Sword fight...duel...foil...rapier...epee...
Sure, those work. Very Western.
Me? I’ll go for the Samurai and his Katana. Jeez. There must be 5000 Samurai movies out there. All of them have major duels as a huge part of what the movie is about, one way or another.
Maybe my favorite is in the classic “Seven Samurai” where the expert swordsman cuts down the loud mouthed...well, in the “Magnificent Seven” it was the knife throwing scene with James Coburn.
Sidebar: Seven Samurai and also a trilogy of Kurosawa films...Ran, Rashoman and Yojimbo are hugely popular. Some were turned into classic films over here...(Yojimbo = A Fistfull of Dollars) etc.
For a lesson on how Kurosawa directed his fight scenes looking at Seven Samurai...check out the following...very well done.
https://youtu.be/jZSRxp-dJ-Q
The specific duel I mentioned above comes at 7:37 and consists of one pass. It was really the buildup and slo-mo death that were of import.
Then there’s the blind swordsman Zatoichi representing a long list of movies and tv shows. These fights are often pandemonium but sometimes one on one.
https://youtu.be/7ZhnS45Zexo
Then there’s about three big fights in the Kill Bill movies...the one with Lucy Lu, the one with Darryl Hannah and the one with “Bill”. Then there’s the giant melee in the restaurant. Way, way over the top. But lots of fun.
https://youtu.be/Upwg6JMtyCg
Finally, there’s this little gem. Very nice production. Good use of humor. The guy who always wins is trying out for a job with the boss. He eventually fights him and the boss falls into a creek or something. The guy assumes he has blown his chances for employment. What’s interesting to me is the playing of calm, confident mastery against bluster backed by low skill. Also, I like when the sneaky bastards get their comeuppance in the ambush.
https://youtu.be/vBoy11nfHPI
I could keep going here, but won’t, as a courtesy to you all. :lol:
