June is blooming in every possible way, the serious restrictions of the pandemic are being lifted, and the time for vacations and summer holidays is ahead. And we just finished letting you down results of action films for 2019.
It just so happened that we were delayed. No surprise: the last few months have been challenging around the world. But we are coming to you with the most interesting nomination for our project: the best on-screen fight!
Realizing that we had made a little mistake, we decided to please our readers with an analysis of not only the battle scenes that won the vote, but also those that our editors liked. By the way, tell us: is it worth paying attention in the future in this category to those on-screen fights that the authors of FFI liked? Write about it in the comments. In general, write.
Voting winners
Scott Adkins vs. Pub Thugs (Vengeance) (16%, 26 votes)
- Location: pub\beer bar. This is perhaps the most popular location for on-screen fights in cinema history. Everyone and anyone could fight in the bar - from Chuck Norris and Don Wilson, to Gruner, Van Damme, Seagal and even Patrick Swayze. Almost every second Western film featured some kind of massacre in a food service setting. It is easier to list those who did not smash their enemies' heads on the bar counter than to list those who remained on the sidelines.
- Style: British “hypertrophied realism”
- Duration of fight scenes: 4 minutes 10 seconds
- Number of participants and format of their interaction: one against the crowd.
- Chip: Scott Adkins with iron teeth, but without tricking or guyver kicks.
- Features and specifics: director Jesse Johnson and stunt coordinator Dan Stiles placed Scott Adkins into budget aesthetics Guy Ritchie. This is probably where the logical decision came from to abandon Scott’s usual choreography and try to “ground” his character’s fighting style. Whether they succeeded or not - let's find out.
Is it possible to make Schumacher drive like an ordinary car enthusiast? Probably not. Is it possible to make Scott move and strike like an amateur thug, effectively, but at the same time crooked, askew and haphazard? No, you can’t, because muscle memory does its job.
Therefore, behind the bloody fuss, pogroms and confusion, Adkins’s refined movements and many years of experience are still visible, which is why the realism turned out, although tough, is still very precise and balanced. Enemies, accompanying their exit with angry exclamations and growls, appear at the right time and in the right place, receive a portion of the “correct” blows and fly away. Even when a stick hits them on the head, it still looks like choreography and not an imitation of improvisation.
Adkins's hero is an angry and desperate misfit, a bone-breaking machine that fights as if emotionally, rolling his eyes in fits of combat frenzy, but his body moves in cold blood, using approximately the same set of techniques and blows. The rhythm of the battle is practically unchanged, and the pace, if you look closely, is quite low.
To emphasize realism, the fight is filmed without musical accompaniment, only occasionally atonal mournful violin notes or additional sound effects are woven into the fabric.
The camera work and editing are just like a textbook, everything is readable and visible. If you need a close-up for added drama, there is one; if you need to film the entire brawl, it is filmed in a long shot and from the right angle.
The main disadvantages of the battle: By about the middle of the fight, it becomes clear to the viewer that the hero is not afraid of knives, bullets, or baseball bats, so you can relax.
The bottom line: the fight can be described as “calibrated anger” or “a state of passion in light mode,” and Scott’s character himself, no matter how Johnson tries to create a new role for him, is still brisk.
Keanu Reeves vs. Yayan Ruhyan and Chechep Rahman (John Wick 3) (15%, 25 votes)
- Location: Hotel Continental. The location is built on the principle of a hierarchical pyramid, along which Wick rises, encountering a stronger enemy at each level. A similar principle applies to computer games. Exactly the same thing was done by Bruce Lee more than forty years ago. “Game of Death”, moving up the floors of the pagoda.
- Style: a mixture of Indonesian realism and neo-Hollywood “acting” combat
- Duration of fight scenes: about 3 minutes 30 seconds
- Number of participants and format of their interaction: one against two
- Chip: Keanu Reeves, not being a professional fighter or stuntman, enters into battle with two high-level opponents. Yes, it’s hard for him, but I’m not ashamed of him.
- Features and specifics: The third part of Wick is not radically different from the previous two parts, but there are still changes. Mostly, the third film raised the bar for on-screen opponents Keanu Reeves and now everyone: from a crowd member to the main boss is a seasoned professional. There are no rappers, Nykvists or other Ruby Roses now, so old Keanu has a hard time.
