Top 5 Movie Fight Scenes

Ramzee says:

Somewhere deep inside us is that primal fetish to see people beat the snot out of each other.  This probably stems from a childhood of longing to be the victor in a fight.  Nothing says “competition” better than two men beating the crap out of each other.  Mano a mano.  Toe to toe. 

Tyler Durden said it the best, “How much can you really know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?”

When you’re a little boy, you dream of being able to take on the school bully and propel his face through the back of his head with a Jean-Claude Van Damme spinning heal kick.  You cheered to the symphony of breaking bones and snapping necks while watching Steven Seagal take on the baddies.  Why did you watch those old karate movies even though their mouths didn’t move in sync with the words?  You couldn’t care less about the dialogue.  You cared even less about the story.  So why did you sit and watch those movies over and over again with your friends?  The answer is simple.  It’s because everybody was kung fu fighting and their kicks were fast as lightning!  You were able to live out your wildest, most violent fantasies and be the hero at the end of it all.  Let’s face it, we all have something worth fighting for but the Van Damme’s and Seagal’s of the movies were the ones who actually threw the punches.  So now, in honour of those who made us jump from the top of our double bunk beds and rescue the girl next door, after delivering a swift round-house kick to the Joe Pesci looking bad guy who kidnapped her; here is my ultimate fight club of top 5 movie fight scenes.

5. Daniel Larusso (Daniel-san)  VS  Johnny Lawrence – The Karate Kid

Why?  Because no fight scene has embedded itself more deeply into pop culture.  Try to remember the excitement of when you saw this for the first time.  You were Daniel-san.  You were the underdog.  The evil sensai of the Cobra Kai dojo tells Johnny Lawrence to “Sweep the leg”.  You’re horrified!  Even Johnny Lawrence couldn’t believe what he was hearing but he does what his sensai tells him and executes the sweep kick, injuring Daniel whose leg was already injured from a previous round. It looked like Johnny was going to win the round and retain the title.  Then came the most iconic martial arts move in the history of cinema.  The crane kick.  Yes, the one we all practiced as children.  Daniel-san delivers the coup de grace with the crane kick and wins the trophy.  The real win?  Johnny Lawrence handing over the trophy saying, “You’re all right, Larusso.”

4. Rocky Balboa  VS  Apollo Creed – Rocky

If this list was longer, I would have Rocky I – IV on it.  Honestly, all four movies have amazing fight scenes but, for me, part one has to get the spot on this list.  Watching Rocky go the distance, trading punches with the champion and seeing him illustrate his motto “it’s not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward”, is enough to make your heart stop.  You scream and cheer for Rocky to get up and push through.  You get pumped with adrenaline when Mickey yells motivation at Rocky after each round.  Best of all is when you hold your breath as they count out the final round and see that Rocky gave as good as he got.  It didn’t even matter that he didn’t win that match.  The match-up was so intense that you know it couldn’t have ended any better.  And as for the Italian Stallion; he didn’t care about winning either.  He just wanted to make it to the final round and wanted Adrienne to be there with him when he did it.

3. Jackie Chan  VS  anyone else in the movie – Drunken Master 2

See Jackie Chan at his best.  If you haven’t seen this movie then you MUST make an effort to find it.  Find a video store with a good selection of old movies, visit that cousin who claims he can download all the seasons of Lost in one day, petition for the “Classic Movies” channel to play this one.  Do what you need to.  It’s worth it. 

Before Jackie Chan became a comedian, before he used ladders to slap comical bad guys across the face and way before Hollywood crapped Chris Tucker all over this man’s true martial arts ability and insane fight choreography, THERE WAS DRUNKEN MASTER. 

Pick a fight scene, any fight scene and it will blow the moustache off your creepy uncle’s face!

2. Jet Li  VS  Mel Gibson and Danny Glover – Lethal Weapon 4

Jet Li’s first transition into American film.  I know, a lot of people are throwing up their hands right now and spouting “WTF” and a barrage of other consonants that’s formed part of the attack on the English language.  Relax, I am fully aware that Jet Li has starred in some of the best martial arts movies that the Far East has been so kind to offer us.  But watch this movie again and get back to me…

The final scene shows Riggs and Murtaugh circling the diminutive Jet Li, ready to tear him a new one and several more if they can.  Murtaugh towers over Jet Li and Riggs has that crazy look in his eyes.  Seems like an easy one.  The fight ensues with Jet Li ripping through the two old timers.  He even dislocates Riggs’ shoulder…again.  What makes this one of my favourite fight scenes, is the fact that there are no invisible wires and that not everyone involved in this fight knows karate.  The two cops don’t dance around Li and fight him one at a time.  They run at him together and proceed to try and give him an old fashioned beat down with their fists.  They manage to spear an iron rod through his chest and then shoot and drown the little guy, but not before he takes Mel Gibson with him.  It would have been easier to kill Jason Vorhees.  Murtaugh saves Riggs as usual.

1. Bruce Lee  VS  Chuck Norris – Way of the Dragon  

It’s a fight scene between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris!  You should be weeping at the very thought of being able to see something like this. 

One more reason to see this is simply to see Bruce Lee pull out the indestructible Chuck Norris’ glorious chest hair.  It can be done!  Believe it. 

*True story:

After filming, Chuck Norris offered Bruce Lee a beverage.  Chuck asked Bruce what he would like to drink, to which Bruce replied, “Wataaa”.

The Jillybean says:

My best kick ass moments…also the moves I secretly imagine myself doing to Ramzee at times. 

5. Karate Kid 

The Crane Kick…how I wish I could put a boot in someone’s head like that. Daniel San…you inspire me in my weakest moments. 

4. The Rock

 The movie is a bit hazy for me, however, Nick…I didn’t mind if you had dropped that green little ball we all ended up like cheesy Thriller Zombies. You made me love blue jeans. 

3. House of Flying Daggers 

I think this must be one of the best spaghetti movies made. I mean, a hot blind Asian chic jumping around with her tiny little body, throwing around some daggers. I don’t mind rolling around in the meadows with you. You can even smack me around a couple of times. 

2. Rocky 1 

CUT IT! CUT IT! OMG! Cut it already! Ya know! 

1. Warrior

The latest kick ass movie I’ve seen. Hands down it was simply brilliant. The thick of this tale was so emotional of how families try to support each other and try to right their wrongs was intense. A story of two brothers who ultimately beat the crap out of each other at the end. The final fight was so intense I was on the couch asking Tommy to please stop! World class fighting. A must see.

And that is all.