Top Ten Mano-A-Mano Fight Scenes of All Time
Filed under: Action, Drama, Newsstand, Lists
When I was growing up I was a huge fan of martial arts movies and Kung Fu movies, in particular -- still am, actually. Maybe its because we didn't have cable and only got a few channels with the rabbit ears perched on top of our 20' television. Fortuately, two of the channels we did get were 5 and 13 from Los Angeles. Back in those days when -- believe it or not -- there were only three TV networks, channels 5 and 13 were independent and showed pretty much whatever they wanted. One of the things they showed frequently were martial arts movies. In fact, channel 13 even had a weekly showcase for these movies called "Kung Fu Theater" complete with over-done sounds effects and out-of-sync dialog -- what many people refer to today as "chopsockey" cinema. During that time I watched many fun movies including The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms and several films featuring the great Bruce Lee, including Game of Death and the classic Enter the Dragon. So, as a big fan of martial arts films and well-choreographed fight scenes with guys kicking the crap out of each other, I was pretty interested to see this Double Viking article featuring the top ten mano-a-mano fight scenes of all time.
Some of the fights they list in their top ten include Rocky vs Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Neo vs Agent Smith in The Matrix and one of my personal favorites: Nada vs Frank in John Carpenter's They Live. While I do agree with most of the choices, I'm not entirely sure about the order. I might have placed Nada vs Frank higher on the list due to its shear brutality and the fact that both the actors, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David, did their own fighting without the aid of stunt doubles. Still, a pretty good list and, with the included videos, a great way to see some terrific fights scenes. Enjoy.
What's your favorite movie fight scene?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
1-18-2007 @ 5:42PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Neo and Agent smith fight is right out for me (especially since it is just an augmented fight of the same moves that Neo and Morpheus did earlier in the dojo) Other than that I agree with their list. (except the Jackie Chan fight is not a mano-a-mano fight, it is 2 vs 1)
Not necessarily a ultimate top 10 to me, but a good list.
I have too many to list that are not mano-a-mano so I will try to keep it limited to that distinction:
Wheels on Meals: Thomas (Jackie Chane) vs Thug (Benny the Jet Urquidez)
Hero: Namless vs Sky
Predator: Dutch vs Predator
Spiderman 2: Spiderman vs Doc Ock (train battle)
Star Trek III: Kirk vs Kruge
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1-18-2007 @ 5:45PM
Nick said...
Just FYI,
the link for "36th Chamber"
is broken!
Reply
1-18-2007 @ 6:28PM
Ray said...
King Kong: King Kong vs. 3 T-Rexes.
Kill Bill, Vol. 1: The Bride vs. the Crazy 88.
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1-18-2007 @ 6:38PM
Porchland said...
"Fight Club": Ed Norton kicking his own a@@.
"Kill Bill: Vol. 1": the kitchen scene.
"Star Wars": Ben and Vader.
"Pirates of the Caribbean": Bloom and Depp sword fight.
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1-18-2007 @ 7:45PM
Mark said...
Undefeatable - 1994. You've already listed a few solid choices here, but I think that if you click my name to see the youtube video link, you might agree with me that this movie possesses one of the most spectacular...erm...CRAPtacular...mano-a-mano fights EVER.
It pretty much makes Chuck Norris look like a scared little girl by comparison.
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1-19-2007 @ 9:54AM
Geoff said...
Troy: Hector (Bana) vs. Achilles (Pitt)
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1-19-2007 @ 12:11PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Mark- wow. that was ummm wow. I thought it was going to be a cheesy little fight scene and then came the shirt ripping off. Man. Wow.
Geoff- that entry was also on the list linked in the post.
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1-19-2007 @ 4:30PM
Cath said...
While I agree with you that the brutal beating in They Live is amazing for the physical sensation of a real punchfest, my favorite fight scene has to be the chateau scene in Matrix Reloaded. So many different weapons, so well handled and beautifully staged. It leaves me breathless. As a fight professional, I go over fight sequences in slo-mo repeatedly, analyzing what makes a fight effective and interesting.
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1-19-2007 @ 3:07PM
The Jeremy said...