Duel against Chechepa Rakhman и Yayana Rukhyana proof of that. Predatory, devilishly skillful and cynically cheerful enemies circle like dogs around Baloo and sting from all sides with whoops and hooting. Wick fights them off as best he can, however, he noticeably lacks speed, so the fight is organized according to the principle: the opponents hit the void a lot, flutter and make a bunch of unnecessary movements, and Wick mainly defends himself with unsightly movements and inflicts damage on them with throws to the ground.
Despite the Indonesian flavor of the choreography, the fight still doesn't look like "Raids" or “Night is coming for us”, yet Stahelski's influence is great. The kicks are more on-screen and partly even Europeanized, so to speak.
The main disadvantages of the battle: the enemies could have killed Wick ten times during the battle, but for some reason they didn’t do this, preferring to kiss his hands and shower him with compliments. The dynamics of the fight sags when Keanu doesn’t have time.
The bottom line: Keanu Reeves once again showed action stars and all sorts of fat-bellied Seagals, who are resting on their laurels, how an actor can work in a genre that seems non-core for him.
Scott Adkins vs. Iko Yuwais and Tony Jha (Triple Threat) (11%, 18 votes)
- Location: some abandoned house or castle somewhere unknown.
- Was it worth listing those who fought in an unknown location? Perhaps every on-screen fighter fought in some abandoned house/castle/factory or hotel. IN “The Expendables 3” an entire abandoned hotel complex was bombed.
- Style: multinational tricking
- Duration of fight scenes: about 4 minutes minus chatting.
- Number of participants and format of their interaction: first one on one, then two against one and then one on one again.
- Chip: Top on-screen fighters met on the screen and received not torn fragments or cameos, but a full-fledged on-screen battle.
- Features and specifics: it is clear that Adkins is an adequate opponent from the entire lineup of participants "Triple Threat" - this Tony JaaSo Jesse Johnson и Tim Man made a bet on their interaction, and Iko Uwais appears briefly in the middle of the fight, being a kind of dramatic cutoff of two parts: when Tony loses and when he wins. For this reason, there is no point in dwelling in detail on the fragments with the participation of Uwais; he is essentially a buffer between the aggressive villain Adkins and the initially confused character Tony.
Adkins skillfully fends off two opponents who operate within the strict confines of typical Tim Man choreography.
There is nothing “wrong” in the fight and everything is canonical down to the smallest detail - the villain first bludgeons the good guy, then he rises from the ashes and knocks out the bad guy forever. The shots where Adkins reigns supreme are shot in cool blue-gray tones, and when Tony enters the victory lane - in a warm spectrum, against the backdrop of burning torches.
The picture, although of high quality, is still quite dark, and if not for the precise editing, good long takes and angles in the style of Isaac Florentine, the presentability of the battle would have been greatly reduced.
The main disadvantages of the battle: From a choreographic point of view, the fight does not shine with originality, although all the trump cards were in hand. The classic gimmicks of each fighter were supposed to give the characters personality and even add a nostalgic touch to the battle, causing goosebumps in the viewer, but in the end the gimmicks somehow didn’t work.
Throughout the fight, Adkins and Jaa carry knives with them, but they use them in the most common and ridiculous places. Well, we repeat, the frame is too dark.
The bottom line: The fight turned out to be neither good nor bad, it just is. We're glad it happened and Tony and Scott finally crossed arms and legs on screen, but it's a shame they didn't meet back in 2003 when they were both young, fresh and at their best.
Editor's Choice
Andrew Koji vs. Joe Taslim (Warrior) (7%, 12 votes)
- Location: underground fights. Along with the “bar” and “it’s unclear where” locations, the underground ring is the TOP 3 places for on-screen fights. If we added old-school Chinese kung fu action films with pseudo-gray-haired elders with glued-on eyebrows, then we could add the “wasteland” location here.
- Style: Hollywood “neorealism” with references to classic kung fu action films.
- Duration of fight scenes: about 6 minutes
- Number of participants and format of their interaction: one on one
- Chip: two fighters find out whose kung fu is cooler without ropes and rapid fire. How long have you seen this?
