The Action Edition
Lights, camera, roundhouse kick to the head.
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Or a moment may simply look cool as hell.
Remember Patrick Swayze ripping out a guys throat inRoad House?
Of course you do.
A good movie fight is a feast for the eyes, but a great one feeds the soul.
(That approach meant opting against a more expansive definition that would include, say, verbal arguments.
Sorry,Marriage Storyheads.)
Still, the latter end of the list provides a glimmer of hope that progress is being made.
You may well disagree with some of the lists selections and omissions; it seems unavoidable, in fact.
But if thats the case, we have good news: Were on the internet.
What better place fora fight?
Nicholas Quah
1.Cat vs. Cat,The Boxing Cat(1894)
1.
Dickson and cameraman William Heise while Welton held them up on their hind legs.
They were wearing little boxing gloves in a little ring, the whole thing.
Some have called this 22-second film the original cat video, which, sure.
Filmmakers were using Kinetoscopes to capture men fighting men, too.
Both were commercial successes, setting the stage for the Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight three years later.
The fight ran for 71 to 100 minutes, depending on who exhibited it.
But it would never have been committed to film had Leonard and Cushing not slugged it out first.
Matt Zoller Seitz
3.Buster Keaton vs. Jeff,College(1927)
3.
That approach to fighting, in which combatants throw any objects they can get their hands on (books!
would become much more common though rarely as funny.
Alison Willmore
4.Charlie Chaplin vs. Prizefighter,City Lights(1931)
4.
But when his partner in crime splits, he ends up in the ring with arealboxer.
Jordan Hoffman
5.King Kong vs. T. rex,King Kong(1933)
- rexs jaw open; the proceedings are heightened by a devastating soundscape composed of theT.
rexs limp body hit the ground.
Eric Vilas-Boas
7.Errol Flynn vs.
Basil Rathbone,The Adventures of Robin Hood(1938)
7.
(Granted, fans of Disneys fox may quibble with this claim.)
What is fighting if not one of the most intimate experiences two people can have?
Brandon Streussnig
8.Cowboys vs. Bar,Dodge City(1939)
8.
(The star of the film, Errol Flynn, wasnt actually present.)
Roulette wheels and poker tables go flying.
Men are lassoed and dragged.
One dude collapses through several stories worth of stairs.
The groups trade tunes before finally trading fists.
(The bar remained intact in that instance.)
OfcourseAlfred Hitchock can turn an amusement-park carousel into a harrowing death trap.
Vikram Murthi
12.Detective Sergeant Brown vs. the Assassin Kemp,The Narrow Margin(1952)
12.
13.The Duke vs. Squire,The Quiet Man(1952)
13.
John Wayne just knew how to throw a punch.
In films prior toThe Quiet Man, Waynes fistfights were generally grave affairs.
Theres even a guy managing the betting line.
14.Richard Widmark vs. Richard Kiley,Pickup on South Street(1953)
14.
15.Kyuzo vs. Challengers,Seven Samurai(1954)
15.
Dont throw your life away, Kyuzo responds.
The guy insists, so the two square up again.
A visual contrast forms: Kyuzo keeps his body lowered, hand on hilt.
His opponent adopts a higher stance, katana overhead.
They rush at each other, both delivering a single strike.
The scene subtly establishes Kyuzos tremendous skill as a swordsman through a form of subtraction.
He doesnt need bluster or brute strength, just the right position and fluid motion.
16.Chariot vs. Chariot,Ben-Hur(1959)
16.
Heston was even fitted with special contact lenses to shield his eyes from kicked-up sand.
17.Sharks vs. Jets,West Side Story(1961)
17.
Bodies heave in and out of the melee with a blend of chaos and elegance.
Suddenly, two young bodies in constant motion just stop.
In truth, any scene that prioritizes beauty as much as brawling owes a debt to Riff and Bernardo.
Jen Chaney
18.King Kong vs. Godzilla, King Kong vs. Godzilla(1962)
18.
Godzilla, making his third film appearance and first in color, had never looked better.
Only Kong emerged, walking away in either victory or retreat.
James Grebey
19.Sanjuro vs. Muroto,Sanjuro(1962)
19.
