Great Movie Fight Scenes

I must apologize to my 2 or 3 readers out there as I have been sorely neglecting this website. On the bright side, my wing chun classes have been going quite well and I have lots of ideas to write about. Also, I have access to a really nice camera and camera man and my students have been coming along well so we should have some video up soon.

I don't have time to write an entry today so I will just lazily embed some youtube videos.

Here are a few fight scenes that I like in television and movies in no order in particular. Keep in mind that I don't really think that fighting has that much to do with filming a fight scene. But fight scenes have become an art of their own and I think most people who do martial arts appreciate them in some way.

The first is from Deadwood, probably the second or third greatest television series ever. This is the fight between Dan Dority and the Captain. I love the way it tries to capture the time and approximate fighting skills of the time and focuses on raw brutality.

The next is from Rob Roy. I remember liking this movie much more than Braveheart that came out soon after. This is fight between Rob Roy and Archibald played by Tim Roth.

Here is the best Bond movie fight with Sean Connery in his prime.

This one isn't realistic at all, but who doesn't love the duel in The Princess Bride?

Which brings me to what I think is the best fight scene of any kind put on celluloid. This is from Mark of Zorro. It features actors Basil Rathbone and Tyrone Power. They don't make em like this any more.

As for kungfu movie scenes, I must confess there aren't many I like since they often take themselves too seriously and are a bit too stiffly choreographed. I remember liking this one at the movie theater even  though it is a bit obvious for this list. It's the fight between Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeaoh) and Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi) in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

When it comes to kungfu fight scenes I prefer the ridiculous like this scene from The Magnificent Butcher.

To sum up, I have to finish with my absolute favorite "fight" scene of all time from any movie. If I am flipping through the channels and this comes up, I stop what I am doing every time and watch. I am convinced that this scene will go down as one of the most hilarious of all time. It's like a violent/comedic Zen koan. I can't even make fun of it without watering down the overall effect. Of course I am referring to the fight of tolerance from Steven Seagal's On Deadly Ground.