# your favorite hand-to-hand fight scenes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197 "2015-04-21T15:44:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/1 "2015-04-21T15:44:01Z")
I’m thinking about great hand-to-hand fight scenes in movies or TV. No guns, no knives, no swords. Just two combatants trying to beat each other’s brains in. (We’ll allow ballpoint pens; see below). To narrow the field a little, let’s leave out movies where a big fight is essentially the main point of the film, so no boxing movies or martial arts tournament kind of movies. I love _Grosse Point Blank_. John Cusack is at his coolest, Dan Ackroyd is awesome as the rival hit man, the music is great, and the dialogue is snappy. And, it has [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ScNLt2zNc) fight. I love this fight. You know going into it, of course, that the protagonist of the film is going to win, but it’s not a one-sided beat-down. Cusack has to work at it, and he takes his share of punishment. It looks like it could have gone either way. Also, you see the guys missing their shots. In a lot of movie fights, the characters either land every shot or there is a skillfully executed block. Here, several times one of the fighters just plain misses a punch or a kick. And they spend a lot of the fight feinting and keeping a little distance between them as they wait for the other guy to commit to a move. As much as I love _The Bourne Identity_, in the apartment fight, Bourne and the other guy just collide and start hitting each other, one guy gets knocked down, and they just come together again. There’s not a lot of “OK, I really don’t want to get kicked in the danglies, so let me fake him out and see what he’s going to do.” It helped in _Grosse Point Blank_ that Cusask’s opponent was Benny Urquidez, Cusack’s long-time kickboxing trainer. Having a couple of actors who spent their free time beating each other up probably helped sell the scene. What are some of your favorite unarmed fights? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/2 "2015-04-21T15:47:39Z")
**The Quiet Man** - John Wayne and Victor McLaughlin brawl across half of Ireland. Watch Victor knock the Duke’s toupee off. **McClintock!** - The mud pit. **The Great Race** - “_Now_ can I get me some fighting room?” ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/3 "2015-04-21T16:01:00Z")
Keith David and Roddy Piper in _They Live_. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/4 "2015-04-21T16:08:48Z")
It may technically violate the stipulations of the OP, since it ends with dagger and strangling wire, but I’ve always been fond of the fight between Connery and Robert Shaw in [From Russia With Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DrMdQhz53Q). It’s wonderfully choreographed, incredibly brutal, in a tight, enclosed space, and with a real sense that Bond is up against someone who’s as good, or maybe even better, than he is. Even the sound design works for it–no musical accompaniment, the only sounds are the steady clacking of the train, the crashes as the two of them slam into things, and the grunting of Bond and Grant as they mercilessly try to kill each other. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/5 "2015-04-21T16:13:51Z")
The Dan Dority vs Captain Whats-his-name fight in **Deadwood** was an incredibly realistic (from my limited but non-zero experience in H2H combat) and brutal fight. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/6 "2015-04-21T16:14:22Z")
It’s more of a beating than a fight, but Sonny beating the ever loving shite out of Carlo in The Godfather is some great cinema. Second the saloon brawl from The Great Race. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/7 "2015-04-21T16:16:29Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > It may technically violate the stipulations of the OP, since it ends with dagger and strangling wire, but I’ve always been fond of the fight between Connery and Robert Shaw in [From Russia With Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DrMdQhz53Q). It’s wonderfully choreographed, incredibly brutal, in a tight, enclosed space, and with a real sense that Bond is up against someone who’s as good, or maybe even better, than he is. Even the sound design works for it–no musical accompaniment, the only sounds are the steady clacking of the train, the crashes as the two of them slam into things, and the grunting of Bond and Grant as they mercilessly try to kill each other. Good one! I hadn’t seen it before, but I like it. I would not have recognized Robert Shaw there. He looks so different from his appearances in _The Sting_ and _Jaws_. Of course at the end of the fight Bond has to straighten his tie. Nice touch! ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/8 "2015-04-21T16:17:46Z")
Diner fight from **Giant** (1956) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/9 "2015-04-21T16:38:53Z")
The [Ladder scene in First Strike.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ9DJZAoq3g) Yeah, it has some of the martial arts film cliches, like people standing around to get hit individually. And it’s heavily choreographed. But, goddammit, that’s a hell of a fight. Made even better because Jackie Chan does all of his own stunts. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/10 "2015-04-21T16:59:50Z")
The end of _Hot Fuzz_. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/11 "2015-04-21T17:02:58Z")
The hallway fight against the Russian mobsters in Netflix’s Daredevil series was an instant classic. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/12 "2015-04-21T17:04:22Z")
Captain Kirk vs. the Gorn in Star Trek ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/13 "2015-04-21T17:10:36Z")
The fight between Toshiro Mifune’s thief and The Husband in Akira Kurasawa’s _Rashomon_ – as told by the woodcutter. In the versions told by the other witnesses (including the ghost), the fight is one of extreme sophistication and skill. But in the Woodcutter’s version – and his version of everything almost always seems the most likely – it quickly devolves into a hand-to-hand fight, and a pretty amateurish and sloppy fight at that. It’s one of the few times in cinema that important characters have a fight that, instead of being carefully choreographed, is actually pretty damned inept ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/14 "2015-04-21T17:13:06Z")
Not sure if it’s my favorite, but I really enjoy the Morpheus vs. Smith fight from _The Matrix_. It’s the first time we see how dangerous an Agent really is. Morpheus’ desperation is palpable and Smith just takes him apart. It was short, brutal, sad, and pretty well choreographed. > [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > The end of _Hot Fuzz_. Just watched that again last night, and yes, that fight was hilariously awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/15 "2015-04-21T17:43:15Z")
It doesn’t wholly qualify, although Trinity started out unarmed, but [the first fight in The Matrix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxNiEEtYe4Q) left my jaw on the ground in the theater. “Well, this is something different!” The [lavatory scene in Casino Royale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNvzNWuzI9Y) gave me a similar feeling. And no, it doesn’t wholly qualify either, though the vast majority of it doesn’t involve gunplay. I’d include the knife fight in Quantum of Solace, but that’s totally not within the OP. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/16 "2015-04-21T17:43:37Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Captain Kirk vs. the Gorn in Star Trek Kirk vs Khan in “Space Seed” (especially the shots where the stunt doubles are painfully obvious 😃 ). Followed by the fight scene in “Wolf in the Fold” when it’s clear that Hengist has morphed into a stunt double with a skinhead wig! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/17 "2015-04-21T18:04:08Z")
The brawl in _Star Trek_’s “The Trouble with Tribbles”, which according to David Gerrold, owes something to the choreography of the saloon fight in **The Great Race** , which I haven’t seen. The elevator fight in **Captain America: The Winter Soldier**. “Before we get started, does anybody want to get off?” Natasha vs. the thugs in **The Avengers**. (I’m not counting her chair as a weapon.) ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/18 "2015-04-21T18:07:41Z")
- The showdown between the Narrator and Tyler Durden in the underground parking lot near the end of Fight Club. - A 2nd nod for the Piper fight in They Live - The final round in Rocky II ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/19 "2015-04-21T18:20:40Z")
It doesn’t strictly count since guns and knives were also used, but the fight between Cap and the Winter Soldier in the street was also incredibly well done, right down to the music. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/20 "2015-04-21T18:34:14Z")
Most of the fight scenes in _Enter The Dragon_. The _Deadwood_ fight, as already described. Matt Damon and the fight with Desh in _The Bourne Ultimatum_ (actually, there are a number of good fight scenes in these movies) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197.md?page=2)