I get asked all the time what movies and tv shows have “good” sword fights in them. This begs the question, “what is good?”
We can all agree, I hope, that the Princess Bride duel on the top of the cliffs of insanity is perhaps the best screen rapier duel in history. In terms of action, character, and tone, it's unmatched. But it ain't the slightest bit historical. References to historical fencing masters aside, there's not a breath of history in it.
The Duellists, by Ridley Scott, is probably the best, most accurate, historical duelling on the screen, with smallsword and sabre. It seems that sabre and smallsword duels are generally done better than earlier styles, probably due to the way all fight directors get taught sport fencing.
So, rather than suffer my way through endless terrible movies and tv shows in search of a decent longsword, rapier, sidesword, or anything else pre-1750 duel, I sent out an email to my mailing list a few weeks ago and asked them what they thought, and created an online form to collect their answers, which you are welcome to add to here:
https://forms.gle/hquTCZVW8ENjymJZA
The advantage of the form is it allows you to see everyone else's answers (once you've put your own in), so you might also pick up some useful tips. I've set the form to not collect email addresses etc., so you should be able to use it without being inducted into an evil cult.
The results have been interesting. There were quite a few I was expecting, such as Rob Roy, The Three Musketeers, The Princess Bride, Scaramouche, and The Seven Samurai. But there were also some I'd never heard of, such as Black Sails and Vatel; and some I've heard of but not seen, like The Witcher.
I promised I'd find a way to share the results, so I've double-checked for no identifying data, and created a csv file which you can download from here:
The best HISTORICAL swordfights on screen CSV
Now I do have to say, because I'm a historical pedant, that very few of the recommendations are remotely historically accurate (though I don't suppose that applies to the Star Wars recommendation!). So as a way to find historically accurate sword fights on screen, this has not been very successful. But it has certainly been a lot of fun, and may lead you to discover new shows to enjoy.
You may also enjoy my analysis of The Princess Bride duel here, or an analogy between historical martial arts and Mary Poppins (yes, really), here. And if this sort of thing is your jam, you should sign up to the mailing list with the snazzy form below.
3 Responses
Theatrical fights are part of the movie/play meaning they have requirements.
1) To help the movie/play in some way. Whether that’s to show something about a character, to advance the plot, or just to get someone from stage left to stage right. The fight choreography has to do what the movie director wants that fight to show. That’s why you get so many “duels with conversation”[1]
2) To be visible from the cheap seats. Actions have to be clear and obvious (so they can do job #1) which is not what you want in a real fight!
3) To be doable safely by untrained actors. Most of the time the fights are a small part of the movie/play and don’t get a lot of rehearsal time. So the movements are simple and deliberately aimed out of distance and away from vulnerable bits. Lots of sword clashing away from heads. You really don’t want your leading man with a bleeding head wound….
You can see #3 in Charles II: The Power & the Passion where Buckingham is duelling the King. He does a swap of sword from right to left hand then attacks. The attack is deliberately well off to one side so it is safe but that is disguised by camera angle as is another lunge attack which is aimed true but well short, disguised by being shot from directly behind.
There was a lot of rehearsal for the Princess Bride but that was taking completely untrained people (who were not dancers so not used to exact movements) and getting them to do a physically complex set of movements to exact distance on tricky terrain.
The sword fight against the skeletons in Sinbad was done by an actor who was also a dancer. He learned the movements as a solo dance routine.
[1] The Last Remake Of Beau Geste:
“It is now time for the duel to the death. As hero and villain it is expected of us. Would you like your duel with conversation or without?
“Oh with! Definitely with!”
I took the time to go through all the results, and here are the ‘top 3’ (actually 8):
1. Rob Roy. With 20 votes, the clear winner by some margin
2. The Duellists, The Princess Bride, Captain Alatriste, and the 3/4 Muskateers films of Richard Lester all basically tied for second with around 10-12 votes each.
3. Seven Samurai, Deluge (Potop), and The Adventures of Robin Hood all tied for third with 6-ish votes each.
So there you have it!
Honourable Mentions (3 votes each): The King, Scaramouche, Zorro (Rathbone version), and the Witcher.
2 votes each: Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Sanjuro, Troy, Swords not Words, Yojimbo, Black Sails, Zorro (Tyrone Powers)
1 vote each: Sword of Doom, Fiore, Hero, Star Wars Rebels, Pillars of the Earth, Macbeth (Polanski),
Romeo and Juliet (1937), The Great Race, The Phantom Menace, Excalibur, Conan, Le Bossu, The Last Duel, Zorro’s fighting legion, Gundam Wing, Kill Bill, LOTR, Robin and Marion, Henry V (Brannagh), GOT Brienne vs Hound, Star Wars VI Jedi Luke v Darth, Stardust
Thanks, that’s really helpful! do you mind if I paste that into the SwordPeople thread on this topic, with credit?