Greatest Movie Fights of All Time

I just wanted to expand a little on this week's Top Five list. Please give me your favorites as well!

The Chateau, The Matrix Reloaded: This ones got it all: hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, length, and one of the greatest fight songs of all time. Such an underrated movie.

Benjamin Martin's Revenge, The Patriot: Unfortunately, I can find only a partial clip here. But watching Mel Gibson decide that he's lost one son today, and is not going to lose another, and in the process almost single handedly take out 20 British soldiers is incredible.

Obi-Wan v Darth Maul, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace: This clip shows the whole fight, which is great, but the ending where Obi-Wan and Darth Maul square off 1 on 1 is the best sword fighting scene ever. Bar none.

Final Fight, The Legend of the Drunken Master: Jackie Chan's greatest fight scene. Both Jackie and his final opponent are at their best. It's simply incredible to watch.

Nada v Frank, They Live: Apparently, Keith Davis wanted to see what it was like to really fight a pro wrestler (Rowdy Roddy Piper). So instead of the usual fake fighting, they actually fought each other for this scene. No pulling punches, no nothing. You're litteraly watching two huge guys beat the shit out of each other. It's impressive, to say the least.

Honorable Mention:

Any Bruce Lee fight scene, Enter The Dragon: He's the best. That's all there is to it. Is there anything better than watching Lee cockily dance around as a fight progresses?

Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves, Kill Bill Vol 1: You get both the epic 1 on 88 battle, and two good 1 on 1 battles. Wish they would have done a little more with Lucy Liu.

Chen Zhen v Supreme Killer General Fujita, Fist Of Legend: It's Jet Li at his peak, and he's fighting a guy named Supreme Killer General Fujita. I really don't even need to say anything else.

Robin Hood v Sir Guy of Gisbourne, The Adventures of Robin Hood: This is a "jack of all trades" swordplay scene: good fencing, good insults, two of the great characters of all time. What really sells it to me is how perfectly the two actors play their roles: Errol Flynn is PERFECT as the cocky swashbuckler, and Basil Rathbone is the PERFECT humiliated noble who hates the man who has embarrassed him with all his heart and soul.

Inigo Montoya v The Man In Black, The Princess Bride: "You seem a good fellow. I hate to kill you." "YOU seem a good fellow. I hate to die."

Yu Shen Lien v Jen Yu, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: This is one of the most overrated movies of all time. However, this fight scene was pretty damn impressive. The vaiety of weapons used is fantastic. This being one of the few scenes in the movie where they used a minimum of haning wires made it the best scene of the movie. But what sets it apart is the incredibly good acting of Michelle Yeoh. The fury in her eyes as she fights the woman who is disrepecting her love's sword can't be topped.

Bob Barker v Happy Gilmore, Happy Gilmore: "The price is right. Bitch."

Martin Blank v Felix LaPoubelle, Grosse Point Blank: The pen might not really be mightier than the sword. But sometimes it'll do.

Rocky Balboa v Ivan Drago, Rocky IV: As Bill Simmons likes to put it, this is the fight that ended the Cold War. And I'm not sure he's not right.

And, finally...

Sean Thornton v Red Will Danaher, The Quiet Man: While Kyle, Barry, Robin, and I were discussing this subject this weekend, Robin quietly threw out The Quiet Man--by far her favorite movie of all time. Barry quickly blew it off. After researching this and seeing that this fight did indeed make several lists, I pulled it up on youtube and watched it.

It's great. A John Wayne classic. And any fight that takes a break after the two combatants fight their way in front of a bar so they can grab a drink, well, that's a great fight scene in my book.

Robin, you're vindicated.