The 28 Best Fight Scenes in Movies

It's always a good time when Bruce Lee hops onto the screen and utterly destroys a bunch of guys without breaking much of a sweat. He does that right here by using his hands, feet, and a pair of nunchucks to assault a dojo full of students. And once he overcame them all with ease, Lee proceeds to embarrass those same students' sensei. This "one man vs. everyone" fight scene will never get old and it confirms just how much of an untouchable martial artists Lee truly is.

We already covered one of Lee's best fight scenes, so now it's time to delve into his master's cinematic martial arts prowess. In the first Ip Man, Donnie Yen delivers a triumphant performance by walking into a dojo full of Black Belts and making them all look like a bunch of inexperienced bums who just started training that very day. Ip Man's became unhinged in this fight, which makes it even more exciting since he's usually a pretty passive guy that only fights when necessary.

A lot of dirt has been thrown on this movie for good reason. But the one thing most detractors can agree on is this scene is the absolute greatest Batman fight scene of all time. That whole "SAVE...MARTHA!" moment was pretty cringe, but it led to Batman honoring Superman's request and wiping out a warehouse full of hired thugs. When Batman squares up with two dudes at once and even flings a crate into another random hoodlum, "Batfleck's" badassery was confirmed for us and everyone that watched this scene unfold.

Jackie Chan is a madman! The dude has always been known to do his own stunts and pull off some highly irresponsible feats that make us prey for the man every time he goes airborne. In Police Story, Chan runs through a whole mall and proceeds to use it as his battleground to put a bunch of goons into the dirt. Jackie brings the pain via an escalator, expertly dodges steel pipe swings inside a clothing store, and even slides down a pole of electrified attachments to the shock of everyone watching this mall battle royal unfold.

O'Hara literally did everything he could to land a single blow on Lee, but it was all for naught. As soon as they square up for the first time, it's clear that Lee outclasses his scarred foe in every way possible. We'll always christen this iconic Bruce Lee moment as one of the best fight scenes in movies simply due to the brutal way he finishes Hara off. That double-foot stomp, though? Total Mortal Kombat Fatality vibes.

Every action movie that's ever featured a hallway clash is doing it in tribute to Oldboy. And for good reason - it's the originator of this style of combat and the way in which it's shot has made it instantly recognizable whenever other films take a stab at it. With a hammer in hand, Oh Dae-su (played by Choi Min-sik) shockingly comes out on top against a hallway full of weapon-wielding ruffians. The visceral feel of it all and the fact that Dae-su keeps on fighting even after getting stabbed gives this one extra points toward its cool factor.

So much blood can be seen flowing and splattering the club at the heart of this gruesome scene. The Bride (Uma Thurman) makes an incredible last stand in the first half of her revenge-fueled mission when she uses a sword gifted to her from legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzō to rip through O-Ren Ishii's (Lucy Liu) "Crazy 88" gang. The way The Bride leaves the entire gang either deceased or screaming bloody murder now that they're left with one less limb is so satisfying to watch to this very day.

Roddy Piper knew a thing or two about putting on a greatly choreographed fight (he's one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, after all!). In his starring role as John Nada in this John Carpenter-helmed film, Piper gets into a nasty alleyway brawl just to make his friend Frank Armitage (Keith David) don a pair of sunglasses to see what's truly going on in their world. This brawl has such an air of realism about it that makes it worth putting on this list of the best fight scenes in movies - this street fight wouldn't look out of place on a random street corner in NYC.

As a whole, The Raid: Redemption could take up an entire spot on this list. But we chose to pick a single confrontation from this classic martial arts film and it centers on a pair of brothers coming together to bring down one of the film's most lethal antagonists. This whole two-on-one brawl takes place within a single room, which is why it's so easy to stay focused on the sick counters and stiff strikes exchanged between both parties here. Mad Dog put up a good fight, but he just couldn't overcome a shattered glass tube to the neck. Good riddance!

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had us and plenty of other moviegoers in awe of the pitch-perfect fight choreography happening onscreen. You could literally choose any clash from this film to make this list of the best fight scenes in movies. In our case, we chose to go with this weapons-filled test of skill between two graceful yet deadly ladies. Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) and Ziyi Zhang (Jen Yu) put on a masterclass of a duel with swords, spears, metal clubs, etc. that ended in an oddly satisfying stalemate.

