My Top 10 Favorite Movie Duals

                               

   If you like action, most notably action with a lot of mono e mono confrontations , then you probably like one on one duals. This is when conflicts reach awesome conclusions, we see swift editing and fighting with weapons, props or just their bare fists. There are several amazing Duals to choose from but rather than picking out the most popular, I’m just going to list the one’s that had the biggest impact on me (as a general viewer) and had me saying wow, never saw anything like that before. In any case, it’s always awesome to see people get in one on one duals and here are my top ten favorites.  

10. Mathayus vs. Memnon from The Scorpion King

                                                         
     If you plan on renting this film, I’d advise fast-forwarding to the end, the last half hour of this film is just one awesome, non-stop action spectacle complete with big explosions, hot chicks kicking ass and several different battles all going on at once. In-between all of this is an outstanding final confrontation between the main hero Mathayus and the primary villain Memnon. They begin fighting in a throne room, then they work their way out side to the top of a palace, Memnon pulls out two swords that he sets on fire and there's one hell of an epic quire that only adds to the epicness of this battle. Bottom line, it’s an average film but an outstanding ending.

9. The Chosen one vs. Kung Fu cow from Kung POW! Enter the Fist

                                                 

     Yah, bet you didn’t see this one coming, but here it is, the craziest dual ever. A Kung fu champion named “The chosen one” goes into battle with a cow that knows Kung Fu, I can’t say I’d seen anything like that before. I had to include at least one fight from a comedy and this one takes the cake. It’s such an insane and humorous fight, complete with funny “Matrix” parodies and so much zany slapstick that it has to get mentioned on my list.      

8. Highlander vs. Kurgan from Highlander

       This was my very first R rated movie I ever saw and it sure gave me some memorable action. The final battle with Highlander and Kurgan is simply one of the best sword fights ever. The choreography is so fast and swift that if you blink you miss something, and there’s so much shit going on. Lights on top of the buildings blowup, glass shatters, the ruff gets flooded, they fall through the ceiling and continue their fight on lower levels, and it all ends with an awesome fatality move. 

 7. Wolverine vs. Saber tooth from X-Men 

       Time to see what comic book hero's and villains are made of. One of the biggest things I always looked forward to from both the X-Men comics and the T.V. show were the fights between Wolverine and Saber tooth, so it was a big treat to see a live action battle between the two. Besides, what could possibly be a cooler location then the headpiece of the statue of liberty. These two scratch the hell out of each other and we get some awesome slow-motion shots, most notably when Wolverine spins on the crown.   

6. Spider-Man vs. Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2     

                                                                                                                

      There are a lot of really cool fights between these two, but my favorite is when they first fight at the bank. These two just wreck this place, then it moves outside onto the street and finally it ends with a big showdown on the side of a firkin building. This is what puts this fight on my list, I’ve never seen such a cool battle take place on the side of a building before and it’s really cool how much ground they cover in this whole confrontation. This stands as my favorite of Spider-Mans fights and that’s not an easy list to choose from.

   

5. Zorro vs. Elena from The Mask of Zorro

     Probably the sexiest dual ever put to film, with the sly and suave Antonio Banderas Dueling the elegant and beautiful Catherine Zeta Jones. It's literally a battle of wisdom vs experience, as one has known how fight with a sword their whole life, and the other knows how to their surrounding as a weapon. The sword fighting choreography is great, the interactions between the two are a lot of fun and while there really isn't any conflict in this fight, it's still a lot of fun to watch. 

4. Yu Shu Lien vs. Jen Yu from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon   

      It's always riveting to see arch enemies battle, but it's even more thrilling when two old friends find themselves locked in heated combat, upping both the excitement and the emotional ties. When these two laddies find themselves in a sword fight to the death, it's an epic showdown between former master and apprentice with a variety of weapons, slick choreography, and a very artistic direction. There's also a fair degree of honor and respect between these two samurais, which just adds more substance to the action.       

3. The Terminator vs. The T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day                        

                                                                 

       It's the final battle that will decide the fate of man kind, and it's quiet intense. There’s nothing like seeing two powerful robot warriors get into a battle. Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been a tough fighter and he's only tougher as a cybernetic super soldier. But he still isn’t a match for the T-1000, which has the ability to morph into liquid metal. The T-1000 keeps putting him down but Schwarzenegger keeps fitting back, even when impaled through the back, and loosing his entire arm, he still keeps coming back at his more powerful opponent, clearly he’s the underdog of the fight. Schwarzenegger has been in many awesome fights but this one just takes the cake. It’s just as intense and suspenseful as it was exciting and thrilling to watch, for  that, it urns a spot on the list.

2. Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader from Star Wars 6: Return of the Jedi

       There's a lot of great duals from the Star Wars movies, but this is my personal favorite. I remember seeing this for the first time in the movie theater when the special edition of the Star Wars trilogy was being re-released. All the previous confrontations with Darth Vader were thrilling but this time it’s far more powerful because it’s not your standard good vs. evil conflict, its father vs. son and while neither of them are going to turn away from what they feel is right, they still want nothing more than to be a family again. It makes for a far more conflicting and epic dual with raw emotion on display, a hauntingly somber musicale score, and it proves in this day and age that a fight can be epic even without over the top choreography.  

Before I reveal my number 1 pick, here are some honorable mentions...



The Bride vs O-Ren Ishii from "Kill Bill Vol. 1" 
Batman vs. Bane "The Dark Knight Rises"
Jango Fett vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi from "Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones"
Jack Sparrow vs. Will Turner from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

1.       Neo vs. Smith from The Matrix

               

                                                                           

     After giving us one outstanding action scene after the next, “The Matrix” ends with one of the most breathtaking fights ever committed to film. The final dual between Neo and Smith is simply the classic confrontation between good and evil. There are hardly any weapons or props being used, it’s just two super solders beeting the hell out of each other. The fight is really intense, thrilling, urgent, full of great slow motion shots and a hero rising to the challenge. There hasn’t been another one on one dual to date that has managed to surpass this epic confrontation.