- Features and specifics: this fight is not just a showdown between two Chinese (okay, Japanese and Indonesian), but an important scene for the plot and characters. The conflict had been brewing for a long time and eventually resulted in a battle to the death. And if Joe Taslima can already be safely called an “inveterate” master of screen combat, then a beginner Andrew Koji reveals his potential in this battle: his movements are polished, straightforward and verified, he is very cinematic and even scratches his nose with his thumb, referring us to the legendary Bruce Lee - series concept designer "Warrior". At the same time, this is perhaps the only conscious reference to the Little Dragon in this fight, and the choreography is completely self-sufficient, without copying or direct quotations. Despite the fact that in the plot both fighters are masters of kung fu, the fight is staged realistically and harshly, emphasizing the character of the late 18th century.
The scene evokes memories of films about underground fights of the late 80s and mid-90s, but the heroes do not overuse high-kicking and do not wait for each other - the pace is quite fast. There is no variety of blows and the notorious “tricks” that the viewer has become accustomed to in recent years thanks to Adkins, and the fight only benefits from the atmosphere, abandoning the ropes and “freeze time” favored by the Chinese suppliers.
The drama of the fight is built on the principle of ups and downs: before the final climax there are several “additional” ones, when one or the other fighter is close to victory, and the pendulum of suspense constantly swings.
When, by the will of the writers, it’s time for the main character to lose, we see the fight through Taslim’s eyes, which only increases the tension of the scene: the fighter is exhausted, can barely stand on his feet, but his inner “berserker” without hesitation destroys the hero Koji. The editing does not cut or fragment the frame, showing off the skill of the actors and the drama of the scene.
The main disadvantages of the battle: The directors were too carried away by realism, forgetting that a cinematic battle should also look beautiful. It’s not that we lacked guy kicks and tricking somewhere, but we still lacked emphasis. In some moments, the movements are memorized, but overall...
The bottom line: ...this is practically a standard fight scene for modern American TV series (yes, yes, this is a stone in the garden “Wu Killers”!), in which both the actors and directors did a very good job. It remains a mystery why this fight was not included in the top three. If you have any thoughts on this matter, comments are waiting for you.
Bruce Khan vs. Two Opponents (Avenger) (6%, 9 votes)
- Location: provincial village. Not a common location in action films, but one that occurs from time to time. Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Scott Adkins, as well as a good half of the heroes of Hong Kong action films and samurai epics, have sorted out relationships in such situations.
- Style: a cross between old school Chinese, South Korean fight choreography and Indonesian new wave.
- Duration of fight scenes: just over 2 minutes.
- Number of participants and format of their interaction: one against two
- Chip: a fight against the main villain’s characteristic henchmen, in which each has his own weapon and fighting style
- Features and Specifics: Bruce Khan fights with swords not with extras, but with individuals: one is a stately and self-confident fighter with a long sword, the other is a freakish hunchback with two blades who loves caution. It's no exaggeration to say that we've been starved for good action scenes with guns, and there's plenty to gawk at here.
One of the main distinguishing features of this battle, as an example to many similar ones, is the coordinated action of opponents who do not wait for their turn to attack, but rush at the hero together, leaving the fight for a while only after receiving a blow or push, evoking classic kung-fights. fu action movies of Hong Kong. Khan mostly defends himself and parries blows, only throwing his own when he succeeds.
The second important feature is the movement of the camera, which continuously follows the characters, as if the operator is a full-fledged participant in the battle. Also in this scene there are enough long shots, thanks to which the viewer sees the precision and amplitude of all the blows and combinations of the on-screen fighters. In the production, for which he was also responsible Bruce Khan, attention is also paid to distance: opponents have weapons of different lengths and the hero has to take this into account.
The main disadvantages of the battle: the rhythm of the fight is sectional and at some point it seems that we are facing a kind of “one-two-three” waltz with breaks to rub the leg that was pressed by the partner. Fight choreography is like music, in which pauses and the length of these pauses are no less important than the notes. In case of "Avenger", the rhythmic pattern of the fight sometimes sags, which is why it looks too measured and lacks that very “courage” that is characteristic of such scenes, for example, in Japanese cinema, and the main character should not spend the entire scene with a “brick face” - this is bad affected the emotionality of the production.
