Ten Memorable Movie Sword Fights
Long before gun powder was invented, the world’s greatest empires were built on steel. Be it Alexander the Great, Ancient Rome or the Ming Dynasty, conquering armies used a blade to spill blood on the battle field. The sword may be an antiquated weapon in the 21st Century, but meeting your end via a foil still holds a high degree of honor. Especially in the movies. Big screen duels make for excellent entertainment. Whether it’s a period piece, horror/sci-fi or comedy, watching two combatants proficient in the art of swordplay rarely disappoints. Here are ten battles that fit the bill.
(Note to all Star Wars geeks. Lightsabers are not swords.)
This flick rules for a myriad of reasons. Hilarious hero, crazy plot, intense action and cool special effects are just a few. Throw in a climatic mid-air cutlas clash and you can’t really ask for much more. Right?
Blade is somewhat responsible for jump-starting Hollywood’s renewed interest in superhero franchises. A vampire hunter who is half-bloodsucker. Whoa. The final showdown between Blade and Frost has a little bit of everything, including the clank of metal.
To be fair, this movie is packed with several worthy engagements, so choosing just one wasn’t easy. The library scene actually features a pair of bouts, but it’s the one between Nameless (Jet Li) and Moon (Ziyi Zhang) that stands out.
The Pirates films were a pleasant surprise. Something based on an amusement park ride shouldn’t be remotely entertaining, but the filmmakers did a credible job. As the third chapter wraps, the devious Captain Jack goes head-to-head with the vile Davy Jones. It’s an impressive scene.
The Green Destiny has to be one of the coolest names for a sword in cinema history. The tree-top confrontation in the bamboo forest isn’t the most exciting, but it is beautifully filmed and beyond amazing to watch.
The original Highlander still ranks pretty high on the kick ass scale. Clancy Brown’s inspired performance as The Kurgan is both frightening and funny. Christopher Lambert didn’t do much after this, but at least he can say that he was the first to be the last of the immortals.
This flick is all kinds of glorious. Bloody battle scenes, doomed hero, stunning soundtrack — it has it all. Russell Crowe and a pre-nutty Joaquin Phoenix both deliver the goods. In particular, during the classic Coliseum combat. Gladiator is easily one of this decade’s top films.
The Pythons know funny like few others. This needlessly violent joust still holds up, despite being nearly 35 years old. Whatever you do, don’t eff with King Arthur. And remember, the Black Knight always triumphs.
This is as close to a perfect film as you’ll find. The story, dialogue, acting and directing are all first-rate. Its centerpiece scene is one of the finest duels between master swordsmen ever put to film. Up until a few years ago, this would have undoubtedly topped this list.
The logistics involved in shooting this melee must have been a nightmare. The Bride – dressed in a bright yellow motorcycle suit – takes on O-Ren Ishii’s gang, the “Crazy 88.” Single-handedly slicing and dicing forty to fifty guys in seven minutes takes the title, for now.
You forgot “The Pirate Movie”. Pretty good fight between Frederic and The Pirate King.
What about the Princess Bride!?!?!?!?!….there were some great ones in it as well
oh…wait…you did have it there..I missed it!…opps…sorry
The final sword fight scene in Rob Roy was also excellent.
I find your lack of Star Wars disturbing.
You should have included the sword fight from Tom Jones (1962), starring Albert Finney. It won Best Picture of the Year too.
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.. the new Zorro flick from a few years back gets my vote :)
How can you not have the sword fight from “Rob Roy” on this list?
Good call on the “Pirate Movie”, Chris.
The fact that you acknowledge ‘The Legend of Robin Hood’ by placing a scene pix at the top of the page but don’t include it on your list is travesty!
While all the other battles are great, re-watch the final sword fight with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. It was one shot. One long shot. Simply amazing.
Especially since Basil Rathbone was acknowledged as the best swordsman in Hollywood at the time. Unfortunately, he often played villains and so was frequently the loser.
Wow, most impressive walk down memory lane that was!
You totally forgot Hook.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbP2djP0h5g&feature=related
Equilibrium, the end is best fight sequence in the last 10 years. guns and swords. But the sword play is quick, precise and deadly as it should be.
Most of the new starwars stuff has some pretty solid sword play in it as well.
lists like these suck because it always one person generating it instead of a panel. Reach out get some feedback then pick your ten or prefix your post with “I think this is…”
I’m sure most people have never seen this film due to it’s age, but Scaramouche has some of the best sword fights ever filmed.
I love Big Trouble in Little China, but the sword fight is really not that impressive. Completely kick ass film overall, but for fight choreography, not so much. I’ve done some sword-based stunt work and have had some fencing training, so I think I have a pretty good idea what I’m talking about.