Having been disgraced by Sanjuro, Muroto demands a duel.
Sanjuro tries to refuse, but Muroto will not relent.
And then: the blood geyser.
Films less concerned with such messages would go on to employ the effect with aplomb.
21.Paul Newman vs. Wolfgang Kieling,Torn Curtain(1966)
21.
The coup de grace is an asphyxiation by gas oven.
22.Ichi vs. Akazuka,Zatoichi Challenged(1967)
22.
As they battle, the fighters approaches reflect their ideological divide.
Instead, the wounded Akazuka declares Ichi the winner and walks away.
23.Lee Marvin vs.
Nightclub Goons,Point Blank(1967)
23.
Ill make this flick with you only on one condition, star Lee Marvin told director John Boorman.
He then took the originalPoint Blankscript hed been given and tossed it out a window.
But thats just the (very thin) plot.
There is noMiami VicewithoutPoint Blank.
There is noTo Live and Die in L.A. withoutPoint Blank.
There is noKill BillwithoutPoint Blank.
There is noJohn WickwithoutPoint Blank.
24.Butchs Foot vs. Harveys Nuts,Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid(1969)
24.
Lurch on the originalTheAddamsFamily), right in the nads.
25.Yang Hui-zhen vs. Mun Ta,A Touch of Zen(1971)
25.
Beatrice Loayza
26.Super Fly vs. the Crooked Cop,Super Fly(1972)
26.
Plus they got to win in the end.
ONeals melancholy performance suggests a doomed man.
(It also echoes the films earlier, very memorable bathtub-lovemaking scene.)
(Nothing nothing better happen to one hair on my gorgeous head.
Can you dig it?)
Then he walks away, gets in a car, and drives off.
Super Fly gets away!
Even in the revolutionary, table-turning world of blaxploitation, this was something new.
27.Pam Grier vs. the Girls,Coffy(1973)
27.
In action cinema, there is Before Pam Grier and After Pam Grier.
Shes so alluring that the other girls in King Georges employ immediately hate her.
28.Bruce Lee vs. OHara,Enter the Dragon(1973)
28.
Lots of modern action movies are ultimately defeated by their stars egos.
So when Lee and OHara face off in the competition, youd be forgiven for expecting a close match.
We dont see OHaras body break, but we hear pained horror in Lees furious scream.
Nothing could match Lee, of course, and thats still the case today.
29.Harvey Keitels Crew vs. George Memmolis Crew,Mean Streets(1973)
29.
Second, you got your shocking, almost unmotivated explosion of violence.
Sure, these guys dont like each other, but what really is it that sets them off?
Not knowing what the wordmookmeans?
(Later Scorsese needle-drops wont bother with in-world rationales.)
30.King Arthur vs. the Black Knight,Monty Python and the Holy Grail(1975)
30.
Tis but a scratch!
The Black Knight not only refuses the invitation but prevents him from crossing his bridge: None shall pass!
With a thud, Arthur lops off an arm as some cheapo red paint squirts through a not-very-state-of-the-art tube.
(What are you gonna do,bleedon me?
Chapman zings back.)
The never-say-die-but-clearly-defeated Black Knight has become shorthand for clueless politicians or anyone out of touch.
But the bit actually has its roots in history.
31.Jai and Veeru vs. the Bandits,Sholay(1975)
31.
The opening fight scene is tightly structured, lasting under nine minutes.
Nandini Balial
32.Apollo vs. Rocky,Rocky(1976)
32.
Rockyimmediately inspired other working-class underdog films, fromFlashdanceandFootlooseall the way toKing Richard.
33.Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,Game of Death(1978)
33.
This is not Boban Marjanovic fully palming Keanu Reevess head inJohn Wick 3.
He moves with alacrity, throwing quick punches and even deploying a succession of high kicks against Lee.
34.James Bond vs. Jaws,Moonraker(1979)
34.
It took some doing.
or take the Panavision lenses required for aBondmovie.
35.Lupin III vs. Cagliostro,The Castle of Cagliostro(1979)
35.
He doesnt linger on it, Tartakovsky says.