If you haven't seen Iron Monkey, here's a simple breakdown - it's pretty much a cool Chinese take on Robin Hood. The awesome climax this martial arts classic delivers is a kick-ass acrobatic fight that takes place above a sea of flames atop a column of poles. This 2v1 encounter has it all - brutal-looking hits, flips that defy the laws of physics, and a hell of a final blow that puts the bad guy down in the most vicious way possible. This one had us on the edge of our seats and nervously biting our nails the first time we saw it.

All of The Matrix films feature some remarkable hand-to-hand contests that are magnified by some truly amazing special effects. Neo (Keanu Reeves) and his eternal rival Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) had a hell of a one-on-one fight in the first film. But it's this multi-man skirmish that sticks out to us the most. Neo has to endure an onslaught from a seemingly neverending flood of Agent Smith clones. Even with the odds heavily stacked against him, Neo beats the mall back with the aid of his fists, feet, and even a steel pole. Watching Neo swing around that same pole to land some vicious kicks on his cloned adversaries still blows our minds!

The whole time we sat through this highly destructive superpowered fight, one thought kept going through our head - "we can totally get a legit Dragon Ball Z movie now..." That's because Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) produced a spectacle of a fight that mimicked the mind-blowing anime brawls that have erupted between Goku and his biggest foes. Buildings are torn apart, airborne struggles take place, and smashed satellites come into play as these two ends Man of Steel on an extremely high (and somber) note.

Once Mr. Chan avoids being crushed by a pair of steel carts, the action truly begins. Two evil businessmen take aim at our charismatic hero and get an advantage on him at times. But ultimately, our good buddy Chan employs expert usage of his "Drunken Fist" technique to overpower his two assailants. Chan had us jumping out of our seats when he ripped off his shirt sleeves and used his head a whole lot more to secure the W. Drunken Master II's epic climax is such a banger.

We will forever be in awe of the ways Ip Man (Donnie Yen) and the other martial arts masters carefully carry out their sparring sessions on a circular table. Ip Man rises to the occasion here by utilizing his "Wing Chun" to stay balanced enough to stay in the fight. The first two dudes that step up to face Ip Man are cool and all, but it's the final master that makes this fight worthy of earning its place on this list of the best fight scenes in movies. Master Hung Chun-Nam (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung) gives Ip Man a run for his money here, which is why this scene is such a joy to watch unfold.

It's easy to get caught up in all the drama surrounding Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) every time he steps into the ring against another superior pugilist. The very first time he comes to blows with a fellow boxer takes viewers on an emotional roller coaster that even had us jumping out of our chairs to cheer Rocky on to victory. Rocky's ability to take tons of punishment and Appolo Creed's (Carl Weathers) expert boxing techniques clash in the best way possible - both boxers provide eight minutes of cinematic excellence with every blow they land.

Iron Man: "Stand down. Final warning."

Captain America: "I can do this all day."

What. A. Scene! The heartbreaking dissolution between Captain America and Iron Man over the actions of the Winter Solider erupted into a tearjerker of a two-on-one battle. Iron Man's unbridled rage comes into play here as he chases down his former Avengers crewmate through a tunnel and eventually blasts off Winter Soldier's mechanical arm. This in turn enrages Cap, which leads to a fitting finale where he and his former best friend tear each other apart. This all-out MCU brawl is one of the best fight scenes in movies thanks to its brutality and emotional outcome.

They almost got him! But dammit all 'cause Thanos just can't be relinquished of his Infinity Gauntlet so easily. Even with the likes of Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and Drax opposite him, Thanos still put up a strong defense that had our favorite MCU heroes down badly at certain points of this battle. The best part of this fight is the special effects spectacle that erupts when Doctor Strange brings his strongest spells into play to get an edge over his purple-skinned adversary. This is the MCU at its most gripping when it comes to good guy vs. bad guy excellence.

When lightsabers start getting swung and "Force" powers get thrown into the fray, onscreen fight scene greatness ensues. The Star Wars prequels might not have much in the way of great storytelling, but the laser beam shootouts and Jedi duels that erupt across all three films are still worth seeking out. The Phantom Menace features this amazing final battle where "Padawan" Obi-Wan Kenobi and his "Jedi Instructor" Qui-Gon Jinn engage in a lengthy struggle with the double-bladed lightsaber wielder Darth Maul. It still breaks our hearts to see Jinn lose his life here, but our mood is instantly uplifted once Kenobi finds a way to cut Maul in half afterward.

