What I really wanted to talk about is an interesting article (with accompanying slide-show) on Slate.com today about the evolution of the Hollywood fight. This is spurred by the fact that some critics called the fights in The Dark Knight rather incomprendable. Personally I didn't find them to be that problematic, but the shaky-cam crazy nature of modern fight scenes has never bothered me too much.But how about you? Fight scenes are a staple of the action genre. Do you like where they're going? Does the hectic nature of the camera help enforce the dizziness of the fight or does it just make you dizzy?
And for fun, I pose this question to you: What is your favorite fight scene? After much thought I've posted mine below.
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24 comments:
Oldboy - 1 vs. 100.
The Bride vs. Elle Driver
Fights are usually meant to be silly anyway.
Colin Firth vs. Hugh Grant. The first time.
The Eastern Promises Sauna Fight. And it didn't have the hsaky cam feeling.
OK seriously... that W. trailer was not a joke, right? What is going on with Oliver Stone... I mean really. If people can't make good stuff just stay home.
I'm not sure i recognize this fight still. I wanted to say RAGING BULL but that was lazy cuz it was black and white. It looks more like a silent movie image.
and cp YES
and elgringo ewwww --that fight completely made me want to upchuck. gross.
and anon why yes. thanks for the memories
Its the boxing match from City Lights
Safety Last--Harold Lloyd vs. the building.
uma thurman vs. lucy liu - kill bill vol 1.
Fight scenes in The Dark Knight were better-filmed and edited than in Batman Begins, which were just chaos almost to the point of Bourne Supremacy shaking. I thought the fight scenes in The Dark Knight were much more fluid.
Nada (Roddy Piper) vs. Frank (Keith David) in John Carpenter's They Live
Favorite fight scene: Jean Reno in "Wasabi" in the fight in the game arcade, including the action leading up to it. I also love him disposiing of the villains in the Japanese department store in the same movie. For fights that bring me to tears, it's be Jean Reno, again, in "The Professional" (aka "Leon").
Having seen both Mama Mia and The Dark Knight in the same week, I'd say the fight scenes in DK were about the same level as the choreography in MM.
Just saw John Woo's Hardboiled, and the final shootout (they count as fights don't they?) is amazing. Say what you want about how Woo can handle a story or theme, but when fights break out he's unmatched.
Gotta agree with The Bride vs. Elle Driver. Amazing fight.
Rachel Weiz? Patricia Vasqeuz? In skimpy outfits?? FIGHTING?? WITH SAIS?!?
Ahhhhh.... escapism.
Also, for sheer kickassery (excluding ones already mentioned):
Sigourney Weaver Vs. Mumma Alien
T-100 vs. Arnie
But enough of this tom-foolery, lets cut to the best ever.
Michelle Yeoh vs Zhi Zhang in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Watch in AWE.
Gregory Peck vs Charlton Heston in The Big Country.
Greg punches Charlton, he falls over, gets up and puches Greg, who falls over. Repeat.
It lasts about 2 minutes, but there are huge shifts in locations and the sun moves so it appears the fight has lasted all day.
Now that's what men fighting is all about.
Catwoman vs Schreck.
Anon 11.13 - ouch! The choreography in Mamma Mia! was baaad.
I'm too tired to think right now though...
//Its the boxing match from City Lights//
Thanks Robert - I wanted to say Raging Bull at first glance (for the same "lazy" reason as Nathaniel - oh yeah, that's Chaplin, not DeNiro, standing there.)
I'm dating myself a bit but we (my sibs, mom and I) saw Die Hard in the theaters when it first came out and I remember both my mom and I were really struck by the fight scenes in it. (No pun intended, I just couldn't come up with a better word.) Granted, we didn't go to see a lot of action films at the time, but we were comparing it to the Hollywood films we were familiar with in which fight scenes were obviously faked by comparison, and very clean (someone "pretends" to throw a punch, someone pretends to have been hit and falls). This film seemed to capture the way fighting can be very brutal and the person throwing the punch is hurt as much as the person receiving it. Although no one mentions it now I think that film did have an effect on films to follow, upping the bar for what would be believable in a fight scene.
I guess you could also say that film sort of wallows in pain (the main character having to walk on glass and so forth), which, weirdly enough, is something female characters have been doing for decades but on an emotional level rather than physical (wallowing in pain, that is.)
Eek, my mistake - I'm finally watching the Slate slide show and it DOES include Die Hard.
If it has to be a punch-up, I'm not sure. There've been many good ones. EASTERN PROMISES was the most recent one to make an impression.
Best gunfights though - there's an expertly crafted assault sequence that comes about halfway through Malick's THIN RED LINE as a handful of soldiers attack a bunker. And of course, the pivotal sequence from HEAT.
See more of this on http://artshortfilms.blogspot.com There you can find the best artistic short movies and animations from all over the internet, from every corner of the world...
Leave a comment when you find something you like... let us know! Enjoy!!!
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