Best fight scene?

[Krieg]

I'll always have a weak spot for films that at least try to put an authentic rub on sword fights. That being said some of the better bits:

The Mark of Zorro - Basil Rathbone & Tyrone Powers, nuff said.

The Four Musketeers - D'Artagnan and the Comte de Rochefort

Rob Roy - The final duel with Roth & Neeson.

13th Warrior - The Holmgang

Pretty much anything with Mifune, but if I had to pick one it would be the final duel from Sanjuro.

...and my personal favorite by far:

The Duelists - The saber duel in the basement (although all of the fights in this film are excellent).

For all the criticism the movie gets, the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul at the end of The Phantom Menace is quite cool.

This is Lucas's one bit of absolute brilliance in the prequels so far....the pacing and the soundtrack are stunning.

 

[Pants]

Best Fight Scenes (movies):
Saruman vs Gandalf in FotR
Aragorn vs Lurtz in FotR
Gandalf vs the Balrog in FotR
The Bride vs the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill Vol 1
Elle Driver vs the Bride in Kill Bill Vol 2
Spidey vs Doc Ock on the train in Spiderman 2
Luke vs Vader in Empire Strikes Back
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul in Phantom Menace
The Bank Heist Scene in Heat
Gutts vs the One Hundred Soldiers in Berserk
Inigo vs Wesley in The Princess Bride

Best Fight Scenes (books):
Oberyn 'The Red Viper' Martell vs Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane in A Storm of Swords by GRRM
Bronn vs Ser Vardis in A Game of Thrones by GRRM
The Weaver vs the Slake Moths in Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Rand al'Thor vs Rhavin in Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan
Drizzt vs Artemis Entreri in the sewers of Calimshan in The Halfling's Gem by RA Salvatore
Icarium vs Karsa Orlong in House of Chains by Steven Erikson - Funniest line 'The bastard broke my sword...'

 

[BadMojo]

Best Fight Scenes (books):
Oberyn 'The Red Viper' Martell vs Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane in A Storm of Swords by GRRM

That was an awesome fight scene. So intense and brutal.

As for movies, I have to go with the fight between Neo and the Merovingian's henchmen in Matrix: Reloaded, just for the eye candy of it all. Beautiful backdrop, cool weapons, great music.

I also like the fight between The Bride and O'Ren in Kill Bill. Also a beautiful scene visually, but MUCH more emotionally charged than the Matrix scene.

I also agree 100% with the poster to mentioned both Bourne movies. The fight scenes really boil things down to two guys who will do anything to stay alive and take out the other guy. It's not pretty, but it sure is exciting!

 

[reanjr]

Post-bankheist shootout in Heat.

 

[FCWesel]

The Ninja Attack in Last Samurai was great, as was the ending battle.

To go the other way, the couple fights in Ready to Rumble had some damn funny moments too.

And of course there's the epic clash of titans...Bob Barker and Happy Gilmore.

 

[Carnifex]

One excellent fight scene that really stands out in my mind is the final one in Equilibrium; never seen a gun fight quite like that one...

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Best Choreography and fight scence to Queen:

Shawn and his band of misfits against the zombie bartender while "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen plays on the jukebox in...

"Shawn of the Dead"

I thought that that scene was basically copied from Clockwork Orange?

 

[mojo1701]

Best Choreography and fight scence to Queen:

Shawn and his band of misfits against the zombie bartender while "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen plays on the jukebox in...

"Shawn of the Dead"

Yeah. Almost as good as the time a friend of mine wrote out all the lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody" on a physics test.

 

[Krieg]

If we are going to include books, then using my above criteria there is only one choice:

Glory Road by Robert Heinlein - The duel between Oscar Gordon (the protaganist) & Cyrano de Bergerac is hands down the best sword fight ever put to paper.

An honorable mention goes to the meeting between Cyrano de Bergerac & Sir Richard Francis Burton in Farmer's The Magic Labyrinth (the fourth book of his Riverworld series).

 

[David Howery]

for best sword fight, I also like the one in "Rob Roy"... the two look like they hate each other immensely, and it looks real.
for best gun fight.... the OK Corral shootout in "Tombstone", or the big showdown in "Open Range" are both pretty brutal....