Is Henry Cavill the first man in cinematic history to load up his wrists? When we peeped that, we knew the shit had officially hit the fan. Tom Cruise and Mr. Cavill get the jump on a dude and manage to slide him into a stall to scan his face to see their mission through. But one that due wakes up, Cruise and Cavill are forced to take things up a notch. We're not gonna lie - it looked like both men were on the verge of taking an L here! But luckily, they got some backup in the form of a concentrated headshot before things got really shaky.

"You couldn't live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me." After Thanos drops that banger of a line, one of the greatest battles featuring the three frontmen of the MCU Infinity Saga kicks into high gear. Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America kick off the final sequence of explosive events in Avengers: Endgame by ganging up on their biggest villain to date. Thor makes every attempt to "go for the head," Iron Man gets a supercharge from the Norse God of Thunder to lay down some lasers, and Cap picks up Mjolnir to bring the viewing audience to their feet in this hype-worthy battle.

There's Jackie Chan. There's Donnie Yen. And then there's the great Jet Li. In the martial arts movie sphere, Li is considered royalty. And you can find evidence of his kung-fu god-like status in the movie Fist of Legend. As Chen Zen, Li gets challenged by the highly formidable Fumio Funakoshi (Yasuaki Kurata). After some hilarious pleasantries and a bit of shit-talking between them goes down, both men put on one of the most exciting sparring matches we've ever seen. When the blindfolds come into play, this fight gets even more insane!

Our boy Jackie Chan does a great job of injecting a nice bit of comedy into his films. That fact is clearly evident in his film Wheels on Meals. Thankfully, it's not all "hee hee, ha ha" moments throughout the duration of this movie. Chan (as Thomas) gets into some nasty scuffles with equally talented martial artists. One of them is Benny Urquidez, who takes on the role of an immaculately dressed henchman. We're treated to one of the best fight scenes in movies here due to how hard both men go in beating each other to the point where Chan and Benny can be seen sporting purple eyes. The finale that sees Chan land a sick flying knee to Benny that launches him out of a window is so dope.

We loved each and every second of the first Raid and that's equally true about our sentiments for The Raid 2. Yuda (Iko Uwais) comes back with a vengeance here as he engages in a bloody climax with The Assassin (Cecep Arif Rahman) who cuts through his targets with hook knives. Both men take full advantage of their kitchen environment by throwing pans at each other and getting smashing through glass panels. The visceral feel of this fight is maximized by the bloody nature of it all. Kudos to the two-on-one hallway fight that transpires before this gruesome brawl.

Even with the odds stacked so high against them, The Warriors always found a way to come out on top whenever they were conformed by rival gangs with overwhelming group numbers. When The Punks come looking for a piece of them, this bathroom scuffle erupts and leads to a battle royal that wouldn't look out of place in a wrestling ring. The tenseness you feel when one of The Punks knocks on all the bathroom stall doors to find one of The Warriors kicks this brawl off right. Baseball bats are swung, stiff punches are exchanged, and even the one woman who's in the mix bites the hell out of someone for good measure.

Donnie Yen is just the gift that keeps on giving whenever memories of a fire martial arts film enter our headspace. In Kung Fu Killer, he plays the part of Hahou Mo and makes his services readily available to a police inspector that wants to take down a martial artist turned serial killer. In order to escape the confines of prison to see his mission through, Mo delivers one of the best fight scenes in movies by proceeding to easily dissect a huge group of inmates. Once he shows everyone their proper respect, he proceeds to wholly disrespect a room full of pissed-off criminals. Mo's hammer fists are lethal in action, that's for certain!

To see someone cause so much damage and have an exceedingly high body count to his name over a dog is unreal. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is the homicidal man we're alluding to here and he's done some fine work when it comes to eliminating the assassins hired to take him out. One of the best fight scenes in movies comes straight from the third John Wick film in which he and his pursuers use all the ancient weaponry around them to stab and slash each other to death. When John stabs that one dude in the eye, we cringe in our seats for a bit before screaming and jumping for joy like the true adults we are.

The Transformers films are always a feast for the eyes thanks to the impressive special effects work dedicated to making the Autobots and Decepticons look their very best. In this final battle to determine the fate of Earth and its people, Optimus Prime and Sentinal Prime have a personal war for the ages once they start clanging their weapons as they fought. As they get into it, explosions go off around them as the two Cybertron factions also come to blows. Megatron's entrance into this epic battle just puts this one over the top and gets the final nod from us on this collection of the best fight scenes in movies.