The Top Ten Beat Downs in Film, Part 2

After such countdowns like “Movies That Made Me Cry Like A Little Girl,” I figured it was time to get a little macho here at YDKS. With that in mind, I am proud to present to you guys the top ten beat downs in film. You may be asking yourself, what consists of a beat down? Well, it’s really hard to say. Sometimes, it’s just a really one-sided fight where one person completely dominates the other in every way. Other times, it’s a fight where both get equal shots in… but they just literally beat the crap out of each other. Sometimes, a punch is not even thrown. As you go through this list, you will see all the different kind of beat downs that the lovely media of film can offer and all the people that did their best to get the crap knocked out of them on film. Since I’m working a lot this week, I decided to cut this list in two to make things easier for myself. So with that in mind, get ready to inject those steroids, drink a Red Bull, and turn on some AC/DC. It’s time for some beat downs. 

Click here for Part 1.

5. Bruce Lee Demolishes O'Hara- Enter the Dragon

Although Bruce Lee only appeared in five films in his short life, he managed to create some of the greatest fight scenes ever committed to film. In these fights, no one ever defeated him or honestly even came close. You know why? Because it would just be too unbelievable for anyone to, even in the fictional film world. Out of all the beat downs that Bruce Lee committed on film, his beating of O’ Hara (Bob Wall) from Enter the Dragon always sticks out in my mind. Bruce Lee was so fast with his kicks and punches that filmmakers often would not be able to capture them on film. His speed is never demonstrated better than this very fight. Good Lord… look at how fast he was. In this scene, Lee battles O’ Hara in Han’s martial arts tournament for the first time with the knowledge that O’ Hara was responsible for his sister’s suicide in the back of his mind. Let’s just say that he holds a grudge of sorts against the guy. Lee proceeds to kick the living hell out of him and then some. In the take where Lee sidekicks O’ Hara into a bunch of by standers, Lee apparently kicked him so hard that he actually broke one of the guy’s arms that he landed on. Yeah, he didn’t mess around. When O’ Hara tries to go cheap and cut Lee with a broken bottle, he gets promptly crushed to death after getting jumped on by the martial arts master. That’s what a call a beat down there.

4. Girl Power- Death Proof

*Warning: If you have not seen Death Proof, do not watch this clip or read the following text. It is the ending of that film and a major spoiler*

Quentin Tarantino’s a pretty smart guy. Sure, he does a lot of cocaine, has a problem keeping his mouth shut, and, at times, can truly be an asshole, but his films contain a freshness and love for the medium of film that most others don’t even get close to obtaining. With Death Proof, he manages to make a great tribute to grindhouse cinema by pulling a fast one on his audience. In the first half of this movie, he manages to build up Stuntman Mike (played brilliantly by Kurt Russell) into one of the coolest, scariest, and strangest bad guys I’ve seen in a long time. Then, at the end of the movie, he turns the guy into a complete pussy. Unlike most actors would have done, Russell jumped at the opportunity to make the guy into a wuss, adding the lines about his arm being broken and calling out to his brother when he’s in pain. This change in performance and character was not only a huge surprise but was absolutely hilarious. By the end of the movie, you want the guy just to shut up and be put out of his misery. Tarantino does that by having the girls beat the living crap out of him and then put big boot to his skull. The way the beating is shot and cut together is brilliant, with sounds of the film’s reel stopping and pulling as the hits occur. Then there’s that still frame of the girls putting their arms up in celebration with that little celebratory music cue and “The End” text. I cannot tell you how many laughs this got in the theater I was in on opening night. All in all, it’s a great beat down, if not a hilarious one.

3. O Dae-su Fights Everyone- Oldboy

Chan-wook Park’s Korean revenge thriller Oldboy is one of the most devastating movies I’ve ever seen. It basically shows why seeking revenge is an awful and destroys everyone around you. Despite all of the deeper and upsetting things about this movie, it still manages to showcase one of the greatest fight sequences / beat downs that I’ve ever seen. In this scene, our hero O Dae-su returns to the building where he was imprisoned for 15 years (without an explanation why) in order to figure out whom his capturers were. After ripping out the teeth of Mr. Wong (the owner of the imprisonment business), O Dae Su has to fight off all of his employees all by himself. The sequence is all shot in one tracking shot, making it one of the most realistic fights ever filmed. O Dae Su takes massive amounts of punishment (including a knife in his back) but still keeps on going, using his fists and a hammer to beat the crap out of everyone in his way. My favorite part is when everyone’s down the ground, panting and whining and that one fat guy comes up to Dae Su and just gets rocked. That’s a beat down.

2. The Worst Pistol Whip I’ve Ever Seen- Goodfellas

The first time that I saw this scene I think that I was shaking afterwards. It’s just such an unexpectedly awful explosion of violence that it hits me hard every time I see it. When Henry Hill learns that his girl has not only been sexually assaulted by a neighbor but also thrown from a car, he doesn’t take the news very well. After making sure Karen is in the house, he very purposefully walks across the street and proceeds to slam the butt of his gun into the neighbor’s face over and over again. It’s a truly terrible beat down… but a beat down nonetheless.

1. Put on the Glasses!- They Live

I know that a lot of people saw this one coming. Not only is this the greatest beat down on film, but it’s also the greatest fight scene ever filmed. And to think, it was all over the fact that Frank (the great Keith David) just didn’t want to put on a pair of glasses of Nada’s (Rowdy Roddy Piper) that would allow him to see that aliens are taking over the world. What results is a solid five minute fight that seems to never end and only gets more and more ridiculous / awesome as it continues to go on. Personally, I liked it even more when they started to bring in the wrestling moves and kneeing each other in the balls. The scene is so infamous that it got parodied shot-for-shot on an episode of South Park. Even though it’s definitely not a one-sided fight, I think it counts as a great beat down because the two guys really just beat the living crap out of each other. It truly doesn’t get any better than this. John Carpenter was a genius.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this list. It was a fun one. Thanks for reading.