The five most brutal sword fights in cinema history
If there is ever a thing that the medium of cinema was good at (there are several), it is showing intense battles of strength and courage. While a good old-fashioned fistfight is always an exciting prospect on the big screen, the truth is that nothing quite beats a sharp and bloodthirsty fight to the death armed with swords.
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but who wants to see two chumps go at it with a half-dry biro in hand? What’s better is to gaze up at two hardened combatants with a look of dogged determinism in their eyes, staring down at their mortal enemies, looking for the slightest hint of movement in their opponents’ legs to indicate the beginning of the dance.
A sword fight can bring justice to a wronged victim or show a brave warrior’s sheer courage and inspire their fellow countryfolk to take up arms. Sword fighting is akin to a deadly ballet, and when it’s appropriately captured on screen, there is no better feast for the eyes.
We’ve compiled a short list of the greatest sword fights in cinema history. So, from stunning works of martial arts choreography to science fiction showdowns via a humorous battle of wit, it’s time to wipe down your blades, take your stance and prepare for a cinematic struggle to the death.
The five best movie sword fights:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
Ang Lee’s 2000 wuxia martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon features one hell of a sword fight, widely considered one of the best filmed. The fight takes place between Michelle Yeoh’s Yu Shu Lien and Zhang Ziyi’s Jen Yu and combines the dance-like martial arts choreography of Yuen Woo-ping and the intensity of deadly combat to create a stunning cinematic set piece.
In a lush forest of bamboo, the combatants show their grace and agility, showing that a sword fight can be as beautiful as it can be violent. What’s best about the showdown in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, though, is that there seems to be a mutual respect between the participants, elevating the moment from mere action into an emotional crescendo of emotion and artistry.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
While not strictly a sword fight in the most literal of terms, in the Star Wars universe, the iconic lightsabers replace swords, and Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back features one almighty duel between Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker and David Prowse’s Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones), one that has genuine narrative significance.
In a carbon-freezing chamber in Cloud City, Vader and Skywalker clash their lightsabers against one another, and the latter shows his newfound abilities as a Jedi. However, the masterful Dark Side master quickly deals with them. Eventually, Vader drops the absolute bar, “I am your father,” which stuns Luke, who loses the battle, leaving with his life but changing his journey forever.
The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987)
While the first two entries in the list are ones of emotional resonance, there have also been some brilliant witty sword fights, most notably in Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride, in which Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya and Cary Elwes’ Man in Black, dance with a strike one another on the Cliffs of Insanity in a truly mesmerising cinematic moment.
Swordmaster Bob Anderson was on hand to train the two actors for the scene, which leans heavily into classic fencing techniques. Inigo and the Man in Black dance across the screen with ballet-like movements, but what’s best about the scene is how their pair taunt one another with witty dialogue while Inigo longs to take vengeance against the man who killed his father.
Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
This one’s an absolute beauty, a scene of vengeance that really gets the blood pumping. The showdown at the end of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, between Russell Crowe’s Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus, is a climactic work of art that pulls together all the action, drama, and intense emotion that every good sword fight should possess.
A weakened Maximus faces down with the spiteful Commodus in the iconic Colosseum of Ancient Rome, and every clash of the sword is felt with grit and determination. Hans Zimmer’s striking score comes in hard as the ideological clash for the future of Rome rises and rises until Maximus can finally take his revenge and fight for redemption in the people he once served.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
While all the sword fights in this list have been between two rivals, another occurs between one and 88 yakuza maniacs. The showdown between Uma Thurman’s The Bride and Lucy Liu’s O-Ren Ishii might have been good money for the best sword fight in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1, but The Bride versus O-Ren’s Crazy 88 henchmen is even better.
In The House of the Blue Leaves, Tarantino details the kind of martial arts action that he holds so close to his heart in homage, and things get so bloody that he has to switch the camera to black and white so as not to douse the whole scene in red blood. As The Bride dispatches nearly 100 combatants, her agility and strength are tested, and the scene comes out as one of the best in modern cinema history.