Rumor has it that Steven Spielberg once calledThe Castle of Cagliostroone of the greatest adventure movies of all time.
36.The Warriors vs. the Baseball Furies,The Warriors(1979)
36.
Some scenes are influential simply because they look really cool.
(The Furies also make a perennially great Halloween costume that will appeal to cult-film fans everywhere.)
But when the Furies chase the Warriors into Riverside Park, its time for them to take their licks.
37.Luke vs. Darth Vader,The Empire Strikes Back(1980)
37.
Its the buildup that makes the line hit so hard.
Though fragmented by crosscutting to other scenes of action, its the most elegant and impactful of alllightsaber battles.
Creator-producer George Lucas, director Irvin Kershner, and their collaborators arent going pedal-to-the-metal.
The revelation itself has beenparodiedin everything fromSpaceballstoRugrats.
38.Jake vs. Sugar Ray,Raging Bull(1980)
38.
Director Martin Scorsese shoots the fight like a murder; he even takes explicit cues fromthe shower scene inPsycho.
Only Jake doesnt see it that way.
All he can say, with his battered face and twisted smile, is that he didnt go down.
The blood on the ropes, however, tells a different story.
39.Darryl vs. Cameron,Scanners(1981)
39.
The showdown between Darryl and Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) at the end of the movie, though?
Fluids erupt, boiling, from beneath their skin.
Flesh warps and splits.
40.Gordon Liu vs. Wang Lung-wei,Martial Club(1981)
40.
The duels conceit lies in the alley being barely three feet wide.
That constraint forces both men to fluidly move between quick strikes and effective positioning.
Its a funny, furious, and ferociously technical affair.
In other words, its trademark Shaw Brothers stuff.
41.King Arthur vs. Mordred,Excalibur(1981)
41.
Usually, fight scenes are about clarity with clean compositions graduating into sharp cuts as bodies move in combat.
These vicious silhouettes in the fog are not balletic; they are rugged and forceful.
He plunges a spear into Arthur, and Arthurs sword pierces Mordred in return.
42.Deckard vs. Priss Thighs,Blade Runner(1982)
42.
BeforeBlade Runner, Harrison Ford usually won his fights.
But its Deckards earlier showdown with Daryl Hannahs Pris in genetic designer J.F.
Sebastians apartment that had the greater impact on action specifically.
The fight is only a minute or so long, but extremes amplify the scenes brutality.
Roxana Hadadi
43.Jackie Chan vs. Benny the Jet Urquidez,Wheels on Meals(1984)
43.
Jackie Chan, breathing heavily, bruised and bloodied, at the end of his rope.
By then, Chan was already an established superstar in Hong Kong.
Sammo and Yuen hold their own in their fights, but theres something immediately striking about Urquidez.
His kicks land like freight trains, and his punches seem to flash faster than light.
Its the first time you ever catch yourself whispering, I dont think Jackie can win this one.
They fly around the dining room, flipping atop furniture.
Urquidez hits him once, and Chan mocks him.
He hits him again, and Chans rattled but keeps his sense of humor.
44.Nick vs. Nigel,Top Secret!
(1984)
44.
Watch enough action movies and you start to recognize the rhythms of a fight.
By the main characters own admission, the plot ofTop Secret!sounds like some bad movie.
Their fight continues underwater, where their slowed aquatic punches instantly give way to outright absurdity.
Nigel inexplicably grabs a stool and breaks it over Nick.
A chandelier falls from the ceiling (?
Lots of films since have done the same, but perhaps none more joyously than this one.
45.Daniel vs. Johnny,The Karate Kid(1984)
45.
Teen movies in the 1980s often included a scene in which an unpopular outcast triumphs over popular normies.
(Fun fact: Johnson also referees the final fight between Daniel and Johnny.)
But it sincerely makes us cheer for Daniel and every tormented kid whos ever dreamed of fighting back.
Chaney
46.Gordon Liu vs. the Coffin Crew,The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter(1984)
46.
And boy, what a fun climax it offers.
True to the Shaw Brothers, the fight bounces between chaos, choreography, and comedy.
(Theres also a shocking amount of dental violence.)
