Martial Arts is not only spiritual fulfilling and philosophical, and has many benefits such as self-esteem, teamwork and fitness, it also happens to be one of the most beautiful yet violent competition to see in the world.
Cinematic choreographic scenes tend to range from being relatively tame and effective, towards being over the top. My favorite fighting scenes are the ones which are for the most part realistic, fast-paced, unique and whom happen to have a surprise or two along the way.
In no particular order, (except for the last one which is my new favorite), these 10 are truly great, and always worthwhile to rewatch.
1.Tony Jaa VS. an entire evil gang in The Protector(2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPne0fXREhY
Otherwise known as the final fight, with it's rather amusing and yet also sad plot of elephants being stolen and "consumed", Tony Jaa fights his way through countless amounts of enemies, and the final fight is so crazy and over the top to watch, it's like a video game beat em'up actually. Obviously not the most realistic fight scene, but entertaining? Hell yes! Just try to count how many bones does Tony Jaa break.
2.Donnie Yen VS. Wu Jing in Kill Zone(2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H-3NKj8yO8
I forget what Yen's weapon of choice is actually called, it looks like a lite version of what police men carry around. That weapon against his opponent's knife makes up for some of fastest attack movements I have ever seen in cinema. Combined with the excellent cinematography and a memorable song, it's a short but great encounter, and it's not even the most important story wise.
3.Sammo Hung VS. Lee Hoi San in The Magnificent Butcher(1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebfw8EFghak
To be frank, I have yet to see many more movies of Sammo Hung, but I did see The Magnificent Butcher already, where his final fight is similar to the orginial Drunken Master, going through several fighting styles to defeat his enemy. Comedy value is also to be found!
4.Jet Li VS. Billy Chow in Fist of Legend(1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T_UL6GlsnE&list=LLfvQLwgxxUzR6ELoTm_eIYA&index=3
Fist of Legend is already an above average martial arts film with an interesting story, and then it ends with a fight against a brutal Japanese general which literally headbutts and punches his way through objects like glass, furniture and trees in order to knock down Jet Li. It's a long and intimidating fight, and it ends with a whipping belt against a sword, and guess which one wins!
5.JeeJa Yanin VS. Kittitat Kowahagul in Chocolate(2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAN1GTRPyto
Often nicknamed the female version of insert any famous martial cinema artist like Tony Jaa or Jackie Chan, JeeJa Yani with her autism in this movie must eventually fight against an epileptic hip hop fighter which looks more fun to watch than to explain. Although a very short fight scene, it does continue to be a unique encounter in choreography. Chocolate also has many other effective fight scenes such as in the warehouse or on the rooftop, but the one I choose happens to be the most memorable for me.
6.Biao Yuen, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan VS. thugs, smoking boss and Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez in Dragons Forever(1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XLXKJMj3aw
Not only does this factory fight feature 3 good friends in real life, it also has destructible environments, somersaults, an annoying smoking coward and it ends with one of the most impressive opponents for Jackie Chan, which is of course Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez, whom happens to be a world champion in real life and whom I have also met briefly last year. Although their Wheels on Meals scene is legendary too, this one simply has more to offer in combination with the rest of the scene.
7.Jean-Claude Van Damme VS. Bolo Yeung in Bloodsport(1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXFBggMSgo8
Our Belgian martial artist star was at his prime during his early movies, and Bloodsport just might be his most famous one. Fighting against the intimidating Bolo Yeung in a tournament where you are allowed to die, Van Damme treats us with nice kicks and a few surprises up his sleeve here!
8.Bruce Lee's final fights in Fist of Fury(1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ySZkNITezk
Honestly you can include any final fight scene from any of Bruce Lee's few movies and it would still fit with the rest of this list. Enough has been said about the star himself, he was innovative, inspirational and as often said, way ahead of his time.
9.Jackie Chan VS. Feng Tien in The Young Master(1980)
http://killerfrog.com/videos/jackie-chan---young-master,-final-fight-6617.html
Another hard to find fight scene, beware, the screaming at the beginning of it can make your ears go painful. In one of Jackie Chan's earliest memorable fights, he must overcome against an actual master who completely outranks him until he adjusts his fighting style so extremely that he eventually beats him while a very energetic song plays.
10.Iko Uwais VS. Cecep Arif Rahman in The Raid 2: Berandal(2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5YeXsK2bMQ
This scene has the tendency to get deleted instantly on YouTube, but you may recognize it as the final fight or the kitchen scene in The Raid 2. This particular video also starts with another entertaining and impressive fight against Hammer Girl and Baseball Boy.
Our protagonist's biggest challenge awaits out of all places in the kitchen, where he engages against the assassin in an amazing, enduring and long fight, upon which the cinematography, music and varied fighting styles all come together to bring in my opinion the best fight scene I have seen so far and definitely the best modern fight scene of cinema.
No comments:
Post a Comment