The Best Fight Scenes: Get Your Punch On

We all know a well crafted fight scene will get the testosterone pumping. It'll make an action movie legitimate. A drama movie build suspense. Here are a few scenes scenes that Jeff and I picked as our favorites. Shoot outs are fun, as are sword fights, but the majority of the fights we've picked for this deal solely with fists, and sometimes a hammer. Get ready for it.

Joe's Picks

-OldBoy: The Hallway Fight

At this point in the movie we know that Dae-Su Oh is a badass. Now we really see just how tough he is while he takes on an entire pack of thugs. We have seen one against many a few times (notably in Matrix: Reloaded, which was a let down what with Keanu's N64 face), but when Chan-Wook Park does a panning side shot we all think of the original NES (and this time it's a good thing.) Dae-Su's weapon of choice is a yellow hammer. A yellow hammer. None of the thugs have guns, instead they carry chains, sticks, bats, and knives. Half-way through this fight he gets stabbed in the back with a giant knife, and the attacker leaves the blade in. He drops to his knees, seemingly surrendering. We all think the fight is over. Whoops! Wrong! He continues fighting the mob with a long knife protruding from his back. Did I mention this goes on for four minutes? And it's in one take, one shot.

-Eastern Promises: Sauna Fight

This is what happens when you put amazing material in the hands of David Cronenberg. Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) walks into a sauna. He drops his towel and sits down, getting ready to relax. Fool! Two thugs walk in after him, fully clothed with knives. Nikolai knows what's up, and the punching ensues. One naked guy versus two and they have weapons. One of the best parts of this is when Nikolai punches his wiener will helicopter into the lower frame. What's manlier than penises? Not a lot. Maybe not even anything. The lack of dialogue gives this over-the-top scene a sense of grounding. We can believe the three-way fight because of the grunts. While he tries to fight the two thugs he gets cut up, but in the end, we know exactly who not to fuck with.

-They Live: The Alley Fight

This fight goes on for six minutes. My favorite parts are the one liners and the fact that every time we think it's over, it's not. They just keep fighting. It's like watching the WWE version of The Return of the King. Roddy Piper and Keith David show us how the working man really fights in an alley.

Jeff's Picks

-Fight Club: Edward Norton & Brad Pitt's parking lot fight.

This fight is awesome for many reasons. After kicking back a few pitchers and concluding that consumerism is ruining humanity, Tyler Durden has Norton punch him with the reasoning they’ve never been in a fight and need to so they can be considered men. After a botched punch to the ear of Durden, the two engage in a parking lot fight where knees, elbows, and punches are thrown and plenty of blood is shed. The breaking of the monotony of everyday life transforms Norton. He goes from being a “do what you’re told,” insomnia ridden, support-group-attending loser to a no-fucks-giving badass and all it took was one punch. There’s nothing fancy about it, just a booze fueled punchfest with

himself in the parking lot.

Here is a taste:

-Scott Pilgrim vs the World: Scott Pilgrim & Ramona Flowers vs Roxy Richter.

I had seven fights to choose from and this is the winner. If you haven’t seen the film, it revolves around Scott Pilgrim battling Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes to win her hand. Roxy is ex number five and boy is she a doozy. Taking place in a bar after the Sex Bob-Omb/The Clash at Demonhead show, Ramona's 5th evil ex Roxy appears and challenges Scott, but Ramona intervenes and the two do battle. After stating that this is a “league game” Scott must face Roxy but cannot bring himself to hit a girl because “girls are soft.” Ramona controls his arms and legs and Roxy is ultimately defeated after being tickled on her knee (her weakness) and climaxes. The scene, along with the entire movie, is littered with jokes, one liners (Well, I'm a little biFURIOUS), and video game references. Coupled with an awesome soundtrack and visual effects, this fight scene is pretty silly, but just as awesome. And who could ignore the fact that Roxy is played by Mae Whitman, who played Ann on Arrested Development…awesome.

-The Dark Knight Rises: Bane & Batman finally meet in the sewer.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen TDKR

yet, get off your computer, drive to a theater, sit down, watch. I’m serious.

What happens when the immovable object meets the unstoppable force? This scene, that’s what. Bane, the baddest man in the history of the Batman films has shown that no fucks are given and he will beat anybody who stands in his way. Before their encounter, Alfred shows Bruce the footage of Bane fighting and Bruce responds with, “I’ll fight harder, I always do.” When Bruce and Bane finally meet, there is little discussion before engaging in fisticuffs. Bane immediately exclaims, “Peace has taken your strength! Victory has defeated YOU!” and proceeds to beat the living shit out of Batman. He makes it well known that the usual tricks and darkness of the Batman do not work on him all while ridiculing Bruce. Bane then shows Bruce he has made a lair under the R & D department of Wayne Enterprises and when Bruce finally stands to fight again, Bane says “I was beginning to wonder which would break first, your mind or your body” and breaks Bruce’s back. This scene is one of my favorite moments for a myriad of reasons. It stays pretty true to the Knightfall moment, except Bruce doesn’t become a cripple. Bane shows he’s not afraid of Batman leaves Bruce in a desperate state. The whole movie has a theme of breaking points and Bruce’s breaking point is physical and never mental, and that is what Bane is hell bent on exposing. Great fighting with better dialogue sets up a great model of how any hero movie fights should go.