Nothing is cooler than warrior monks.
47.Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock vs. Henchmen,Yes, Madam(1985)
47.
She makes combat choreography look like shes dancing through water.
But her A-force team-up with Yeoh in this movie gave her the spotlight she deserved.
Jordan C.
48.Ripley vs. the Alien Queen,Aliens(1986)
48.
That tends to be how it goes in horror movies.
Eventually, shes the only one left standing to protect a young girl from not just an average H.R.
Giger grunt but the Alien Queen herself.
The image of Ripley in a yellow-and-black-striped Power Loader suit is now iconic.
But a sometimes-forgotten key element of her mech suit is that itsnota weapon of war.
Its an industrial tool that she repurposes to throw herself at this towering extraterrestrial matriarch.
Its a thrill to watch her transform from victim to protector while keeping her humanity.
And her cry of Get away from her, youbitch might just beAlienss most savage blow.
49.Inigo Montoya vs. Westley,The Princess Bride(1987)
- says Inigo as his blade clangs and clangs against Westleys.
Thank you, Westley responds in a chipper tone.
Ive worked hard to become so.
This is not a typical fight scene, yet its steeped in tradition.
Its funny if not cartoonish.
It moves the plot forward with tension and without putting any of the major characters in serious peril.
Jen C.
50.Ash vs. Ashs Hand,Evil Dead II(1987)
50.
(See the fights inScannersandAliens.)
but persuades you of its ability to indefinitely survive and wreak havoc.
R.H.
51.Jean-Claude Van Damme vs. Bolo Yeung,Bloodsport(1988)
51.
Then, becauseof course, his blindfold training kicks in.
52.Tetsuo vs. Kaneda,Akira(1988)
52.
The military has waged an orbital attack against Tetsuo, and the ground around him and Kaneda is exploding.
But at the end of the day, theyre still just pissy teens.
53.Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. Keith David,They Live(1988)
53.
And all over a pair of glasses.
Carpenters genre films always embrace the fantastic, but he never overlooks the human toll.
Hell do anything it takes to get him to see the ruling class for who they really are.
54.Swayze vs. Throat,Road House(1989)
54.
When Dalton warns, Prepare to die, you almost believe Reno needs to hear it.
Part of the allure here is whatRoad House doesntdo.
Swayze was the Wanna fight?
R.H.
55.Jet Li vs.
Yen Shi-kwan,Once Upon a Time in China(1991)
55.
The scene is a Renaissance-era fresco in motion; a masterclass in contained chaos, precisely plotted to theT.
The ladder fight exemplifies this turn to physical realism.
56.T-800 vs. T-1000,Terminator 2: Judgment Day(1991)
56.
57.Batman vs. Catwoman,Batman Returns(1992)
57.
He then punches her off the roof, landing her into what is basically a litter box on wheels.
58.Meryl Streep vs. Goldie Hawn,Death Becomes Her(1992)
58.
Meryl Streepwalked with her head on backwardso Steven Spielbergs velociraptors could run.
To think so much technical innovation can be attributed to one of cinemas great diva-offs.
Beyond its VFX marvels,Death Becomes Herraised the bar thatThe Holy Grailhad set for biology-agnostic fight humor.
When Madeleine chucks a broken shovel handle, Helen barely notices it soaring through her hollow abdomen.
Matt Jacobs
59.The Trio vs.
Evil Master,The Heroic Trio(1993)
59.
His stilted, uncanny movements recall the stop-motion cadavers of Ray Harryhausen.
60.Jubei vs. Tessai,Ninja Scroll(1993)
60.
What more could shock us?
Even in fully clothed fight scenes, Kawajiris hyperviolence is inextricably linked to sexual violence.
61.Simba vs. Scar,The Lion King(1994)
61.
This sequence went through more changes than any other sequence, said Minkoff.
The results of that effort are Hollywood history.
62.Jackie Chan vs. Ken Lo,Drunken Master 2(1994)
62.
There is no schlocky wire fu inDrunken Master II, and Chan vs.
In very Chan fashion, he put his health on the line for the fight against Lo.
Thats all before the marathon of drunken boxing even gets started.