The bottom line: A really good fencing scene that's hard to pass up. It’s clear why it didn’t become the best, but I would like to note Han’s work, because if we ignore the fact that this is a South Korean action film, then we can “mistake ourselves” and mistake the scene for a brutal showdown in Thai or Indonesian cinema. Which is purely a plus.
Robin Calvo vs. Tarol Kota Bullock (Afro-Samurai Vinaigrette) (3%, 5 votes)
- Location: forest. A favorite place for showdowns among kung fu masters of all stripes, ninjas and samurai. It’s impossible to list everyone who fought in the forest: from Toshiro Mifune and Jackie Chan, to Daniel Bernhard and Cynthia Rothrock.
- Style: a cross between modern Japanese choreography and tricking
- Duration of fight scenes: 3 minutes
- Number of participants and format of their interaction: one on one
- Chip: the real embodiment of hypertrophied animated characters.
- Features and specifics: The characters Mugen and Afro, who fight with swords in this short film, are initially cartoonish, and their fighting styles could hardly be applied in reality. So the directors from Team Red Pro had a difficult task - to film the fight of fictional characters “like in a cartoon,” but without resorting to special effects, cables or other tricks. Did it work? Our editors think so.
The dynamics of the battle here are tense, which undoubtedly attracts attention to the scene: you blink and you’ll immediately miss a dozen interesting movements, the lion’s share of which in the fight lies with Robin Calvo. His character uses a huge number of all kinds of movements in battle, which many connoisseurs of “realism” will no doubt find unnecessary. But that’s how the character was written in the original and Calvo plays the given character and style 100%, demonstrating amazing preparation. His Mugen makes various somersaults, somersaults and flips, trying to reach his opponent not only with his sword, but also with his legs. This is some kind of wild cross between breakdancing and capoeira.
On the other hand, calm as a tank by Afro Tarella Cat Bullock. At first, his character defends himself and avoids the blows of his hurricane opponent, but later his character goes on the offensive. Despite the fact that Afro is the archetype of the classic samurai with a minimum of movements, Bullock also does not disdain somersaults and modern tricking elements, thus weaving new colors into the battle.
In battle, heroes use additional “tricks” of their characters. Thus, Mugen wears traditional Japanese wooden shoes geta and uses them as protection from the enemy's slashing blows. Or the guard of Mugen’s sword, pointed inward, will also definitely “prove itself.” In turn, Afro actively uses not only his katana, but also a wooden sheath. All this “works” correctly in dynamics.
The main disadvantages of the battle: Despite the fantastic work of the performers, the production itself looks like a hip-hop battle. In the sense that you don’t worry about the lives of the participants in the battle, the choreography is too sterile in terms of atmosphere and tension. It is clear that they are the main characters of the film, but I would like to see more involvement.
The bottom line: from a technical point of view, this is perhaps the most difficult fight of all six nominees. The total number of tricks, the frantic rhythm, the exquisite coordination - everything is so densely mixed that the viewer may experience an overdose. And absolutely this is One of the best fencing fights in indie cinema, which, however, could have been even better with more suspense and atmosphere. The directors and actors coped with the main thing - they transferred the characters and fighting styles of cartoon characters into an artistic format, not only without losing, but also adding interesting elements. And to hell with false modesty: our editors _really_ like this fight.
FFI editorial authors: Ravenside and Danil Chupakhin
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Tags: avenue, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Revenger, Triple Threat, Warrior, Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, results of action cinema 2019, Keanu Reeves, Robin Calvo, Scott Adkins, Tarell Cota Bullock, Tim Man, Tony JAA, Chechep Arif Rahman, Andrew Koji, Yayan Ruhian
Tags: avenue, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Revenger, Triple Threat, Warrior, Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, results of action cinema 2019, Keanu Reeves, Robin Calvo, Scott Adkins, Tarell Cota Bullock, Tim Man, Tony JAA, Chechep Arif Rahman, Andrew Koji, Yayan Ruhian
Definitely yes. I remembered the wonderful fight of Bruce Khan, the excellent fight of Joe Taslim. I don’t remember exactly, but most likely I voted for both.