Best seord fights scene?>

[parabrave]

2 choices and only 2.

1. Erroll Flynn in Robin Hood
2. Black Mamba vs the crazy 88s in Kill Bill.

[parabrave]

1. Errol Flynn vs Basil Rathbone in Robin Hood
2. Black Mamba vs the crazy 88s in Kill Bill.

Who you Got?

[BeardoMSU]

You definitely covered two good ones.

I know it's not just swords, but the fight choreography in this scene from Matrix Reloaded is pretty great.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WfR87K5zW8

I've always loved the Highlander series, both the movies (some at least....) and the TV show, but thinking about Scottish themed movies, I remembered Rob Roy. This is a good fight.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERmM5l2ceoY

Obviously, we can't talk about sword fights and not include the work of Akira Kurosawa. He's the master, and as you can see in both of these, Quentin borrowed heavily from both for Kill Bill. I know the actual sword fight in Yojimbo is not very long, and though still really cool, it's the build up of the scene that I just love. Music, framing, tension, etc....it's perfection.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ZfUzPcN-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCjsazHO0c0&t=313s

[BeardoMSU]

Another great Akira scene, this time from Sanjuro (sequel to Yojimbo). Again, it's not hard to see where QT got his inspiration from...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfpagB8wWng&t=116s

[BeardoMSU]

And of course....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dEDabkF8AA

[BrunswickDawg]

I think it's hard to really equate those two. They are so different.

However, if you are ranking sword fights, this has to be mentioned

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SoggyBoringBelugawhale-size_restricted.gif

[Dawgology]

Has to be Princess Bride and The Musketeer (final fight)

Honorable Mention:
The Duellists (all three fights)
Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves

[Prediction? Pain.]

Y'all are all way, way off.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs

But seriously, the right answer is Vader vs. Luke from Empire.

Related aside, I was watching an interview with Mark Hamill on this YouTube series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtdnjx0DtTI) from the dudes who directed a bunch of the Marvel movies. It seemed like the episode was supposed to be about the technical side of storytelling using Empire as an example. (Aside within aside: The director dudes revealed that they follow a pretty strict formula with the Marvel stuff; I know storytelling formulas have been around at least since Aristotle's day, but still a little disheartening to hear confirmation/admissions that the formula is used as a literal, visual template that their stories have to fit within.) But with Luke Freaking Skywalker as the guest, the discussion devolved into storytelling and fanboy love. Fine by me, of course. Anywho, Hamill said something that I'd never heard (though is likely old news to bigger fanboys than me): Lucas made him and the actor playing Vader use two-handed grips on their lightsabers, which led to more plodding, less acrobatic swordplay. In Lucas' mind, lightsabers were supposed to be as heavy as medieval broadswords. Then of course when Hamill saw people bobbing and weaving one-handed in Lucas' prequels, he was pissed.

ETA: I hadn't seen the Errol Flynn's Robin Hood till earlier this year when my TCM binging got serious. Dude was legit with the sword.

[parabrave]

I think it's hard to really equate those two. They are so different.

However, if you are ranking sword fights, this has to be mentioned

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SoggyBoringBelugawhale-size_restricted.gif

This was number 3. The best fight scene from TPB was when Indigo fought the guys in the hallway and stabbed the guy between his legs

[War Machine Dawg]

How can you not mention the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith? That was an epic duel. Duel of the Fates between Obi-Wan, Qui Gonn and Maul in Phantom Menace was good, too.

Also, big props for whoever mentioned Highlander, especially the TV series. Adrian Paul put on some amazing duels in the course of that series. Still love rewatching it.

[BeardoMSU]

How can you not mention the duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith? That was an epic duel. Duel of the Fates between Obi-Wan, Qui Gonn and Maul in Phantom Menace was good, too.

Also, big props for whoever mentioned Highlander, especially the TV series. Adrian Paul put on some amazing duels in the course of that series. Still love rewatching it.

Duel of the Fates is one of the greatest songs John Williams has ever composed, just a shame it was for such an abortion of a film....I often dream of a parallel universe where the SW Prequels don't exist, lol.