Lo showed off a movie-fight skill he possessed in spades and was harder to teach than technique: charisma.
Whether theyre good or not is beside the point of the three decades since Paul W.S.
The scene begins in a forest.
Youre temporarily at ease, finally, after an onslaught of countless wuxia fights.
Were in uncharted waters, which in fighting games is nothing new.
Now Get over here!!
!and have some fun.B.S.
64.Kusanagi vs. Thug,Ghost in the Shell(1995)
64.
A henchmans body contorts in pain and then flies through the air without a discernible impetus.
65.Private Stanley Mellish vs. Nameless German Soldier,Saving Private Ryan(1998)
65.
There was no glory in war, he said, reflecting on his fathers experiences on the front lines.
But this sequence is distinct for its matter-of-factness.
Theres no swell of sad music, no fanfare as Mellish gets killed.
66.Trinity vs. the Agents,The Matrix(1999)
66.
The kick itself was directly parodied in everything fromShrektoDeuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
Both Ridley Scott and Emperor Commodus understood the importance of putting on a good show.
A simple assassination wouldnt cut it, though.
Scott didnt have any murderous motivations (as far as we know).
Thats how you get the crowd to love you both in the Colosseum and in the multiplex.
68.Michelle Yeoh vs. Zhang Ziyi,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(2000)
68.
What happens in this showdown between Yeohs Yu Shu Lien and Ziyis Jen is, technically, not new.
In fact, action choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping, a veteran of Hong Kong cinema, worked on both.
Hook swords, machetes, spears, and straight swords: All are fair game.
Chaney
69.Hugh Grant vs. Colin Firth,Bridget Joness Diary(2001)
69.
And now, a brawl between two people who are completely unqualified.
Its the ultimate Lets take this outside.
In all its frivolity, thisBridget Joness Diaryshowcase has a rich precedent.
The actors came up with many of the moves themselves, according to Maguire.
But Hugh balked at the idea and said he didnt think his character would be in any way heroic.
Hed be dirty and bite and forgive this phrase bitch-slap.
We decided to descend into wrestling and kicking and weird involuntary noises.
We kept it mainly in a wide shot because its funnier.
Is this some kind of a skit?
a horrified Julianne Moore yells from the sidelines.
M.J.
70.Jason Statham vs. Goon After Goon,The Transporter(2002)
70.
There are manic car chases scored to techno-pop songs; gun fu acrobatics that burst with goofy artifice.
And God bless him does it with his shirt off, and eventually slathered in oil.
71.Karen Mok vs. Shu Qi,So Close(2002)
71.
Eagle-eyed readers will noticeSo Closeisnt our first or even our second fight fromCorey Yuen.
Gone are the hard-hitting, genderless fights fromYes, Madam hes fully embraced the sexy fight.
But therein lies the magic with Yuen: an unwavering sincerity to even his silliest of moments.
72.Father vs. Cleric,Equilibrium(2002)
72.
Cleric John Preston first storms through the halls of the totalitarian Tetragrammaton Council (whew!)
You want a bullet ballet?
73.Blade vs. Ninja Vampires,Blade II(2002)
73.
Has anyone ever looked as cool as Wesley Snipes dodging blows from ninja vampires?
(Seethe blood rave.)
Then suddenly Blade is backflipping.
74.Johnny Knoxville vs. Butterbean,Jackass(2002)
74.
In a sense, you’re able to seeJackasseverywhere today.
Shot in a random department store, the encounter lasts seconds.
Its one thing to watch a boxing match between two professionals.
The punch has been seared into my brain ever since I saw it as a teenager.
The stunt is incredibly dark, but that heaviness is accounted for.
75.Ting vs. the Fight Club,Ong Bak(2003)
75.
Without Tony Jaa, muay Thai may have never been introduced to western cinema.
The Fight Club inOng Bakscene is an almost perfect distillation of the form itself.
By the time we get to the fight club, youre itching for Jaa to be let loose.
The popularity of the UFC exploded with many fighters employing the style in their arsenal.
Professional wrestlers like CM Punk also incorporated the form in their own way.
