what is the best sword fighting movie?

[finesse_r]

Pretty good, but have you seen "emperor of the North"? Fighting on a flatbed traincar with chains and hammers, roaring through the Big Sur....I dunno....

Yes I have seen "Emperor of the North" several times and it is one of Lee Marvin's best movies. Still the fighting scenes are no where near the quality of those in Hard Times.

 

[Tex1001]

Zorro with Tyrone Power around 1948?

One of the best swordsman of the era was acknowledged to be Basil Rathbone of all people. After the sword scenes with Tyrone Power, I think Basil said "Power was the most agile man with a sword I’ve ever faced before a camera. Tyrone could have fenced Errol Flynn into a cocked hat." The movie was The Mark of Zorro.
_______________________
Boxers or briefs? At my age, Depends.

 

[Smith357]

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
The Seven Samurai
Star Wars

 

[DR505]

Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Seven Samurai
And believe it or not, Blind Fury with Rutger Hauer and Sho Kosugi (1989)

 

[cmort666]

1. Sanjuro - The one cut duel between Mifune Toshiro and Tamba Tetsuro is a classic.
2. The Yakuza - Great sword fights with Tamba Tetsuro, along with great gunfights with Robert Mitchum.
3. Shogun Assassin - A dubbed compilation of the various "Baby Cart from Hell" movies. Lots of great sword fights.

 

[Hapworth]

Sword of Doom.

/thread

 

[therevjay]

Thumbs up for the Errol Flynn movies.

When I was a little kid there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Errol Flynn was the worlds greatest actor. When I turned 12 or so and learned there were two meanings to the term "swordsman". I was a even bigger fan.

I still love his old movies.

 

[rwsmith]

The usual suspects

Princess Bride of course, but two others are stand outs.

I don't think it's the best but I can't forget the one between Tybalt (Michael York) and Romeo (Leonard Whiting) in the 1968 'Romeo and Juliet'. This was NOT a 'duel of honor'. The swordplay I'd seen on screen up until that time was so stylized that it didn't look like a "real fight". This one was scary serious.

"The Three Musketeers" (1968) (Michael York again as D'artagnan) The whole movie is chock full of creative swordplay.

 

[brucev]

No "Kill Bill" nominations?

Hum... Ahh... nope! Totally and completely unrealistic!

 

[finesse_r]

There is always the "Kill Bill" series of movies for a little sword play.

 

[jimmyj]

SWORD FIGHTING ??
I thought that this ended with the invention of gunpowder?

 

[kamloops67]

SWORD FIGHTING ??
I thought that this ended with the invention of gunpowder?

ammunition is hard to find jimmy, where ya been? we do what we can to stretch out the supply

 

[the ringo kid]

When I was a little kid there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Errol Flynn was the worlds greatest actor. When I turned 12 or so and learned there were two meanings to the term "swordsman". I was a even bigger fan.

I still love his old movies.

The first Flynn movie I ever saw (not knowing who he was at the time but had heard his name before) was Sea Hawk as Captain Geoffrey Thorpe. I also got my first dosage of Olivia de Havilland and fell in love w/ her immediately. That was on a Saturday early movie showing on a local TV station. I loved the movie as well and thought it funny that Alan Hale was in it--not knowing about Hale Sr at the time and thought it interesting that the Skipper from Gilligan's Island was playing an English Pirate.

 

[the ringo kid]

No "Kill Bill" nominations?

Hum... Ahh... nope! Totally and completely unrealistic!

That's why I left mentioning it when I posted an up-thumb for Errol Flynn movies. )

 

[walkin jack]

I haven't seen all the great movies listed but A few of my favorites are:

.Cutthroat Island with Geena Davis and Frank Langella
.The Three Musketeers with Keifer Southerland and Tim Curry
.Rob Roy with Liam Neeson
.Zorro with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones and Anthony Hopinks
.Lord of the Rings with Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, and Orlando Bloom.
.Troy with Brad Pitt

 

[Texas Star]

I like those Flynn movies, but no one's mentioned Conan the Barbarian.

I've handled that sword that was used, the big two-handed one. I could barely move it. Arnold S. must be a very strong guy.

I think the swordmaker was Jody Samson. That thing is so big and heavy, I bet it'd cut a man right in half.

There was some pretty good swordplay in an episode of The Lost World. The swords used were good repros of the Pompeii type Roman gladius. They also had an ep using pirate type swords.

 

[the ringo kid]

Speaking of some newer movies--Sword of War, The Eagle? and 300. However, I like the classics many times more over and will add one ive not seen mentioned yet.....300 Spartans w/ Richard Egan as King Leonidas.

King Xerxies"

Some of these images are from the O'Hara collection and used with permission.

One of my favorite lines from the movie: "Our Arrows Will Blacken Out the Sun (OR) Our Arrows Will Darken Out the Sky" ........ "Then We Will Fight In the Shade."

 

[Alpo]

Going off on a mild tangent here, why would the soldiers of Sparta have an L on their shields?

For Leonidas?

 

[the ringo kid]

Going off on a mild tangent here, why would the soldiers of Sparta have an L on their shields?

For Leonidas?

I dont know for sure but, I THINK the symbol shown in the movie was the correct one. I saw a Doc about Leonidas and Thermopolae, and saw the symbol used in it and, if I recall correctly? one of the Greek monuments shown commemorating King Leonidas and that battle--had the same symbol on it.

 

[Texas Star]

Did anyone see the excellent A&E production of, "Helen of Troy"? Good movie, but some swords had dull points!

There was one good scene where a sword was poisoned to kill a hero.

The landing of the Greek army at Troy was pretty impressive. Sort of the primitive version of the Allied landings on D-Day in Normandy.

Rufus Sewell made a good King Agamemnon. I didn't quite buy the actor who played King Menelaus. Odysseus (sp?) was well played, but I forget the name of the actor.

The version of, "Spartacus" made in the early 1960's had some good info on where to strike with a sword for a quick kill, a slow kill, or a maim. It was in the training scenes at the gladiator school. I also liked the legions as they engaged the rebellious slave army. They must have looked about like that as they conquered most of Europe. Where they fell short was trying to defeat the Germans under Arminius in the Teutoburger Forest. About 30,000 Romans under Publius Quintillius Varus died in that fiasco in 9 A.D. . And it was real life, not a movie.

I bet there was some good swordplay that day!