# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/61 "2015-04-22T15:54:18Z")
I suppose the use of a hammer disqualifies the hallway fight scene in **Oldboy** , but it shouldn’t; it’s an amazing scene (and directly inspired the Daredevil fight). Other faves, mostly repeats: Keith David and Roddy Piper, **They Live** Jason Bourne and Desh, **Bourne Ultimatum** Jackie Chan and Ken Lo, **Drunken Master II** The entire shopping mall scene in **Police Story** ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/62 "2015-04-22T18:34:39Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > For all I heard about it, its actually pretty “meh” now that I’ve seen it. The choreography seems very obvious, a lot of times where guys fall over from punches that wouldn’t actually knock them down, or where they fall into a corner and lay prone for a few seconds wrestling style until its their turn to get up again. > > Seems like these days directors think “realistic” means just telling the actors to pretend to be exhausted, but people can still tell the difference between a real punch and a fake punch. Different strokes. I find it an amazing scene. In a generally amazing series. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/63 "2015-04-22T19:15:05Z")
It’s a little obscure, but Rod Taylor and William Smith have an awesome brawl in a ship cabin in the 1970 Travis McGee movie, _Darker Than Amber_. It’s widely believed that one of them or the other failed to pull a punch, pissed the other one off, and the director just let them slug it out. It certainly **[looks like it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aABT-FjR4_M)**. One of them most brutal (realistic) fights in film history. Right over the dead girl, too. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/64 "2015-04-22T19:20:28Z")
Spencer Tracy vs. Ernest Borgnine, [Bad Day at Black Rock](https://youtu.be/9gX2pK1mioU). More of the whole scene than the actual fighting, which wasn’t all that even… ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/65 "2015-04-22T20:20:05Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/66 "2015-04-22T20:52:51Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > The bathhouse fight with Viggo Mortensen in **Eastern Promises** looked exactly like you would expect tough, trained people fighting for their lives to look. It wasn’t slick or glamorous, it didn’t look choreographed (though of course it was), and it was just absolutely gut-wrenching. This scene came immediately to my mind when reading the OP ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/67 "2015-04-22T21:44:10Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > My husband (Andy L) suggested Kirk vs. Finnegan in the **Star Trek** episode “Shore Leave.” That’s the one I was coming here to suggest. Most of the fist-fight scenes in “The Prisoner” were pretty good. I think my favorite is the one in “Welcome to Harmony,” the “western” episode. Number Six vs. Zeke. Hell of a smack-down, but both guys suffer through it. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/68 "2015-04-23T10:36:02Z")
Rama and Andi vs. Mad Dog in “The Raid: Redemption”. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/b09V63Qdd7c/hqdefault.jpg "The Raid: Redemption (2011) - Final Fight ( Complete ) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b09V63Qdd7c) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/69 "2015-04-23T12:19:36Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Rama and Andi vs. Mad Dog in “The Raid: Redemption”. > > [https://youtu.be/b09V63Qdd7c](https://youtu.be/b09V63Qdd7c) That whole movie is just hilariously insane. I got to see it in the local cinema-with-beer-and-food a few months ago as part of a B movie doubleheader with Dredd (the more recent one, not the Stallone Judge Dredd). Watching those fight scenes in a tipsy, rowdy theater was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/70 "2015-04-23T12:38:33Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Rama and Andi vs. Mad Dog in “The Raid: Redemption”. > > [https://youtu.be/b09V63Qdd7c](https://youtu.be/b09V63Qdd7c) I’ve been meaning to watch that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/71 "2015-04-23T14:02:49Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > …(The other day my wife had Bonanza on the TV on in the other room – I overheard a character’s voice, and immediately exclaimed, “That’s T’Pau”! I checked the episode on IMDB, and the actress was, indeed, Celia Lovsky.) Right you are! [http://www.tvgems.net/bonanza/images/bonanza1085.jpg](http://www.tvgems.net/bonanza/images/bonanza1085.jpg) [![](https://www.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2007/250/12200_118934467334.jpg) ](https://www.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2007/250/12200_118934467334.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/72 "2015-04-23T14:09:25Z")
I like a lot of the ones listed already, especially the _Quiet Man_. I didn’t see\* Marlowe \*mentioned where James Garner takes on Bruce Lee. ---
**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 23, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/73 "2015-04-23T14:41:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I didn’t see\* Marlowe \*mentioned where James Garner takes on Bruce Lee. I hadn’t heard of that movie before. I watched a couple clips. It looks like a fun movie. I have a sneaking suspicion that Garner might have recycled some elements of that character in a role a few years later… ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/74 "2015-04-23T18:31:13Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > For all I heard about it, its actually pretty “meh” now that I’ve seen it. The choreography seems very obvious, a lot of times where guys fall over from punches that wouldn’t actually knock them down, or where they fall into a corner and lay prone for a few seconds wrestling style until its their turn to get up again. > > Seems like these days directors think “realistic” means just telling the actors to pretend to be exhausted, but people can still tell the difference between a real punch and a fake punch. The Daredevil scene started out promisingly, but degenerated into literally a series of simple white-belt Karate drills. Not to sound like a fight scene hipster, but choreography went from awesome to terrible more quickly than any scene I can think of off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/75 "2015-04-23T19:26:42Z")
The scenes from Deadwood and They Live are both pretty fantastic. One I just rewatched recently and really liked was the Batroc vs. Cap fight in the opening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It’s fast, well-shot, and very nice- looking. It’s flashy, but doesn’t have the “Hollywood choreography” vibe a lot of movie fights have. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/76 "2015-04-23T19:57:26Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > 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’m a big fan of Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan. However… Back at the turn of the century, there was a movie called Time and Tide (by Tsui Hark) out of China. The main character is a punk kid who hires on with a guy running a sketchy Bodyguard company. In the middle of the movie the main character finds himself in a small apartment with an airsoft gun (they’re made to look real), face-to-face with a real assassin. The fight choreographer’s DVD commentary was that he intentionally made sure the guys didn’t use any martial arts moves, just guts and desperation. That makes the ensuing fight scene seem a lot more intense and realistic than the stuff with trained fighters. –G! Ev’rybody was Kung Fu Fighting… ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/77 "2015-04-24T14:54:05Z")
Oh, speaking of uncut fight scenes, I forgot to mention [this gem of a thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79ditPebZ8g) with Tony Jaa. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/78 "2015-04-24T15:18:02Z")
there are so many how can you choose? which scene is best gets all blurry when you’ve seen so many, just like the fight scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/79 "2015-04-24T15:26:16Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Oh, speaking of uncut fight scenes, I forgot to mention [this gem of a thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79ditPebZ8g) with Tony Jaa. Wow, that was fun! Must’ve taken quite a bit of planning and rehearsal. ---
**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 24, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197/80 "2015-04-24T15:53:49Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Oh, speaking of uncut fight scenes, I forgot to mention [this gem of a thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79ditPebZ8g) with Tony Jaa. Pretty cool! Paul Greengrass should be forced to watch this scene on repeat until he vows never to make another shaky-cam death-by-a-thousand-cuts fight scene again. A couple of questions about it. The camera is briefly blocked by pillars a few times. Could they have done cuts there? Not that it takes away from the fun of the scene, just curious. Also, at about 1:25, why is that guy standing there watching those two people having sex? And, is that supposed to be blood on the sheet, or just a reddish bed covering of some kind? Does anyone know what the woman says when Jaa leaves the room? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-hand-to-hand-fight-scenes/718197.md?page=5)