The fight in *They Live* is the best in my book. I laughed so hard when I was watching the *South Park* episode that included its homage to the film - "Cripple Fight" - live for the first time. It took a sec for my brain to realize they were paroding that epic fight almost shot-for-shot at the time, but once my brain registered it, I was laughing for a long time over it.
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1-19-2007 @ 4:26PM
Sean Sweeney said...
- Stacy Keach vs The Motorcycle Gang Bar in THE NINTH CONFIGERATION (Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane)
- Paul Newman vs Russian Dude in Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN
- Rod Taylor vs Nazi dude in DARK OF THE SUN
- Robert Tessier vs Dick Anthony Williams in THE DEEP
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1-19-2007 @ 8:18PM
The Jeremy said...
I like to watch *The Matrix Reloaded* in slow-mo (err, pause) when Monica Bellucci is onscreen.
Pound for pound (or kilo) or dollar for dollar (or euro), I think the fight scenes in *Brotherhood of the Wolf* (also with Bellucci) hands down beats the action in *The Matrix Reloaded*.
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1-19-2007 @ 8:21PM
The Jeremy said...
Oh, let us not forget the fight between The Punisher and The Russian in the second cinematic version of *The Punisher*. That rocked.
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1-24-2007 @ 8:29PM
Nola said...
Any of the Errol Flynn swashbuckler fights such as "Robin Hood", the "Sea Hawk"; any swordfights featuring Christopher Lee (who was actually an incredible swordsman); Harrison Ford in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when he shoots the bad guy instead of engaging in a swordfight
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1-24-2007 @ 8:30PM
Rick said...
Chuck Norris and David Carridine in Lone Wolf McQuade takes the cake for me.
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1-24-2007 @ 8:44PM
Christine said...
Karate is good, blood and guts are good, but all time best fight scene has got to be between John Wayne and Victor McLaglen in "The Quiet Man"!! Two Irishmen in a barefisted brawl while the entire town (and with 1/2 of Ireland on its way!) watch and wager. It is a classic movie fight for those who love classic movies!!!
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1-24-2007 @ 8:48PM
Karim said...
Favorite fight scenes: Chuck Norris vs a Large brutal unpleasant Chinese Man in one of his early films called 'Forced Vengeance, Cythnia Rothrock in a wonderful movie with Richard Norton called 'Lady Dragon, Jean Claude Van Damme as Luke Deverau vs SETH played by Michael Jai White, Mark Dacascos vs a lethal man with bionic implants in the movie 'Drive', Loren Avedon vs Billy Blanks in 'King of Kickboxers'Treat Williams vs a crooked Teacher in The Substitute II: School's Out, Bruce Le vs Bolo Yeung in 'Bruce's Lee's Greatest Revenge' cheesy perhaps but very impressive nonetheless and last of all but not least: Angelina Jolie vs Brad Pitt in Mr & Mrs Smith.
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1-24-2007 @ 8:51PM
Stu said...
I am partil to the fight scenes in two John Wayne movies. The first is bewteen Wayne and Victor McClagen in the Quite Man and the second is with Wayne and every one else in North to Alaska
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1-24-2007 @ 8:55PM
spd said...
Alan Ladd and Ben Johnson in Shane and the follow up
with Ladd and Van Heflin finishing off the rest of the
gang has got to rate up there as the real deal
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1-24-2007 @ 9:06PM
Duke said...
Play It To The Bone - Woody vs Antonio at the end of the movie. Great fight.
The Transporter 1 & 2 - several good fight scenes in both of those movies.
Rumble In The Bronx - the shopping cart scene alone is pretty cool.
Snatch - Brad Pitt as the boxer with a very thick accent.
Gladiator - (Not the Russell Crowe movie) Cuba Gooding Jr and others have some great fights.
Lethal Weapon - Mel Gibson vs Gary Busey
Raging Bull - The Sugar Ray fight is classic
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1-25-2007 @ 11:58AM
Drorul said...
This is a lttle old, but considering how long it was before the marital arts movie craze, how about the fight on the train between Sean Connery and Robert Shaw in From Russia With Love.
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