Guys in Tapout T-shirts at bars became convinced they were killers because they watched too many Anderson Silva fights.
It was the perfect time to unleash a superstar onto the world.
76.Oh Dae-su vs. the Hallway,Oldboy(2003)
76.
That grandiosity plays out in an electrifying, unbroken three-minute take often cited as one of action cinemas pinnacles.
(If nothing else, its an action thriller built on erotic revenge.)
Oldboycame out the same year as Parks pal Bong Joon HosMemories of Murder.
Together, they expandedKorean cinemas global footprint.
When directors citeOldboyas an influence, they tend to reference the hallway fight.
It directly inspired scenes inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
M.J.
77.The Bride vs. O-Ren Ishii,Kill Bill Vol.
1(2003)
77.
You thought wed pick the black-and-white Crazy 88 scene, right?
Hope you saved your energy, O-Ren taunts.
If you havent, you might not last five minutes.
The scenes relative quiet is stunning after the cartoonish adrenaline of the Crazy 88 pageantry.
The womens outfits are indebted to fight cinema, too.
Lius milky kimono evokes Yuki Kashima (Meiko Kaji), a.k.a.
Lady Snowblood, who also collapses in the snow after a duel.
(The song that plays as O-Ren takes her last breaths?
Kajis The Flower of Carnage.)
Somewhere,SZA was taking notes.
He sprints through its hallways, leaps into its ceilings, and kicks and confuses its Secret Service guards.
We were really into smoky specters back then.)
R.H.
79.Nameless vs. Sky,Hero(2004)
79.
The drops create an atmosphere that should evoke tranquillity but in this context imbues tension instead.
Early in the scene, Sky easily defeats several adversaries eager to claim his head.
Its only when Nameless appears that Sky finds a worthy opponent.
Halfway through, Nameless pays an elderly musician to play a tune on the guqin.
The fight changes locations and unfolds inside their minds (depicted in black and white).
Defying the laws of gravity, they pirouette through the sky in a dancelike exchange of potentially mortal moves.
Boy, that escalated quickly.
Thats the first thing Ron Burgundy says after the famous battle of the local web connection news teams inAnchorman.
Everything in this nonsensical gang war comes back to escalation.
Its likeWest Side Story, ifWest Side Storywas about self-absorbed TV journalists and also really, really stupid.
Later, Wilsons arm gets chopped off.
Jen C.
81.The Slum Trio vs. the Axe Gang,Kung Fu Hustle(2004)
81.
Greatest-of-all-time martial artists Sammo Hung and Yeun Woo-ping did the fight choreography, which is characteristically elegant to behold.
Jordan C.
82.Jane Smith vs. John Smith,Mr.
and Mrs. Smith(2005)
82.
& Mrs. Smith.The plot is simple.
Firefights, pointed arguments, and barbed flirting ensue.
Its a low-down dirty fight.
Really, its Jolie who sells the scene.
Pitt says when he thinks hes winning.
Whos your daddy now?
she says triumphantly hair tousled, forehead bleeding, eyes holding a dare.
Weve seen actors do sexy fights before where the violence is meant to be tantalizing and fun.
But Jolie dances along a razors edge: Do I want to kill this person or fuck them?
Angelica Jade Bastien
83.Astinos and Stelios vs. the Persians,300(2007)
83.
The pre-MCU project was among the first to shoot entirely on virtual sets.
Why travel to the Maliakos Gulf when an empty room in Montreal will suffice?
This kind of coverage of a physical space had heretofore only been possible in animation.
84.Jason Bourne vs. Desh Bouksani,The Bourne Ultimatum(2007)
84.
85.Nanashi vs. Luo-Lang,Sword of the Stranger(2007)
85.
More than anything, I wanted to let him do his thing, Andohas said.
The films final duel between the ronin Nanashi and foreign warrior Luo-Lang exemplifies everything Nakamura does well.
86.Om vs. Mukesh,Om Shanti Om(2007)
86.
The King of Bollywood) and Deepika Padukone (Indias top-paid actress).
His death is written, she says, but not at your hands.
She looks up, and a chandelier smashes to the ground, killing Mukesh.
