When it comes right down to it, all stories of good versus evil can essentially be boiled down to which one can punch the hardest. Across decades of action cinema, from big budget blockbusters to transgressive B-movie fare, there exist the greatest fight scenes ever in movie history. But which ones actually deserve that recognition? The history of fight scenes in movies pretty much starts at the dawn of cinema.
The 1894 film The Boxing Cat was a 22-second short in which Henry Welton's touring cat circus paid a visit to Thomas Edison's studios in New Jersey and had two of his cats "box" in a little boxing arena. (It would have been a huge hit on TikTok.) That same year, professional boxers Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing squared off in a match that was held for the express purpose of being filmed on camera.
Much later, cinematic specimen Charlie Chaplin began experimenting with choreographed "fights" in his movies like the 1927 film College and the 1931 film City Lights. The ensuing decades saw the rise of cowboy Westerns where brawny men throw haymakers and Hong Kong studios like the Shaw Brothers popularize cinematic kung fu. The late 20th century gave rise to the modern action hero, with icons like Bruce Lee, Jean Claude Van-Damme, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Dwayne Johnson, and so many more.
In celebration of the ongoing history of action cinema, let's knuckle up and run down the 36 greatest movie fight scenes. 36. Danny vs.
The Stranger, in Unleashed (2005) The woefully underrated.