Epic movie fights you'll want to watch again and again
Movie fight scenes can make or break an action film and can be harder - and more dangerous - to choreograph than an elaborate dance. So much work goes into making the perfect movie fight, but if it's done well, you'll never even notice. When you think about the best action movies you think about the fights, and with so many unforgettable movie fights in the history of cinema, it can be pretty hard to pick your favourite. But the following fight scenes give us a pretty good place to start...
By Jack Shepherd. Contributions from GamesRadar Staff
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The fight: Setting up the plot (and tone), this opening scene sees a bath-robed Comedian get attacked in his apartment by a shadowy assailant. It's a thumping tussle with absolutely no regard given to the Comedian's furniture.
Killer move: The finishing touch - the battered Comedian is hurled through his window to the tune of slow motion shattered glass and falls to his death, smiley face badge an' all.
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The fight: After setting off a chain reaction that is ultimately destroying Starkiller base, Finn and Rey are fleeing back to the Falcon, when they're confronted by Kylo Ren. A desperate struggle in the forest kicks off, and Finn - who isn't even Force sensitive - has a go with a lightsaber.
Killer move: Rey finally unlocks her Force potential and repels one of Ren's final attacks, leaving him staggered but before she can finish him off... a chasm appears between the pair, saving the moody Sith to fight another day.
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The fight: The blind Mei is ambushed in the middle of the bamboo forest and, while she valiantly defends herself against her attacker, she clearly needs help. Luckily, lone warrior Wind is at hand to save her.
Killer move: With one wooden spear thrown towards Mei from afar, Wind sees it just in time and throws his sword toward her too. With a split-second reaction played out in slow-mo, we see Mei step back just as the sword split the spear in two, with both ends flying safely away.
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The fight: So many to choose from in this film, but were opting for the showdown between the Warriors and the Baseball Furies. When the sports-themed thugs chase down our anti-heroes, they are come to blows in Riverside Park, with the Warriors Ajax and Swan more than making up for the shortfall in numbers.
Killer move: Having managed to win themselves a couple of their opponents bats, the two gangs engage in down and dirty thumps around the head and gut punches.
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The fight: Less a fight and more a small-scale war, this is one of the early battles between King Leonidas' 300 warriors and Xerxes' soldiers. Shown mostly in slow motion you really appreciate every move, blow, and shot the fighters make.
Killer move: The moment when the 300 steel themselves with their shields and push the remaining Persians off the edge of the cliff.
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The fight: An incredible display of acrobatic ballet-fighting, as the heroic Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) clashes with Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), all while Lien continues to trade up her weapons, using a huge variety of blades at her disposal, to battle against Yu's Green Destiny sword.
Killer move: The two martial artists pause to talk a little smack before Yu offers Lien a chance to choose any weapon from the display around her. It only takes a second, but Lien returns with a huge broadsword and the two launch into another bout of whirling blades and swinging limbs.
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The fight: Having vanquished all of Ramona's previous exes, theres only evil kingpin Gideon Graves left for Scott to defeat. Cue an epic sword fight filled with awesome special effects and nifty lens flare.
Killer move: To start the fight, Scott declare his love for Ramona, earning himself a love power-up and allowing him to pull a flaming sword from his chest to fight with. How is it possible that this film got even cooler?
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The fight: Hulk, as Hulks do, Hulks out in a public place and Iron Man calls in his Hulkbuster suit to try and take care of the situation. The result is exactly the kind of car throwing, building levelling carnage you’d expect from a super-powered one on one.
Killer move: When Stark activates the Hulkbuster’s rapid fire pile driver arm and firmly buries the Hulk’s head into the road with a series of punches.
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The fight: After being exposed to red kryptonite, Superman develops hateful symptoms of lust, anger and self-loathing, until eventually he splits into two personas - a dark Superman and a moral, just Clark Kent - and they fight. Its like the filmmakers decided to play out a fanboy question that no one was asking.
Killer move: Escaping the junk compactor, Clark emerges with a new fighting spirit and chokes Superman until he vanishes, allowing Clark to reveal the shiny S under his shirt. Yay good has prevailed!