The fight, andOm Shanti Omas a whole, made an impact in a couple ways.
People walked out of theaters stunned, oohing and aahing over the shocking ending.
Invoking the supernatural is not uncommon in Hindi cinema, but depictions of female rage are.
(Importantly, Shanti was not only married to Mukesh, she was carrying his child.)
She hasnt stopped working since, andOm Shanti Omjoined the pantheon of great Hindi films.
87.Naked Nikolai Luzhin vs. Two Assassins,Eastern Promises(2007)
87.
From wrecked cars to animated videotapes, David Cronenberg has always been a master of the erotic.
The fully nude Nikolai (Mortensen brazenly showing his wares) lunges to defend himself.
88.Ip Man vs. Hung Chun-nam,Ip Man 2(2008)
88.
Donnies always sort of felt unsung, even among the action crowd.
In the first film, he squares off against a karate master.
The fourth sees him fight Scott Adkins, another karate expert.
Perhapstheprototypical deceptively graceful big man, Sammo launches himself on a table, perfectly balanced with Donnie.
As the two come to a stalemate, a grudging respect passes between Sammo and Donnie.
A master sees his window close, while a new stars opens up.
89.Arthur vs. the Dream Guard,Inception(2010)
89.
One level above us, Arthur is rattling around a van, so his gravity is constantly shifting.
When it was time to really get nuts, everybody was on wires.
Theres been plenty written on the commonalities between the 2010 blockbuster and Satoshi Kons 2006 animePaprika.
90.Tommy Riordan vs. Brendan Conlon,Warrior(2011)
90.
(Even David Mamet got in on the action with 2008s Chiwetel EjioforstarringRedbelt.)
The two brothers lived different lives after their parents split up, and each resents the other for it.
In the ring, these two broken and inexpressive men become closer than ever before.
How do you show your love for someone while kicking the crap out of them?
91.Rama vs. the Machete Guys,The Raid(2011)
91.
Their fight films deliver marathons of punishment that had never before looked so beautiful and brutal.
It put the stunning abilities of the combatants front and center with minimal editing wizardry or stuntman swap-ins.
(Not all the Paul Greengrass rip-offs had it like that.)
Jordan C.
92.Gina Carano vs. Michael Fassbender,Haywire(2011)
92.
Anne Parillaud inLa Femme Nikita!
who used sex in their violence.
A perfect touch.)
But the legacy of the Carano-Fassbender showdown transcends just MMA representation.
Long may the thigh-crush reign.
R.H.
93.John vs. Magnus,Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning(2012)
93.
Set in an athletic store, the two engage in something like a sword fight but with baseball bats.
When Adkins eventually busts Arlovskis head open, youre almost convinced those entrails are real.
94.The Avengers vs. the Chitauri,The Avengers(2012)
- shot gets expanded and embellished upon in the one-take battle sequence that follows.
As in the Avengers Assemble!
95.John Wick vs. the Home Invaders,John Wick(2014)
95.
The first stretch ofJohn Wickfeels like the setup for a standard-issue, if slightly melodramatic, revenge picture.
But then something wonderful happens.
But nothing would ever match the gleeful surprise one feels watching this scene for the first time.
Its too bad the dog couldnt be there to see it.
96.Max vs. Furiosa,Mad Max: Fury Road(2015)
96.
97.Sook-hee vs. Assassins,The Villainness(2017)
97.
What makes this sequence is its ingenuity and camerawork, which opts for a stark, almost claustrophobic intimacy.
Tracking in with every flick of Sook-hees sword or punch thrown before moving out.
98.Ethan Hunt and August Walker vs. John Lark,Mission: Impossible Fallout(2018)
98.
Chaney
99.Waymonds Fanny Pack vs. Security Guards,Everything Everywhere All at Once(2022)
99.
(The pack had a seven-foot-long strap for maximum spinning.)
R.H.
100.Raju vs. Bheem,RRR(2022)
100.
Its hard to pick a single fight from the film.
(Raju also punches a tiger.)
For as operatic as the set pieces are, the feelings motivatingRRRs action leads are even more extravagant.
Heres to the further opening up of English-language audiences to action cinema from all over.
