Ditto on the foundry fight at the end of DM2 - I remember seeing that at the UC Theatre in about 1994, the original HK release (not the cut & redubbed US version), absolutely blew everyone away.
Jackie Chan’s HK stuff is just astounding for fight choreography, including Police Story 1 and 2 (3 isn’t bad but not as jaw dropping), Project A 1 and 2, Miracles (especially the fight in the tea shop) and Armour Of God. Armour Of God 2 is fun but not as spectacular (amusingly enough it was released in the US as Armour Of God, while the original was later released in the US as Armour Of God 2).
Steven Seagal filmed some very good fight scenes early on - whatever I may think of his personality he definitely knew his stuff and worked with a likewise knowledgeable stunt crew.
Over the years what I’ve come to appreciate is that a well-choreographed fight scene is like a great Fred Astaire dance number - pull the camera back, let the actors fill the screen from edge to edge, keep it well-lit so that you can see that they are actually doing the work themselves, and have absolutely minimal number of cuts. It’s graceful. Compare that with many typical Hollywood fight scenes which are dark, cramped, many fast cuts (swing fist - cut - fist hits - cut - victim’s head spins - cut - victim flies through air - cut - victim lands - cut) and the differences really stand out.
Some US swashbucklers have been great:
The Three & Four Musketeers (Michael York films)
Scaramouche - as noted before, the final swordfight at the opera house.
The Mask Of Zorro - the 1998 one, particularly the fight at Don Rafael Montero’s house between Zorro, Montero, Captain Love and assorted henchmen.
Anything with Basil Rathbone - he was evidently a very accomplished swordsman.
Those were demons. There weren’t any aliens in Buffy. But it was a cool fight scene, especially because the weapons she’s using to liberate the workers are a hammer and a sickle.
For cheesy fight fun, pretty much anything from “The Warriors” fits the bill.
I also loved the one in Firefly where River shows she’s a force to be reckoned with in some bar somewhere. I should probably mention her obvious tour de force from Serenity, but it was a little much for my taste.
When it comes to realistic fights, I like Mickey Spillane, playing his own creation, Mike Hammer, in the movie The Girl Hunters. The plot’s a little hard to follow, but toward the end, Mike finally catches up to a major villain, and they go at it in a tool shed. No clever quips or fancy spins; also no standing face-to-face and trading punches, as you’d typically see in, say, a standard Western of the time. Just two men using any means at hand to try and damage each other; it ends with Mike putting his enemy down, then nailing his hands to the floor so he stays put.
did you know sinatra broke his little finger in that fight scene. it happened when he broke the coffee table. he stayed in character and finished the take.
Aha! Found the clip I was thinking of: James Cagney in 1945’s “Blood On The Sun”. 17 years earlier than TMC. Dunno how mainstream it was but it won an Oscar.
Cagney had a black belt in judo and in this clip he gets in a fight with the Japanese villain. It’s a bit dated by modern standards but you can tell that both participants know what they are doing - variety of hip and shoulder throws, breakfalls that you don’t notice unless you’re looking for them, some normal fisticuffs and Cagney slapping on both an armbar and a choke from the rear that is kind of like jigoku-jime (“Hell choke”) except that he doesn’t entangle the second arm with his legs. Good stuff.
And even though it’s shot in a dingy little room, by and large they keep the camera back so you can watch the two fight across the screen, and they don’t do lots of cuts and closeups; you can tell that it’s really Cagney in there. IMHO this is a better choreographed fight scene than found in most modern movies.
That was good, but the one from “The Bourne Supremacy” was way better IMO. He used moves derived from Escrima, Kali, and Krav Maga in the agent on agent fight scene. Technically speaking, one of my favorite fight scenes.
I don’t care how much people might disagree with me about this, but most of the early Steven Seagall movies had some pretty bad-ass Aikido moves in them. I did some training in that as well as a few striking arts, and I have always been far more impressed by Aikido manipulation, rather than just striking damage.
All true, and it is a great scene, but then I am subject to the usual drawback of someone watching a movie with extensive experience in the subject matter - the tendency to over-critique. I kept saying to myself as I was watching - “Gee, their transitions to ne-waza suck horribly!” Still a wonderful scene, and the first time (AFAIK) that drop seoi-nage has ever been used in a fight scene.
My nominee is the big fight scene from Billy Jack -certainly not for its realism, but because it is fun.
Still a wonderful scene, and the first time (AFAIK) that drop seoi-nage has ever been used in a fight scene.