When it comes right down to it, all stories of good versus e💃vil can essentially be boiled down to which one can punch the hardest. Acros🅷s 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 with𒈔 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 m💫ore. 

In celebration of the ongoing history of action cinema, let's knuckl💃e up and run down the 36 greatest movie fight scenes.

36. Danny vs. The Stranger, in Unleashed (2005)

The woefully underrated Unleashed stars Jet Li in maybe his greatest dramatic performance of his career, as the feral bodyguard and "attack dog" for a Scottish gangster (Bob Hoskins). But the movie has no shortage of butt-kickin' fight scenes courtesy of legendary choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. One of the movie's final fights pits Li's Dann🙈y against "The Stranger," an eerie, ethereal hitman in white robes played by Mike Ian Lambert. Li and Lambert crank up the dial in an elegant and expansive clash where they make a mess of Glasgow apartments, including scaring a poor woman in her own shower. ꦕIt may not be Jet Li's single greatest fight scene. But given how much Unleashed flies under people's radars, this technically well-executed fight scene deserves more recognition.

35. Creed vs. Anderson II, in Creed III (2023)

Ryan Coogler's Creed from 2015 received proper recognition for its immersive and technically sound cinematic boxing. With the 2023 sequel Creed III, star Michael B. Jordan (also in his directing debut) sourced from his lifelong fandom for shonen anime in its climactic title bout that doubled down in stylistic expressionism over realism. As the roaring crowd surrounding these bitter pugilists disappear, Creed (Jordan) and childhood friend turned rival Anderson (Jonathan Majors) are left alone to square off in an empty arena, the sound of their punches and heaving grunts echoing like cannon fire. It's here where Creed III shifts into a gear never before seen in the Rocky franchise to e൩mphasize the intimacy and intensity of a decades-long grudge match. The end result is nothing short of spectacular. 

34. Gordon Liu vs. Lo Lieh, in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is without question one of the most influential martial arts movies of all time, inspiring everything from video games to hi🍒p-hop music; the supergroup Wu-Tang Clan named their acclaimed debut album after the movie. A movie of such repute naturally boasts some of the greatest kung fu choreography ever put to film. The movie's climactic fight between Gordon Liu's noble monk San Te and Lo Lieh's ruthless General Tien Ta is classic good versus evil, with Liu moving like a graceful gazelle in contrast to Lieh's sturdy power stances. Their choice in weapons also reveal a strong contrast in both physical styles and philosophical ideals; the evil general is all about masculine might and tradition, whilst San Te and his "invention" of the three-sectional staff represents harmony and innovation. 

9. The Duel Against the House of Iyi, in Harakiri (1962)

We mustn't forget that cinema is a visual medium. A fight scene can still amaze when it successfully tells its story without complex choreography. Enter: Harakiri, Masaki Kobayashi's brilliant jidaigeki masterpiece from 1962. Tatsuya Nakadai plays a ronin who, before committing seppuku in front of a feudal lord, recounts the events of how he got to that point. His unforgettable duel with House of Iyi's master swordsman Omodaka Hikokuro (played by Tetsurō Tamba) comes alive with intense winds that kick up sand and blow through blades of grass that imbue the scene with an atmosphere that Ghost of Tsushima fans may find familiar. Harakiri has one of the most picturesque sword fights in movie history, never mind how little their swords actually clash. (Which, by the way, was due to how terrified the actors were because they were using real swords during fi🌟lming, a practice that is now banned in the Japanese movie industry.) 

8. The Hallway Fight, in Oldboy (2003)

One-take fight sequences were all the rage in the 2010s, but that's because everyone was trying to capture the magic of Chan Wook-park's unforgettable revenge tale Oldboy. While not strictly an action movie, its lead protagonist Oh Dae-su, played by🉐 Choi Min-sik, throws hands after he's suddenly released following 15 years of solitary confinement. Returning to his prison, Oh Dae-su ♓beats up the guards one by one. Chan Wook-park shoots the whole thing in one take, creating the feel of a retro video game. (Composer Jo Yeong-wook also picks up slack with a pulsating track that mimics heartbeats.) Its realistic choreography is not only rooted in character - Oh Dae-su is far from a martial arts master - but an artistic choice that grounds the world of Oldboy before stunning audiences with its pitch black twist.

7. Jackie Chan vs Ken Lo, in Legend of the Drunken Master (1994)

Even action heroes need a bodyguard, and for several years Jackie Chan hired taekwondo champion Ken Lo as his own. The two grew close and eventually, not only did Ken Lo join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, but he showed off his lightning kicks as the main villain in Chan's 1994 comic extravaganza Legend of the Drunken Master. The movie's climax pits Chan against Lo, with Chan getting his noggin rocked💟 by a blazing taekwondo master until he imbibes just the right amount of booze to get in the zone. This fight scene is simply one of Chan's best ever, a feverish rhythmic pace and intricate choreography that asserts Chan as one of the true GOATs.

6. Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock in Yes, Madam! (1985)

True genre obsessives know Cynthia Rothrock. Born in Delaware and raised inඣ Pennsylvania, Rothrock grew up into a champion martial artist with certifications in taekwondo, karate, Tang Soo Do, and Shaolin kung fu. In 1985, she made her acting debut with future Oscar winne🐲r Michelle Yeoh in the Hong Kong action flick Yes, Madam! - the first in the In the Line of Duty series. Rothrock plays an investigator from Scotland Yard who teams up with Yeoh's Inspector Ng to track down a microfilm containing intel on a crooked businessman. The first scene where Yeoh and Rothrock team up to take on a horde of bad guys is an all-timer, a majestic melee where the two heroines ooze style and swagger with every swing of a roundhouse kick. They just don't make them like they used to.

5. Neo Spars Morpheus, in The Matrix (1999)

"Morpheus is fighting Neo!" Cue everyone scrambling to get a front-row seat. The Matrix was a dropkick to the senses when it hit theaters in 1999, being a seminal sci-fi blockbuster that hacked the stylings of heroic bloodshed era Hong Kong and Japanese anime onto an unsuspecting mainstream audience. For the sparring exercise between Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne - to allow Reeves' Neo adjust to the artificial environment of The Matrix - the Wachoswkis enlist legendary choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, whose craftsmanship balances elegance with brutality. It's a testament to everyone's combined efforts that both F♑ishburne and Reeves look like legit kung fu masters with more years of experience than they actually had. With stone cold lines like "Stop trying to hit me and hit me!", this fight scene is irreplaceable and no doubt of the canon.

4. Jackie Chan vs. New York, in Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

More than a decade after Jackie Chan became a star in Asia with his film Drunken Master, Rumble in the Bron𒁏x finally brought him fame abroad - appropriate, given the movie's meta premise of a Hong Kong brawler making a mess of foreign New York City. Halfway through the movie, Chan is left squaring off with an entire gang of punks in their dingy hideaway - a place inexplicably overstuffed with TV sets, pinball machines, and yes, refrigerators. Chan's fight against New York hooligans is quintessential of his style: mayhem with musicality, innovation out of improvisation. Between his iconic fit and its equally iconic stunts, this scene from Rumble in the Bronx is practically mandatory viewing. 

3. Donnie Yen vs. Sammo Hung, in SPL: Sha Po Lang/Kill Zone (2005)

The all-star smackdown that was Wilson Yip's SPL: Sha Po Lang - reౠleased under the more crude title "Kill Zone" in the U.S. - has a thunderous climax that sees the meeting of two men from two generations. Representing the new school is Donnie Yen, who stars in the film as a rogue cop from an outside precinct on the hunt for a gangster played by the legendary Sammo Hung. Nodding to the changing landscape of action cinema in the 21st century, Yen and Hung's slobberknocker features MMA techniques like double leg takedowns, judo throws, chokeholds꧑, and armbars. While Yen would more prominently implement MMA-style choreography with his film Flash Point two years later, this scene in SPL sees the start of Yen's experimentation. 

2. Jackie Chan vs. Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, in Wheels on Meals (1984)

For all his stunts and comic antics, Jackie Chan is still a trained martial artist. In the 1984 action comedy Wheels on Meals, Jackie Chan squared up with undefeated kickboxing champion Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, who plays the muscle for the movie's villains. Together, Chan and Urquidez deliver a stone cold masterclass in cinematic choreography, an exhibition of perfect forms and hilarious storytelling. When Urquidez throws one of his hard-hitting jabs and Chan makes his goofy faces of pain, we all feel it. But the impressive physicality aside, it's still the story that makes the scene superb. Towards the end, Chan decides to relax himself and approach the fight like a chill sparring match - a defiant act of de-escalation and changing mentality to let oneself think like a winner to be a winner. (By the way: When Urquidez roundhouse kicked the candle flames to go o💛😼ut, that was real.) 

1. Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris, in The Way of the Dragon (1972)

Is Bruce Lee versus Chuck Norris actually the greatest movie fight 💛scene of all time? Or is it great because it's Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris? Whatever the case, there's little debate that Lee and Norris' simmering one-on-one battle in The Way of the Dragon isn't compulsively rewatchable. Among Lee's most important contributions to the art of filmmaking was introducing realistic combat, a stylistic and philosophical contrast to the acrobatics of traditional kung fu cinema. Lee's adherence to realism and practicality - as echoed by his own fighting system Jeet Kune Do - is especially visible in Lee/Norris, a fight that has actually introduced modern MMA techniques like the oblique kick. With their fight taking place inside a Roman coliseum as a way to channel the vibe of ancient gladiators, Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris show that the heart of a warrior transcends colors, regions, and even time itself.