vs. Mr. Joshua from "Lethal Weapon"
Once again, this is an actor pretending to be a special ops fighting expert and Mr. Gibson does it perfectly. After a series of twists and turns, Officer Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Officer Riggs (Gibson) have shot, burned, and blown up every bad guy but one: Mr. Joshua. Mr. Joshua, played by that freaky Gary Busey, is a classic physical villain and the only character in the film who can match Rigg's martial skill. After chasing Mr. Joshua down, Riggs engages in hand to hand combat with him on someone's lawn in front of the entire police department, which sounds stupid but is actually awesome. This fight is as realistic as martial arts fights come. They use excellent techniques and the period fighting style is very accurate. The best part for me was when Riggs tries to put Mr. Joshua in a triangle choke and fails three times throughout the fight before finally getting him! That's realistic! There are other awesome moments such as when Riggs defends himself against a pole with a police baton and when he hits Mr. Joshua with a jumping front kick. Most people would say that's not realistic but it is. That's what Green Beret trained to do in the seventies. This fight should easily make it into anyone's top ten if for no other reason than that Gary Busey gets the crap beat out of him. Besides, Gibson does martial arts so well in this film you would think he could take on Jet Li! Wait...what...when?

7. Neo vs Agent Smith from "The Matrix"
This is the ultimate grudge match and rests on the farthest side from real life fighting as you can get. Taking place in the computer world of the Matrix, it is an all out Kung Fu battle between Neo, the chosen one, and Agent Smith, an invincible computer program designed to kill people like Neo. Neo knows that no one has ever fought an Agent and lived, and doesn't even believe himself to be the chosen one at this point in the film, but fights him anyway. In the Matrix, rules such as gravity can be bent or broken. What ensues is one of the coolest fights in cinema. Neo uses a relaxed but fast, flow like water style of Kung Fu that only Keanu Reeves could pull off. Smith uses a hard ground and pound, brawling style of Kung Fu. The two go at it and take turns winning portions of the fight. The best part is when Neo is making a fantastic comeback and throws a straight punch at Smith. Smith traps the punch just before it hits him in the neck but Neo extends his fingers Wing Chun style and puts them right in Smith's throat. Then he delivers a jumping triple front kick that would make Jackie Chan jealous. The reason this fight is so good is because of the innovative filming methods used, combined with the fact that the lead actors put in a good eight months of martial arts training before filming. Look at them perform the moves. It's not perfect but it's really good, a lot better than if they used doubles. The best aspect of this fight is that by now you have become emotionally invested in the characters and have learned that they are not invincible or immune to being killed off as the movie goes...

6. Bruce Lee vs. the Karate school from "Fists of Fury"
I could have left this one at "Bruce Lee" and said no more. But I will. This is one of the most influential, beautiful, and most well choreographed fights ever conceived of. The big deal with this fight is that you have a real, world class martial arts master playing the lead, fighting other real life martial artists. There are no quick cuts, tricky camera angles, wires, or CGI. This fight is set up by one school's act of hatred and racism towards another (intentionally symbolic of WWII Japan's oppression over China). Bruce Lee will have none of that and lets the Japanese school know it, marching in the midst of more than twenty enemy martial artists and their teacher to tell them off. Anyone could do that but only Bruce Lee could proceed to annihilate every one of them when they try to start a fight! The first one approaches and is beaten by Lee at his own game, who uses Japanese throwing techniques to send him back across the mat. Then they all jump in and surround Lee, circling as each waits for someone else to charge first. When someone does, Lee springs into animal screaming action, using what can only be described as the most beautiful martial arts moves to have ever graced the silver screen. He side kicks one, spin kicks another, and throws the next. He uses elbows, punches, and anything else the classical practitioner would notice doesn't belong to any one style. One lucky guy gets a kick in and Lee rolls with it across his jacket on the ground, revealing for the first time what would become his trade mark weapon: the nunchaku. After he spins it around in an intimidating display, we the viewers know for a fact that this must be a Karate school for the gifted, because they are all still coming at him. And as we expect, he destroys them all, takes on their teacher (without the nunchaku) and beats him to a pulp as well. The best part of this fight is the magnificent over head shot of the first exchange of blows when Lee is surrounded. This is the quality of fight scenes only available when the actor's trailer door reads "Bruce Lee".

5. The Bride vs The Crazy 88 from "Kill Bill"
Inspired from the fight mentioned above, this is a classic homage to all martial arts cinema, even featuring the great martial arts acting legend Sonny Chiba. The Bride, a woman with no name (an obvious tribute to the Italian Western genre) portrayed by Uma Thermon, seeks revenge against the black ops style martial arts assassination team who beat her within an inch of her life on her wedding day and by doing so, took the life of her unborn child. Once a member of this team, she is able to track them down and kill them using her martial skill. When she thinks she has finally cornered O-ren Ishii, she finds herself surrounded by The Crazy 88, who's numbers don't actually total eighty-eight but thought it sounded pretty cool. They all wear Green Hornet style masks and suites and fight like nobody's business. She takes them all on at once with her specially crafted katana, slicing more limbs than can be counted. Her sword play is awesome for an actress portraying a fighter and her yellow pants and jacket are an obvious shout out to The Game of Death. After decapitating one man for each of Charlie Sheen's public scandals, the fight is taken upstairs, even across the rafters as she fights the double sword wielding Sonny Chiba. I don't think I can pick a best moment because it's all totally awesome, just like the rest of the movie. Easily worthy of anyone's top ten list.

