# Swashbucklers! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760 "2000-09-19T18:36:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/21 "2000-09-20T20:48:05Z")
One more comment about the pirates in the “Light at the Edge [not “End”… sorry] of the World.” There is a palpable undertone of homoeroticism running throughout their portrayal – probably an accurate take on the pirate lifestyle of the time. Very daring and ahead of it’s time for 1971, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/22 "2000-09-20T20:59:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Ahh, Maeglin! So we meet again! > > ``` > I have nothing to add to the list of swashbucking flicks, but this is a good excuse to throw around some more fencing trivia. (We're > wearing out our welcome on the Olypian thread.) > > ``` Wearing it out we certainly are. BTW, I can only assume that your handle means you went to Stuy? I right? Fencing trivia is much fun. 🙂 > [@](#): > > On the topic of celebrity fencers (gratuitous trivia alert…), singer Neil Diamond went to NYU on a fencing scholarship, and Za Za Gabor (sp???) CLAIMS > to have been an expert fencer when her family lived in Hungary. (I know the Neil Diamond statement is true; believe Za Za’s claim at your Didn’t know that about Neil Diamond. And despite that it is Zsa Zsa’s story, I give it some credence. Hungary does have a fencing tradition, especially in sabre. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true. I despise the Crimson Pirate, by the way. Dunno how any of you folks liked it. 🙂 But Scaramouche is marvelous, and I will certainly check out Light at the Edge of the World. Regards, MR ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/23 "2000-09-20T21:05:10Z")
Maeglin asked: “BTW, I can only assume that your handle means you went to Stuy? I right?” That is correct, sir. Class of '77. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/24 "2000-09-21T07:39:52Z")
For sheer lunacy, there’s Sir Lancelot’s attempted swashbuckling in Swamp Castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The icing on the cake is “Um…could somebody give me…a…push?” as he swings helplessly on the chandelier… I don’t know if the rest of you will count this as swashbuckling, but how’s about Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul in the reactor room in Episode One? Incredible chorography. Ray Park is truly an artist. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/25 "2000-09-21T14:50:24Z")
> [@](#): > > “BTW, I can only assume that your handle means you went to Stuy? I right?” > > That is correct, sir. Class of '77. My dad’s class of '68, btw. Back in the “Old Building”. MR ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/26 "2000-09-21T15:22:04Z")
For swashbuckling books, you might try Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. Great anti-hero, lots of action, good historical research and even witty, erudite (if often opaque) dialog. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/27 "2000-09-21T15:30:58Z")
Sure, that counts. Especially since it was the only watchable part in the whole movie (Episode One - The Franchise Menace). Now if I could just get a 4-minute special version of the movie with all the other crap cut out, i’d buy it. Hey, here’s an idea - why doesn’t someone make a “That’s Entertainment”-style movie with just the best sword scenes? It would be heavily loaded with Basil Rathbone and Toshiro Mifune, but hey, that’s okay with me. Here’s a list to get started: Cliffs of Insanity fight - The Princess Bride Danny kaye/Basil Rathbone - The Court jester Any two of the hundreds of Mifune fights form Kurosawa movies Neeson/Mcgregor/Parks lightsabre duel - Episode One James Mason & that other guy - The Prisoner of Zenda ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/28 "2000-09-21T18:02:51Z")
Maeglin: Yeah, I did the Old Building too! But at least, thank God, I did it AG; you’re dad did it BG! (Ask your dad… trust me, he’ll know what it means.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/29 "2000-09-21T18:20:10Z")
“The Hunted” with Christopher Lambert has some pretty good fight scenes. Not really fancy-showy swordfighting, just skilled people using weapons to kill each other as fast as possible. It comes off as believable, and since I have never actually seen a Samurai fight a Ninja I am willing to call it realistic. The plot sucks though. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/30 "2000-09-22T02:50:43Z")
Thank you, JosephFinn! I’ve had that candle bit in my head for years, and couldn’t remember (or find) the movie, no matter how many tapes I rented. That’s a load off my mind! (Off to the video store tomorrow!) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/31 "2000-09-22T03:25:11Z")
> [@](#): > > A follow up for the adventure-bound watcher is " The flame and the flower" no wait, that is a romance novel title…well, it’s by Burt Lancaster and his buddy Nick and just as enjoyable. Probably [The Flame and the Arrow](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0042464) with Nick Cravat playing Piccolo. AMC runs this every once in a while. I suspect the swordplay is as hokey as the plot, but it is tremendous fun–especially Cravat’s scenes. ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/32 "2000-09-22T16:18:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucie \* > \*\* > Hey, here’s an idea - why doesn’t someone make a “That’s Entertainment”-style movie with just the best sword scenes? It would be heavily loaded with Basil Rathbone and Toshiro Mifune, but hey, that’s okay with me. Here’s a list to get started: > > Cliffs of Insanity fight - The Princess Bride > Danny kaye/Basil Rathbone - The Court jester > Any two of the hundreds of Mifune fights form Kurosawa movies > Neeson/Mcgregor/Parks lightsabre duel - Episode One > James Mason & that other guy - The Prisoner of Zenda \*\* Tim Roth and Liam Neeson - Rob Roy ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/33 "2000-09-22T16:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjk \* > \*\*Thank you, JosephFinn! I’ve had that candle bit in my head for years, and couldn’t remember (or find) the movie, no matter how many tapes I rented. > > That’s a load off my mind! > > (Off to the video store tomorrow!) > > \*\* No problem - it’s one of my favorite movies. Incidentaly, there is a bit of classic American icon trivia attached to “The Mark of Zorro.” It was the film that Bruce, Thomas and Martha Wayne went to see the night that Thomas and Martha were killed in Crime Alley, placing Bruce on the path to becoming Batman. This is actually a plot point in “The Dark Night Returns,” as Bruce forgets to check the TV listings and accidentaly comes upon the movie, forcing him to confront how empty his life has become since he gave up the mantle. ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2000, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/34 "2000-09-22T18:22:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucie \* > \*\*Roman Polanski dierected “Pirates” starring Walter Matthau. It truly, truly sucked. As did “Cutthroat Island” starring Geena Davis. Aside from “Muppet Treasure Island”, there hasn’t been a good pirate film in decades! What is wrong with that? It’s way past time for a rousing pirate movie a la “Captain Blood” or “The Black Swan”. For that matter, it’s long overdue for a remake of “The Prisoner of Zenda” (I’m not counting the awful Peter Sellers version of 20 years or so ago). > > \*\* Pirates! did have, however, a great performance by Charlotte Lewis (who then appeared as the female lead in “The Golden Child,” but appears to have done not much else, and nothing since 1997). ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760/35 "2004-01-15T23:30:53Z")
Has anybody mentioned _The Duellists_? Very different in tone from most swashbucklers, but with great swordfighting scenes. Or the recent version of _Rob Roy_. Incidentally, are there any movies in which somebody actually swashes a buckler, thus providing a visual explanation for the word? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swashbucklers/33760.md?page=1)