What are the most satisfying battles that you’ve ever seen on film? I’m not talking about things like the Burly Brawl, which take your breath away in the middle, but by the end, leave you unsatisfied. I’m speaking of incredible battles that leave you with a tangible sense of “Wow.”
For me, nothing tops Col. Ives and Sgt. Boyd’s faceoff at the end of Ravenous. A sluggish, burtal, dramatic fight between two nearly invincible soldiers. After they’ve beaten and stabbed each other senseless, one tackles the other into a bear trap, where both die slowly. The film ends with the camera, slowly zooming out and turning from the bear trap that contains the two dead foes, in a macabre embrace.
How could I forget Band of Brothers? One of the best things to ever happen to television.
Also I can’t believe I forgot my favorite battle from my favorite movie: the bloody slow-motion nihilistic “Battle of Bloody Porch” at the end of The Wild Bunch.
The battle in gladiator in the beginning of the movie against the barbarians was pretty amazing to me.
and for 1 on 1, i’d say the battle at the end of gladiator. If you don’t know which one I’m not gonna say otherwise it’d spoil it for the others. Lets just say Russel Crowe was the man in that movie…
If we’re going to talk Gladiator, then the best battle was the first battle where he’s acting as “general” to the band of gladiators. Sure, he was a great warrior one-on-one, but that wasn’t his strength. And in the opening battle, he’s leading one of the best-trained and disciplined fighting forces in history… Of course he won. But the battle in the arena showed what a truly great officer he was: He took a rag-tag bunch of individualists, and turned them into a well-honed fighting force. A disciplined army is never outnumbered.
I’ll agree with the Battle of the Last Alliance from LotR (I loved how tangible they made the order vs. chaos), and I’ll nominate any one of the four major fights in The Princess Bride (but the last one probably qualifies best for the OP’s criteria).
And Lux Interior, you and I need to have a little chat outside…
The helicopter attack in Apocalypse Now
The final battle in The Master and Commander
The funeral scene in Big Trouble in Little China
Any of the barroom brawls in Once Were Warriors
and
The Final battle in Duck Soup
“Calling All Nations! Calling All Nations! This is Rufus T. Firefly, coming to you through the courtesy of the Enemy. We’re in a mess, folks, we’re in a mess! Rush to Freedonia! 3 men and 1 woman are trapped in a building - send help at once! If you can’t send help, send 2 more women! Make it 3 more women!”
The entire set of fights in The Duelists. I’ve spoken to people who have fought for real with blades, and they say that no other movie presents the reality of swordfighting as well. As a technician, that’s what I enjoy in the movie. It also presents a fairly good picture of the sort of insanity that was behind dueling.
The duel at the end of Dangerous Liaisons was also very dramatically satisfying. It was an excellent “From Hell’s heart I stab at thee!” moment, but without the posturing.
I don’t know if maybe I’m the only one who has ever seen this movie, but the charge in The Lighthorsemen had me sitting up, gripping the edge of my chair. Really wonderfully shot and very powerful. I wasn’t even into horses at the time–and that charge took my breath away.
One of the most satisfying battles on film not mentioned so far is the battle of El Guetarr (sp?) in Patton. His opening line- “They haven’t spotted our positions yet, sir”… “Well, they’ll get an education in about ten seconds.”- was classic and the action, although not historically accurate, was impressive for a war movie of the time.
The pacing of the battle between the Enterprise and the Romulan warbird in “Balance of Terror” (TOS) really defined the tension of an extended battle. It was probably one of the most realistic space battles on film, with the ships not being able to see each other directly, the shots were just flashes in the dark and there was no sound. Spock ruined it by beating out an electrical fire with his hands, but that’s irrelevant.
While I appreciate stark realism in my space battles as much as the next guy, I have to say that the trench run in Star Wars always got my blood boiling, despite the necessary suspension of belief.
Of course, I was 7 when I initially saw it and my knowledge of astrophysics was, admittedly, somewhat limited.
The duel at the end of Rob Roy is probably the best one-on-one swordfight I’ve ever seen. Damn, Liam Neeson is a big guy.
For space combat, I’ve yet to see anything beat the Battle of Endor, from Return of the Jedi. Unfortunetly, they kept cutting away to the battle on Endor, which was balls.
Other good’uns:
The Battle of Agincourt from Branagh’s Henry V.
The climactic psychic combat at the end of Dark City.
Then endless street brawl in They Live for sheer over-the-top goofiness.
The Enterprise v. The Reliant in Wrath of Khan.
The gunfight next to the well in Three Kings for perfectly diagramming the action.
Ah <b>bup</b>, you beat me too it. The whole movie did it for me, because it was willing to take its time and show the buildup of the Zulu forces, the defenders desperate to set up the barriers, then the attack.
[geek moment] I went watch Rob Roy with a group of friends, most of whom were D&D types, and on the last blow, where he cut from shoulder to mid gut, the shoulder theater was really quiet. About eight of us at the same time whispered “Crit!” in accidental unison wh ich got us dirty looks from everybody else, cause it ended up really loud.
Several of the battle scenes in Blackhawk Down come to mind. Same goes for the Boondock Saints (can’t wait to see the sequel!)
Two gun battles from Nemesis early and late in the movie.
For the pure sense of desperation I’ll give the nod to the last part of Assault on Precinct 13.
For swordfights I like the final battle between Scott Glenn and uh, the evil corporate brother in The Challenge.
Arnie vs. Pussy Face from Predator.
The huge multi-set brawl from Blazing Saddles.
The final showdown in town with Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner taking on Michael Gambdon’s hired thugs in Open Range.
The beautifully choreographed and hilarious multi-service brawl that starts in the dance club and is taken to the streets in 1941.
The fight in Balin’s Tomb in FotR and Helm’s Deep (minus Legolas’s shield antics) in The Two Towers.
For mano-a-mano I think I’ll give the nod to Clint Eastwood final fight in Any Which Way You Can. Honorable Mention: Jude Law and Ed Harris’ cat and mouse sniper hunt throughout the last half of Enemy at the Gates.