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The fight: Charlize Theron's spy has already been through a lot when she's faced down by two attackers in a stairwell in Berlin during the Cold War, but that doesn't stop her from fighting like a boss. This fight scene is so impressive due mainly to the fact that it goes on for a long time (the baddies seem to fight through many a mortal wound before finally going down) and the realistic brutality of the moves.
Killer move: Towards the end of the fight, one of the men pulls his own dagger out of his chest only for Theron to slammed it back into his throat multiple times and throw him down the stairs.
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The fight: Tricked by Catwoman, Batman comes face to face with what becomes his greatest physical foe. It's a powerful slugging match with the emphasis on strength rather than speed, and all the while Bane taunts our Bats, unafraid.
Killer move: Finally, after 15 years of disservice from the 1997 Batman And Robin movie, Bane fulfils his destiny and executes a literal back breaker on the Dark Knight.
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The fight: Estranged brothers Tommy and Brendan end up fighting against each other in the final of a MMA fighting tournament. It's a brutally tense bout that stirs up swallowed emotions with every punch.
Killer move: Brendan manages to trap Tommy's left arm under his knee and, as he struggles to break free, he overextends to the sound of a sickening CRACK.
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The fight: Having already gained the audiences approval, Maximus is pitted against Tigris of Gaul in the arena, all while surrounded by chained tigers held back by handlers who have been given specific instructions by evil Commodus to target our Max.
Killer move: The real killer move is, of course, Maximus defying the emperor to spare Tigris life and earning respect from the crowd and his fellow fighters. But well still opt for the moment when a tiger leaps onto Maximus back for sheer heart-stopping terror.
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The fight: Maggie finally gets the big fight she always wanted: a $1million match against WBA women's welterweight champion, Billie The Blue Bear, an ex-prostitute and renowned dirty fighter.
Killer move: In the single moment that changes this sporting underdog tale into a harrowing tragedy, The Blue Bear sucker punches Maggie after the round ends and she lands on her corner stool, breaking her neck and leaving her paralysed.
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The fight: THE sporting underdog story: the little-known Italian Stallion's climactic bout with arrogant heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.
Killer move: Rocky's sheer stamina. Having already taken a severe beating, Creed knocks him to the floor and throws his hands up in celebration. But his incredulous look is priceless as Rocky struggles back up to his feet...
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The fight: What else? After killing the chain-hammer-twirling Gogo Yubari, the Bride is then confronted by a roar of motorbikes as the Crazy 88 gang pour in to the room to fight her. Cue lots of limb-chopping.
Killer move: Having finished off the entire gang single-handedly, only one Crazy 88 member is left standing. The Bride sends him away with a spanking.
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The fight: Having waited three years to see a headstrong Luke square off against Darth Vader and avenge Obi-Wan's death, original Star Wars audiences got a lot more than they bargained for. With ominous lighting and powerful lightsaber-wielding, this was a showdown that marked Empire Strikes Back as a distinctly darker and deeper instalment of the saga.
Killer move: Take your pick between the moment when Vader finally gets the better of the younger, inexperienced Jedi, liberating his hand from his wrist, or following it up with that revelation.
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The fight: Joseph Gordon-Levitt faces off against a projection of Cillian Murphy's subconscious in a hotel corridor, which is thrown into a state of zero gravity thanks to them occupying a van one dream level up that goes into free fall. We're assuming you've seen it, otherwise that sentence makes no sense.
Killer move: Gordon-Levitt's Arthur makes an early move to surprise his opponent by charging at him, starting off on the wall and then scrambling to the floor, just to get the first punch in.
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The fight: Errol Flynn takes on all-comers in this seminal Western brawl, a sequence so famous it became used as stock footage for many other Westerns. Let the bottle-throwing commence!
Killer move: The old chair across the back would become a staple of many bar fights to come...
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The fight: Sean Connery's 007 tangles with SPECTRE agent Red Grant in a cramped train carriage in one of the more bone-jarring fight scenes in the James Bond series. Two men, one compartment no rules.
Killer move: Bond turns the tide by retrieving a tiny knife from a concealed compartment in his briefcase. Cheers, Q!
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The fight: Throughout Batman Begins, Bruce repeatedly fails to remember Ras advice to mind your surroundings. Until the final battle on the train that is
Killer move: The evasive manoeuvres that allow Bruce to escape and condemn Ras to his death. At least we think hes dead.
