My recent viewing of "300" got me thinking about fight scenes in films. What makes a fight scene good or bad? For me there are several factors that go into it. First of all, the fight has to be interesting, and I'm approaching a level of saturation with martial arts fights - I've seen about all I can take. That's not to say I don't love some good kung fu, but it has to be really good. Additionally, it has to be photographed well. A good fight is nothing if I can't see it, and I prefer longer takes from wider angles as opposed to those tight shots that are cut together in quick succession.

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I also like fight scenes to be supported by good music, but sometimes an absence of music can really sell a scene. What I don't want is bad music: the wrong song can just ruin an otherwise entertaining fight scene.

It's good to have some stock in a fight. If I don't care who wins, it's hard to get involved. Having something invested and a guy or girl to root for makes it all better.

Finally, length is a factor. I prefer a longer fight that really taxes the participants, however something that drags on too long gets tiresome. At the same time, a fight that is too short can be frustrating. There's a sweet spot in there where you end up wishing for a little more, but secretly knowing that a little more might be too much.

When I was researching this article, I noticed that other lists like this would usually just contain ten kung fu movies, and that isn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to spread things around a bit, so I tried to keep the fights different. They are still ranked by overall quality, but I also consider each one the best in its particular field. I did limit the list to only fights that have at least one human participant, and I only looked at live action movies. The King Kong / V-Rex fight, the Hulk / Hulk Dogs fight, and others of that ilk were excluded because of this decision.

I'll go ahead and tell you that the fight from "They Live" isn't on this list. I know that it has long been the king of fight scenes, but I'm just not impressed with it. It isn't as long as you think, and it doesn't hold up for me. (There's also the fact that the whole fight centres around one guy trying to get another guy to wear some sunglasses, which is a little hard to get past.)

Just to clarify: this isn't a list of the top 10 fight movies or top 10 best movies containing fights, this is the top 10 fight scenes - the quality of the movie itself is irrelevant. These kinds of lists always stoke the passionate fires of people, so I certainly expect emails and forum posts saying, "How dare you not include..." But hey, since this is an article about fights, I say put on your helmets and bring it!

10. Jason Bourne Vs Castel

Jason Bourne vs Castel
The Bourne Identity (2002)

Matt Damon and Nicky Naude in "The Bourne Identity"

Combatants: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne) and Nicky Naude (Castel)
Length: Approximately 2 minutes
Director: Doug Liman

I like this fight because it utilizes both Krav Maga and Kali, which are martial arts styles that are not necessarily pretty or showy, but efficient. This fight is about two very dangerous people trying to kill each other as quickly as possible, while also minimizing their own exposure. It's a little shorter than I would have liked, and it's cut up a bit too much, but the danger and the energy of the fight is excellent. I would not expect a real fight between people like this to last much longer than it did, so the short length is understandable.

There is a similar fight in "The Bourne Supremacy", but the photography of that particular battle is in that Paul Greengrass documentary style. It's a good fight, but I prefer this one, which is the best modern-style spy fight I've seen.