One of the primary sins in the fight scenes here, especially in the Cliffs of Insanity scene, is that the actors are standing too far apart to actually hit each other. That’s one of the biggest stage combat safety tricks-- you can’t accidentally hurt someone if you’re not actually in range. Watch their thrusts and cuts carefully; most of them would not have hit the other guy even if unblocked. It’s a very safe way to do a fight, but it’s also obvious if you look for it.
If you’re on netflix, definatally check out *Reclaiming *the Blade - it’s a documentary, so not exactly in the same category, but it’s got a really interesting discussion of swords in movies.
The Spanish film The Fencing Master is definitely one of the best fencing movies there is, but it is incredibly difficult to find. The last VHS tape I saw for sale went for $199. :dubious:
I’m off to the Amazon, dot com, that is.
Tony Curtis was quite a good saber fencer. USA Fencing had a wonderful tribute to him after he died.
Bump- just saw a great Ralph Fiennes film called “Sunshine,” which follows three generations of a Jewish family in Hungary. The character of Adam wins the gold medal in sabre at the “Nazi” Olympics in 1932, and the fencing scenes are wonderful (Fiennes fences lefty, BTW). The biggest surprise? The calls actually matched the action! 
It’s also a great demonstration of how difficult it can be to call “dry” sabre action (international sabre has been scored electronically only since the 1980’s).
[Ross Martin]
Personally I always favored a man’s weapon, how are you with a sabre?
[/Ross Martin]