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The fight: John McClane takes on two villains on the wing of a moving plane, sending one hurtling into the engine before making a death-defying leap back to terra firma.
Killer move: Having previously breached the planes fuel tank, McClane reaches for his lighter and sends the whole thing up in flames. Yippie-kay-ay motherf*****.
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The fight: Its the Youtube sensation that is the handicap match between the team of Cynthia Rothrock and John Miller and Don Niams one man band. Let the shirt-ripping silliness commence!
Killer move: The knife-licking opening sets the tone for whats about to follow perfectly!
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The fight: After declaring war on the Russian mob (who are indirectly responsible for killing his dog), Wick seeks out Alfie Allen's Iosef Tarasov in the fancy sauna room of a nightclub. He cuts through Tarasov's security with ease, practically punching them with bullets from his gun.
Killer move: This actually happens at the start of the scene, when Wick finds and kills Tarasov's buddy, Victor in the changing room of the club.
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The fight: Forget the overblown brawls of the later sequels, the original Neo v Smith is a vastly superior contest. Martial arts mayhem meets bullet-time flashiness in this show-stopping beatdown.
Killer move: Smiths eventual realisation that body-blows wont cut it leads to the two of them rolling around on a train track. Happily for Neo, he reacts the quicker, jumping to safety as the train rolls in.
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The fight: Not so much a fight, but a brutal massacre in a Baptist Church, set to the tune of Freebird. What's most impressive about the scrap - other than the shockingly stark violence - is the fact that it's Colin 'Love Actually' Firth dishing out the pain.
Killer move: Take your pick. The bit where he burns off a face with a lighter? The bit where he snaps someone's neck against the lectern? The axe to the neck? The final 'pole through chin' kill on the pastor? They're all good.
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The fight: A quartet of rival new teams descend upon each other for a hellacious showdown, bringing all manner of weird and wonderful weapons to the party. Watch out for that trident!
Killer move: Champ Kind throws an onrushing aggressor through a car windshield. Smackdown!
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The fight: Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris put each other through their paces in this legendary battle from Way of the Dragon. Watch out for Chuck's shoulder hair, it's worryingly prominent.
Killer move: The series of kicks that puts Norris on his backside. For a minute there, he almost looks worried.
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The fight: Jackie Chans first ever fight with Benny The Jet Urquidez is a chop-socky treat, with both men wriggling and slithering out of seemingly impossible situations. Trying to keep one of them down is like nailing jelly to a wall.
Killer move: Urquidez snuffs out a candle with a spinning kick. Not painful, but really cool.
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The fight: Ed Norton's nameless narrator takes on Jared Leto's Angel Face, remarking that, I felt like destroying something beautiful. Needless to say, he doesnt disappoint.
Killer move: Nothing fancy here, just meaty punch after meaty punch. Norton takes it a bit far, mind. The fight should've been stopped well before the end.
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The fight: Jake LaMotta and Sugar Ray Robinson are the participants in this balletic and visceral punch-up. Robinson beats seven bells out of LaMotta, but crucially fails to knock him out.
Killer move: The storm of punches delivered by Robinson that leaves LaMotta's face a bloody mess. Still, ya never got me down Ray. Ya never got me down.
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The fight: The final battle - in the kitchen is simply, the finest piece of fight choreography ever filmed, and a near-perfect fusion of sight, sound, and emotion. Rama has been exposed, so looks to hunt down his old friend Uco. But between Uco and Rama is The Assassin, and a near 10 minute fight that tears up a private kitchen, and leaves both combatants utterly exhausted and bloody. The fight is attritional, thrilling with every move, and has a perfect ebb and flow. The soundtrack builds as the fighters reach the end, and the final blow is... well, it's the killer move.
Killer move: Karambit, throat, death.
What does Raid 2 star Iko Uwais think? "I remember when we did the choreography on that scene it was sheer hard work, and trial and error. We spent six months creating the choreography for that kitchen scene and spent another six months making videoboard. So it was a pretty tough scene to nail. There was a long time spent making that scene because it's not just the choreo that was created, but also figuring out the best camera angle possible for every move".
(GamesRadar)These action-packed movie fight scenes are so impressive you'll never be bored