4. Jackie Chan vs Benny Urquidez from Meals On Wheels
I have never seen this movie but I have seen the fight a few hundred times. Jackie Chan is known for his mixture of comedy and Kung Fu, but don't let the comedy fool you, he is lethal at martial arts. And when you put him against kickboxing legend Benny "the jet" Urquidez, you have one mad fight on your hands with enough funny moments to remind you it's a comedy too. This fight is a superb display by two world class athletes. The movements are beautiful with lots of spinning kicks, arms locks, wide punching, and everything else you can think of. We get to see Benny use his trade mark sweep and spinning back kick. We are treated to a ridiculous display of agility when Chan catches Benny with a spin hook kick that I guarantee you will rewind to see again. The best moment in the fight is when each man tries to execute a wrist lock on the other, backs away, and shakes their hand off. Classic Jackie Chan stuff. The fight ends with Chan nearly knocking Benny out of a high story window and saving him when he could let his enemy die. I don't know about you, but some day when I have kids, I want them to grow up to be martial arts masters with that kind of class!

3. Sebei Iguchi vs Zenemon Yogo from "Twilight Samurai"
This fight is astounding for the strong story it brings to a close as well as for the intense and realistic samurai fighting. After a series of events critical to understanding this final confrontation, Sebei is sent against his will to assassinate a rebel samurai who is easily more skilled than he. With nothing but a kodachi (short sword) Sebei tries to begin his duel only to be led into a deep conversation with Yogo that is as interesting as the fight itself. After being nearly convinced to let Yogo escape, he accidentally offends him by revealing his original intentions to kill him with a short sword as opposed to an actual, full length katana. Then the fight is on, and it's very tense with Yogo aggressively pursuing Sebei throughout his house. Sebei is younger and stronger, though less skilled, and manages to survive a closely fought match, not without receiving and giving some serious wounds. After being thrown to the floor and cornered by Yogo, he is saved by pure luck and practicality when Yogo catches his long sword in the rafters as he comes down on Sebei. Sebei seizes the moment as a true samurai would. This fight is incredible on its own but you must see the entire film to truly appreciate it. So drop what you are doing and watch it. And if you complain about having to read subtitles, I'm coming after you with a short sword.

2. Bourne vs Jarda from "The Bourne Supremacy"
This fight has gone on to reshape the entire last decade of fight scenes. This is the first mainstream fight to use quick cuts, shaky camera work, bare essential techniques, and Escrima style martial arts. It all makes for some very intense stuff. You know Jason Bourne isn't going to die because it's the first twenty minutes into his own movie, but you are on the edge of your seat every second of this fight none the less. He is faced with the other only surviving agent from Tredstone. Bourne knows Jarda is as lethal as he is but makes the fatal mistake to look away when the phone rings. Jarda jumps all over Bourne, even with his hands tied and begins to strike him in the throat, transition behind him, and attempt choking him to death while they smash window blinds and roll across furniture. Bourne gets him off and kicks him across the room. Jarda ends up with a knife and two free hands, Bourne grabs a rolled up magazine in desperation and makes good use of it. They battle it out standing then on the floor. Everything is filmed very fast and chaotic and makes you feel very insecure about Bourne's immediate future. Jarda begins to choke Bourne with a lamp cord only to be put in the position himself, from which he cannot escape. He is brutally choked to death just out of frame. When it's all over, Bourne just lies there for a minute, trying to get himself together. He has killed for the first time in two years and he has done it in a fight that will be imitated by film makers for years to come. The best scene is when Bourne is being chocked against the window. It's so chaotic and filmed so well. It's very tense.

1. Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris from "Way of The Dragon"
This fight is, to me, the pinnacle of all possible cinema match ups. Here are the two most famous on screen as well as off screen martial arts practitioners. Each is a real life master. Although the film itself is just terrible, this fight is second to none in its choreography, display of technique, and and display of strategy. This fight takes place in the Coliseum in Rome. Each man is a modern gladiator, engaging in the oldest, most personal and most primitive confrontation known to humanity: one on one, unarmed combat...to the death. Each allows the other to warm up out of a mutual respect. When they are ready, Lee circles out and gets set. A moment of silence...then...WAH!!! Three lightening kicks by Lee, and two fakes, all caught and parried by Norris, who is the heavy in this fight. Each take turns throwing kicks with speed and accuracy only attainable by real life masters. As the fight ensues, Lee finds Norris to be too strong to fight toe to toe. He begins to imply the tactical strategies that we the viewer know come from his philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. After getting up from a spin hook kick, he loosens up and begins to move like a boxer. The music changes and signifies the turn of the tide as Lee begins to baffle Norris with his broken rhythm and non classical movements. In most other movie fights the professional knows when an actor is merely playing a fighter, but here one sees an unfolding of real life tactics and strategy second to none. Bruce goes on to beat Norris to a pulp, displaying speed unrivaled both on and off screen. After incapacitating Norris, he offers to let him go. Norris will have none of it and attacks Lee one last time, forcing Bruce to kill him. After the fight, Lee displays class second to none by placing Norris' gi and black belt over him. The best scene in the fight is the incredible slow motion sequence filmed in one long shot as the tow men fight around the hall. It's the best fight I've ever seen in any film. For the viewer, it makes the martial arts, for a moment, become the center of the universe. That's what good movie fights are for.