Not mentioned here (the film is not well-known in the States) is the final fight in the climax of the “Samurai Trilogy” with Tojiro Mifune as Miamoto Mushashi. Great cinematography, perfect setting (against the rising sun on a beach) and the two best swordsmen in Japan – played by two men who actually studied kendo seriously. I’ll see if I can find it.
ETA: Wiki Note the reference to the above-cited scenes in Kill Bill, plus the “duel on a beach.”
RE: The Lion in Winter
Hopkins was a young nobody until that movie, and he got an Oscar out of it. Hepburn? What can you say? Hepburn in that movie was pushing 60 and I was in my teens. She defined my ideal woman for the rest of my life (and I’m pushing 70 now.)
Given the technology, why not a light-pike instead of a saber? Give it a one meter handle and a two meter blade. Unlike a real polearm, you don’t have to worry about anybody getting past the tip.
I recomend Uzumasa Limelight, a movie about the waning career of a samurai stuntman.
It was the first time someone was nominated for best actor Oscars playing the same person in two different unrelated films. Peter O Toole played Henry II and was nominated for Best Actor in Becket and in Lion in Winter
Not too closely, although I seem to remember a handful of high-profile swordfighting sims falling apart at the seams. It seems nearly insurmountable to make swordfighting tactile enough in a 3D virtual environment for it to make any sense. I’m just looking to make a tiny sidescroller focused primarily on art and animation with highly tuned, but simple controls. more of an original Prince of Persia experience than anything.
What’s interesting about this duel is: 1) it’s been put to film no less than four times that I’ve seen, and 2) it’s surprisingly well-documented, or at least well-recounted, so a lot of the beats are very similar across the different productions. I’m not sure how much it’s the case that the different film versions are copying the original film, or the historical documentation of the fight, though.
Always on point to bring Nidhogg up. Projects like that confirm the idea that is always encouraging to me, that we’ve arrived at an age where pretty sophisticated games making is accessible enough to make games as personal as poetry writing.
The Nidhogg style is way more appropos for this thread than what I’m working on. My original inspiration was the behind-the-scenes video of the rotoscoping for the dragon fight in Sleeping Beauty…
And now that we’re talking about it, this is one of my favs, including the battle with the brambles. While not technically a “sword fight” it’s not Prince Phillip’s fault the Maleficent didn’t bring one…
It’s hard to include that in a list of “sword fights” because, you know, dragon, but that is really probably the battle that most inspired my childhood imagination. It’s a hell of a thing.
Maybe in pop culture. But it was nominated for an Oscar, its taught in film schools. And it typically pops up when the subjects of best sword fights in cinema or historical accuracy on the screen come up. I don’t think I’ve seen it since film school but its a THING.
Yeah, everything I’ve heard about this film suggests it’s the Real Deal. I come to it as a swordist looking for good on-screen duels, and all I’ve ever been able to find is clips. I’d love to see the whole thing.
