I like a lot of the ones mentioned already. One that sticks out in my mind is the Battle of Arnhem Bridge in A Bridge Too Far. The guy with the umbrella walking up to the middle of the hopelessly modern-looking suspension bridge, and the tension before the first shot is fired…
One of Anthony Hopkins’ better performances, for my money. Actually, the whole movie is awesome. Too bad no one talks about it anymore.
The opening battle in Saving Private Ryan, I was dodging the bullets in the theater.
The scene with 800 million yakuza in Kill Bill, especially that scene where the lights go out and we see the fight in shadow. WOW!
Whatever the big coming battle is in Return of the King. Just the brief hints in the trailer are tantalizing.
The first big battle in Gladiator. Beautifully shot and magnificent to watch.
Ash vs. the Deadite at the end of Army of Darkness.
The “put on the sunglasses!” alley brawl in They Live will always hold a fond place in my heart.
The final gunfight (“What do you think?” “I think a plan is a list of things that don’t happen.”) in Way of the Gun.
El Mariachi and his two sidekicks-on-contract vs. everyone, in Desperado.
Strong secondings and motions-carryings to the Normandy invasion sequence in Saving Private Ryan.
The sequence in The Thin Red Line from the advance through the fog-choked bamboo forest culminating in the GIs taking the village.
Also, just about every set-piece in Hard Boiled.
That will be the battle of the Pellenor Fields.
Peter Jackson says there will be around 200,000 figures on screen.
I second everything Drastic said.
The last battle in Glory.
Give 'em hell 54!!
The spectacularly long but all of it interesting fight with Wong Fei Hung vs. Iron Vest Yim in Once Upon a Time in China.
The final fighting scenes of Equilibrium.
My favorite battle in Saving Private Ryan was always the climactic one.
Am I the only one who thought the Clone/Droid battle in Attack of the Clones was amazing?
The film was crap in so many ways, but this wasn’t one of them
Another hand up for the Fort Wayne battle in Glory. I watched that in High School for the first time, every girl in class was crying by the end.
The final sword fight in Highlander.
The major battle in the dojo between Zhang Ziyi (who had the Green Destiny) and Michelle Yeoh (who used everything she could get her hands on) in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The final showdown of Unforgiven.
Just about any fight scene in Conan the Barbarian.
And just one phrase says it all from The Matrix:
“Morpheus is fighting Neo!!!”
Sanscour
Princess Kaurwaki beating the hell out of what appears to be King Ashoka’s entire army in Ashoka.
Michelle Yoah vs. Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Nightcrawler vs. the White House in X2.
It also illustrates a very important point:
Do not play with your food.
The poncy git had victory in his hand many times, but he felt the need to play with his enemy. His enemy returned the favor by taking a critical opportunity to end the fight decisively.
Many of my personal favorites have already been mentioned, but I do have one to add. While all the battle scenes in Gettysburg were well done, the personal scale of the engagement on Little Round Top between Joshua Chamberlain’s 20th Maine and the 14th Alabama makes it one of the classics.
I’ll put in another vote for the end of Glory as one of the most downright moving.
I’ll also second the vote for The Iron Giant in the category of “Holy…” Shock and awe and pathos all at once.
In the category of “dramatically satisfying” action, Aliens has already been mentioned. But I’ll be the first to vote for the mano-a-mano (or “mano-a-xeno”) fight between Ripley in the loader and the Alien Queen. “Get away from her, you bitch!” still draws cheers in any group viewing.
Zulu final fight scene. It felt like I was there.
Saving Private Ryan’s opening scene. I hid my face from the sheer horror of how real it felt.
If Peter Jackson pulls this off – and I have no reason to believe he won’t – we’re about to be treated to the biggest and best cavalry charge ever put on film. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
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Gandalf vs. the Balrog - 'nuff said.
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Several scenes in The Devil’s Brigade.
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The wolfpack raid in Das Boot
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The game of chicken in The Hunt for Red October
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The climactic battle in Spartacus (so what if the Roman army’s formation is 100 years out of date?)
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The Battle of Stirling in Braveheart
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Another nomination for the duel in Rob Roy. That was the movie that taught my father to have some respect for the skillful use of the rapier.
That is the second time this was mentioned. The movie wasn’t that good, but this was the single most realistic fight scene I have ever seen. Two guys just beating the shit out of one another. No fantastic martial arts moves with perfect blocks and almost no hits getting through. Really good, never seen anything like it.
The opening brawl in Gangs of New York was quite well done.
Abso-f’ing-lutely. When Chamberlain realizes that the 20th is out of ammo and the 14th is setting for another charge and he gives the order…
“Fix bayonets.”
I get shivers just thinking about it.
It wasn’t satisfying, but the Young Indiana Jones episode with chemical weapons affected me. The image of horses with gas masks is burned permanently into my mind.
Put me into the eagerly awaiting Pellenor fields. (for one-on-one Derhelm vs you-know-who is also eagerly anticipated)
Brian