That being said, I will say I do really like the Qui Gonn/Obi-Wan Darth Maul fight. It was done really well. It was still more akin to a ballet, than proper sword fighting (like Empire), but combined with the music, and the set pieces, it made for a really cool scene. I guess the Anakin Obi-Wan fight in Revenge is OK...at least you didn't mention Yoda vs Dooku in Clone Wars. We'd fight.*** Lol, that whole scene just pisses me off.

I love The Highlander, btw, the original movie and the TV show. Supposedly, Highlander is getting a reboot. Not sure how I feel about that.

You're right about Adrian Paul. I always thought he was way better in story than Christopher Lambert (who is a pretty awful actor, actually).

And how about that Queen soundtrack?

https://media1.tenor.com/images/74dfe2d79d3fed439846e487961a458e/tenor.gif?itemid=4836686

[War Machine Dawg]

Duel of the Fates is one of the greatest songs John Williams has ever composed, just a shame it was for such an abortion of a film....I often dream of a parallel universe where the SW Prequels don't exist, lol.

That being said, I will say I do really like the Qui Gonn/Obi-Wan Darth Maul fight. It was done really well. It was still more akin to a ballet, than proper sword fighting (like Empire), but combined with the music, and the set pieces, it made for a really cool scene. I guess the Anakin Obi-Wan fight in Revenge is OK...at least you didn't mention Yoda vs Dooku in Clone Wars. We'd fight.*** Lol, that whole scene just pisses me off.

I love The Highlander, btw, the original movie and the TV show. Supposedly, Highlander is getting a reboot. Not sure how I feel about that.

You're right about Adrian Paul. I always thought he was way better in story than Christopher Lambert (who is a pretty awful actor, actually).

And how about that Queen soundtrack?

Don't get me started talking about Highlander. I love that show and could go on and on. You're right about Adrian Paul. He was fantastic and I think highly underrated as an actor. I still think MGM screwed the pooch picking Pierce Brosnan over AP as Bond. You should check out AP's Instagram. Apparently he has a sword fitness program he teaches now.

As for the reboot, I'm conflicted. Probably depends on the cast and network/studio. That said, after the garbage of The Source that the creators gave us, I'm pretty skeptical of their ability to actually revive the product and deliver something of real quality. Seems like every time they try doing something centered around The Game or attempt to explain where Immortals come from, it goes really badly. But it's been in development hell for so long, who knows if it'll ever actually happen. I kinda just wish they'd do a spin-off, for lack of a better term, and bring in AP as Duncan to pass the torch to Colin from Highlander Vengeance.

As for Star Wars prequels, I thought RotS was solid. And yes, I think the final duel between Vader and Obi was legitimately really good. Apparently Ewan and Hayden practiced it so much that it was filmed at full speed and not sped up in post-production like most sword fights now. The fight you see on the screen is the exact fight that was filmed, minus the Force powers.

[BeardoMSU]

My God, the Source was garbage...I was so disgusted with that movie. I mean, Endgame isn't a great film, but I actually like it a lot because it was where the TV show and movie collided, and I thought they did a decent job with Connor and Duncan's characters. As I said before, the movie is great, but I was much more of an Adrian Paul fan. It was, after all, the TV show that had the best characters; Duncan obviously, but also Joe, Darieux (who got her own short lived spin-off), Richie, and especially Methos, who I loved seeing in the movies.

Yeah, good points about the possibility of a reboot. If it is done well, and shows some deference to the original material, it could be good. Hell...if they make it, I'll go see it. Just take my money.

As far as SW, I don't hate RotS, I just think it gets propped up a bit undeservedly because its two predecessors were sooooo bad. And as a result, blatant flaws in RotS are somewhat overlooked, almost as a gesture of charity or fan denial, lol (not accusing you of this, btw). That being said, I do think they do a decent job of tying up all the story lines. I don't necessarily think they did a good job "cinematically", but you at least walk away knowing how point A leads to point B.

Great points about the choreography practice between Hayden and Ewan. It was like they were dancing.