5. Sheer Heart Attack
Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) vs Virgil (James Gandolfini): True Romance (1993)
Patricia Arquette didn’t need to work hard to be nervous of James Gandolfini, with the pre-Sopranos star going all ‘Method’ during the shoot – staying separate from the crew and not paying much attention to, er, bodily hygiene.
WINNER! ‘Bama uses the ol’ aerosol/flamethrower trick to disable Virgil, with a primal scream-accompanied shotgun blast for a coup de grace. We’re with her all the way.
4. “Never Got Me Down, Ray!”
Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) vs Sugar Ray Robinson (Johnny Barnes): Raging Bull (1980)
Martin Scorsese ensures that his audience feels each and every last punch. “I wanted to do the fight scenes as if the viewer were the fighter, and their impressions were the fighter’s – of what he would think or feel, or what he would hear. Like being pounded all the time.”
WINNER! Robinson wins but fails to knowck La Motta out. “Hey Ray, never went down Ray,” the Bronx Bull grizzles, his face a bloody smear, having used Robinson as a blunt instrument for all that impotent rage and self-loathing.
3. One-Man Army
Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik) vs Everyone: Oldboy (2003)
“Can the imaginary training of 15 years be put to use?” ponders revenger Dae-Su, and then answers his own question by doing the man dance with a corridor full of heavies. Armed with just a claw hammer, he throws himself into the fray like a Tasmanian devil force-fed crystal crunch and enemies collapse as the scrap scrolls horizontally across the length of the screen.
WINNER! Dae-Su takes a knife between the shoulder blades. Game over? Hardly. That just gets him really mad, and he bundles back into the battle royale until the hammer falls on the last man standing.
2. “That’s The Spirit!”
Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) vs Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer): Blade Runner (1982)
With seconds to go before the most radiant replicant is finally extinguished, Batty delivers those famous last words… “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time. Like tears in rain.”
WINNER! The crew are so moved they blub on set. Hauer wins on points but is rewarded with a career in video clag. Shame. He could’ve been a contender.
1. Monster Mash!
King Kong vs T-REX: King Kong (1933)
Working to a series of moves choreographed (and acted out) by directors Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack, both of whom were keen wrestling fans, O’Brien used 18-inch models, stop-motion animation, rear projection and mattes to create the greatest tussle in cinema history – a fight so authentic it had ‘30s cinemagoers screaming in the aisles.
He’s nearly eighty years old, but, pitched against Peter Jackson’s more recent version, Old Kong’d definitely stand his ground.
WINNER! Kong towers above his droopy-gobbed rival, pounding his chest in victory. Was there ever any doubt?
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Comments
SCY385
Sep 14th 2009, 22:59
I love the fight in They Live. It is hilarious, violent, and prolonged to the point of nervousness. I love it.
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SCY385
Sep 14th 2009, 23:02
The fight between Ripley and the Queen is the ultimate battle of the Mom's.
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marxbros1979
Sep 19th 2009, 17:56
not being funny like but where is the fight between bruce lee and the guards in the caverns from enter the dragon???? an astonishing fight sequencw far supirior than the fight between bruce and akeem whats his name from game of death...come on total film you can do better
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pimpernel
Sep 23rd 2009, 19:20
What about Sergeant Angel vs Trolley Boy in 'Hot Fuzz'? Down right hilarious! Or Neo vs agent Smith in The Matrix? The staircase fight in 'Casino Royale'? OR the one between Bond and that Mole in 'Quantam of Solace'? AND the epicness of the fight on top of the mill wheel in PoC: Dead Man's Chest?...... Oh there are just too many!
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DanielMcA
Sep 25th 2009, 13:19
What about Carson versus the terrorist in Paris in Team America. Vicious, brutal and totally unchoreographed apparently.
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thedarkknight
Sep 28th 2009, 16:08
pimpernel, those are all really mediocre fights. PoC? Seriously? I'll give you The Matrix though.
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TheShamrock
Jul 2nd 2010, 14:40
If that Seagal one is when he pushes the guy into the phonebox, that is awesome! BTW Grosse Point Blank fight is to 'Mirror In The Bathroom' - I only know as watching that fight made me download it, good dispatch with the pen. Fight at the beginning of the Watchmen is awesome too. Plus JCVD and Big chinese dude in Double Impact with the barrels, ooh yeah!
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stevolbauer
Jul 2nd 2010, 14:42
Wheres The Matrix, Shaun of the Dead, Pirates of the Carribean, Rambo, and in all fairness, the new kong v rex fight is defo more awesome, come on lads
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TheShamrock
Jul 2nd 2010, 14:44
If that Seagal one is where he pushes the guy into the phoonbooth, that is awesome! 'Mirror In the Bathroom' is tune they fight to in Grosse Point Blank as that fight made me download it! Fight at beginning of The Watchmen or JCVD and big chinese guy with the barrells in Double Impact, great stuff!
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stevolbauer
Jul 2nd 2010, 14:46
And where is Star Wars, I mean, Maul v Obi-Wan and Qui Gon. What about Doc Ock v Spidey on da train in Spiderman 2, Jack v Barbossa at the end PotC, Shaun and Ed v the zombies in the garden in Shaun of the dead, Neo v Smith in The Matrix, Optimus v Megatron, you title it most AWESOME fights ever, alot of these fights are brilliant but not awesome as such.
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