One of the fight scenes that I have always enjoyed, if you can stomach the rest of the movie, is in the 1954 version of Price Valiant. There is a scene in it where (and I can never remember who it is, as I never watch the film till this part comes up) two guys in full plate beat the living crap out of each other with a sword/shield combo.
While it’s not flashy, and it’s nothing special, it does display the brute force that is used when using that style, and every time I see it i’m reminded of the SCA and the fights that I would partake in, and watch.
Simple, brutal and effective. Just like a real fight.
In Prince Valiant, that would be a young Robert Wagner, as Val, fighting James Mason, as a traitorous knight. It’s a pretty entertaining version of the comic strip, with plenty of action and a small amount of kissin’.
Among cheesy medieval movies, I’d like to mention The Black Shield of Falworth, in which a young, athletic Tony Curtis, as a trainee man-at-arms, gets into a serious fight with another student, using shields, maces and axes. Silly movie, but fun.
Oooh, The Black Shield of Falworth…
“Yonda lies da castle of my fadda, da Caliph…” I don’t think Curtis’ll ever live that one down.
I second Tyrone Power vs. Basil Rathbone in The Mark of Zorro. Maybe it’s the fact that I was drunk and stoned when I saw the movie, but, man, that was intense. I also liked the end where all the landowners whip out their swords and have a mass brawl with their oppressors. I show my ass to the Jedi geeks; those oldtimers knew how to fight with swords.
The Last of the Mohicans’ best battle, IMO, was when the Indians ambushed the British. That was pretty cool.
For comedy relief, I like the fight scenes in Big Trouble in Little China. The Sword and the Sorceror had a great comedic battle scene near its end.
I also liked the first part of the first Rambo movie (was it First Blood?) where Stallone beats the hell out of an entire police station. It’s a pity the movie went downhill from there.
Am surprised that no one has mentioned Billy Jack yet. That flick had some pretty good fight scenes.
The best gunfight, IMO, has not been recorded on tape yet. It’s Kinsey Millhone vs. the villain (sorry, I cannot remember his name) at the end of I is for Innocent. That was intense.