Hit Me... I Don't Want to Die Without Scars!: 8 Legendary Movie Fights (9 photos)

We remember the most spectacular fight scenes from movies: from Edward Norton punching his face out to Uma Thurman taking down 88 yakuza. The film continues, and viewers have no idea what happened.







Fight Club (1999)/ Fight Club. Tyler Durden vs. Tyler Durden

Genre: Drama

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier

What do you know about yourself if you've never fought, asks Fight Club? It also wants to ask a few questions in response—for example, what you can learn about yourself by fighting yourself. The film, however, won't dwell on the spiritual benefits acquired through such an act, but it lists the material ones without hesitation: a telephone, a computer, a fax machine, 52 weeks' salary, and 48 travel coupons.





Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)/ Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Black Mamba vs. 88 Mad Men

Genre: Action/ Thriller

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine

Not including "Kill Bill" in this list would be a shame, as the fight scenes in this film are endlessly rewatchable. Uma Thurman's takedown of 88 bloodthirsty yakuza is pure art. Fountains of blood, jaw-dropping action, and a deep bow to Bruce Lee. No matter how many times you watch it, it still takes your breath away at the end.



Oldboy (2003)/ Oldboy. Oh Dae-soo with a hammer

Genre: Detective/ Drama/ Thriller

Director: Park Chan-wook

Cast: Choi Min-sik, Ji-tae Yoo, Kang Hye-jung, Ji Dae-han, Oh Dal-soo

Perhaps never before has the concept of philosophizing with a hammer (well, at least with a hammer) been so grippingly cinematically embodied as in this scene by Park Chan-wook. And it doesn't even matter that the audience is just a crowd of Koreans armed with sticks and knives—a hammer will help convey the main idea even to an audience that is less receptive to philosophy.



John Wick (2014)/ John Wick. Club Scene

Genre: Action/ Thriller

Directors: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters

At what point do we learn that John Wick is a badass and not to be trifled with? When does his name make the mob boss nervous? Or when does he dispose of the thugs who came to his house without knocking? The moment of realization finally comes when we hear Kaleida's "Think," and John, in the neon lights of a nightclub, begins hunting the guy who killed his dog. How we don't envy the extras who find themselves in his way.



Pineapple Express (2008) Dale Denton vs. Ted Jones

Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Thriller

Director: David Gordon Green

Cast: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Kevin Corrigan, Craig Robinson

It's called "what goes around comes around." If you cast a comedian from Judd Appatow's crew as the hero of an action movie with shootouts and evil drug dealers, you'll get a fitting final fight—utterly cheesy, hilariously funny, terribly ridiculous, yet at the same time strangely true.



Total Recall (1990)/ Total Recall. Douglas Quaid vs. Laurie

Genre: Action/ Sci-Fi

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside

Paul Verhoeven's films often explored the battle of the sexes through the prism of top-notch fistfights. A family sparring match between Schwarzenegger and Stone in a hotel room brought new meaning to the expression "Lovers quarrel, but only for fun," and also gave rise to the strange idea that, if she wanted, a girl could give Schwarzenegger a good beating.



Lethal Weapon (1987)/ Lethal Weapon. Martin Riggs vs. Joshua

Genre: Action/ Thriller

Director: Richard Donner

Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitch Ryan, Tom Atkins

An epic final showdown between hero and villain is a must for any self-respecting action movie. But few achieve the same level of epicness as the first Lethal Weapon. There, Gibson and Busey spar first around a Christmas tree, then on the hood of a police car, then on a lawn in the rain, and finally somewhere in the background, where all the other characters (and the audience, too) have ceased to notice them.