what is the best sword fighting movie?

[quneur]

I enjoy old 80's Shaw Brothers movies. Especially with the Deadly Venoms gang. Here are a few:

Supreme Swordsman
???? - The Supreme Swordsman (1983) - YouTube

Sword Stained with Royal Blood (Venoms)
[SB] Sword Stained with Royal Blood 1982 - YouTube

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung (Venoms)
Ten Tigers of Kwangtung - YouTube

The Blade (Golden Harvest film) - skip the opening scene
The Blade (Dao) - [1995] - Full Movie - English Subtitle - YouTube

If you can find a good copy of Masked Avegers made by Shaw Brothers.

 

[imashooter2]

The best sword fight scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDi3cpedm5c

 

[Alpo]

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.

I reread my question, and realized it could be taken as questioning the accuracy of the movie. That was not my intent. I'm not saying the Spartans might not have really had a Lambda on their shields.

I just wondered why. Sparta - Sigma would make sense, but Lambda?

 

[cmort666]

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

For Leonidas?

For Lacadaemon, another name for Sparta.

 

[10mmauto]

Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Maul.

The Phantom Menace.

 

[wbraswell]

Braveheart, boy do they make a mess.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

I haven't seen all the great movies listed but A few of my favorites are: Rob Roy with Liam Neeson

I'll second the vote for "Rob Roy", as the Duke of Argyll said about the "fop": "I have seen the man at work, and he is no dunce with a blade."

Up until that scene in the movie, I'd always wondered how someone with a big heavy blade, like a claymore, would fare against someone with a light, flexible blade, like an epee.

Great movie, it reminds us all not to forget about the healing powers of hate.

Regards,

Dave

 

[KeithC]

No one has mentioned the Highlander series yet? Guess I'll have to

 

[george minze]

For dueling I agree "The Duelist" was more correct in style and form. Sword fighting and dueling are not always the same..As I understand it...In dueling it is not necessary to kill somebody. The wounded party could stop with out being branded a coward...Death was not exactly the desired end results.....

 

[Alpo]

For Lacadaemon, another name for Sparta.

That works. Thanks.

 

[the ringo kid]

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!

I think the sword master giving advice in Spartacus was either: Charles McGraw or Ernest Borgnine. Its been a long time since I last saw it but, I know one of those two actors was the one giving sword strikes advice in the movie.

 

[the ringo kid]

The best sword fight scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDi3cpedm5c

Not exactly a sword fight but was a great scene. Some months ago I posted the animated gif of that scene.

 

[the ringo kid]

I reread my question, and realized it could be taken as questioning the accuracy of the movie. That was not my intent. I'm not saying the Spartans might not have really had a Lambda on their shields.

I just wondered why. Sparta - Sigma would make sense, but Lambda?

Hi Alpo, I knew you werent questioning the movie but, I was trying to reply to you with the best of my knowledge is on that subject. I havent read up on ancient warfare in at least 25 years. Right now-the farthest I go back to is the Revolutionary War but last 14 or so years, focused only on WWII and especially the Eastern Front--Battle of Stalingrad in particular.

 

[Robotech]

No one has mentioned the Highlander series yet? Guess I'll have to

Adrian Paul was first a dancer, with the strength and body control to make those highly choreographed fight scenes really impressive. Also a nice and fun guy in person at the various fan conventions. I think my (female) cousin was in love.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I liked Tyrone Power vs. Basil Rathbone in the 1940 Zorro. Just a straight up fight between the two main antagonists. Not all gymnastic and multi climatic like the newer Zorro.

 

[the ringo kid]

Three more classics not yet mentioned:

The Vikings, Longships and Taras Bulba..
The Vikings w/ Kirk Douglas, Ernest Borgnine, Vivian Leigh, Tony Curtis and James Donald.

RAGNAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Long Ships w/ Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier and Russ Tamblyn:

Taras Bulba w/ Yul Brynner, Tony Curtis and Brad Dexter:

There is a modern remake of Taras Bulba--which is a Russian remake called: 1612. Its supposed to be superior to the Yul Brenner version - which will be difficult to best as his movie is excellent.

 

[RFBIII]

The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Scaramouche, and the Mark of Zorro -- ABSOLUTELY!

But I would opine that the best (or at least my favorite) choreographed fight would be the climactic battle between Robert Taylor and George Sanders in Ivanhoe.

 

[Texas Star]

That works. Thanks.

It's all "Greek to me." I thought the symbol was a V.

My late Mother studied classical Greek, the only member of our familiy who did.

 

[Texas Star]

I think the sword master giving advice in Spartacus was either: Charles McGraw or Ernest Borgnine. Its been a long time since I last saw it but, I know one of those two actors was the one giving sword strikes advice in the movie.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Borgnine. I need to find my copy of the movie and watch again. It's certainly better and with better actors than most films made now, and without the silly animation.

You have a MOST IMPRESSIVE collection of movie memorabilia.

Can we throw in bayonet vs. assegai? "Zulu" had some good scenes, esp. where Lt. Bromhead (Michael Caine) was fighting on the hospital roof, in the process of earning the Victoria Cross. The real Gonville Bromhead did receive the VC, BTW, and 10 others of that small command. That is really pretty sensational. It's like 11 Americans all getting the Medal of Honor for one battle! They must have shown a lot of really raw courage. Had to: the Zulu impis were in the thousands; the British defenders at Rorke's Drift under 200. And those Zulu had just wiped out a large British force caught in the open at Isandhlwana. A big problem was that they couldn't open the ammo boxes with the tools they had quickly available.

 

[poordevil]

Peter Coyote in the movie "Exposure"
Very visceral knife fighting movie