What about “Equilibrium” you have both sword and gun Kata!!!!
And what of The Three Musketeers? Those were some of the best, and authentic, sword fighting scenes ever. Among other notable features was the fact that, no Virigina, people don’t always die from a single thrust.
Joe
So you put up a picture of Errol Flynn, but not mention one of his movies!? This list is a bunch of horse-shit!
No samurai flicks — FAIL.
Empire Strikes Back or Phantom Menace? No?
Army of Darkness?
Batman Begins?
This list is shoddy.
The End of equilibrium is a great scene but most of the movie include guns, so I could see why they left it out. I hate to say it but stars wars “sword” fighting SUCKED! The only decent attempt was episode one with the last darth maul fight, and the yoda fight.
How can you leave out Rob Roy…check it out for yourself:
Rob Roy Swordfight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVaslN1NiT0
Lone Wolf and Cub – Ogami Itto has THE highest body count for any character in any movie, ever, AND…he chopped them all down with his sword :D also, the partly the inspiration for Kill Bill.
The Count of Monte Cristo(original version): One of the best revenge stories of all time, culminating in a real nail-biter of a final battle sword fight.
Star Wars is cool because of the lightsabers and of course its status as a classic, but I think the choreography has something to be desired…I I had to choose, the best fight had to be Luke getting his hand cut off in Empire.
Nice list tho; thanks!!
First let me say that I am a huge Star Wars fan.
However, I agree that the lightsaber fights should NOT be on this list.
The reason being, the few fights that were in the original trilogy were not really that spectacular.
Then you have the prequels where most of the fights were CGI.
All of the fights on this list were in real time and very well choreographed. None of them were computer generated. Yes alot of them used wire work (Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, etc.) but it was still the real actors on those wires.
My first thought that came to mind when I saw the title on Digg was Princess Bride. So glad it was near the top. Great list.
Re: the fight in Crouching Tiger, I preferred the fight scene between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi that appeared in the movie just before the one you listed. Michelle is a legend in Hong Kong kung fu movies, and some of her moves in that fight are just amazing. For a beginner, Zhang holds her own, as well.
Glad to see the Kill Bill scene on top, however. I also liked the swordplay in the original 70s Three Musketeers.
Somehow, Tony Curtis’ performance in “The Great Race” gets completely forgotten. His exhibition of the real-world fighting styles of sabre and epee’ are the best ever put on a screen.
[...] this round up of the top ten sword fights on Gunaxin pleased him [...]
OH come on, Zatoichi or Yojimbo vs anyone makes for such a better sword fight than all of the above.
[...] Ten Memorable Movie Sword Fights (Gunaxin) [...]
[...] Ten Memorable Movie Sword Fights | Gunaxin (tags: movie movies videos) [...]
who ever this article is clearly an idiot, watch asian films you f@cking douchebag
You even have Basil Rathbone on the page, but you don’t list any of his?? Oh, I see, movies didn’t exist before color, or 1970.
The fight between him and Tryone Power in Zorro in 1940 is one of the best ever. First of all, they were actually fighting; the points make have been blunt, but the swords were real, and there were no stuntmen involved. Second, Rathbone choreographed it and taught Power how to fight. He was a master sword fighting instructor, and taught entire generations of british actors how to stage fight without killing one another.
This is outrageous! How could the writer completely ignore Scaramouche (1954). The sword fight between Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer is legendary, and – dare I say – should have been number one (where I expected it to be). If I recall the film is in the record books for the longest sword duel in the history of cinema.
For shame Scott. For shame!
Pick up Scaramouche and be humbled!
uh heloo, you forgot Conan versus the Queen’s guard in Conan the Destroyer.
[...] Memorable Movie Sword Fights (Gunaxin) [...]
[...] Gunaxin looks back at Ten Memorable Movie Sword Fights. [...]
The kendo fight between the samurai and Tom Cruise (I dislike Cruise immensely) in The Last Samurai was about the best in recent history but there are countless asian/samurai films from the 50’s to now that had the 10 best, totally outclassing the ten listed here. As stated previously Basil Rathbone was a master instructor and choreographer and any of his fights from his films are about the best from Hollywoods film library but the asian/samurai are IT!
[...] The rich canon of bladed throwdowns gets a loving tribute in Gunaxin’s listicle of 10 Memorable Movie Swordfights, our favorite of which is and always has been the final battle from the first Blade movie – which [...]
I call Shenanigans! Count of Monte Cristo (c1934), Scaramouche (c1954) alone set a precedent for years in movie making for sword play choreography that you still see copied today. Unfortunate that we’re far enough along in cinema that editorials are written by people without movie knowledge before the 80’s.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link