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Monday, April 18, 2011

Movie Knife Fights

When people discuss the most memorable knife fights in movies, one that always comes up is the climactic one in "Hunted."



My problem with this scene, as well as most movie knife fights, is that not only is the technique poor, but the participants continue to fight way long after suffering what would appear to be disabling wounds. It reminds me of movie fistfights in which repeated solid punches to the face seem to have zero effect on the man hit or the man hitting (no broken bones in the hand).

When I spoke with Mike Janich recently, I asked him if he'd ever seen a good knife fight in a movie. He thought a moment and said, "The one in the nightclub in Collateral."

While Collateral contains some of the best choreographed gunfights I've ever seen, I didn't remember the Tom Cruise character using a knife in the movie. Here it is, starting at about 3:30:



Very quick and effective.

2 comments:

  1. I always liked the final battle scene in the movie, "Proof of Life". One of the kidnappers (pulling sentry duty) is quickly dispatched by the good guy using a Leatherman Wave.

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  2. One of my favorite movie knife fights is from "The Long Riders" between Cole Younger and Sam Starr. They both use Bowie knives and the fight didn't have to be to the death to end it.

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